[John_D]

Re: Tour de France Chat : Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:58 am  

Sagan wheelie-ing up Ventoux... Just when you thought you couldn't love him any more.

Another stunning statement from Froome and Sky.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:48 am  

Brilliant ride from Froome, such a shame that instead of celebrating such a magnificent ride, many journalists question the validity of such a dominant performance and ask the same old questions about doping.

Unfortunately, that is the legacy Armstrong et al have left behind for modern-day cycling.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:53 am  

See also the mens 100m, where six of the eight fastest men of all time have now been shown to have doped at some point in their careers.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:14 pm  

John_D wrote: Sagan wheelie-ing up Ventoux... Just when you thought you couldn't love him any more. Have you seen this? http://nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up.

John_D wrote: Sagan wheelie-ing up Ventoux... Just when you thought you couldn't love him any more. Have you seen this? http://nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up.

[John_D]

Re: Tour de France Chat : Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:14 am  

vbfg wrote: Have you seen this? http://nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up. I have seen that before, but always worth a repeat viewing. If it was anyone else, I'd call trickery. But it's not, so he gets the benefit of any doubt.

vbfg wrote: Have you seen this? http://nos.nl/video/529587-sagan-rijdt- ... eelie.html He just needs to lose that stupid goatee he's picked up. I have seen that before, but always worth a repeat viewing. If it was anyone else, I'd call trickery. But it's not, so he gets the benefit of any doubt.

[John_D]

Re: Tour de France Chat : Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:51 am  

Here we go again then.
Nico Roche among those in a group up the road. Saxo planning something? They're being given a short leash at the moment, presumably until such time as they persuade Roche that he should bugger off.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:20 pm  

ParanoidAndroid wrote:

Brilliant ride from Froome, such a shame that instead of celebrating such a magnificent ride, many journalists question the validity of such a dominant performance and ask the same old questions about doping.

Unfortunately, that is the legacy Armstrong et al have left behind for modern-day cycling.

Those same journalists all used to celebrate magnificent rides until the truth was finally known re how those magnificent rides were 'fueled'.

I tend to take the view at the moment of giving it ' a while ' before being absolutely certain that there has been no doping going on.

As for Froome - I think we can say he's clean but I would never be certain about any of them. What this tour is telling me is that it is less likely that doping is going on. It also looks like any benefit Contador once had through his doping has gone - this is not the same Contador we have seen from seasons past.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:11 pm  

Such a shame that despite all reiterations, there will always be questions surrounding any dominant indivual performance.

FWIW I am utterly convinced that Froome and the overwhelming majority of the peloton are riding clean. Any more high profile cyclists caught doping then any integretity the sport has built up over the past couple of years is gone and major sponsors would withdraw from the sport.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:31 am  

I have to say that I really empathised with Contador's indignation at Quintana pushing on at the front when the Spaniard had hit the deck.

Bertie has always been the epitome of a good sportsman who would never take advantage if a rival of his had some misfortune befall him. I mean imagine if in 2010 when he was battling with Frank Schleck for the Tour & Schleck had lost his chain on the final climb of a stage, can anyone seriously imagine that Contador would take advantage? Such a scenario is as unlikely as being able to buy a Spanish steak that isn't laced with Clenbuterol.

Re: Tour de France Chat : Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:57 am  

I'm not convinced at all. On the one hand I'm heartened that there were two riders caught earlier this year thanks to rumours in the peloton. That's a really positive step. Prior to oxygen vector doping taking off though riders showed their Grand Tour talent early. Lemond was third in his first tour. In the 2010 Giro Froome was disqualified for hanging on to cars. In the 2011 Vuelta he was blowing Cobo away on the steepest climbs of the year and could have been the first British GT winner if Sky had switched leaders earlier. So much else has changed since the pre EPO days that it would be daft to put all the changed effects down to doping. But these aren't post EPO days, and there's AICAR, Telmisartan and a host of other untestables out there too. Those latter two would perfectly suit the physical transformations of Wiggins, Porte and Froome. Sky didn't exactly help themselves with who they've employed over the years. I want to believe, and I'm very far from at the point of making accusations. I just think there's enough out there to support those who are suspicious. The best all of us can hope for is to find out ten years from now if and when retrospective testing is done on today's samples.

I'm not convinced at all. On the one hand I'm heartened that there were two riders caught earlier this year thanks to rumours in the peloton. That's a really positive step. Prior to oxygen vector doping taking off though riders showed their Grand Tour talent early. Lemond was third in his first tour. In the 2010 Giro Froome was disqualified for hanging on to cars. In the 2011 Vuelta he was blowing Cobo away on the steepest climbs of the year and could have been the first British GT winner if Sky had switched leaders earlier. So much else has changed since the pre EPO days that it would be daft to put all the changed effects down to doping. But these aren't post EPO days, and there's AICAR, Telmisartan and a host of other untestables out there too. Those latter two would perfectly suit the physical transformations of Wiggins, Porte and Froome. Sky didn't exactly help themselves with who they've employed over the years. I want to believe, and I'm very far from at the point of making accusations. I just think there's enough out there to support those who are suspicious. The best all of us can hope for is to find out ten years from now if and when retrospective testing is done on today's samples.