I think there is probably a lot of it true, and sour grapes because the one person everyone would love to see go down in flames is pretty untouchable by them. Typical crabs in the bucket crap. But this one crab not only got out, but never came close to the hot water and those left behind are getting themselves burned. I find it most difficult to believe that only Lance is so smart and sneaky enough to have bested the top blood screening tests from all over the world for almost 2 decades. No one is that loved or intimidating enough to have pulled off something of that magnitude if they were as guilty as those who are accusing him say he is. And if he is, well then, good on him too for being the greatest mastermind there will ever be in athletic doping history. I don't doubt he juiced here and there at times, but I got over the whole purist BS in pro sports as a kid. Seeing the E German women in the '72 Olympics and reading N Dallas 40 pretty much summed up all I had ever suspected. Where money is involved, all is fair it seems. Long Live LANCE!!!
When they start busting pro football, baseball and basketball players to the level they do cyclist, then I'll worry about doping in cycling. The NFL, NBA, and MLB test a micron compared to the UCI and national cycling federations. I can guarantee you the Cowboys, Lakers and Yankees dope 10 X more than all the busted cyclists ever did. Problem is that the pro leagues will never test their athletes as much as cycling is tested because it is not as profitable! ARod gets busted after doping for several years and al he gets is a slap on the wrist. Arod, Manny, etc should get a lifetime ban and return of all earnings during the years they doped. Their teams should give back the titles tehy earned thank to them. After all thats said and done then lets question if Lance doped. Oh and with that lets keep this specific forum about this years Tour de France.
I have found that Tequila is not a performance enhancing substance. However, I will continue to study the subject.
Yes he did and they ALL do! And they ALL have for many years! I still love the sport but like most I wish it were clean.
TOTAL Carnage Today! Just too bad Tyler was taken out too. Looked like he was ready to bag one for the Red White and Blue on July 4th, especially after Cavendish got taken out! In any case I'm just waiting for Tyler to bag a sprint to the line with Cav trailing in second. Many more sprinting stages to come.....
Another day of carnage. What an exciting day. I'm suprized they let up and let a regroup happen. They could of put sometime on Andy but they didn't for some reason. I believe they have a code of ethics if a crash happens then they won't as a group do that.
Interesting day with Spartacus leading the soft pedalling and enforcing the no sprint protest at the finish.
The finish was crap! Thor got screwed for sure! Lots of debate now on whether they were respecting the riders that crashed or protesting the stage. Horner says it was a protest! HTFU! They all knew about this stage a year ago. They should have planned accordingly if they thought it would be dangerous! Are they going to neutralize the stage tomorrow? I'll be sick if they do! If a favorite goes down tomorrow will they slow the race? I do wonder if the road was sabotaged though.
Didn't talk about Lacne going down, here's what he posted on his Facebook page... "What a day...crashes everywhere and I don't use the term "everywhere" lightly. Most of the GC guys hit the ground myself included. Got some good "road rash" on the hip and elbow. Bike mangled, cleat on the shoe completely cracked in two. Hope it's dry tomorrow."
From multiple sources (Velonews, Gazetta dello Sport, Le Figaro)... When the original rider went down, the motorbike trailing him also crashed on the road, sliding off into the grass before restarting and pulling off again once they realized they were gushing oil. Since the peloton was only a handful of seconds behind...30 seconds is the report, there was no notice of the crash or the oil on the road, hence the carnage. If the gap had been a couple of minutes, then the word would have been able to go out over the race radios (another argument FOR race radios) to slow the descent, be vigilant, and be cautious. You can see that from the number of riders involved over a substantial length of the road, it wasn't a case of one guy causing a chain reaction. Riders reported avoiding the sounds of a crash behind them only for their wheels to slip out from underneath them on a straight line without warning or pedaling (Been there, done that, on a pavement water crossing hitting a mossy patch on my road bike). Looking at the reaction of all the riders in the various groups, and from the team car look-ins, it took a while to piece together the scope of the crash, and the ultimate decision by the lead group (which didn't have any legit GC contenders in it) to wait for those behind. The reports from the HTC-Columbia and the Garmin team cars reported that those riders that ultimately finished some 10 minutes back were quote "out of it". I think Hincapie, not a GC contender, might be saving himself for the cobbles, while CVV, Farrar, and others who looked truly gruesome, were just trying to get across the line ahead of the cut in case their trip to the hospital showed no major injuries (live to race another day, although tough to do in a Grand Tour). The TDF (while still the king) might feeling be the Giro catching it a little bit, but might have learned from the first few stages of the Giro along some of the same roads and attempted to mitigate some of the danger. I see the cobblestone section breaking into three groups if the teams are smart about the day and the three-week race. Classics riders break first through the cobbles, then the GC guys in a second group some minutes back at a slower pace, then the sprinters and climbers. Classics guys are not able to climb or TT, and the sprinters are not going to want to risk crashing with another 8 or so opportunities for a stage win over the next few weeks (I don't see Cavendish risking himself tomorrow). Can't wait for the stage to start!
Roadies... Last time I checked, if you crash, you get back up and ride as hard as you can to the finish. It's called R-A-C-I-N-G...
Cave taken out? Wasn't he the one to cross across the pack, taking out the other riders and the first one back on the bike? He seems to be a bit more aggressive, possibly due to the fact that his lead out isn't as strong nor are they able to get him up out of the pack for a clean sprint in, which is paying off with carnage. I see him making an even more grave mistake in the stages to come. But, I was looking forward to a clean sprint finish with Cave and Tyler, too. Bummed that he's out
At least two other performance enhancers who were never caught come to mind. Bjane Riis won the '96 Tour de France and Erik Zabel who won 6 consecutive green jerseys and the overall points clasification in 3 other grand tours. After retiring they both admitted to doping. I'm sure there are others who haven't been caught.
I think the whole thing is dirty...the riders do juice, the anti-doping agencies are really crooked as well as the UCI...but what Landis did is just wrong...making all these wild accusations and has nothing to support them..What a Douche! I still am a fan of cycling and it does not take away what these guys do... As for today's stage...what a mess! Tomorrow should be real interesting on the cobble
Back to the actual race.... Wow!!! Thats all I can say...it has been interesting so far and its was another really exciting day with all sorts of ups and downs...that's my teaser now go watch it yourself.
8 miles of cobbles is just stupid; it's not a mountain bike race...but it did make for an interesting day.
I thought it was cool.. definitely a part of French history and culture. And the riders seemed to take it in stride.. Oops.. (Self-deleted sentence for those who haven't seen it yet.) Now, 800 miles of cobbles would be stupid.. but just 8 in over 2,000 miles? Keeps everybody honest who sits out the Spring Classics.
