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All the riders who've tested positive whilst riding for them! Plus the dodgy soigneur caught by the Belgian police with 200 vials of EPO enroute to him.
Has anyone tested positive recently? It's hard to keep track. They have signed a couple of outspokenly clean, and successful, riders for next season. And Cadel seems free of suspicion.
Obviously many of the people involved have dodgy pasts but then so does Brian Holm and he appears to be genuine in his commitment to clean cycling and adored by Cavendish. I dunno. -
And Cav is clean why? Because any other nationality and his dominance in the sprints would be raising eyebrows?
Given that Cav struggles to avoid getting dq'd in every mountain stage, and wins his sprints with a much lower power output than his rivals, exactly which PEDs do you think he might be using...
...or rather, to conitinue your assertion, if he were a foreigner, which PEDs would we be accusing him of using? The ones that help him take a more efficient aero position on the bike than his rivals, or the ones that make him one of the worst lab-testing cyclists in the peloton? I'm no Cav fanboy, but I think you're barking up the wrong tree.
Can anyone remember what Cav's score was on the UCI Suspect Dopers list? 2/10 maybe?
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http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boonen-suffering-from-open-groin-wound
Ow.
Ow.
OWOWOWOWOW. -
/\/\/\/\ this
I intensely dislike his constant referral to the 'main peloton'. Whilst I understand that the phrase may have its occasional place, generally I think he could just say the 'peloton' and it would get the point across quicker and in a way that is easier on the ears.
edit - ears not years.My TIVO is recording every piece of cycling coverage.
I tried the ITV version of one of the highlights. Fucking dreadful.
All I can say is I hope this ITV shite doesn't lose Eurosport any races. I'll fuck 'em up. -
Wiggins still in red, his lead being nibali'ed at. Did anyone see what I did there?
Back to back tough stages now with huge climbs. Tomorrows is a 16km run in up nearly 1000m, and then on Sunday a monster stage with a huge climb of over 1200m in 12km.
From there, the stage profiles look fairly steady. I think Wiggins could take some time out of Nibali on the punchier climbs and flatter stages over the remaining week where Nibali is not the strongest. This is because I think the SKY team is much more suited to these types of stages as opposed to the big lumps of rocks with cloud round the top.
If Wiggins can stay in contention in the next couple of days I may even put my mums house on him winning.
Speaking of Mountains, I was reading Jeff Connor's excellent account of the Halfords Pro team (the Uks first pro team to enter the Tour de France). They selected a group of riders who they thought could make it to Paris and picked Paul Watson as the climber - solely on the basis he won the King of the Mountain jersey in the Milk Race - the tour of the UK.
Thats like me standing at the foot of Everest because I managed the climbing wall at the local go ape centre. I thought that was hilarious.
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One more tough day, probably the toughest out of the lot.
Wiggins and Froome did really well today, but I think tomorrow could be a 5minute stage win so they have to stay completely on it and track all the attacks - which frankly they have done absolutely superbly. Still concerned about the lack of help in the Sky team, it almost seems a strange that this is their the majority of their B team on show.
Still it's a rest day Monday, so all to give tomorrow.
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Speaking of Mountains, I was reading Jeff Connor's excellent account of the Halfords Pro team (the Uks first pro team to enter the Tour de France). They selected a group of riders who they thought could make it to Paris and picked Paul Watson as the climber - solely on the basis he won the King of the Mountain jersey in the Milk Race - the tour of the UK.
Thats like me standing at the foot of Everest because I managed the climbing wall at the local go ape centre. I thought that was hilarious.
Actually they weren't the first UK pro-team to ride it...
And how much do you know about Watson before you criticise him? Was a class rider and climber.
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Today shows what could have been in the TdF - will be interesting to see who comes highest in the SPOTY vote - a GC winner or a TdF jersey winner.
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About
2011-08-20 - Vuelta a Espana: dates / route
Posted by
@almac68
I am not saying that the sport is clean but I am a damn sight more relaxed that in the days of Willy Voet (the first dodgy soigneur - Festina 1998). I had heard about this article a few days ago and I was taken aback.
The first defence, they were for personal use, was strangely the same defence as Voet gave.
A decent article is here:
http://cyclopunk.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-belgian-busts-who-is-sven-s.html
Interestingly this quotes:
But a brief search of BMC's own website reveals the existence of one Sven Schoutteten, rather embarrassingly listed as a soigneur
More interestingly, I can no longer find this name on the team list.
Furthermore, it is also interesting that Viaene (head soigneur) looked after Lance Armstrong, who I think it is fair to say is one of the biggest frauds in cycling (I am probably im his black book list now). Hincapie, who has been claimed to have testified against Armstrong and admitted his own doping, is in the BMC team. Sciandri is on the team also. He worked with Cecchini who developed under the tutelage of Conconi (the worst doping dope of them all). Cecchini also worked with Bjarne Riis and Jan Ulrich. Both admitting doping after long stints in denial.
The fact remains that whilst the old guard (the lot from the 80s and 90) are still around there will always be significant connection to confirmed doping. In time the family tree will dilute the blood line and hopefully the testing and ethos will change to breed a new type of cycling. But for now the sport still readily welcomes back dopers with open arms, whether it is this lot at BMC, Riis as a race Director, or even Virenique doing commentary on Eurosport, there is way too much connection to the old days to be sure Cycling is clean - and way too much acceptance of the old doping ways.
Unfortunately though, this completely ignores the many athletes who can no longer take comfort in cycling, the myriad of junior and upcoming pros trying too hard to keep up and lost their lives. Or athletes like Pantani driven to a world of despair, depression and death due to a reliance on illegal substances.
Welcoming back dopers ignores train wreck that leaves a wake of destruction and lives ruined. In my opinion Armstrong is the driver of that train.