Review of Vaughters' new book

[fiamme red]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2400039/jonathan-vaughters-memoir-cycling-doping-tour-de-france

...Outside contacted Armstrong to ask about this and other details in Vaughters’s book. His reply: “My only response is that I just checked my calendar and it’s 2019. The fact that people are still sitting around writing about this is a sad reflection on them, and it serves no good, especially for the sport of cycling.”

[peanutgallery]

Guessing the -7 apology tour is over. He probably had his fingers crossed behind his back the whole time

[OtayBW]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2400039/jonathan-vaughters-memoir-cycling-doping-tour-de-franceTypical smarmy attitude. What LA deems to be relevant or irrelevant is of no consequence to me.

[glepore]

Forward.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[54ny77]

What good does this book serve other than to stroke his own ego? He kept quiet about his own doping all these years, which surely helped in his ability to run all of those big teams.

[benb]

Vaughters leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as guilty as the rest of them but he somehow evaded capture and then wrapped himself in a smug blanket of self righteousness.

Sounds like he is a real piece of work as a director too, constantly messing with his riders, every bit the same type of nasty person that LA is.

[weiwentg]

Typical smarmy attitude. What LA deems to be relevant or irrelevant is of no consequence to me.

It's of consequence to me. LA's being offended is a plus. Maybe a big plus!!!

What good does this book serve other than to stroke his own ego? He kept quiet about his own doping all these years, which surely helped in his ability to run all of those big teams.

You've got a point.

In my view, a counterpoint to that is that he probably kept quiet in the late 2000s and early 2010s because it was a bit dicey to go public. The UCI didn't take whistleblowers that seriously (ask Jorg Jaksche). There would be professional repercussions, including from LA (ask Frankie Andreu about those). He did participate in the Reasoned Decision. He did make his own athletes available to participate in that process as well.

On balance, I can definitely live with Vaughters. Some of you who were in the Chris Horner thread are going to ask, how is your stance on Vaughters consistent with your stance on Horner? The answer for me is pretty clear. Vaughters has been a lot more honest on balance than Horner.

[fiamme red]

Other reviews:

http://inrng.com/2019/07/book-review-one-way-ticket-jonathan-vaughters/

https://www.velonews.com/2019/07/commentary/commentary-vaughters-rewrites-the-book-on-cyclings-doping-era_495508

[benb]

I
In my view, a counterpoint to that is that he probably kept quiet in the late 2000s and early 2010s because it was a bit dicey to go public. The UCI didn't take whistleblowers that seriously (ask Jorg Jaksche). There would be professional repercussions, including from LA (ask Frankie Andreu about those). He did participate in the Reasoned Decision. He did make his own athletes available to participate in that process as well.


This is why he's annoying. He very strategically kept his mouth shut when it would have taken courage to speak up but would have hurt him professionally/financially, then came clean with perfect timing to extract maximum personal advantage. Well played. And he came clean in a way that always made it seem like he was trying to say it was forced on him, even if he gradually walks that back over time. It's just all way too calculated. Really in the end Vaughters played this better than anyone.


On balance, I can definitely live with Vaughters. Some of you who were in the Chris Horner thread are going to ask, how is your stance on Vaughters consistent with your stance on Horner? The answer for me is pretty clear. Vaughters has been a lot more honest on balance than Horner.

I'm not any more sympathetic to Horner than I am Vaughters. If anything I am most sympathetic to Floyd as he paid the highest price. LA next, because he paid a serious price too, though not like Floyd since Lance stayed uber wealthy through the whole thing. Guys like Horner, Vaughters, Hincapie, etc.. who managed to have almost no repercussions are the most annoying. At least Hincapie keeps his mouth shut though!

[54ny77]

Vaughters seems a lot more like Lance than he publicly admits. Vaughters does what's good for Vaughters.

Floyd, well, Floyd scorched the earth at great personal cost because he just didn't care and had nothing else to lose. But, that was after he too conned everyone into believing his story (remember the fairness fund?).

Another book should be written: How to Lie, Cheat and Toe the Line, and Still Come Out Smelling Like Roses.

Forward could be written by several dozen ex pro cyclists....

[benb]

Vaughters seems a lot more like Lance than he publicly admits. Vaughters does what's good for Vaughters.

Floyd, well, Floyd scorched the earth at great personal cost because he just didn't care and had nothing else to lose. But, that was after he too conned everyone into believing his story (remember the fairness fund?).

Another book should be written: How to Lie, Cheat and Toe the Line, and Still Come Out Smelling Like Roses.

Forward could be written by several dozen ex pro cyclists....

Floyd and Tyler Hamilton were the worst in terms of lying for way too long after they had been caught.

But they really paid for it far more than these other guys. They really hit rock bottom. Money wiped out, spouses leaving, etc..

[MattTuck]

Agree with Ben above, he said it better than I could.

Also, that Dirty Kanza video featuring the EF riders showed him flying his private plane from Colorado to Kansas, which I found to be a pretentious thing to include in the story. Also, his side burns.

[fiamme red]

Also, his side burns.What do you have against side burns?

https://breadwinnercycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/roger-de-vlaeminck-og-eddy-merckx-paris-roubaix-1976.jpeg

[prototoast]

I often get the feeling that JV hides behind anti-doping and financial challenges to try to cover up his dysfunctional management of his team. Garmin/EF/etc seems to be where promising careers go to die, and so much of that seems to be bad management practices.

[MattTuck]

What do you have against side burns?

https://breadwinnercycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/roger-de-vlaeminck-og-eddy-merckx-paris-roubaix-1976.jpeg

haha. fair enough. How many monuments did Vaughters win again? Maybe if he had just kept it limited to vertical and horizontal lines, it wouldn't seem so bad. Maybe sideburns isn't accurate. He's beyond sideburns, 60% of the way to mutton chops.


Also, a brief tour through his various styles.

https://e0.365dm.com/12/07/2048x1152/Jonathan-Vaughters_2790398.jpg

http://news.velonation.com/Misc/People/original/Vaughters_Jonathan_TDF10-1.jpg

https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/images/Tour%20de%20France%202010%20launch/0044_Jonathan_Vaughters_TdF_PhSpt.jpg?itok=sFR2-EAH

https://pelotonmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Vaughters_PT2.jpg

[benb]

I often get the feeling that JV hides behind anti-doping and financial challenges to try to cover up his dysfunctional management of his team. Garmin/EF/etc seems to be where promising careers go to die, and so much of that seems to be bad management practices.

Phil Gaimon's descriptions of riding for Vaughters in his book(s) are pretty frightening. He strikes me as the worst kind of manipulative pointy haired boss.... maybe it gets him what he wants but it seemed like it directly hurt his team's results too. Stuff like dictating certain workouts before a race that ruin the riders chances in the race. Exactly the kind of thing that would penalize a clean rider vs a doped rider actually since doping helps recovery so much. Keeping riders in the dark about whether they were going to have a job the next year for most of the season so they're nervous the whole season and can't concentrate on training.

Having tried to train through work stress, having a baby, etc.. I can't imagine how bad it would be to be a pro cyclist living hand to mouth and constantly having to look over your shoulder cause the DS is messing with you and you're worried about whether you have a job right in the middle of the important part of the season.

[CunegoFan]

On balance, I can definitely live with Vaughters. Some of you who were in the Chris Horner thread are going to ask, how is your stance on Vaughters consistent with your stance on Horner? The answer for me is pretty clear. Vaughters has been a lot more honest on balance than Horner.

Honest? Vaughters told USADA a BS story about how he only doped a few times after he left Postal using leftover EPO, which evidently lasted for years and years after he purchased it. Uh-huh. Yet when he retired the pros who moved into his place complained about all the needles and drug paraphernalia he left behind. Tygart bought into the unbelievable story because it supported the narrative he wanted to create.

I know that during the 2006 TdF Vaughters made a presentation to a group of potential backers. He pitched a team based around Floyd Landis, and he assured them Floyd was clean despite knowing not only that Floyd was doping but that Floyd would continue to dope after he joined the team. The two talked about it before the presentation. Now maybe Floyd getting busted led to a major change in Vaughters thinking, but at the very least what he was presenting to the public at that time and what he was presenting to his team, or at least certain riders, was very different.

[spoonrobot]

Vaughters is/was just as dirty as everyone else. He even used the same style intimidation tactics as lance just with a velvet glove instead of an iron one. His book is to make money, gain him prestige and keep his name in the news. Nothing more.

Steve Tilford (http://stevetilford.com/?s=vaughters&submit=Search) hashed him out pretty good, Vaughters hasn't done anything to redeem himself in the years since.