Pro-cycling thread

He denies allegations that he has ever personally tortured anyone.

Of course he hasn't. He got someone to do it for him. I mean, you don't, as a member of the royal family, have your own securities services and do your own torturing.

Classic non-denial denial.

Really?

That’s the shower head in my office shower!!!

Swoon

I think the allegation is that he HAS personally tortured people

I think the allegation is that he HAS personally tortured people

Not according to the BBC news website that the wikipedia page that quote is taken from uses as its citation - it says he directed it to happen. My underlying point being that telling your pet torturer to torture someone else is not morally better than doing it yourself.

When you’re a member of the royal family you sometimes get so bored that you might need to torture someone from time to time.

Well, yes, I suppose a little light recreational torturing might be a possibility. But apparently sleep deprivation, 'stress positions' (a euphemism for being hung up by your arms) and simulated drowning (waterboarding is another euphemism) isn't torture, according to the God-fearing democratic evangelists in the Land Of The Free, so that gives bored royal Arab sadists considerable latitude over what is or isn't 'torture'. Anyway, who hasn't been innocently walking along with a pair of jump leads connected to the mains, and then accidentally fallen over and brushed them against someone else's testicles? Happens all the time. Well, back to cycling...

Anyway, who hasn't been innocently walking along with a pair of jump leads connected to the mains, and then accidentally fallen over and brushed them against someone else's testicles? Happens all the time.

There's a lot more to Ely than meets the eye.

Is the track cycling world cup on ‘normal’ telly this weekend?

The good Prince was certainly responsible for Meiyin Wang riding Paris Roubaix in 2018. Bastard.

Indirect torture saves a fortune in laundry bills. Have you seen what bodily fluids can do to pristine white robes?

I like how the bloke from McLaren in that Torygraph piece says:

"The name of the team in 2019 is already set as Bahrain-Merida. We’re proud of the association."

Would that be the association with the famously corrupt and repressive kleptocratic dustbowl of Bahrain? The mind boggles.

It's the guys behind F1 racing. That 'sport' is basically an extended kleptocratic world tour. You should not be surpised.

McLaren are owned by the Bahrainis, no?

Yes, but they are a British company according to Copeland. British like Froome and Zola Budd.

joke cars and uninhabitably hot shitholes aren't my areas of expertise

BBC live on red button.

BBC Red Button count as normal?

He will. His ride at the Dauphine last year caught the attention of a lot of teams.

Oh, I'm sure he won't be short of offers and opportunities. I was mainly thinking of how he went along to the Team Sky launch as a boy (14?), followed them since then, worked hard for years to be able to join them, and just as he gets into the year(s) when he's likely to be able to win races for them, the main sponsor withdraws. I mean, I'm sure he's mature enough to be professional about it and shrug it off, but it seems like very unfortunate timing. Here's hoping the team continues, perhaps even with a more ethically acceptable sponsor.

This is a good thing for him I think. With a different sponsor or, perhaps, a different team at least if he wins he won’t be instantly judged a doper.

I mean, I'm sure he's mature enough to be professional about it and shrug it off, but it seems like very unfortunate timing. Here's hoping the team continues, perhaps even with a more ethically acceptable sponsor.

Maybe good timing ? Saves him riding as a dom for Bernal for the next five years at least

Sky shouldn't have any trouble finding a new sponsor now.

Thomas won SPOTY?

I keep forgetting he even won the Tour. Sincerely, I saw a clip the other day, remembered, and was startled at how fleeting an impact it had on me that I had wiped it from my memory. And out of all Sky riders I don't mind Thomas. Bizarre.

Thomas who won the Tour? Dekker? Didn't he retire already?

Not sure where I heard it but LVMH are being talked up as a potential sponsor for Sky.

I am sure this will only add to their popularity to be sponsored by Louis Vuitton