Burke talks about betrayal of Trek

[Elefantino]

Upcoming from the Milwaukee newspaper:

John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle Corp., paused for a few moments when he was asked what it felt like when he made the decision to sever the company's long relationship with Lance Armstrong, the now disgraced champion cyclist.

"I would say it was agonizing," Burke said in an interview his office at Trek headquarters here. "Here's someone who had been a great partner with Trek for a long time. You know, you've been hearing, 'I'm clean. I'm clean.' And then all of a sudden, 'No, you're not.'"

[caleb]

I'd say he was hearing what he wanted to hear.

[nahtnoj]

We had an election last week that demonstrated the liabilities inherent with cherry-picking your sources of information.

[Jonathan]

I'd say he was hearing what he wanted to hear.

No, he was central to telling the lie.

[GAAP]

Upcoming from the Milwaukee newspaper:

John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle Corp., paused for a few moments when he was asked what it felt like when he made the decision to sever the company's long relationship with Lance Armstrong, the now disgraced champion cyclist.

"I would say it was agonizing," Burke said in an interview his office at Trek headquarters here. "Here's someone who had been a great partner with Trek for a long time. You know, you've been hearing, 'I'm clean. I'm clean.' And then all of a sudden, 'No, you're not.'"

Everybody knew. All the teams, all the riders, all the soigneurs, all the team doctors, all the guys that run the TDF, sponsors, etc. Everyone turned a blind eye....until they didn't.

[boxerboxer]

"I would say it was agonizing," Burke said in an interview his office at Trek headquarters here. "Here's someone who had been a great cash cow Trek for a long time. You know, you've been hearing, 'They think I'm clean. They think I'm clean.' And then all of a sudden, 'No, they don't.'"

Fixed

[Chance Legstrong]

Everybody knew. All the teams, all the riders, all the soigneurs, Texas based frame builders all the team doctors, all the guys that run the TDF, sponsors, etc. Everyone turned a blind eye....until they didn't.

agree

[d.wilson]

you all are pretty cynical about it, i guess. i dunno- the guy was basically a huge world phenom, and an american cat-- what a boon to have in your corner as an american bike maker, right? they probably knew the guy and talked to him completely beyond the world of doping-- just on a plane of making bikes and representing the company.

i mean-- in a way-- sure. doping was part of the racing that put him where he got to, and kinda inextricably so, by the sounds of it. but it doesn't make dealing with the human person that is he-who-shall-not-be-named somehow inherently different than anybody else, and people do supect crap all the time, and we still can like and respect them. as a HUMAN loss-- i can totally understand feeling crushed by wanting to believe in somebody's honesty who's also a business partner, a compadre, and a dude you know-- who ends up to've been not telling the truth in a huge way. a lot of people benefitted from the puffing up of the figure that was mr. armstrong via artificial means-- but it really doesn't somehow make all the people around him complicit, and sure doesn't make that level of betrayal any less saddening.

[GAAP]

Everybody knew. All the teams, all the riders, all the soigneurs, TEXAS BASED FRAME BUILDERS all the team doctors, all the guys that run the TDF, sponsors, etc. Everyone turned a blind eye....until they didn't.

GrantM asked me a direct question on the topic back in September, this was my reposnse:

"Shit... charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in the Indy 500. I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do?"

the horror, the horror........

Doping is and has been part and parcel with being a competetive professional since forever....................

[davids]

No, he was central to telling the lie.

[SteveP]

i thk is good for the brand until its not.

that is business.

in my experience a guy like this ( i dont know burke ) is completely disconnected from the sport at the high level.
he knows the brand attachment. thats it. he knows how much it costs the company. he knows the return in high end sales and esp the return in european markets where you could not give a trek away before 1998.

trek was always very slow to come to the race scene really. we will see where they go from here.

[Corso]

Trek killed Bontrager, LeMond & Klein. For that alone, I'll never buy one. Not that any Trek ever made me go "WOW" anyway...

[chancerider]

Trek killed Bontrager, LeMond & Klein. For that alone, I'll never buy one. Not that any Trek ever made me go "WOW" anyway...

Dunno about LeMond and Klein...but KB always seemed like he got what he wanted out of the deal(?)

[Justin Spinelli]

trek stp?! helloooo?!

Trek killed Bontrager, LeMond & Klein. For that alone, I'll never buy one. Not that any Trek ever made me go "WOW" anyway...

[Bobqzz]

Everybody knew. All the teams, all the riders, all the soigneurs, all the team doctors, all the guys that run the TDF, sponsors, etc. Everyone turned a blind eye....until they didn't.

+1 Correct answer "Guy sold a shit ton of bikes for us, but now he is a liability so we cut him loose."

[dcpdpayne]

Willfully keeping your fingers in your ears until the screaming is too loud to ignore isn't the same as being fooled....give me a break.

[j44ke]

Burke=Wilpon=Selig=etc.

Wherever there is a deal that is too good to be true, there will be people who recognize the money to be made off of it earlier than everyone else, whether that deal is presented by investing in an athlete with great results or investing in a financial scheme that pays steady returns when everyone else posts losses. And once the goal becomes the accumulation of profit above all else, amorality sets in. Amorality makes money faster and in larger quantities than morality, no question. But like anything in capitalism, there is an exchange value. And in my opinion, the thing you trade is your morality. So Burke isn't a villain or evil or whatever. He just made a financial choice at some point and now he is what he is because of that choice and he can't go backwards and reclaim what he once was. But he may not even care. He's probably just fine with where he is.

[Hindmost]

Dunno about LeMond and Klein...but KB always seemed like he got what he wanted out of the deal(?)

Trek continued to pop Bontraeger replicates, the Privateer, for a couple of years but it was a steel MTB in an era of aluminum and titanium.

[zetroc]

If Trek goes to LeMond and asks him about reviving his old brand, I hope he tells them to eat shit.

[Chance Legstrong]

If Trek goes to LeMond and asks him about reviving his old brand, I hope he tells them to eat shit.

other companies already asking him.