La Vuelta a España

Ricardodaforce

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Anyone else watching this? I'm already enjoying it much more than this year's Tour de France. Epic stage today.
 
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I'm enjoying this. Once Froome then Contador were out the Tour (and without Quintana) the intensity of competition was always going to be less. The Tour's loss is the Vuelta's gain - Contador can always be relied on to shake things up, and with Froome, Quintana, Valverde, Purito also it's pretty epic as you say.
 
Anyone else watching this? I'm already enjoying it much more than this year's Tour de France. Epic stage today.


The stage had everything, including a lot more excitement than anything we saw in the TdF in July. Considering the amount of work Contador did at the front, and the way Froome just sat in the wheels, I thnk Bertie was the real winner yesterday.
Having said that, what an excellent stage win for the Colombian.
 
Better than some of the previous years courses so far with no, as yet 'desert' stages which seem to drag on and on. My favourite's still the Giro and I've become quite fond of the Tour Of turkey. I always start of watching the Vuelta but often give up sometime during the second week. Might make it all the way this year, perhaps.
 
It's been great so far. Real shame to lose Quintana today, but the race is still open and not a one-horse affair like this year's TdeF was.
 
What do you guys think of the Ryder Hesdejal crash footage showing that his bike allegedly has a secret motor?
 
What do you guys think of the Ryder Hesdejal crash footage showing that his bike allegedly has a secret motor?

I'm not sure the video is conclusive, but if I was a competitor I'd want that bike checked over very thoroughly and very quickly (too late already I suspect). Certainly looked suspicious the way it was moving on the ground.
 
What a stage! And what a performance by Froome. He really took the race to Contador and Valverde. 2 more great stages to come tomorrow and Monday. This year's race is so much better than this year's Tour de France.
 
Staggered that more people aren't following what is easily the best grand tour of the year. Another magnificent stage today. Brilliant viewing.
 
what was the flight all about Ricardo?
 
Thanks - it was not clear from the TV pictures I saw
 
Well what an awesome Grand Tour that was. Better than le Tour and Il Giro put together. A great battle between two great champions. 3 weeks of sporting bliss!
 
Well what an awesome Grand Tour that was. Better than le Tour and Il Giro put together. A great battle between two great champions. 3 weeks of sporting bliss!

from what I saw it looked good

Contador made a great recovery after the TdF
 
As a non cyclist I picked this up about a week or so ago. Been glued to it every evening. Great racing. I'm even considering throwing my old mountain bike in the skip and buying a road bike!
Also been following the Tour Of Britain.
 
Watching for sure. A divisive character, but what an exciting racer is Contador, so want to see his last race. And with Aru, Nibali, Froome, Yates twins, Chaves, Bardet...looks an exciting GC. In recent times it's been the best grand tour of the year, so hope it keeps it's hectic racing again this year.
 
Just been reading a lot about it.
The limit for Salbutamol is 1000 ng/mL in a urine sample. Chris Froomes sample was 2000 ng/mL - twice the limit. This together with the Team Sky/TUE's/Brailsford/Wiggins/testosterone patches/jiffy bags with unknown contents/lies about where Simon Cope (deliverer of said jiffy bag) was, just add up to a web of gigantic proportions. Where do the lies end and the truth begin?
To be honest, at the moment I hope he gets a long ban and has title taken away.
Anything less would be hypocrisy, given what is happening to every single Russian athlete at the moment.
 
Just been reading a lot about it.
The limit for Salbutamol is 1000 ng/mL in a urine sample. Chris Froomes sample was 2000 ng/mL - twice the limit. This together with the Team Sky/TUE's/Brailsford/Wiggins/testosterone patches/jiffy bags with unknown contents/lies about where Simon Cope (deliverer of said jiffy bag) was, just add up to a web of gigantic proportions. Where do the lies end and the truth begin?
To be honest, at the moment I hope he gets a long ban and has title taken away.
Anything less would be hypocrisy, given what is happening to every single Russian athlete at the moment.

dunno bit harsh that, he competes with Asthma which is pretty hard to start with.
the limits may be 2000nm but that in itself is very very small remember.
also studies have shown salbutamol has no effect on performance.

chat with the UCI and he will get a finger wagging.
 
Just been reading a lot about it.
The limit for Salbutamol is 1000 ng/mL in a urine sample. Chris Froomes sample was 2000 ng/mL - twice the limit. This together with the Team Sky/TUE's/Brailsford/Wiggins/testosterone patches/jiffy bags with unknown contents/lies about where Simon Cope (deliverer of said jiffy bag) was, just add up to a web of gigantic proportions. Where do the lies end and the truth begin?
To be honest, at the moment I hope he gets a long ban and has title taken away.
Anything less would be hypocrisy, given what is happening to every single Russian athlete at the moment.

That 1000ng/mL limit is the limit for investigation / further questions not necessarily a ban.

Froome himself has said that he takes a substance that is only allowed at certain quantities. He usually takes an amount that is under the threhsold but on occassion has to take more, it is right that questions are asked because he is over the limit for a 'free pass' but that does not necessarily mean anything sinister, just that his asthma was flaring up.

What would be more interesting is looking for a pattern of when he has to take more than his 'standard' dosage
 
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dunno bit harsh that, he competes with Asthma which is pretty hard to start with.
the limits may be 2000nm but that in itself is very very small remember.
also studies have shown salbutamol has no effect on performance.

chat with the UCI and he will get a finger wagging.

I wondered how long it would take before we saw the difference in views from when Contador was banned.
Spanish, through the book at the cheating f****r.
British, oh that’s harsh!
 
I wondered how long it would take before we saw the difference in views from when Contador was banned.
Spanish, through the book at the cheating f****e.
British, oh that’s harsh!

that's cos Contador is a cheating sod
 
Even though the level of clenbuterol he was sanctioned for had no impact on his performance whatsoever.
But as I said, double standards exist.

he tried to blame it on an imported steak, even after investigations proved the animal had not eaten and of the drug.

Froome on the other hand has always been very upfront about his Asthma.
 
he tried to blame it on an imported steak, even after investigations proved the animal had not eaten and of the drug.

Froome on the other hand has always been very upfront about his Asthma.

But your defence of Froome saying the drug “has no effect on performance” is just as relevant to Contador.
Double standards.
 
But your defence of Froome saying the drug “has no effect on performance” is just as relevant to Contador.
Double standards.

different drugs with different results.
CLEN as it is known is a known performance enhancer.

SALB Is not...............
 
different drugs with different results.
CLEN as it is known is a known performance enhancer.

SALB Is not...............

Let’s just ignore the fact that the level of clenbuterol that was found in Contador’s blood sample had absolutely no performance enhancing benefit whatsoever.
As I said. Double standards.
 
different drugs with different results.
CLEN as it is known is a known performance enhancer.

SALB Is not...............


Why are so many bodbuilders using Beta 2 agonists such as Salbutamol, if there are no benefits? They claim it helps buirn fat and build lean muscle and that it improves endurance cardio.
UK Anti Doping are basically bust/bankrupt, largely because of the Tyson Fury case, so they had to drop the case against Team Sky - what a complete farce.
At the 2014 Tour of Romandie, Chris Froome was supposedly a sick man, with a serious chest infection. One dodgy TUE (Corticosteroid Prednisolone) soon sorted that out though, and after donning the magical black and sky blue jersey, Froome made a stunning recovery to smash the field and take the stage race victory.
Yes, double standards exist, because Chris Froome did exactly the same as this man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Petacchi
 
La Vuelta a Espana, that's got a certain ring to it, reckon there could be a song there.

Not sure why so many asthmatics take up cycling, have to say when mine gets bad I couldn't pedal up the road.
 
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Not sure why so many asthmatics take up cycling, have to say when mine gets bad I couldn't pedal up the road.

I was listening to a medical man specialising in asthma in sports (BBC Radio5 live) He said 21% of the British olympic squad had asthmatic conditions ! he said the UK population average was 9% He also said the reason elite sportsmen/women were more likely to suffer these conditions was the preponderance of heavy breathing through the mouth and subsequent larger volumes of irritants and allergens ingested. Who would have thought ?
He also said with correct treatment/medication Asthma suffers in sport should have no disadvantage over ‘healthy’ competitors.
 
I was listening to a medical man specialising in asthma in sports (BBC Radio5 live) He said 21% of the British olympic squad had asthmatic conditions ! he said the UK population average was 9% He also said the reason elite sportsmen/women were more likely to suffer these conditions was the preponderance of heavy breathing through the mouth and subsequent larger volumes of irritants and allergens ingested. Who would have thought ?
He also said with correct treatment/medication Asthma suffers in sport should have no disadvantage over ‘healthy’ competitors.


However, it is the drug of choice for bodybuilders, and has been so for a long time.

http://www.musclechemistry.com/uplo...efects-bodybuilders-usage-dosing-profile.html

When I used to cycle seriously/competitively, I do not remember one cyclist using asthma medication, and I include the ones who were winning races, representing their country at World and Olympic level, and progressing to competing at the Tour de France and winning yellow jerseys. That was the late seventies through to the early nineties, so should give you a clue as to who I am talking about. The yellow jersey holder was/is a vegetarian.
 
I also wonder how many asthma sufferers are advised to take up a cardio intensive sport as a way of maximising their fitness & oxygen uptake etc.

Start doing it for fitness purposes & then get good because they train a lot more, or more seriously, than 'healthier' contemporaries.
 
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