Bruyneel talk about death threats to Lance

hombredesubaru

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php...ar05/mar04news2

This is what I had guessed based on small comments made here and there but now it is official. I wonder why they are choosing to reveal this now. Is it preparation to give Lance a chance to bow out if they recur this season?

Or just now that it has passed someone can address it.

Pretty amazing he did so well what with the crowds harassing him, and needing armed protection etc.
No wonder Cheryl Crow was biting her nails in the follow car at the start. She didnt looked worried, she looked scared!

micron

or perhaps this is yet more kidology from the Armstrong camp...good grief, death threats? armed guards? It's just more BS in the 'myth' of Armstrong.

gntlmn

I don't know about that. Look what a crazy fan did to Merckx when he was at the top of his game and winning all the time, much like Armstrong is doing now, at least in the Tour.

Virenque

I`m wondering that there are no crazy spectators trying to hurt the rider or even throw him of the bike! Most of the mountain stages are not secured well, spectators are free and it`s very easy to do something..

leegregory

Just remember Gianni Bugno and the crazy guy on the mountain stage, knocked him of his bike, he then proceeded to give him a face full of wheel.....

Virenque

I don`t, I`m too youngHowever, I think incidents are very infrequent regarding on security.

hombredesubaru

Missing the point I think.

The point is not the frequency, but the history of the few incidents that have happened and that they changed the race, eg Mercxk getting punched.

If the incidence of an unwanted event is very low, but the severity could be very high, the risk analysis leads to different conclusions, especially these days with episodes of stalkers, Cheryl Crow recently had a stalker case in court I think.

remember Monica Seles?

I think Lance was brave and a little crazy to ride last year, but I am sure that if he gets threatened again he will take a pass on the Tour and say he has knee problems or something else.

musette

I agree with the last post, except for the observation that LA was a "little crazy" to ride in the Tour last year. Of course he had to ride and make history. Deciding not to ride because of the death threats would have achieved the deterrent effect likely intended by the death threats.

This was a very serious situation, obviously. First, note that, unlike the punching or other damaging acts, the threat was of DEATH. Second, with the number of people on Alpe d'Huez and in other stages, it was hard to keep control of the crowd. Third, there are parts of the Alpe where the crowds were very close to LA and there were no "railings" on either side. Fourth, as everybody knows, LA has his detractors in France as well as in other countries, as well as his supporters. Fifth, LA had already experienced some pretty scary crowds during last year's tour (e.g., when he was riding with Basso towards the finish of one of the stages).