Lanterne Rouge discusses Miguel Angel Lopez contract being terminated by mutual agreement at Movistar in the wake of his shock departure from the Vuelta a Espana during stage 20 after he was caught on the wrong side of a split and lost his podium position on GC.
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Race Footage | licensed from Amaury Sport Organisation
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El Espectador Article | https://www.elespectador.com/deportes/ciclismo/no-tiene-presentacion-lo-que-le-pidio-el-movistar-a-miguel-angel-lopez/
Profiles | La Flamme Rouge
29 Comments
Movistar consistently makes some of the strangest decisions in the pro peloton. I guess they keep things interesting
Lopez is a great rider and will succeed elsewhere 👍
Toxic workplace for non-Spaniards.
I turned your question around, How about the cyclist who just a few stages before, for whatever reason?, left the race…, and no one had judged their decisions so, Why now after the stage when Lopez had a magnificent ran .., Everybody is crying fowl…!!! simply because he decided to end his race…?
Whoever gets Lopez is extremely blessed. Incredible teammate.
Movie star tactics during the whole race where questionable! I think he did not want to stay, because of how the team seemed unorganized!! I say he just said f it!
Simone Biles, generally considered the GOAT, stopped after having wanted to stop for quite some time, after dealing with insane pressure to perform and lingering effects of one of the worst child sex scandals in sports history. She also developed the twisties, losing her ability to know where her body was in midair, thereby risking extreme injury if she continued. In your opinion, Lopez's story pretty much mirrors this LR? I think you're the best of the best LR, appreciate the commentary, but an extremely weird comparison I'd say.
The real story should be Unzue. Why tell a competitive rider to stop chasing? After hearing more details of the incident it seems like Unzue is a controlling figure that is a terrible team manager when the chips are on the line. The common denominator in all of Movistar's drama – Eusebio Unzue.
You could have a pretty solid tour team with just riders that ditched Movistar lmao
sorry comparing some fairly good rider to the most decorated sportsperson in her sport of all time is not it. biles has quite a bit of goodwill saved up
Probably the best for the career of Lopez.
This assessment is both accurate and fair; South American riders, particularly Colombian riders, should stay far far away from movistar ; exhibit #1 – Nairo Qunitana .
Don't give much about Lopez, he is just a big loser.
Did this really have to be a 14 min video?
good for him!
Would've terminated Landa. Not sure what the hype around him is about.
I tend to support MAL, because what would it have hurt if he kept riding. What was the DS thinking when he told him to shut it down. Maybe it was a futile chase, but what difference would it make? If he brought Bernal back, it doesn’t change the results for Mas.
As for leaving, the abandonment made the situation untenable for MS team and sponsors (who were likely VERY embarrassed). The Netflix series shows a team in total chaos, (Maybe this is normal for all teams). One thing MS should do is quietly replace their DS (possibly promoting him for the 2022 season to get him out of the job), then letting him go in 2023 after this becomes a more distant memory.
Sometimes your inner being can't take bs anymore…don't stick around people who show their true dislike for you bcos of money. Timing was perfect.
To me, this issue is moot as the next day was the time trial. Lopez can't time trial as seen in the 2020 TdF where he fell from 3rd place to 6th place (and passed by teammates Landa and Mas and by 3rd placer winner, Ritchie Porte) on the last day's time trial. You have to hold your own place in a time trial, and Lopez can't pull it off. He was never going to hold on to a third place. Would he have risked Mas' second place? That's the issue to me.
This stands out in contrast to some other mental health stories in sport recently, especially Tom Dumoulin and Naomi Osaka. To me, it shows a complete lack of understanding of the pressure the rider is under. I understand that he got off the bike after being shouted at relentlessly from the team car. And it's not like Movistar has the palmares in recent years to justify calling anyone weak.
It's quite easy and common for management to make a situation untenable and then chalk up a split to someone 'not wanting to be here'.
Movistar is a sh*t team but Miguel was extremely unprofessional with that. Bad points for both.
His ego wrote a check that he regrets. He quit on his team. ANYONE who quits on team members should be terminated. When you can’t depend on your teammates, you don’t have a team.
Movistar being Movistar. I feel like they play checkers when everyone else plays chess
Though why Lopez didnt just chase on and abandoned is a bit of a mystery.
The reason Lopez got panned and Biles didn't is because he's a male
Well done coverage. Lopez is excellent and is not being appreciated.
telefonica – movistar… Spanish companies, please, don't expect too much from their organization. High officials are moved by money, not sports. The only ones who are there for the sport are the mechanics, those who go on wheels and doctors, end (and maybe with luck the manager, I doubt it)
I'm from Spain, so I don't criticize just to criticize… believe me
Even on their Netflix documentary, Movistar team show they don’t even go out with a plan on major races, there is a lack of communication and understanding! Personally think E Mas is a very well prepared top 10 raider but it looks like always crack’s on key moments still has a long carrier ahead.. cheers
Did you see what a bad attitude Lopes had on the Netflix Movistar series–not surprised
back from the future here just watching least expected day on Netflix and it does appear that team directors also didn't help and pushed superman mentally over the edge and telling him it's done and then to make it worse later making him apologise in front of the team like a naughty schoolboy. tricky situation but moviestar didn't handle it well.