2011 Pro-cycling season thread

Can't we have a load of dads get together on the Galibier, get shit faced on tins of Stella before stripping down to tatty mankinis and hobbling along the side of the road bellowing, 'GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON BRADLEY! GO ON... ooh, my fucking knee!'

Appropriate choice of beer for Belgian Bradley. #ooftouchysubject #loveit ;)

I am not sure how you can get higher than being in the top ten.

I interpret it as:

Win = 1st
Podium = 2nd-3rd
Top five = 4th-5th
Top ten = 6th-10th

Obviously each includes the ones above, but if you meant those, you'd say those.

Bob Stapleton throws it out there...

“If we haven’t secured a sponsor by the end of the Tour de France, we will have to sit down and start considering how to wind down operations,”

Appropriate choice of beer for Belgian Bradley. #ooftouchysubject #loveit ;)

who cares where he's from? to follow/support riders based purely on nationality not talent, charisma or idiocy* is a bit stupid.
pro-cycling teams are usually multinational how can you support one rider and ignore his team mates working for him because they are from a different country?
i like watching the manx missile, i also like watching the Germans/australians/New Zealanders doing their bit to get him there.

*nutters make the peloton more exciting to watch.

who cares where he's from? to follow/support riders based purely on nationality not talent, charisma or idiocy* is a bit stupid.
pro-cycling teams are usually multinational how can you support one rider and ignore his team mates working for him because they are from a different country?
i like watching the manx missile, i also like watching the Germans/australians/New Zealanders doing their bit to get him there.

*nutters make the peloton more exciting to watch.

I agree.

Oh, as long as I don't have to support the bastard fucking Dutch.

shudder

Multi-millionaire Bob Stapleton throws it out there...

Fixed that for you.

I was looking at this the other day and, by my reckoning, at least 5 Pro Tour teams receive or have received funding from a wealthy benefactor in recent years.

who cares where he's from? to follow/support riders based purely on nationality not talent, charisma or idiocy* is a bit stupid.
pro-cycling teams are usually multinational how can you support one rider and ignore his team mates working for him because they are from a different country?
i like watching the manx missile, i also like watching the Germans/australians/New Zealanders doing their bit to get him there.
*nutters make the peloton more exciting to watch.

Hook, line, sinker, rod, tackle box, boat, ute.

Appropriate choice of beer for Belgian Bradley.

Don't you mean the half Australian, Belgian born Bradley?

Fixed that for you.

I was looking at this the other day and, by my reckoning, at least 5 Pro Tour teams receive or have received funding from a wealthy benefactor in recent years.

Was speaking to a Soigneur last night about how lower teams are funded as you surely can't get that much back from them, he said loads are funded by very wealthy people who just love cycling or its used as a tax right off by companies.

Hook, line, sinker, rod, tackle box, boat, ute.

it's actually a fair topic for discussion. supporting because of your nationality and overenthusiastic jingoism or because you like the rider/team?
tubbs being an example, the only reason i notice what he's up to is because he's a fruitcake and a bit of a prick.
the schleck bro's and cuntador i can manage without. but like to watch boonen, thomas, soler hushovd amongst others.

seems odd for an australian to bring up nationality when you don't have to go very far back to find a different nationality, Evans is welsh so maybe he will help thomas in the world champs?

Looks like Heras was clean after all. He still failed an EPO test but the Spanish have deicied that the panel which banned him were not competant to make the decision so have annulled it.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24062011/58/heras-drug-ban-declared-void-court.html

Heras was about as clean as a tramps cock.

In the 2005 Vuelta TT he recorded one of the fastest times ever in a Grand Tour time trial, missing victory by one second to Ruben Plaza who came close to Victory in that years World time Trial.

Heras weighs roughly the same as a moth's knee - he'd consistently posted shit times in Time Trials up to that point. I remember watching that race - after the results came in the commentators were harumphing and tutting to hide their obvious embarrassment. Everyone knew he'd doped.

Looks like Heras was clean after all. He still failed an EPO test but the Spanish have deicied that the panel which banned him were not competant to make the decision so have annulled it.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24062011/58/heras-drug-ban-declared-void-court.html

Herasy! Perish the thought.

Heras was about as clean as a tramps cock.

In the 2005 Vuelta TT he recorded one of the fastest times ever in a Grand Tour time trial, missing victory by one second to Ruben Plaza who came close to Victory in that years World time Trial.

Heras weighs roughly the same as a moth's knee - he'd consistently posted shit times in Time Trials up to that point. I remember watching that race - after the results came in the commentators were harumphing and tutting to hide their obvious embarrassment. Everyone knew he'd doped.

Brilliant, "as clean as a tramps cock"! :-)

I remember that time trial well, it was an utter joke. I think Sastre was third at ten seconds too.

^Good memory!

I have to say, though I sort-of like Sastre, that result was too good to be true as well. 3rd in a Grand Tour? I think not. Bradley McGee was riding that year. Can you honestly imagine Sastre and Hera beating McGee against the clock?

There's some seriously fucked up results from the last fifteen years or so. Here's hoping the next fifteen make a lot more sense.

Talking of time trials, this is genuinely remarkable

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/french-road-championships-2011/elite-women-time-trial/results

Yeah, just read about that yesterday. Incredible performance. I'd love to know how she keeps focused enough to keep going.You must hit a certain age and just think, 'ahhh.... fuck it. Pass the ice cream.'

Chapeau, Jeannie.

Yeh, I read about it the day before yesterday but it's not about who was first or second. We are bigger than that.

Maybe she dopes or something or other.

Can you honestly imagine Sastre and Hera beating McGee against the clock?

I could imagine Hera doing it, she's divine.

Nice to see Chavanel, Gilbert, & Armistead getting long overdue victories in their respective national RRs today :)

Wiggins wins the UK title. What's the Flemish for chapeau?

I think it's "thanks Geraint, thanks Peter"

reports have it that Brailsford ordered "may the best man win" on the last lap..

How to attack purposefully…

"Il est loin! Il est loin! Il est trrrrrrrrrrrrès loin!!!"