DiLuca A.K.A. The Count of Monte Cristo

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Someone here can confirm this, but I thought dear old Lance has a thing against Vaughters and Slipstream to the point of even vowing to sink the team. Now, that last part is what I've read here or there on the internet and it is not from solid sources.

However, if Lance does not like Slipstream, it is safe to assume all members of the Cult will dislike Slipstream too.Now let's see... Lance is against riders who break the omerta and talk about doping in cycling... and he has a thing against Cleanteam Slipstream... but he has never doped in his life and is presumably against doping in cycling. Hmmmm..... http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/confused/confused0006.gif (http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/confused-smilies/#)


You'd think he'd be rooting for them to do well, because it might help his claim that you can beat people riding clean. Personal differences with Vaughters notwithstanding.

Someone here can confirm this, but I thought dear old Lance has a thing against Vaughters and Slipstream to the point of even vowing to sink the team. Now, that last part is what I've read here or there on the internet and it is not from solid sources.

However, if Lance does not like Slipstream, it is safe to assume all members of the Cult will dislike Slipstream too.
There is the famous text message conversation between Vaughters and... Andreu I think that basically says that doping was going on. But Vaughters never said publicly that Armstrong doped.

Slipstream's major claim to fame is their vocal anti-doping, clean racing. And they are truly an American team. Well that implies that all other American teams (cough cough discovery/usps) were not clean, and imho that's why the Astana super-fans hate Slipstream. And to really bug them, versus, bicycling mag, velonews have all changed their dicovery focus to slipstream...

There is the famous text message conversation between Vaughters and... Andreu I think that basically says that doping was going on. But Vaughters never said publicly that Armstrong doped.

Slipstream's major claim to fame is their vocal anti-doping, clean racing. And they are truly an American team. Well that implies that all other American teams (cough cough discovery/usps) were not clean, and imho that's why the Astana super-fans hate Slipstream. And to really bug them, versus, bicycling mag, velonews have all changed their dicovery focus to slipstream...Thanks for clarifying, now I understand a bit better.

In all fairness to the US press, I guess there is not much to talk about regarding Discovery/Astana at the moment, so they have to talk about Slipstream...

May I ask why him in particular. Sure, it is obvious he dopes, and wins, like a few other guys... just curious...
You have to give DiLuca props for being able to win one day classics as well as a GT. That is, unfortunately, not common these days. Riders don't even try.

Maybe if Evans continues riding well in April, he could pull it off.

I've got time for DiLuca.
In interviews he comes across as a guy who speaks his mind, he puts his reputation on the line by stating his objectives and he normally achieves those objectives in the races that he speaks about.

When he finished 4th in the Giro (2006?? or was it 2005??), I thought it was the best GT of the past decade or so.
DiLuca never gave up the fight.

I've got time for DiLuca.
In interviews he comes across as a guy who speaks his mind, he puts his reputation on the line by stating his objectives and he normally achieves those objectives in the races that he speaks about.

When he finished 4th in the Giro (2006?? or was it 2005??), I thought it was the best GT of the past decade or so.
DiLuca never gave up the fight.Lim, you are right, he is tough competitor and, doped or not, does deliver the goods in terms of classics and the Giro. Not too many other riders that are able to show that kind of palmares...

Lim, you are right, he is tough competitor and, doped or not, does deliver the goods in terms of classics and the Giro. Not too many other riders that are able to show that kind of palmares...
But he wasn't on the list of riders that had to be available for out-of-competition testing (not last year at least). He could prepare however he wanted to, unlike most of his rivals, so I'm not impressed.

But he wasn't on the list of riders that had to be available for out-of-competition testing (not last year at least). He could prepare however he wanted to, unlike most of his rivals, so I'm not impressed.Didn't he earn that free pass by riding like crap comparitively in 2006 when he was under the microscope? All I remember is that he was almost an afterthought as a possible winner before last year's Giro.

Seeing DiLuca yelling in anger as Gasparotto crossed the line first in last year's Giro TTT bugged me. Afterward he tried to brush it off, but I saw it as one of those character-defining spontaneous moments. Since then I look at him as petulant Eurotrash.

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http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/giro07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/giro07/giro071/DILUCA_GIRO1206

Seeing DiLuca yelling in anger as Gasparotto crossed the line first in last year's Giro TTT bugged me. Afterward he tried to brush it off, but I saw it as one of those character-defining spontaneous moments. Since then I look at him as petulant Eurotrash.
+1 And how can you like someone nick-named "the killer!" - oooohh scary. :eek:

+1 And how can you like someone nick-named "the killer!" - oooohh scary. :eek:That was an invention of the Gazzetta dello Sport... he 'killed' other riders on short steep finishes with his sprint.

Better than having some journalists called you 'elefantino' (one of Pantani's nicknames that Armstrong, amongst others, always chose to use instead of 'pirata' that Panta preferred, for obvious reasons, I think). :)

All the journos trying to create hype.

Seeing DiLuca yelling in anger as Gasparotto crossed the line first in last year's Giro TTT bugged me. Afterward he tried to brush it off, but I saw it as one of those character-defining spontaneous moments. Since then I look at him as petulant Eurotrash. 1. For my personal edification, what is 'petulant Eurotrash' ? :rolleyes:

2. Big deal, he is team captain and the team orders were that he get the jersey by crossing the line first. There was a screwup, at the end of the TTT in full adrenaline rush he was ticked off. Team captains do not become captains by being 'best friends' with their supporting riders!

Seeing DiLuca yelling in anger as Gasparotto crossed the line first in last year's Giro TTT bugged me. Afterward he tried to brush it off, but I saw it as one of those character-defining spontaneous moments. Since then I look at him as petulant Eurotrash.

==edit==
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/giro07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/giro07/giro071/DILUCA_GIRO1206
exactly.

It always has amazed me on how people's opinions of people (especially sports celebrities who rarely get to talk much about themselves personally) are based sometimes on the most flimsy circumstances. As Powerful Pete said, who are we to know what prearranged agreement the team had that was broken by Di Luca's team mate?

It always has amazed me on how people's opinions of people (especially sports celebrities who rarely get to talk much about themselves personally) are based sometimes on the most flimsy circumstances. As Powerful Pete said, who are we to know what prearranged agreement the team had that was broken by Di Luca's team mate?
That's the price of stardom. You act like a prick in public one time and thousands of people think you are one.

That's the price of stardom. You act like a prick in public one time and thousands of people think you are one.Yeah he's a prick because you know there was no team agreement, decided with everyone including the DS. You know that it was for anyone within the team to pass across the line first, depending on whoever had the best sprint in the team... :rolleyes:

You know that the team hadn't decided pre-race who was to get the jersey.

(playing devil's advocate, because I really don't care one way or the other ;) ) - Regardless of what arrangement was made within the team, it would have been much more classy of DiLuca to wait until later to yell at Gasparotto/complain about what happened, and to do it in private rather than in public, so that he doesn't give the impression to some that he's arrogant and/or petulant. Presumably though, a heat of the moment reaction by DiLuca without thinking it through, but some would say those sorts of moments are when people show their true character...

(playing devil's advocate, because I really don't care one way or the other ;) ) - Regardless of what arrangement was made within the team, it would have been much more classy of DiLuca to wait until later to yell at Gasparotto/complain about what happened, and to do it in private rather than in public, so that he doesn't give the impression to some that he's arrogant and/or petulant. Presumably though, a heat of the moment reaction by DiLuca without thinking it through, but some would say those sorts of moments are when people show their true character...What you are saying is you don't like Italians. Because AFAIK, it is an Italian cultural prerogative to express one's emotions immediately rather than bottling them up for a later time... :D.

Some things that are normal in one country...are considered downright rude in another. Try sitting and eating dinner with someone Chinese who chews their food loudly with their mouth open while talking and also sucks air through their teeth while they eat... Anyone from the "West" would just about vomit. But the Chinese think it's fine.

Actually... I don't know Di Luca... I have just known people who have held opinions about other people for years based on a misinterpretation of one incident. Perhaps he is a prick. Everyone is entitled to their opinion in any case.

I haven't really given much thought to the cultural implications. It's sports and sometimes it's fun to have "bad" guys to make the games more interesting. I've had biases against riders and later changed my mind, so who knows what I'll think tomorrow? For instance, if he's racing Levi Leipheimer I will instantly morph into il Numero Uno Danilo Fanboi.

I haven't really given much thought to the cultural implications. It's sports and sometimes it's fun to have "bad" guys to make the games more interesting. I've had biases against riders and later changed my mind, so who knows what I'll think tomorrow? For instance, if he's racing Levi Leipheimer I will instantly morph into il Numero Uno Danilo Fanboi.Yeah... that's fair enough. I wasn't trying to argue with you in particular, huboon. I was perhaps influenced by a personal situation where I met someone who had disliked me for years, unbeknownst to me. We were getting on great after just meeting, when he goes "You know... I didn't really like you much before because of that game I watched where you ....blah blah" . We had never met before. He'd just seen me on the sports field. And it just hit me that people could form strong opinions on you based on small tidbits of info, without knowing anything about the background, or ever having met you. But in person we were getting on great.

So the irony is I was hastily judging this Di Luca incident on stuff that isn't relevant (my own separate anecdotal story), while arguing not to judge people hastily on info that might be irrelevant... :p