Seems like he's prepared poorly. Cadel and Wiggins seem to be peaking at just the right time.

After reading Millar's book, I can't see the word "prepared" and not think of EPO.

Stage profiles are up on the letour.fr website. Looks like there are several downhill finishes. Evans will surely have to attack at least once from afar on one of these stages to get some time on Wiggins. Even though Andy Shleck has been discounted as a potential winner, a spanner in the works for team sky is having to do the work if he goes on the attack like he did last year (which he is likely to do in order to take time on Wiggins and Evans).

Seems like Cav is intent on finishing with the green jersey which thus makes life difficult for team sky even though they were the strongest team at dauphine.

Shaping up to be another epic!!

I think you've summed it up pretty well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by didjeridude

Stage profiles are up on the letour.fr website. Looks like there are several downhill finishes. Evans will surely have to attack at least once from afar on one of these stages to get some time on Wiggins. Even though Andy Shleck has been discounted as a potential winner, a spanner in the works for team sky is having to do the work if he goes on the attack like he did last year (which he is likely to do in order to take time on Wiggins and Evans).

Seems like Cav is intent on finishing with the green jersey which thus makes life difficult for team sky even though they were the strongest team at dauphine.

Shaping up to be another epic!!

I fixie me own post

Shleck is out of the tour with a fractured pelvis. As much as he comes across as a snotty arrogant private school boy, I never wish for riders to crash and go out like that. The more GC contenders there are in the tour the better the race.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy...tour-de-france

Massive News!

To be honest, I probably would have preferred Schleck in the race just to put some added pressure on Wiggins in the mountains.


Had a good look at the stage profiles as well. The time trials 9 & 19 and mountain stages 10, 11, 16 & 17 are definitely must watch.

Are we sure Cav is set on winning the green jersey? I read somewhere he might drop out early for the Olympics.

Shiiiit. Huge news.

For some reason I thought Wiggins was Australian. Was thinking how awesome it is to have 2 Aussies vying for the gold jersey and why there hasn't been any hype about this.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lance-...PaV_story.html


Leave Britney Lance Alone

he's only got one ball FFS

Hopefully his doping is confirmed 100% so the constant speculation ends... getting pretty stale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CheelWinston

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lance-...PaV_story.html


Leave Britney Lance Alone

he's only got one ball FFS

Ok so this is massive news and worthy of discussion, but I have one small request. Can I ask we don't allow the thread topic to disappear completely buried underneath a Lance haters vs fans argument? Sweet righto....


My brief take on the whole situation....

Around 2007 I had a meeting with a guy called Michael Ashenden (who is one of the inventors of the biological passport). For years prior to its introduction he and many others in the anti-doping fraternity had been testing and refining the method. Officially, many research papers were published and all the data was collected on non-professional athletes who signed waivers (that they would not compete during the study whilst under the influence of EPO). Unofficially, however, they were running the analyses on blood samples that were being collected from the pro-peleton. This didn't cost anything extra because all the variables were there anyway. So when one of the world's leading experts on blood doping and blood manipulation tells me "we are 100% certain Lance has been blood doping from 2003 onwards and we suspect he did in 2002 and 2001" then I listen ("we" means him and his peers involved in anti-doping).

Where there are flies and poo smell, usually you find shit. Well flies and stinky poo have followed Lance around for his entire career. I just find it difficult to believe that so many people would want to blatantly lie about his doping activities if it were completely untrue. What that implies however, is that if he is indeed clean, he must be the world's biggest **** to have made so many enemies in his career.

Quote:

Originally Posted by didjeridude

Where there are flies and poo smell, usually you find shit. Well flies and stinky poo have followed Lance around for his entire career. I just find it difficult to believe that so many people would want to blatantly lie about his doping activities if it were completely untrue. What that implies however, is that if he is indeed clean, he must be the world's biggest **** to have made so many enemies in his career.

Yeah pretty much the same attitude all my cycling fanatic friends have as well. Really, what do all these people accusing him have to gain from it?

I'm not an expert but it just doesn't add up at all. Throw a bunch corporations with huge financial interests in the Armstrong brand and you've got every reason to keep his doping under wraps.

Also saw this article on Ashenden recently.... all seems so dodgy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17586597

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ashe...passport-panel

Quote:

Originally Posted by didjeridude

Ok so this is massive news and worthy of discussion, but I have one small request. Can I ask we don't allow the thread topic to disappear completely buried underneath a Lance haters vs fans argument? Sweet righto....

yep

maybe someone should bump the last Armstrong doping thread. I couldn't find it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CheelWinston

yep

maybe someone should bump the last Armstrong doping thread. I couldn't find it.

Was it this one?

http://www.inthemix.com.au/forum/sho...=274083&page=2

If he's found to be a doper I'll be extremely disappointed. He will have lived this huge elaborate lie to cash in on a terrible disease, make a shitload of money promoting well being, self belief and all that other shit he sprukes. That being said, I still think his fight with cancer and the things he has done clean/unclean are still fairly remarkable. It just leaves such a bitter taste if its true and what a shame.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrugfuctDonkey

Yeah pretty much the same attitude all my cycling fanatic friends have as well. Really, what do all these people accusing him have to gain from it?

I'm not an expert but it just doesn't add up at all. Throw a bunch corporations with huge financial interests in the Armstrong brand and you've got every reason to keep his doping under wraps.

Also saw this article on Ashenden recently.... all seems so dodgy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17586597

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ashe...passport-panel

lol awesome. I know Asho pretty well actually and this doesn't surprise me. He is quietly outspoken and sticks to his beliefs.

Until a rider who hasn't been caught testifies against him, I can't see it sticking in a court.

A gloomy day for cycling...

"Cycling is the cleanest sport."

- Mike Tomaris and Azn Foz circa 2011 Tour de France after Voeckler rode his arse out to stay in the Gold.

at least they are trying to do something about doping. a lot of other sports dgaf.

he was one of the most tested athletes, so until something concrete comes up, i'm happy to give arstrong the benefit of the doubt. Are we going to doubt everyone that has ever won the tour, including evans? What makes armstrong's 7 wins more remarkable than Evans single win or Carlos Sastre's win? or evan cancellara's motor in the bottom bracket of his bike?

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

What makes armstrong's 7 wins more remarkable than Evans single win

possibly that he won 7 of them. in a row.

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

he was one of the most tested athletes, so until something concrete comes up, i'm happy to give arstrong the benefit of the doubt. Are we going to doubt everyone that has ever won the tour, including evans? What makes armstrong's 7 wins more remarkable than Evans single win or Carlos Sastre's win? or evan cancellara's motor in the bottom bracket of his bike?

Up until a certain point in time (probably up to and including Contador) I think all past winners will have a cloud over them. Let's not kid ourselves that all manner of preparation has been going on from the very start of Le Tour (cognac and speed all the way through to cortisone and EPO). Tommy Simpson's death on Mt Ventoux unmasked what everyone in the peleton knew and was involved in, and that was in the mid 60's.
Whilst riders like Lemond, Indurain and Hinault probably didn't dope, no one can be sure because the dopers were so far ahead of the authorities (or the organisation was complicit in the omerta). There's enough stuff bandied around Stephen Roche to take the gloss off his remarkable Triple Crown (Tour, Giro, Worlds), which is a shame.
If anything good can come from the continued Armstrong investigations, is that we get to the bottom of it finally and a line is drawn in the sand for the future of cycling. The work of Garmin, Sky and others in the peleton should be lauded and the message. And if he is guilty, then Armstrong should be metaphorically tarred and feathered to reinforce the message.
His historical lack of anti-doping advocacy is a little mystifying, imho, for someone who is supposedly clean. What may be the greatest fear though is the future of cycling, if the greatest rider in the sport's biggest annual event is found to have been the greatest liar in sporting history.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zodiac

That being said, I still think his fight with cancer and the things he has done clean/unclean are still fairly remarkable. It just leaves such a bitter taste if its true and what a shame.

Didn't he dump sherryl crow when she found out she had cancer? Ouch

Even Cadel has a cloud over him, that's just what this sport has become.

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

he was one of the most tested athletes, so until something concrete comes up, i'm happy to give arstrong the benefit of the doubt. Are we going to doubt everyone that has ever won the tour, including evans? What makes armstrong's 7 wins more remarkable than Evans single win or Carlos Sastre's win? or evan cancellara's motor in the bottom bracket of his bike?

He tested positive to EPO in 1999 and got off on a technicality. Many other riders whom have since confessed to years of systematic doping also never tested positive.

Not testing positive doesn't mean a thing except the fact that until recently, it has always been as easy as pissing in a bottle to beat the tests.

Quote:

Originally Posted by didjeridude

He tested positive to EPO in 1999 and got off on a technicality. Many other riders whom have since confessed to years of systematic doping also never tested positive.

Not testing positive doesn't mean a thing except the fact that until recently, it has always been as easy as pissing in a bottle to beat the tests.

but he also passed 500 tests. The thing is, most of this came out once he retired and when landis spewed his guts, but landis has no credibility. If there was a conspiracy, some real evidence would have surfaced by now, but i find it a bad case of tall poppy syndrome

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

but he also passed 500 tests*.

citation required

the whole "most tested athlete ever" thing is a myth that the armstrong camp invented.

sounds good though doesn't it?

300 tests? 500 tests? how about 600 tests? ONE MILLION TESTS!!

evidence of these tests ffs? like a database or something?

please provide anything other than a press release from someone connected with lance/nike/livestrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

The thing is, most of this came out once he retired and when landis spewed his guts, but landis has no credibility. If there was a conspiracy, some real evidence would have surfaced by now, but i find it a bad case of tall poppy syndrome

hang on, "real evidence", is eye-witness testimony real evidence? (flandis, hamilton, etc)

how about positive tests? (ashenden)

jeeez dude. take off the blinkers.

I'm kinda with buffed on this one, but perhaps from a different angle.

he's retired, a lot of time has passed... others surrounding him got done he didn't. why go on a witch hunt now....

it is fucked if he won while on drugs, but would the number 2 of the TdF really want to take the yellow 10 years later when he was second over the line?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dart

hang on, "real evidence", is eye-witness testimony real evidence? (flandis, hamilton, etc)

how about positive tests? (ashenden)

jeeez dude. take off the blinkers.

real evidence from two people with no credibility? Ashenden 'positive tests' have not been proven. you can't hammer armstrong on the basis of a kangaroo court. whether it's 200 tests or 500 he has never proved positive other than to cortisone in 1999 which was in a cream he used for back pain

agreed. What does a convicted cheat have to lose in naming anyone who he wanted to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

real evidence from two people with no credibility? Ashenden 'positive tests' have not been proven.

http://velocitynation.com/content/in...chael-ashenden

how much more proof could there be?

i guess we'll have to agree to disagree

ok moving on. .

no andy. . . so the tour is now like the ashes . . . AUSTRALIA v GB!!

with maybe a russian or italian thrown in for good measure.

i'm excited!

What are our young riders looking like, when Evans eventually retires do we have any GC riders that potentially fight it out for the yellow, or is it going to be a bit like F1 where we only get a real chance to cheer on an Australian once every 20 years or so?

google the names Richard Porte, Michael Matthews as well as the GreenEDGE team roster

though I don't know I'd class them above the crop that's finishing their careers this year (McEwan, O'Grady and Evans) - but this early on it's impossible to say

Richie Porte has a top 5 TdF in him I think, so long as he doesnt spend the next 5 years being a mountain stage leadout for some other GC rider.
michael matthews is going nowhere.
Goss will spend the next few years neck and neck with cav
Durbridge is absolutely dominating the TT's in his first year as a pro, and I think he could potentially become a very successful classics/TT rider, much like cancellara.

Porte should be alright, he's in a decent environment with long term vision. Him and Froome (GB) could be superstars in the next 6 years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffed

but he also passed 500 tests. The thing is, most of this came out once he retired and when landis spewed his guts, but landis has no credibility. If there was a conspiracy, some real evidence would have surfaced by now, but i find it a bad case of tall poppy syndrome

So what? If you get tested a million times for the presence of rhEPO, or HGH or IGF-1, then you will NEVER test positive for having a blood transfusion.

Anyway, I'm not interested in wasting any more time on this. USADA have done the deed, its up to them to bring the case. I don't really care anymore because the bio passport is improving all the time and its gradually getting harder for athletes to cheat via blood manipulation.


back on topic.....

Is GreenEdge on the Tour? Haven't heard anything about that.

Edit: Yes they are.

watching SBS makes my heart feel slightly sad that the tour is starting soon and i'm not over there.

i'm sad i'm going to miss all the tour related ads this year, because i'll be in FRANCE! oh yes!

my fave was the one for the TV you could pause, rewind, record etc. . where the guy with the remote made the peloton stop and go back and do it all again.

"the mountain climb?"

ah yes.

Media Player

Tour De France Mountain Climb - YouTube

I fucking love that ad.

Team BMC announced.....

BMC Racing Team Tour de France Roster

Marcus Burghardt (Ger), Steve Cummings (GBr), Cadel Evans (Aus), Philippe Gilbert (Bel), George Hincapie (USA), Amaël Moinard (Fra), Manuel Quinziato (Ita), Michael Schär (Swi), Tejay van Garderen (USA).

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/defe...-head-bmc-team

Doesn't quite match the firepower of Team Sky, but then again, they don't have to keep a sprinter happy. Watch for Gilbert to do some attacking methinks.

From The Guardian:

Sky are likely to name their Tour de France team this week, possibly on Thursday. Among the seven riders joining Wiggins and Cavendish are expected to be Wiggins's four training partners, Mike Rogers and Richie Porte of Australia, the Belarussian Kanstantsin Siutsou and the Kenya-born Briton Chris Froome, and last year's double stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway.

I think the key for Team Sky is whether or not Froome, Rogers and Porte can stay with Wiggins and the other GC contenders until the very end of the mtn stages. Evans has shown he can drop Wiggins in the mtns at the Dauphine, but not by much. Wiggins will have no problem pulling Evans back in with help on any downhill run if he has team mates, but if he gets isolated and there is a group of GC contenders up the road, I reckon they will work together to get as much time as possible because they all know they need it for the ITT. With Shleck out, I am hoping that Sanchez, Menchov, Nibali and JvdB all come into form and make life really difficult for Sky (and the race more enjoyable to watch for everyone)

+1

In all I want this tour to live upto what Stage 19 last year was. Fuck, that shit was tense.

excitement is building !!!!!!

I will say it again... I can't believe I'm in the Pacific islands for this I highly doubt I'll be able to even get updates.

I was lamenting over the idea of watching this late at night and going to work out my final weeks at my old company looking like shit. Then BAM!!! Gardening leave - 4 weeks!