Tour de France 2010

yup. I can't pass a real judgement; you're the sports scientist, so I'll trust you. but interesting stuff nonetheless.

Fucking farce.

TDF isn't the biggest thing in cycling, it's on a par with a 6-day event: bit of showmanship, bit of entertainment, but a complete fix.

Vinokourov deserves no praise, he shouldn't even be on a bike any more. How hypocritical can this be? people praising him need to have a fucking word with themselves.

TDF isn't the biggest thing in cycling

Hundreds of millions of sponsorship dollars say you're wrong.

Vinokourov deserves no praise, he shouldn't even be on a bike any more. How hypocritical can this be? people praising him need to have a fucking word with themselves.

+1.

But he ain't the sharpest tool in the box is he... clearly doesn't think unbelievable performances are questionable... Remember when he pulled off an unbelievable ride the year he was banned when he came back the day after being completely fucked as fresh as a fucking daisy. It was clearly fucked up then, and his riding over the last few days has been unbelievable too IMHO

it is certainly suspect but i think we will know whether hes clean or not by his performances in the Pyrenees - if he falls off the back for a few stages and fades towards the end of the tour then i just might believe that hes clean. If not, he should either be leading a team or is still a dirty cheating bastard, i suspect the latter

Fucking farce.

TDF isn't the biggest thing in cycling, it's on a par with a 6-day event: bit of showmanship, bit of entertainment, but a complete fix.

Vinokourov deserves no praise, he shouldn't even be on a bike any more. How hypocritical can this be? people praising him need to have a fucking word with themselves.

Fuck you. Vino's great entertainment. That's what professional sport boils down to. Watching him hold off the charge of the peloton in Paris a few years ago was exciting, and so are his mental attacks in the mountains, particularly those against his own team-mates. He may have been as doped as Armstrong et al (and I do mean 'al'), but he was a welcome antidote to the tedium of much of the Lance era.

tdf is cycling, some may say unfortunately.

Sorry yes,** for me,** TDF is not the biggest thing.
Missed that in my rant.

I agreed with that part. Just don't dis the Vino. He's a social lubricant, and pumped full of antioxidants.

In Vino Vitro.

it's very hard to believe he's not doing this clean.
it would be so breathtakingly arrogant of him to be doping again, I almost want it to be true.

Sorry yes,** for me,** TDF is not the biggest thing.
Missed that in my rant.

Well, that was a pretty huge omission. You could say that for nearly everybody here - our respective "biggest thing" might be the daily commute, our club time trials or a polo league.

TNRC > TdF :)

My commute > TNRC > TDF

Vino's a clown. It was a good win, but reminds me so much of Virenque's 'comeback' win in Paris - Tours, full of balls etc but ultimately worthless, graceless & without any merit whatsoever.

Sorry, a proven & unrepentant cheat, an reformed liar, a disgrace.

it's very hard to believe he's not doing this clean.

My naiveté makes me feel the same. Would anyone be that stupid? Or they have a *lot *of trust in what ever method of doping they're using now.

Did anyone spot Cav's leadout yesterday? When the camera panned back to the sprint from Vinokourov he was already off and sprinting for the line. Just wondering if it was an HTC leadout or if he was sucking another wheel?
Great quote from Cav yesterday on Renshaw along the lines of 'I miss him in the bedroom. That didn't come out quite how I meant it'

I think he came off Hushovd's wheel

Sorry, a proven & unrepentant cheat, an reformed liar, a disgrace.

I'm not going to disagree with that. It's what makes him one of cycling's great antiheroes; just as you are one of bike polo's.

ha!

ooofff. reported for bullying.

rollapaluza hillclimb > tdf ?!

ha!

(is that the Dale you missed, BMMF?)

Yes - inaccurate, lacking subtlety, and making the rest of us look like intellectual giants.

That never changed?

Anyway, I'm off to LMNH to meet Bill and watch the end of the stage if anyone wants to stop by.

no one commenting on todays race?

Alberto and Andy track stand? surely worth a mention.

Does anyone think boardman is right and its looking tight for andy now?