Here in the UK we are starved of information about the Tour Down Under, as there's no TV coverage at all, and because of the time-zone difference, there's not much chance of catching it on a computer stream either.
All we get are the scandals.. apparently Stuey is "in trouble" after attending an event as a guest speaker earlier this month: the chauffeur has complained about "aggressive behaviour" and ""very bad language" and has said that felt threatened, blah blah woof woof.
The Sydney Morning Herald would seem to be the best report to read, as all the others in the cycling press have been copied from that one.
And as an aside - check out the very top left of this screencap of the page. Just overlook the fact that I've included my headers, which tells you that as well as blogging, I was on Twitter - see, multi-tasking - and had taken the trouble to read every report I could find before blogging... and look at the time. See it? 4:15am Wed 18th. I am writing this at 17:45 on Tuesday...... hey, I'm a time-traveller!
Basically, this Chauffeur bloke waited from the 10th Jan - the date of the alleged assault - until the day before the TdU began before going to the press with his story. Not the police - he went to the press first.
How suspicious is that?
Stuey has roundly rebuffed it, and frankly I'm on his side on this one, even though I wasn't there. He points out that he was with his wife and two friends in the car, and I can't quite see Stuey, family man, getting violent with a chauffeur, with his wife in the car.
And what is this driver thinking about? If you are a professional chauffeur, and you get an unpleasant customer, you tell your boss "I'm not driving them again" and the boss either blacklists that client, or if they know them, they have a quiet word and remind them that their staff expect a certain level of behaviour, otherwise they will find themselves blacklisted.
You don't go blabbing to the press about it - and you certainly don't hold on to the story until the most damaging time possible to release it.
Yes, I know that Stuey isn't technically one of Our Boys any more, but come on, it's Stuey, we love him, and he'll always have a place in Schleckland.
Although I believe the driver was/is seeking publicity based on when and how he reported this incident....
ReplyDeleteI believe it.
Awesome riders are NOT regular guys. I've heard Stuey say some rather shocking things. I can imagine him getting a bit outta control. The driver says Stuey called him the next morning asking what it would take to make this "go away". So - from my perspective - The Freckled Fighter should chill out - apologize and get on with it. It was not a very wise course of action for anyone in the public view. Sorry Stuey, but you're not a "regular guy" and someone will always be watching if you are misbehaving.
BE
Ah - the pain of the morning after.
I want to clarify that I'm certainly not being judgmental. When you consider the timing of this - we've got new team, big first race, honors and public speaking, breaking a Tour trophy accidentally and then a driver confrontation.... I mean, come on! People react to alcohol differently depending on the other stuff going on. There was a lot of other stuff going on. Just a shame it happened. As we saw when Stuey and Andy got "busted" at SaxoBank for being out and about drinking....I'm just sayin...they don't have the freedom to just be regular people.
ReplyDeleteBE
Oh, I can easily imagine a very inebriated Stuey being quite a handful in the back of a limo: I can imagine him refusing to put on a seat belt, I can certainly imagine the raucous singing and yes, to be perfectly honest, I can imagine him shouting at the driver to shut up, and throwing a beer bottle around in the back of the car.
ReplyDeleteBut I can't accept a professional driver waiting a week: then going to the press before going to the police.
As I said, in that situation, you tell the boss of the taxi firm that you won't drive person X again. You don't blab to the press. The driver's behaviour is quite wrong.
Of course, Stuey's behaviour was quite probably reprehensible, I wouldn't go within 100 yards of him (or anyone else) when he was drunk, but then I'm not a taxi driver (ha ha, an extra little insult there for the chauffeur!) and it's not my job to deal with that sort of situation.
I think that almost everyone these days is finally realising that the freedom of the internet and the advent of the mobile phone camera means the curtailing of our individual freedom.
Coug
Taking this conversation one step further, I can't even begin to imagine what it is like to live under a microscope day in and day out like the boys do - and the pressure that must bring with it. You are so right, BE (Elle? - please forgive me if calling you by the wrong name as I'm still new to the group and am horrible with names to boot!) that their profession dictates that they cannot be just a "regular guy"; they always have to be aware of how what they are doing could be received in the public domain.
ReplyDeleteGet a speeding ticket and that becomes fuel for the media to "report" because somehow in their minds that it important for me, as a fan, to know about it. If I get a speeding ticket is anyone going to care? No. Well, if she found out, Coug might send me to the naughty corner for bringing further disrepute to Schleckland, but back to my point.
Miss one out of competition doping test from a single mistake with the whereabouts system - which is not against the rules - and someone, somewhere is leaking it. Then I think about the riders having to answer to their team managers/owners because of the negative publicity that media report generates for the team and I suspect that you have to love what you are doing so much to put up with that kind of intrusion, don't you think? But when you sign on as a pro cyclist you make a choice to live with it and without fans like us, well, the boys wouldn't be working at this job anyway.
So while I completely agree with you both that the timing of the limo driver's story is suspicious, I am both sympathetic and thinking "take it like a man Stuey".
Kat
(sigh) Can you believe that I proofed that comment more than once and only after it was posted did I see my grammar mistakes? Aaack! Where's the delete key ... where is the delete key??!! Oh nuts, I'm sending myself to the corner now.
ReplyDeleteKat
Rather nasty comment on twitter today about Stuey. That he's a great guy on a bike and with a team - but a few too many drinks and he's "in trouble"....many...many...times. Gets very angry and aggressive when indulging.
ReplyDeleteThere's a cure for that bub - don't drink!!!
BE