Tour De France 2013

neil_g said:
i watched that too.

i think he seemed like a fairly nice bloke in "real life". definitely has OCD or something similar, not sure anyone needed to say it :D
Click to expand...

The bit at the end, describe yourself in 3 words. He gave that some thought didn't he. :thinking: :lol:
 
TheBigYin said:
Kelly once failed a drugs test, strangely, he'd submitted a sample "donated" by his team mechanic - problem was, team mechanic had been on some form of "uppers" to cope with the late nights of rebuilding the bikes :lol:
Click to expand...

I think he failed another doping test, in 1988 at the Tour of the Basque Country. It was for Codeine (cough medicine).
The reason he submitted a mechanic's sample instead of his own in 1984, is because he had taken Ephedrine for Bronchitis, and knew that it would be picked up on a doping control.
 
redhed17 said:
Kittel seems to be the man in form.

There was a mid race sprint yesterday, and Cavendish seemed to give up when he was beside Greipel, and it looked easy enough to win. :thinking:

Whether Cavendish is just not on top form, or is over the plateau of his career, only time will tell.


A very good program on TV last night about Cavendish. Didn't realise it was 2 hours, but it kept me watching. ;) I've found him to be a very moody person in races and some interviews. I don't think this programme changed my view of him, but it was a great insight into his life. Looked like he has a bit of OCD, which no one came out and said. ;)
Click to expand...

Cav did win five stages at this year's Giro, so I think he still has it.
I enjoyed the programme last night, and think he came out of it pretty well.
I am looking forward to Mark Renshaw joining him at OPQS, and hope that they can find the magic of the HTC years.
 
I think Cav still has it. He's been at the top of the sprinting tree for a while now and maybe the other guys have only just worked out how to beat him?

Cav said it himself yesterday that Kittel is the danger man now, coming from a long way back to win stages. I'm going to go with a prediction for today's stage finish; Cav to come off Kittel's wheel to take the stage win. I'd also bet that Cav will win on the Champs Elysees.
 
Again, I thought Quintana was gone, but Froome gets him back again. :clap:

Froome is the quality of the race this year. :thumbs:
 
I just find it amazing, someone with what has to be the worlds most ungainly pedalling style (I think I read somewhere that he was compared to "a praying mantis taking a dump on a coathanger!"), but he just goes... quite stunning!
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Have you guys seen this?

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/tour-france-impersonations-cav-contador-195118820.html

Love the Voeckler!
Click to expand...

Very good.... Thomas Voeckler is one of my fav riders in the tour over the last 10 years his heart is as big as the mountains he climbs

as for this years race I hope Froome does not put too much effort in and overdo it for the latter stages - I think he should now sit back and let them try to attack him rather than him attacking them

Loving every second of this years tour
 
TheBigYin said:
I just find it amazing, someone with what has to be the worlds most ungainly pedalling style (I think I read somewhere that he was compared to "a praying mantis taking a dump on a coathanger!"), but he just goes... quite stunning!
Click to expand...

His performance is certainly stunning. Unfortunately the Armstrong affair has made me very cynical (I believed him). Froome's performances have reminded me of Pantani, Ricco (a rider even scummier than LA) and Armstrong himself. It's sad that I can no longer take things at face value and I sure hope he's clean.
 
If someone is caught doping in second or third place in a stage does that mean suspicion automatically falls on the winner, or does the winner get tested after every stage anyway?
 
I think the stage winner gets tested automatically, plus a few others are pulled in on a random basis.
 
Laudrup said:
If someone is caught doping in second or third place in a stage does that mean suspicion automatically falls on the winner, or does the winner get tested after every stage anyway?
Click to expand...

I understand that every stage winner, the race leader and others selected at random have to attend anti-doping every day
 
Just finished reading David Millar's book 'Racing through the dark' about his career. Basically describing how he got embroiled in the cycling world of doping.

If you compare the lifestyle of the riders then to the lifestyle now it is completely different. A bit like the change in footballers from the 1980's to now.

Basically there was so much doping going on there was no attention paid to the 1% gains available. What was the point in spending hours and thousands of pounds to refine 5 things, gaining 5% when you could dope and gain 15%.

Team Sky are built on the Team GB Olympic Track Cycling research and development protocols. 'Marginal Gains' is the concept and has been proven in the velodrome.

So lets cut Froome and Team Sky some slack here. They are the first team to commit to solid R&D and therefore seem streets ahead. Other teams will follow suit and close the gap soon enough, especially with former Sky riders in the peloton informing their new teams.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Have you guys seen this?

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/tour-france-impersonations-cav-contador-195118820.html

Love the Voeckler!
Click to expand...

That was great. :thumbs: :lol: I don't think there is a big market for such cycling impersonations though. ;) :lol:

Ricardodaforce said:
His performance is certainly stunning. Unfortunately the Armstrong affair has made me very cynical (I believed him).
Click to expand...

I believed Lance Armstrong too, as it was a great story. :shake: :bang:

I assume everyone is clean until proved to not be. Otherwise there's no reason to watch it. :shrug:

I know Armstrong got away with being tested after stage wins, but I wouldn't win a stage 'just in case' I got caught.

Froome looks like he is in the zone at the moment, and if he feels he can win a stage, he will. Evans, Contador and Shleck show that you may only have a year or two to be competitive, so if you're in that zone, make the most of it. You could fall off round the next corner and break a pelvis like Schleck did awhile ago, and that may be it. :eek:

They call the Sky team boring, but Froome is so far leading in style. :thumbs: Hopefully he will take it all the way.
 
MG TF 135 said:
Just finished reading David Millar's book 'Racing through the dark' about his career. Basically describing how he got embroiled in the cycling world of doping.

If you compare the lifestyle of the riders then to the lifestyle now it is completely different. A bit like the change in footballers from the 1980's to now.

Basically there was so much doping going on there was no attention paid to the 1% gains available. What was the point in spending hours and thousands of pounds to refine 5 things, gaining 5% when you could dope and gain 15%.

Team Sky are built on the Team GB Olympic Track Cycling research and development protocols. 'Marginal Gains' is the concept and has been proven in the velodrome.

So lets cut Froome and Team Sky some slack here. They are the first team to commit to solid R&D and therefore seem streets ahead. Other teams will follow suit and close the gap soon enough, especially with former Sky riders in the peloton informing their new teams.
Click to expand...

:thumbs:
Exactly my thoughts on the matter.
If we suspect Sky, then we also have to suspect Hoy, Pendleton, Wiggins, Cavendish and all the others who came up through the BC track programme.
 
MG TF 135 said:
Team Sky are built on the Team GB Olympic Track Cycling research and development protocols. 'Marginal Gains' is the concept and has been proven in the velodrome.

So lets cut Froome and Team Sky some slack here. They are the first team to commit to solid R&D and therefore seem streets ahead. Other teams will follow suit and close the gap soon enough, especially with former Sky riders in the peloton informing their new teams.
Click to expand...

There were some very good features by Chris Boardman and Ned Boulting during the first weeks coverage on ITV4 in a wind tunnel, about drag and the gains to be had using aerodynamics.

They showed the gains to be had from slip streaming behind another riders. He also talked of the gains to be had from the clothes and bike design.

He said there were gains to be had from having helmets with no holes in, that could be a 5% gain. When asked why no teams were using that type of helmet he said 'tradition'. :eek: :shrug:

All this things add up to big gains if implemented correctly.
 
MG TF 135 said:
Team Sky are built on the Team GB Olympic Track Cycling research and development protocols. 'Marginal Gains' is the concept and has been proven in the velodrome.

So lets cut Froome and Team Sky some slack here. They are the first team to commit to solid R&D and therefore seem streets ahead. Other teams will follow suit and close the gap soon enough, especially with former Sky riders in the peloton informing their new teams.
Click to expand...

Makes you wonder why they needed to hire someone as filthy as Geert Leinders though doesn't it? This is the doctor that masterminded RaboBank's doping program afterall.
Their zero-tolerance policy means they have lost some high-profile staff too. Yates, de Jong, Julich have all had to go. But that means that some people entrenched in doping have been a fundamental part of the Team Sky set-up.
I am not saying that they are doping, all I am saying is that I have an open mind about all of the pro-cycling community.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Makes you wonder why they needed to hire someone as filthy as Geert Leinders though doesn't it? This is the doctor that masterminded RaboBank's doping program afterall.
Their zero-tolerance policy means they have lost some high-profile staff too. Yates, de Jong, Julich have all had to go. But that means that some people entrenched in doping have been a fundamental part of the Team Sky set-up.
I am not saying that they are doping, all I am saying is that I have an open mind about all of the pro-cycling community.
Click to expand...



You reside in Alicante - Spain?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...s-Operation-Puerto-scandal-goes-on-trial.html

Up until very recently (the last eight years I believe), doping in sport was not even considered illegal in Spain.:shake:
 
andy700 said:
You reside in Alicante - Spain?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...s-Operation-Puerto-scandal-goes-on-trial.html

Up until very recently (the last eight years I believe), doping in sport was not even considered illegal in Spain.:shake:
Click to expand...

What an earth has my location got to do with anything?

Are you trying to imply (without the courage to do so) that I would somehow try to defend Spain's lamentable record when it comes to doping in cycling?

This is a thread about the Tour de France, and I am sure all are welcome to contribute irrespective of where they are. Or maybe you have a different view?

Making this thread personal is a pretty poor show if you ask me. What you have done has contributed nothing to the debate, all you have done is made some limp-wristed personal snipe. What's the point? :cuckoo:
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Makes you wonder why they needed to hire someone as filthy as Geert Leinders though doesn't it? This is the doctor that masterminded RaboBank's doping program afterall.
Their zero-tolerance policy means they have lost some high-profile staff too. Yates, de Jong, Julich have all had to go. But that means that some people entrenched in doping have been a fundamental part of the Team Sky set-up.
I am not saying that they are doping, all I am saying is that I have an open mind about all of the pro-cycling community.
Click to expand...

Referring to David Millers book again, the original plan for Sky was to only to have proven clean riders. Miller was interested in joining Sky but was categorically blocked from doing so, hence Miller becoming a partner in creating Slipstream Garmin who allowed rehab'd riders.

At the time of the Sky's creation there was not a requirement for support staff to have a clean history of doping allegations. Remember that there was virtually nobody with road racing pedigree without at least minimal contact with doping, so creating a team from scratch with complete zero tolerance would have been hard maybe impossible.

It was only during the 2012 season (Sky's 3rd season) that the entire Sky staff had to sign up to the clean ethos, and certain support staff had to be released. I recall this being after the Lance Armstrong revelations where many more members of historic cycling were solidly implicated. At this point I suspect Team Sky hierarchy released that they had to show the entire staff were clean as a whistle.
 
MG TF 135 said:
Referring to David Millers book again, the original plan for Sky was to only to have proven clean riders. Miller was interested in joining Sky but was categorically blocked from doing so, hence Miller becoming a partner in creating Slipstream Garmin who allowed rehab'd riders.

At the time of the Sky's creation there was not a requirement for support staff to have a clean history of doping allegations. Remember that there was virtually nobody with road racing pedigree without at least minimal contact with doping, so creating a team from scratch with complete zero tolerance would have been hard maybe impossible.

It was only during the 2012 season (Sky's 3rd season) that the entire Sky staff had to sign up to the clean ethos, and certain support staff had to be released. I recall this being after the Lance Armstrong revelations where many more members of historic cycling were solidly implicated. At this point I suspect Team Sky hierarchy released that they had to show the entire staff were clean as a whistle.
Click to expand...

Yep that sounds about right to me. I read last week that Brailsford considered the hiring of Geert Leinders as a bad mistake in which he went against his instincts. He's not wrong there.

I am not saying that Sky are doping, and I'm really enjoying watching Froome's success, but I do have an open mind. That's the result of so many years of being disappointed. When I reached the top of Le Galibier I was on an ONCE Team Replica Giant TCR in ONCE team gear. Now we all know that they were a filthy team run by a true scumbag.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
What an earth has my location got to do with anything?

Are you trying to imply (without the courage to do so) that I would somehow try to defend Spain's lamentable record when it comes to doping in cycling?

This is a thread about the Tour de France, and I am sure all are welcome to contribute irrespective of where they are. Or maybe you have a different view?

Making this thread personal is a pretty poor show if you ask me. What you have done has contributed nothing to the debate, all you have done is made some limp-wristed personal snipe. What's the point? :cuckoo:
Click to expand...

It is very noticeable on the various cycling forums, that many people who used to support Armstrong/Contador/Pantani, despite the evidence that they were doping, are now turning their attention to Sky, insinuating that THEY ARE doping. Actually, many are going a lot further than insinuating, saying that the performances by Wiggins, Froome and Porte (these being the most high profile) are down to doping, because these riders had no real history as far as road racing/grand tour riding goes.

Your comment earlier:

"Makes you wonder why they needed to hire someone as filthy as Geert Leinders though doesn't it? This is the doctor that masterminded RaboBank's doping program afterall."

The evidence in relation to Leinders is still emerging, and day by day it is becoming clear that he was indeed largely behind the doping at Rabobank.
There are many people working with current pro teams, who have had an association with doping themselves and the doping of teams which they have managed - Bjarne Riis is the most obvious, having admitted to winning the TdF whilst doping, he then went on to manage the doping programme at CSC, and now runs Team Saxo Tinkoff, where Alberto "dopeburger" Contador is.

There are other teams taking part in this year's TdF, who deserve to be under far more scrutiny than Team Sky.
 
andy700 said:
It is very noticeable on the various cycling forums, that many people who used to support Armstrong/Contador/Pantani, despite the evidence that they were doping, are now turning their attention to Sky, insinuating that THEY ARE doping. Actually, many are going a lot further than insinuating, saying that the performances by Wiggins, Froome and Porte (these being the most high profile) are down to doping, because these riders had no real history as far as road racing/grand tour riding goes.

Your comment earlier:

"Makes you wonder why they needed to hire someone as filthy as Geert Leinders though doesn't it? This is the doctor that masterminded RaboBank's doping program afterall."

The evidence in relation to Leinders is still emerging, and day by day it is becoming clear that he was indeed largely behind the doping at Rabobank.
There are many people working with current pro teams, who have had an association with doping themselves and the doping of teams which they have managed - Bjarne Riis is the most obvious, having admitted to winning the TdF whilst doping, he then went on to manage the doping programme at CSC, and now runs Team Saxo Tinkoff, where Alberto "dopeburger" Contador is.

There are other teams taking part in this year's TdF, who deserve to be under far more scrutiny than Team Sky.
Click to expand...


I still don't see what my location has to do with anything.

Doping is cycling's cancer, and people like Riis should not be allowed anywhere near the sport. It sickens me when I see EuroSport put photos of Richard Virenque on their Facebook page. I'm all for life time bans for repeat offenders. I have no agenda against Team Sky, I have made it clear that I have an open mind about the whole situation. This makes your strange personal jibing very hard to comprehend.
 
A short ITT today before tomorrow's megastage. I don't think there'll be any major changes in the GC today. Interesting to note yesterday that Contador is still having a go. I hope no one get's complacent because last year's Vuelta was brutal and Contador came from behind to win that.
 
I agree excellent ride by Chris froome, whatever the result in paris on Sunday, I think he's done himself proud with his performance so far.the next couple of days should be interesting as contador is still having a go.
 
Quintana's had a cracking ride I reckon - wonder what he could be like with another couple of years under his belt...
 
It would have been interesting to see how much quicker Froome could have got as he had that stage.of going slower due to that bit of rain.
 
Great quote from Blazin' Saddles

"STAGE 18: GAP - ALPE D'HUEZ, 172.5KM: The only way you could get a bigger Queen Stage than this would be if you'd organised a bike race in which Her Majesty Elizabeth II attended while listening to Bohemian Rhapsody as Graham Norton provided the commentary."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top