My tin foil hat looks good on me now…doesn’t it?
I made the prediction earlier this year that Trek was going
to get their hooks into Jens. Some people thought I was crazy. But look at the
logic here…
Jens has a outspoken personality. His interviews are always
entertaining. He’s known for attacking in the break aways. Putting out a
monstrous effort. His great one liners of ‘shut up legs’, ‘suffering’…
He’s marketable, which in Trek’s eyes means money. Plain and
simple. Put him on a shirt, maybe even a make a Jens edition bike…people will
buy it.
He’s going out on top, so why not make some money off of
him.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m not blaming Jens. It’s a paycheck,
and every damn one of you would take it as well. I mean look at Ray that
started Ray’s Indoor Mtn Bike Park. Trek got him, and now he’s retired riding
bikes all over the place. Not a bad way to spend retirement. Again…I don’t
blame him.
Trek needs someone to lift their brand up after the whole
Armstrong thing. Who else are they going to go after? Fabian? He still has
years to ride, and could be on another bike in a year or two. Trek is
scrambling for something. Did anyone even pay attention to the team this year
at the Tour? Other than Jens…me either. I didn’t know the Schleck brothers were
racing till mid way through the race ;) And when Fabian leaves mid way through
to go ‘train’ for another race, what does that say about the faith of the team
doing something, or even your teammate hanging out for Jens’ last ride on the
Champs?
But one thing sticks in my head…he had a very long career.
This career in cycling started in 1994. He rode throughout the Armstrong era.
This era was plagued with doping. It’s been proven by independent laboratories.
It has also been proven that during the seven wins (yeah, I
said it…wins) of Armstrong that no one was found to be clean. Unless you watch
this:
Although he denies ever doping, there are a multitude of
evidence that states just the opposite. So my personal question then is, why do
we raise up riders like Jens but not Armstrong? Was Armstrong a dick? I
wouldn’t expect any less. During the height of Led Zeppelin, do you think those
guys were ‘cool’? Doubt it.
So why give this guy (and many like him) a free pass? If doping is wrong, it is wrong. Or is it just a case of who is more marketable at the time? Open your eyes kids...
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