Put a seat on it - Cycling Thread

[q-money]

mate of mine has been working on this - pretty farken cool, one of the better uses for twitter out there

http://sbscyclingcentral.stackla.com/

needs more monos as usual, but hey you can't win 'em all

[parksey]

carn cadel

[goaliepersempre]

cancellara :cool:

[Mitchy]

Cavendish :cool:

[GazFish35]

Riding with huge cadence.

[baldrick]

I only ever watch for the Gabriel Gatè segment

[hawk]

get orf tha road tight pants. go cad

[q-money]

big TT last night, wiggins threw down in a huge manner, schoolboy fantasy stuff

will take a lot for BMC to get evans over the line in first, doubt they'll make up the time unless something amazing happens

will force everyone to come out in the mountains

sky have their house in order, froome is a beast

[goaliepersempre]

froome def is beast... but seriously anyone but wiggens... ergh

[parksey]

wiggins should not be allowed to win the tour on account of his ugliness.

shave your ****ing sideburns ffs.

[MFKS]

I smell the despicable odour of drugs in the house.

Wiggins smashed that field and beat arguably the best TT in the world in Fabian Cancellara by 50 seconds. What makes this even more ridiclous is Cancellara has held the lead and the Olympics aren't far away so he would be in red hot form. Beating him is one thing but to have 2 riders from the 1 team flog him???

Froome has done nothing in his career to jump up and jag a 2nd in the Vuelta last year from out of the clouds. Now he is backing it up in the TDF. This all after only finishing 5th in the TT at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Massive improvement if you ask me.

Wiggins has gone from a lesser light in the GC brigade who never quite cut it to not only beating but dominating the rest of them.

Smells suspect to me

[q-money]

are you saying dave brailsford simply has sky on better juice? good luck trying to make this one stick.

[q-money]

the clinic over at cyclingnews is a good read at the moment...would appear to be what is pissing wiggins and the rest of sky off as well.

intrigue to the max brah.

[boz-monaut]

this crap about Wiggins is pissing me off a little and smacks of the old anyone beating Cadel is on the juice routine

British cycling has been coming along very, very well in recent years - starting from success on the track and now the road - it's not like this is the female Chinese swim team

Wiggins is a triple gold medalist on the track, the bloke is immense and has a very long and distinguished career behind him

so get over the sour grapes and conspiracies and just appreciate the incredible ride this bloke is doing

[q-money]

if they are doping why are some of them still shit? lofkvist etc

brailsford has a pretty well known anti-doping stance, millar being frozen out and the like. the peak of the GB track teams at the last two 'lympics is pretty amazing.

[GazFish35]

Anyone see the document outlining the charges against ol' one nut Armstrong?

WOW.
That's when twitter really breaks news.

[boz-monaut]

q-mun - yes I read Andy's posts on itm too

[q-money]

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2012/07/tour-in-mountains-analysis-discussion.html

[Mitchy]

Mountains are looking so good.

[plague]

this crap about Wiggins is pissing me off a little and smacks of the old anyone beating Cadel is on the juice routine

British cycling has been coming along very, very well in recent years - starting from success on the track and now the road - it's not like this is the female Chinese swim team

Wiggins is a triple gold medalist on the track, the bloke is immense and has a very long and distinguished career behind him

so get over the sour grapes and conspiracies and just appreciate the incredible ride this bloke is doing



1. Wiggins is good.
2. Wiggins isnt Australian.
3. ?????????????
4. Wiggins must be on drugs.

Didnt you know the only clean athletes the world has ever seen have been Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman.

[seldom]

mutton chops to finish 3or4 mins ahead of cadel by tour end with froome helping through the alps

[parksey]

cadel will stick with him in the mountains. i can see him making up a bit of time if BMC can get their act together.

it might not mean much in the end with another time trial still to come.

[GazFish35]

...

[plague]

Cadel might just thank his lucky stars he managed to win one TDF in between the Armstrong and Wiggins eras.

One TDF is still pretty fecking amazing

[MFKS]

this crap about Wiggins is pissing me off a little and smacks of the old anyone beating Cadel is on the juice routine

British cycling has been coming along very, very well in recent years - starting from success on the track and now the road - it's not like this is the female Chinese swim team

Wiggins is a triple gold medalist on the track, the bloke is immense and has a very long and distinguished career behind him

so get over the sour grapes and conspiracies and just appreciate the incredible ride this bloke is doing

How is this about someone beating Cadel must be on the Juice ?? How is this about the success of British Track tiders now being transcended to road racing??

There is no conspiracy theory

2009 and 2010 TDF's were the pinnacle for elite road racers. This is where everyone would turn up at their best. Fabian Cancellara blitzed Wiggins in all the TT's

2011 Can't compare as Wiggins crashed out before a TT

Now you are trying to tell me that a bloke who has consistently been beaten by arguably the best TT in the world at present is able to now not only beat but thrash a bloke who is in top notch form and nothing is suspect??

This is the same bloke who has dropped 8-9 kgs from his frame recently and is now able to thrash Cancellara in the TT.
Remember we are talking about an elite athlete here in peak physical condition. Dropping 8-9kgs is only gonna come from a small amount of toning and reduction mainly in muscle mass. Quality TT's have muscle mass. How is Wiggins dropping muscle mass and now improving times?? That defies logic.

TT is about technique and power generation from the muscles. FC's technique and BW's technique ain't changed much because they were already at the top level of the game anyway nd whatever changes would be miniscule results wise. The only way you can do this is to increase your power generation by developing muscles. Wiggins is going the opposite way by reducing his muscles to allow him to be better going up Mountains. The whole thing defies logic.

Wiggo's time trialling should be getting worse while his climbing should improve by dropping weight. His climbing is improving but his TT is actually not getting worse but has improved out of sight.



Boz when it looks like shit smells like shit tastes like shit it most likely is....

[seldom]

Boz when it looks like shit smells like shit tastes like shit it most likely is....



Coogee Bay hotel ice cream ?

[MFKS]

Wiggins may well be hitting a peak but I wouldn't say Cadel is declining. After all he still finished 6th in the TT the other day and has been pretty solid so far in the TDF.

I also wouldn't say Fabian Cancellaras performances are declining far from it he is still a damn fine TT exponent.

This argument is about the spike in form Wiggins is showing which defies belief. Wiggins is not a phenomenen in the Tiger Woods Lionel Messi category arriving in their sport and being untouchable and the finest of their generation. Wiggins isn't that good.

As it stands he will most likely win this race and win it convincingly. The bit about winning it convincingly is the concerning part. If Cadel came out and won this thing convincingly questions would be asked as he is good but not head and shoulders good.

Also remember that if Wiggo does win the TDF he will achieve a sequence of wins that no other cyclist has ever achieved and that includes all the greats and all the greats on drugs.

Paris-Nice
Tour De Romandie
Dauphine
TDF
Have never been won in the same year by one rider.

Usually because form is impossible to carry through this length of time.

This is Wiggos 11th Grand tour so he has been around the block before. He has had a 3rd and a 4th and every other finish has been below 20th spot so it is not as if he has been banging on the door loudly

Compare this to Cadel whom is in his 13th Grand Tour and has finished all 12 started prior with 8 top 10's and 7 of those in the top 5

I can believe that Wiggo may be the better man for a Tour, I can believe that in time Wiggo may be revered as a better cyclist than Cadel. I struggle to believe how and why he is superior at this event to the extent he is. After all Cadel has been beating him regularly over previous years and now all of a sudden Wiggo is better and better by such a margin when most would consider Cadel still at the top of his game

[plague]

So are you accusing him or not?
Cause you sure are implying it.

[q-money]

classic voeckler on the climb, king of the niggle

nibali is a great to watch on the descent, has sagan with him, sky down a man as well

shaping up for a good finish on this stage carrrrrrrrrrrrn

[q-money]

ffs go to an ad break, come back and sagan is busted

[q-money]

great win for voeckler, how good is jens voigt the old battleaxe, would have been fantastic if he got the win

i thought van garderen was blown but he dragged himself back into it, he'll be a great rider in a few years

not much doing at the pointy end other than evans trying to steal a couple of seconds at the finish, maybe we'll see something tomorrow

[Mitchy]

missing my main man Cavendish.

cant wait for the next sprint finish.

[seldom]

should be a good race tonight think its an uphill finish

[The Dunster]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/rival-takes-swipe-at-wiggins-for-showing-lack-of-respect-as-tour-leader-again-hits-out-at-critics-20120712-21x1y.html



Brendan Gallagher in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
Team Sky's principal, Dave Brailsford, had earlier had to deal with questions about why they had employed, on an 80-day contract, Dutch doctor Geert Leinders, who worked with the Rabobank team when they were embroiled in a doping scandal.

"I categorically, 100 per cent say that there's no risk of anything untoward happening in this team since he has been with us," said Brailsford. "I've seen nothing and neither have the full-time medics. I'd put my life on it. He's done nothing wrong here, but we have a reputational risk. We have had discussions with him and once we've established the facts, we will take the appropriate action."

Obviously this doesn't mean Wiggins or Froome have in anyway broken the rules. But given Geert Leinders history you do wonder why the Sky team would want him on board.

[baldrick]

should be a good race tonight think its an uphill finish

tough old day in The Alps coming up.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/7554741846_418a5ffcf4.jpg

[MFKS]

So are you accusing him or not?
Cause you sure are implying it.

As the age old expression goes Where there is smoke there is fire. I see an awful lot of smoke here. Can't find the fire yet. The ridiculous thing with this is that even if Wiggo is clean there is gonna be HUGE question marks surrounding his (IMPENDING) win into the future years. Right now even Lance Armstrong can't escape the accusations of doping and even if he gets away from his current legal challenge the doubters will still remain strong.

Wiggo will be looked at suspiciously because of his improvements, margins to rivals and the relative ease with which he is doing it. If you are clean and are in this position not really a great future to look forward to being hounded at every interview being accused of drug use. Will look like an even bigger fool if in time he is caught after denying it to all and sundry

[plague]

As the age old expression goes Where there is smoke there is fire. I see an awful lot of smoke here. Can't find the fire yet. The ridiculous thing with this is that even if Wiggo is clean there is gonna be HUGE question marks surrounding his (IMPENDING) win into the future years. Right now even Lance Armstrong can't escape the accusations of doping and even if he gets away from his current legal challenge the doubters will still remain strong.

Wiggo will be looked at suspiciously because of his improvements, margins to rivals and the relative ease with which he is doing it. If you are clean and are in this position not really a great future to look forward to being hounded at every interview being accused of drug use. Will look like an even bigger fool if in time he is caught after denying it to all and sundry


Yeah, so, do you think he's clean or not?

[MFKS]

Yeah, so, do you think he's clean or not?

The answer you are looking for is not yes

[plague]

The answer you are looking for is not yes

I was getting worried someone had hacked your account, its not like you to not have an opinion.
I for one, think he's clean.
Like Usain Bolt, Michael Johnson, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan and even back to Jesse Owens sometimes the planets align and a superduper star does stuff that is hard to imagine.
I will also say that being suss of someone in a sport like cycling is entirely plausible. Not like the sport has a great track record.
anyway back to the riding part.
Caaaarrrrrnnnn Cadel.

[MFKS]

I was getting worried someone had hacked your account, its not like you to not have an opinion.
I for one, think he's clean.
Like Usain Bolt, Michael Johnson, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan and even back to Jesse Owens sometimes the planets align and a superduper star does stuff that is hard to imagine.
I will also say that being suss of someone in a sport like cycling is entirely plausible. Not like the sport has a great track record.
anyway back to the riding part.
Caaaarrrrrnnnn Cadel.

The interesting part of your comparison with the stars you quote. Now we will leave any accusations on these blokes with doping cheating out of it but these blokes are arguably the greatest in their chosen field or in their era.

Difference between them and Wiggo is that these blokes are dead set stars. Wiggo isn't even close to being the best cyclist of this generation let alone of all time. The other thing about these blokes as they were pretty much stars once they got to world prominence and their flame burnt brighter over time as their success followed. Wiggo on the other hand has been around for years and all of a sudden he is gonna have the Tiger Woods effect on Cycling??

I call BS

[belchardo]

seems like he's clean to me. it's not until you win more than 5 that people start to wonder. :)

but seriously, it looks like he's got a great team around him, and that, i think, is what will get him to the line first. he's got in front from one stage (the time trial, which he's always been pretty good at) and a team around him that is going to drag him on to cadel's wheel each time they need to get him there.

18km climb should be interesting tonight.

[GazFish35]

Plague,
None of those guys were cyclists either.:cool:

[baldrick]

I dunno, Wiggo has been a pretty awesome cyclist for a while now

2000 Olympics Bronze medal in the track team pursuit

2001: Silver team pursuit

2002: Bronze team pursuit

2003: Gold team pursuit

2004 Olympics: Gold in pursuit, silver in teams pursuit & bronze in the madison (first time in 40 years 1 cyclist had won 3 medals)

2005 won Individual & team pursuit gold medals

2007 World Champion Individual & team pursuit gold medals

2008 Olympics won gold in the pursuit again (first time it had been successfully defended) & gold in team pursuit - including breaking the then world record twice in 2 days. Also world champion in individual pursuit,team pursuit (another world record) & madison

2009 4th in le tour & won the Herald Sun Tour

2011 Won Criterium du Dauphinè, Crashed during le tour & had to withdraw, 3rd in Vuelta, second in time trial world championships

2012 he was the first cyclist to ever win Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and Critérium du Dauphiné in one season.

(i've probably missed some of his results http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Wiggins)


And besides, he has the best sideburns in this years tour.

[plague]

Plague,
None of those guys were cyclists either.:cool:

http://i56.tinypic.com/2dikpoo.jpg

[belchardo]

I dunno, Wiggo has been a pretty awesome cyclist for a while now

2000 Olympics Bronze medal in the track team pursuit

2001: Silver team pursuit

2002: Bronze team pursuit

2003: Gold team pursuit

2004 Olympics: Gold in pursuit, silver in teams pursuit & bronze in the madison (first time in 40 years 1 cyclist had won 3 medals)

2005 won Individual & team pursuit gold medals

2007 World Champion Individual & team pursuit gold medals

2008 Olympics won gold in the pursuit again (first time it had been successfully defended) & gold in team pursuit - including breaking the then world record twice in 2 days. Also world champion in individual pursuit,team pursuit (another world record) & madison

2009 4th in le tour & won the Herald Sun Tour

2011 Won Criterium du Dauphinè, Crashed during le tour & had to withdraw, 3rd in Vuelta, second in time trial world championships

2012 he was the first cyclist to ever win Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and Critérium du Dauphiné in one season.

(i've probably missed some of his results http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Wiggins)


And besides, he has the best sideburns in this years tour.


ah, so what happened in 2006? must have been when he dosed himself up for this years tour. :D

[seldom]

heard don bradman was on the juice

[plague]

Can you still be awarded the green or polka dot jersey title if you don't complete the whole race?

[sammydog]

No, you need to finish.

[Mitchy]

R.I.P Mark Renshaw

[Mitchy]

attack from cadel !

[BodyNovo]

been a real test for the teammates of Wiggins and Evans. Evan's case isn't being put in the same light as wiggins but this tejay van garden guy for evans is an awesome climber was apparently brought pacifically brought in by evans to support him in these stages and if BMC had their heads screwed on had the perfect opportunity to last night (after basically no support in the first 10 days) when evans attacked. (just read foxsports report and there reporter thought the exact same thing).

wiggins on the other hand is almost basically holding back froome bloke individually took cadel out of it in the last climb with some ridiculous pace setting that actually ended up dropping the whole field before sky told him to pull his head in protect wiggins. he's paid for a reason i guess. reminds me of the whole armstrong and contador teammate stuff a couple of years ago, when contador basically just left everyone for dead on the first alp stage to remind everyone that he was the top rider in the team.

sad that the tour is now basically over in the general classification barring a meltdown in team sky, good to see rolland win after crashing as well.

[q-money]

brought pacifically
wat

[plague]

Yeah commentators said last night there are 3 Sky riders apart from Wiggins who are genuine GC chances. Don't expect them to all stick together once egos start getting involved.
Excellent comparison to the Armstrong/Contador situation. Sky are too strong this year.

[q-money]

sky's doping program bodes well for 'strayas lympic team

[MFKS]

Yeah commentators said last night there are 3 Sky riders apart from Wiggins who are genuine GC chances. Don't expect them to all stick together once egos start getting involved.
Excellent comparison to the Armstrong/Contador situation. Sky are too strong this year.

Cycling is a team sport unlike others. Ego rarely comes into. Sky have spent all season building for this and all 11 days so far riding for Wiggo. They ain't gonna implode now with self centred angles. Playing the team role as the supporting crew are doing will actually work in their favour when it comes time to renew contract /sign with rival teams. No one wants a self centred non team player in their squad and the Sky team if they let Ego get involved would ultimately hurt the support riders futures.

Froome would have got word from the Team Director to ease up when he started dropping Wiggo. Froome did and waited for Wiggo to catch up and then done his job. If ego was getting involved Froome would have told the Team Director where to go and pushed on and left Wiggo in his wake.

Ego's won't stop the Sky procession. Drug Testers may and the slim possibility of Wiggo having a crash will be the only thing that stops Wiggo getting the Yellow in Paris.

To compare the thing with Contador and Armstrong is a bit of a joke. Both are Alpha Males in Cycling so both would believe they were the best and would want to prove it. That is why they were only on the team together for 1 year. The whole the town isn't big enough for the two of them principle

[parksey]

teams should be abolished to allow the riders to duke it out individually.

[MFKS]

teams should be abolished to allow the riders to duke it out individually.

Would make for some more interesting spectacle in one regard. Tactics would be crazy

[q-money]

they should have to walk the whole course imo

or do it on my old huffy rockjumper while smoking a cigga

dave the bloke across the road used to do flips on his dad's road bike after drinking half a goon sack, lets see these poofters do that hey

[q-money]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-rAv43UFnA

this is how boz gets to the tenzo each weekend

[boz-monaut]

that's some sweet lady bike action right there

[q-money]

wouldn't mind getting some lady bike action at the tenzo myself amirite

[plague]

Cycling is a team sport unlike others. Ego rarely comes into.

well I was implying that this team will eventually break up because of individual ambition. I wasn't saying they would chuck a spaz mid race.
And ego 'rare' in cycling.
Wow, I guess we see it differently.

[The Dunster]

Massive G-turn on the ladies bike. :cool:

[seldom]

hows the tack tics in tonights stage.....20 or more punctures

[q-money]

Sanchez winning me some cold hard scrilla at 15 to 1...my man

[BodyNovo]

rolland copping the big ones this morning for not showing respect to cadel during the puncture fiasco. Cadel's team acting like aids.

[hawk]

cardell larf

[q-money]

wut

[hawk]

http://eyeofthefish.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/aretha1.jpg

[seldom]

respect

[hawk]

respect

:)

[q-money]

voeckler is great value, has gone out and smashed the KOM today

sbs in ****ing ads as evans cooks, ffs

[seldom]

yeah love the facial expressions on voeckler always looks to be struggling but isn't

[q-money]

deadset weirdest bloke eh

[q-money]

punching out again, insane, go on son

[q-money]

has any attack from the peleton lasted more than 10 minutes this year?

nibali gobbled up there by froome and wiggo like it aint no thang

[q-money]

happens again, nibali tries to put the gap in, wiggins just casually steps on the gas

monster

evans gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn

[q-money]

tommy v :cool:

[seldom]

awesome win......evans behind his bmc teammate now isn't he ? really struggled tonight

[Mitchy]

tommy v :cool:
:blush:

[steve136]

Tough year for Cadel. Hardly any racing pre tdF due to illness and injuries, so I don't think anyone's surprised that he couldn't repeat the form of last year.
It's a shame not to see riders like Andy Schleck and Contador out there...fairly certain they could have detroyed Wiggins in the climbs. Pretty boring tdF due to a ridiculously time trial oriented course designed specifically for a rider like Wiggins or a fit Cadel to win. Hope there's more mountain top finishes next year - this year has been outrageous.

[belchardo]

It's a shame not to see riders like Andy Schleck and Contador out there...fairly certain they could have detroyed Wiggins in the climbs.

well, that is what drugs are designed to do.

[q-money]

samuel sanchez in the mix would have made it interesting

you've gotta hand it to sky though, like i said, not one break from players at the front of the peleton has been let go. sky have monstered everything. wiggins has chased nibali on his own for a sum total of about 2 minutes.

[parksey]

yeah, i've kinda been waiting for the race to get interesting.

[slobsy]

i've been loving the crowd participation in the last couple of stages

kind of takes me back to the good ol' days when spectators carried knives and were allowed to stab their least favourite riders.

[tommy_v]

what i do?

the difference is Team Sky are always together and generally always setting the pace. every other team has riders all over the place. evident when Cadel punctured and had to wait for another rider on his team to come by and give him a tire. Hopefully with Nibali needing a couple of minutes tonight Liquigas-Cannondale will challenge Sky

[seldom]

madman voeckler to go nuts again tonight. Race between froome and nibali for 2nd could get interesting also

[q-money]

could be a great night if everyone decides to go jungle

nibali v froome is where it's at, ding ding

[steve136]

well, that is what drugs are designed to do.

Contador maybe, but Andy Schleck's never been suspected of taking anything has he? Even Frank's "allegations" seem ridiculous...he tested positive for a non-performance enhancing drug.
Nibali doesn't seem to have any way of getting away from Froome and Wiggins.
Can't wait for next year when this exact same Sky team (assuming they all honour their contracts) gets destroyed by Contador single handedly.

[plague]

Didn't Frank get done for a masking agent? In the eyes of John Q Law that's just as bad as the 'roids themselves.

[q-money]

the return of contador will be pretty spectacular, will imagine he will be super pissed

[skippy]

Schleck got done for a diuretic, basically helps em drop weight to go up the big hills

[parksey]

he claims he was poisoned but i was told that it was some thing that cleaned out your system, and apparently this stuff has to be prescribed and injected, meaning he was possibly on something else.

[q-money]

xipamide is usually adminstered orally

it works to clear reduce the re-absorption of sodium through the kidneys for people with hypertension - makes you do a wee and that

dunno how much more weight frank had to drop, there's not much more of him to lose

[q-money]

nibali in the break, the v-man in there as well, kessiakoff, valverde (y)

finally something might happen

[q-money]

oh well, nibali gives up on the break

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zz

chucked some money on voeckler the psycho at $21, carn you mental

[boz-monaut]

wow, a new advert

Beethoven

makes a nice change from the euphemism ladden ad for cock pills, the ad for eftpos (which exists for some reason) and the annoying music in the vitamin ad

[sammydog]

This has been the most boring TDF I can remember for a long time.

Sure Cadel's lead up wasn't ideal, but I think BMC made a mistake with the team make up, they really needed some more climbers in there. Sky were always going to dominate and as such Wiggens really hasn't had to do anything outside of the Time Trial sections.

Tje schleck positive test surprised me. Not sure why he needed to lose anymore wight as was said above, but every kg helps when going up. Well in theory it does, didn't seem to be helping this year.

All up though, this tour hasn't delivered enough returns on my month of sleep deprivation and booze intake.

[boz-monaut]

yeah there's precious little drama or excitement in this years tour - I've been hitting the sack pretty early every night

I usually go to bed after that

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NThYhcmdWWo/TAcFlG2jaJI/AAAAAAAAADI/4tspzMH3uj4/s320/eel-7.jpg

[q-money]

All up though, this tour hasn't delivered enough returns on my month of sleep deprivation and booze intake.
ha, agreed. have been sky-ing my way through a case of red over the past few weeks, leading from the front and the like

[q-money]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/375603_10151904478825464_8542714_n.jpg

[q-money]

hey look at that, liquigas on the front of the peleton, wtf L O LLLLLLLLLLL

[tommy_v]

Liquigas setting the pace. The climb to Port de Bales should be interesting

[q-money]

voeckler robs kess again, carn

[sammydog]

Bit off topic, but any of you guys ride, if so, any keen for a ride on or off road?

[seldom]

Bit off topic, but any of you guys ride, if so, any keen for a ride on or off road?

spin class perhaps

[seldom]

Frank taking diuretics to lose weight for the climbs....that'll do me.Anyone done for drugs usually always has a diuretic in their system it gets the stench out of their system earlier.As for BMC not having the climbers around evans to be competitive...your kidding ..watch earlier stages where tj tried to drag cadel out with him and cadel couldnt keep up. This year unfortunately cadels not up to it.

[plague]

if they ever had a proper bike race round Newy id so be one of the local farmers and the like making cool displays on the side of the road so the helicopter sees me.
anyone else see that sheep last night that had the moving mouth?

epic.

[seldom]

its one of the reasons i love watching the tour...well that and the drunkin tourists in borat outfits. Probs spend all year preparing...**** the crops

[parksey]

how many times in my life have i felt like givin' up
but i'm stayin' strong

there ain't no stoppin' me
this time

[sammydog]

Frank taking diuretics to lose weight for the climbs....that'll do me.Anyone done for drugs usually always has a diuretic in their system it gets the stench out of their system earlier.As for BMC not having the climbers around evans to be competitive...your kidding ..watch earlier stages where tj tried to drag cadel out with him and cadel couldnt keep up. This year unfortunately cadels not up to it.

One strong climber in TJ is not going to compete with a team like sky that was built for support in the climbs.

[plague]

well that and the drunkin tourists in borat outfits.

http://thetourdefrance.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/borat20crashes20tour20de20france.jpg

[sammydog]

The two guys running in loin cloths earlier tonight were not a great look either.

[seldom]

forget that did u see the large naked black dude hill climbing ?

[parksey]

there was a guy wearing nothing but a flag around his shoulders at the peak of the last climb yesterday.

[tommy_v]

The Missile!!!

[seldom]

thought tonight was going to be an average race but it was ****ing awesome....great finish from cavendish

[boz-monaut]

Bit off topic, but any of you guys ride, if so, any keen for a ride on or off road?
I ride a road bike and there's a few good rides around Newcastle I've worked out

I hate riding in traffic, so most of these rides have roads with a shoulder, are off road or are back streets

[seldom]

time trials...the worst part of the tour

[parksey]

unless the guy you're going for is good

[hawk]

chief wiggins too good

[seldom]

unless the guy you're going for is good

parksey the pom ?

[tommy_v]

"cheers, don't get too drunk"

[hawk]

Evans smashed a heart string so no olympics. :violin:

[belchardo]

Armstrong likely to be stripped of Tour titlesSeven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is likely to be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life after dropping his fight against doping charges.

The news means Armstrong is likely to lose all of the Tour de France titles he won between 1999 and 2005.

Armstrong issued a statement (http://lancearmstrong.com/news-events/lance-armstongs-statement-of-august-23-2012)saying "enough is enough" in his attempts to clear his name with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," he said.

Armstrong has always maintained his innocence.

More to follow.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-24/armstrong-likely-to-be-stripped-of-tour-titles/4220530


Lance Armstong's Statement of August 23, 2012AUSTIN, Texas - August 23rd, 2012 - There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.

If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.

Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.


http://lancearmstrong.com/news-events/lance-armstongs-statement-of-august-23-2012

not sure what to think really. Armstrongs statement does make it look like USADA are gunning for him, but cheats should know they can be caught at any time (and i'm not categorically saying he is one).

on his statement, i found this lin interesting: "The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced." i don't know if i'm reading too much into it, but it sounds like the kind of statement that a politician makes when saying something they know is technically correct, but not morally/ethically correct.

[sammydog]

It will be interesting, my understanding is the USADA can ban him, but the UCI makes the call on the validity of the titles.

The UCI isn't going after him, so he may not lose the tour titles.

Personally, whether he was doped up to the eyeballs or not, I am not sure what benefit all this has for the sport. It doesn't assist in cleaning the sport as it is today. I'd prefer that they looked at current riders rather than go 7years+ back in time.

[belchardo]

it could be argued that it will make current riders think twice about using drugs that aren't being detected at the moment.

[sh10]

^ I agree with belchardo.

[parksey]

disgrace

[plague]

OK, based on everything you've now read and heard, who thinks he cheated?

I say no.

[sammydog]

I would say no more than any other rider of that era which is why I see no benefit in chasing him down. Focus on keeping the sport clean today.

The UCI have no interest in chasing him, and the USADA seems more like a few people trying to make a name for themselves. I agree with Armstrong in that the arbitration process doesn't appear to be balanced or fair.

I wouldn't be surprised if the USADA ban him for life, but the UCI don't strip him of any titles.

[boz-monaut]

I wouldn't be surprised if the USADA ban him for life, but the UCI don't strip him of any titles.
same

I'm in two minds about this whole sordid affair

I mean, I'm a cancer survivor and Armstrong has been a great inspiration and all that even though he has only one testicle

but on the other hand he's quite the **** and from stuff I've heard from a guy who works at the AIS he was heavily doping for many, many years

[seldom]

On a positive note at least no Australian athletes are on the juice :gent:

[GazFish35]

I read the USADA letter outlining the charges.
Either thy have very vivid imaginations, or he's a cheat.
They have over 100 riders, including teammates willing to testify against him.

He's a cheat.

[MFKS]

same

I'm in two minds about this whole sordid affair

I mean, I'm a cancer survivor and Armstrong has been a great inspiration and all that even though he has only one testicle

but on the other hand he's quite the **** and from stuff I've heard from a guy who works at the AIS he was heavily doping for many, many years


Alright look up to Craig Moore now as your inspiration


What is probably the most ridiculous part about this is the methods Anti Doping groups are going to. There is no POSITIVE sample of piss or blood that says Lance was guilty of doping. They are going off the say so of people whose motives may or may not be genuine.

Can fully understand Lance just going **** it take the titles of me now I just don't care anymore. Keeping them ain't worth the aggravation.

At the end of the day I believe he was on it but no one has caught him at the time or after the event so where is the presumption of innocence??

The whole thing is a ****ing DISGRACE

[plague]

C'mon too many of you blokes sitting on the fence.
Gun to your head, is he a cheat?
Yes or No.

[q-money]

pantani at least had the grace to die

[q-money]

oh yeah, brag post, trying to get to Madrid for the second last stage of the vuelta on the bola del mundo if the ball and chain lets me, if not just final stage in the city, tough life eh

afternoon tv coverage with beers and salami is pretty farken sweet though I must say

[moses]

C'mon too many of you blokes sitting on the fence.
Gun to your head, is he a cheat?
Yes or No.

no. They are all on the drugs.

[GazFish35]

There is no POSITIVE sample of piss or blood that says Lance was guilty of doping.

At the end of the day I believe he was on it but no one has caught him at the time or after the event


Have you seen the charges laid before him?
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/armstrongcharging0613.pdf

Pg10,11 suggest he has tested positive, and it was covered up.

[sammydog]

I've seen the charges, I just dpn't like the USADA process.

I do think he was on it, but he was on it no more/less than the rest of the peleton of the time. Do the USADA now move on and chase the riders who inherit the titles. Where do you stop. I would much prefer all this time and effort went into ensuring the sport is clean now, not retrospectively trying to catch people from a time when everyone was on it.

At the end of the day has hasn't tested positive, if the USADA has evidence otherwise, why have they waited so long. Add to that the incentives they have given people to testify (delaying and shortening sanctions to the offseason) the whole process is hardly transparent.

I actually give armstrong kudos for drawing the line and saying enough is enough and putting himself in the position where they will now try and take the titles. If he went into arbitration, the way the USADA process is set up he wasn't going to get a fair trial.

Its obvious what the USADA are going to do with this, what really matters will be where the UCI goes, and I don't think they will be as aggressive as the USADA are.

End result, banned for life, no titles lost.

[sammydog]

Pg10,11 suggest he has tested positive, and it was covered up.

Those rumours have been around for a long time and have never been substantiated. If they were true, that would have massive implications for the UCI.

[MFKS]

Yes the most damning evidence is riders who are gonna grass him up.

Lets have a look at the motivations for these individuals. Some of them are doing it to protect themselves from their own drug use and possible sanctions that may be imposed on them. Some of these blokes are getting a 6 month ban from Cycling for Grassing Lance up.

Lets also take note of when this suspension is occurring and it will take in the little end of season races, the close season and the early season races. None of these races have that level of importance placed on them by cyclists such as the Grand Tours and the Classics.

The equivalent ban would be to suspend one of the Jets in March for 6 months and have them miss play off games (None) and pre season hitouts ( Not necessary -See Tiago)

Basically these cyclists are getting a 6 month holiday from the sport and missing **** all of it. They can put their feet up have a good holiday. Then put in a Couple of months of solid training and come back to the Pro Level ready to rumble. Great punishment ain't it??

Also how many of these people have some sort of axe to grind against Armstrong?? After all they flogged their guts out for him for years and from all reports Lance is an all about me type of fella. Could some of them be pissed enough to make accusations to bury him due his attitude to them in the past.

Make no mistake about it this is a WITCH HUNT from start to finish. Provide some decent evidence like a failed test not slanderous accusations from people with questionable motives or samples that look a bit iffy.

The harassment and abuse Lance has copped is a ****ing disgrace whether he is clean or not.

Either put up or shut up

[sammydog]

Spot on MFKS, sums up my perspective exactly.

Personally, I am now thinking of doing a fresh order of Livestrong bands. And thats part of what shits me about the witch hunt, the implications will spread far beyond cycling and all based on evidence that is essentially hearsay. Most courts wouldn't accept it, but the USADA is a law unto itself where you are guilty till proven innocent.

Word on the street is Nike have come out and stated they will still stand behind livestrong.

[GazFish35]

But since when is the "everyone else was doing it" defence and accepted one?

I agree they should just focus on current issues.
All this does is remind people how drug fueled the sport has been.

[sammydog]

But since when is the "everyone else was doing it" defence and accepted one?

I agree they should just focus on current issues.
All this does is remind people how drug fueled the sport has been.

My opinion is he was on it as was everyone else, but from all the testing he has undergone, he has not tested positive. So from all evidence he wasn't on it. Suggestions of a covered positive result are vastly different to actually testing positive. Facing a sanction based on hearsay where incentives have been offered and deals done with those testifying, well that case if fundamentally flawed from the start.

[MFKS]

But since when is the "everyone else was doing it" defence and accepted one?

I agree they should just focus on current issues.
All this does is remind people how drug fueled the sport has been.

The whole Cycling is drug fueled thing is a joke. Cycling authorities have been more than up front trying to deal with drugs in their sport. Many other sports have shown little interest.

Take our wonderful game for example. How many drug tests are done on footballers?? With the amount of money involved in the game and the authorities pretty lax attitudes towards drug use it is more than likely more wide spread than believed.

Cycling and Athletics are at least at the fore front of trying to chase down drug cheats. Other sports have their heads buried in the sand when it comes to drugs. Take ALF for example they operate on a confidential 3 strikes policy??FMD

[parksey]

i love it how one of the key witnesses is floyd ****ing landis

[seldom]

maybe we should release all inmates who've been convicted on an eye witness testimony...string him up I say !

[baldrick]

Yes the most damning evidence is riders who are gonna grass him up.

Lets have a look at the motivations for these individuals. Some of them are doing it to protect themselves from their own drug use and possible sanctions that may be imposed on them. Some of these blokes are getting a 6 month ban from Cycling for Grassing Lance up.

Lets also take note of when this suspension is occurring and it will take in the little end of season races, the close season and the early season races. None of these races have that level of importance placed on them by cyclists such as the Grand Tours and the Classics.

The equivalent ban would be to suspend one of the Jets in March for 6 months and have them miss play off games (None) and pre season hitouts ( Not necessary -See Tiago)

Basically these cyclists are getting a 6 month holiday from the sport and missing **** all of it. They can put their feet up have a good holiday. Then put in a Couple of months of solid training and come back to the Pro Level ready to rumble. Great punishment ain't it??

Also how many of these people have some sort of axe to grind against Armstrong?? After all they flogged their guts out for him for years and from all reports Lance is an all about me type of fella. Could some of them be pissed enough to make accusations to bury him due his attitude to them in the past.

Make no mistake about it this is a WITCH HUNT from start to finish. Provide some decent evidence like a failed test not slanderous accusations from people with questionable motives or samples that look a bit iffy.

The harassment and abuse Lance has copped is a ****ing disgrace whether he is clean or not.

Either put up or shut up

Never thought I'd say this: but well said MFKS. Agree 100%

[GazFish35]

Lance Armstrong's doping is further evidenced by the data from blood collections obtained by the UCI from Lance Armstrong in 2009 and 2010. This data is fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.

So, not one test "positive" but one would assume this statement suggests a pattern of results from a series of tests that are consistent with doping.

[pv4]

wasn't legitimately & publicly found to be cheating at the time, or during the time that a case can be held open. not guilty.

[GazFish35]

Hasn't defended the charges, just said "I'm not dealing with this"

We was pedaling drugs as well as his bike.

[parksey]

he's been defending the charges for about 10 years. like he said "enough is enough"

[GazFish35]

he's been defending the charges for about 10 years. like he said "enough is enough"

He's been denying.
Denying something isn't the same as defending.

Otherwise Arsenal would keep clean sheets every game. Wenger would simply deny seeing the goal and viola! 3pts!

[GazFish35]

Assuming we score

[pv4]

isn't denying the same as defending in this case? he's said he didn't do it, he's taken it to court, but now he's come to an apparent brick wall that he can't defend any more as it's not going to help.

[The Dunster]

The solution to drugs in cycling is easy. Make the khunts eat a meat pie and skull a beer every 20km's.

[De-Champ]

isn't denying the same as defending in this case? he's said he didn't do it, he's taken it to court, but now he's come to an apparent brick wall that he can't defend any more as it's not going to help.

or he realises its the end of the road, and the evidence is overwhelming.

[parksey]

or he's just like "**** this, i'm lance armstrong"

[steve136]

Not one positive drug test and they're going to ban him on the accounts of "witnesses" who pretty much all have a vendetta or something to gain.
Not guilty.

[hawk]

guilty as sin but he beat all the others who were on similar stimulants. banning for life is void as he's finished anyway.

[skippy]

guilty as sin but he beat all the others who were on similar stimulants. banning for life is void as he's finished anyway.

this

[seldom]

jeez I wonder why these athletes take something thats undetectable today but could be years down the track...perhaps many years of hero worshipping and more money in winnings and sponsorships than imaginable

[belchardo]

guilty.

interesting that marion jones never failed a drug test either, and i suspect there is a lot of eastern europeans that never failed a drug test that everybody is happy to convict as drug cheats on circumstantial evidence (strong as it may be for some female competitors).

[goaliepersempre]

or he's just like "**** this, i'm lance armstrong"

this...

everyone has their points of view... some guilty some not... In any case even if he did... It is an amazing achievement of all he has done.

I for one still think not guilty. With as posted I have had people come after me for 10 years and im over it... Why would someone want to be in the press and courts all the time.

It has a hugeeee tall poppy and witch hunt feel to it.. all this under handed deals to land 1 guy. Not cool..... I miss watching him race it was truelly amazing regardless if he was on some unknown untestable not seen before or developed wunder juice.

[plague]

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo it seems I may have been 'slightly' off on my whole "Armstrong is innocent he's never tested positive innit" line of defense.

Reports over the last week have changed my view on almost everything to do with sports and the people that run them.
I hereby totally change my stance on this issue. Feel free to ridicule me for believing. Unfortunately I can no longer defend this dude, the sport or the corrupt bastards running it.
Worse part is now the narrative has switched to "oh it's ok that shit ain't going on now".
Exactly how am I supposed to accept that after what's just been exposed?
Amazing.

[furns]

cycling = tainted

will need wholesale cleanout to remain credible in future

[q-money]

lol this hardly taints cycling any more than it already was. they've been juiced since day dot.

the biggest problem it creates is that people who only had a passing interest in it (read strayans, englishmen) will probably not give a shit any more. it's still ****ing crazy in europe, i was just at the last day of la vuelta in madrid and there was a squillion people in the city and surrounds watching it.

there's still question marks over teams/people but the dopers are getting picked up left, right and centre now - contador, schleck etc. people can and will get caught.

next year will be massive, lots of good GC contenders out there - purito, nibali, froome, contador, etc. all three grand tours promise great things imo, if you don't like it, go to russia etc

[furns]

I wasnt saying it was any more tainted than it was, its taintedness had been confirmed ;)

The cleanout needs to be public, but proposing an amnesty for users isnt taking a tough stance imo

[parksey]

you try riding a bike up a hill for 3 weeks straight without being on something.

[q-money]

what, like a bike?

[plague]

Oh don't get me wrong I knew there were cheats before and there will be cheats for many a year to come. I'm just peeved that I was convinced Armstrong was legit. These days with the internetz and stuff there's not much that stays a secret forever (Even Hulk Hogans sex life is public fodder).But for all this stuff to come out seemingly at a much higher level than just the riders it was amazing they got away with it as long as they did.
Will still watch it though, caaarrrrrnnn Cadel and all that.

[furns]

what, like a bike?:lulz:

[sammydog]

I never doubted that he was doping. What I don't like is that I can see them stripping him, but not going hell for leather for every other rider of the era.

Lets face it, there is likely to be very few clean riders from that time.

If they want this process to be legit, and not just a well orchestrated witch hunt, they need to keep going and haul every rider in.

Still not sure if this will have a positive impact in the sport. I'd much prefer a focus on current riders.

[q-money]

know anyone selling anything decent, road bike wise at the moment lenny?

in around the $1500 market - was looking at a colnago move 105, which i've seen for around $1399-$1499 - however around that money there's lots of good second hand gear to be had

probably looking at a 54 to 56cm frame - not too phased on groupset, probably just 105 upwards

oh yeah, updated the thread title for posterity

[sammydog]

I'll ask around. My brother was selling his but I think has had a change of heart. For $1500 there is normally a decent bike second hand somewhere.

I have a shed full of mtb frames I am trying to shift.

[q-money]

haha, the wife cracking the whip no doubt

[parksey]

what, like a bike?

not one of your best.

[sammydog]

haha, the wife cracking the whip no doubt

Not as much as she could/should. Just a bunch of stuff in great condition that isn't being used and won't likely be used.

All proceeds go towards the next bike.

[belchardo]

lance issue on 4Corners now.

[sammydog]

Phil Liggot - "They were all on it"

So, are they going to go after everyone else?

Seems clear all the Euro Teams were doping, US Postal were, doesn't leave many riders in the peleton who may of been clean, maybe the shit kickers in each of the teams, but thats it.

[Skirt Boy]

know anyone selling anything decent, road bike wise at the moment lenny?

in around the $1500 market - was looking at a colnago move 105, which i've seen for around $1399-$1499 - however around that money there's lots of good second hand gear to be had

probably looking at a 54 to 56cm frame - not too phased on groupset, probably just 105 upwards

oh yeah, updated the thread title for posterity

I never knew you were a lycra clad type of guy.

[sammydog]

I never knew you were a lycra clad type of guy.

Deep down everyone is.

[sh10]

Armstrong's defence is turning from "i'm innocent" to "all these others guys were doing it too and they were offered incentives to confess"

always had my suspicions about armstrong, an achievement like that in a sport like cycling would take a superhuman effort, or artificial means

i dont think you can take away the money etc that's he *and others* have been able to earn from it but it does turn his "achievements" into OMG I INJJECTED MORE STUFFF THAN 300 OTHER CYCLISTS, IM DA BESTEST which ruins his credibility for life

[howardyou]

His defence should now really be - everyone else was doing it - so i sort of won fairly.

But he came across on 4 Corners last night as an arrogant twat. Which he supposedly is. I can't believe he still denies it, it is laughable.

[belchardo]

But he came across on 4 Corners last night as an arrogant twat.

didn't he just. and he appeared to use this arrogance to basically avoid answering questions. almost as if he's saying "i'm lance armstrong, how dare you ask me these questions!"

[q-money]

tyler hamilton doesn't look like full biscuit at the moment, comes across as a bit crazy

hot wife though (y)

[howardyou]

147

[parksey]

i wonder if hincapie et al. would have sold lance down the river, ie. became involved in the con-spiracy, in order to get reduced sentences for themselves.

george is supposed to be armstrong's best mate so it seems strange for him to rat out lance either way.

[seldom]

Tour de Enhance is the only sporting event I can get my Mrs to watch and that's cause she likes the scenery.Probs try and convince her to go for a geez in the next couple of years drugs and all.

[MFKS]

GENEVA -- Cycling's governing body agreed Monday to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life, following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams.

UCI President Pat McQuaid announced that the federation accepted the USADA's report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The decision clears the way for Tour de France organizers to officially remove Armstrong's name from the record books, erasing his consecutive victories from 1999-2005.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme has said the race would go along with whatever cycling's governing body decides and will have no official winners for those years.

USADA said Armstrong should be banned and stripped of his Tour titles for "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen" within his U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams.

The USADA report said Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood booster EPO and blood transfusions. The report included statements from 11 former teammates who testified against Armstrong.

Armstrong denies doping, saying he passed hundreds of drug tests. But he chose not to fight USADA in one of the agency's arbitration hearings, arguing the process was biased against him. Former Armstrong team director Johan Bruyneel is also facing doping charges, but he is challenging the USADA case in arbitration.

On Sunday, Armstrong greeted about 4,300 cyclists at his Livestrong charity's fundraiser bike ride in Texas, telling the crowd he's faced a "very difficult" few weeks.

"I've been better, but I've also been worse," Armstrong, a cancer survivor, told the crowd.

While drug use allegations have followed the 41-year-old Armstrong throughout much of his career, the USADA report has badly damaged his reputation. Longtime sponsors Nike, Trek Bicycles and Anheuser-Busch have dropped him, as have other companies, and Armstrong also stepped down last week as chairman of Livestrong, the cancer awareness charity he founded 15 years ago after surviving testicular cancer which spread to his lungs and brain.

Armstrong's astonishing return from life-threatening illness to the summit of cycling offered an inspirational story that transcended the sport. However, his downfall has ended "one of the most sordid chapters in sports history," USADA said in its 200-page report published two weeks ago.

Armstrong has consistently argued that the USADA system was rigged against him, calling the agency's effort a "witch hunt."

If Armstrong's Tour victories are not reassigned there would be a hole in the record books, marking a shift from how organizers treated similar cases in the past.

When Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour victory for a doping violation, organizers awarded the title to Andy Schleck. In 2006, Oscar Pereiro was awarded the victory after the doping disqualification of American rider Floyd Landis.

USADA also thinks the Tour titles should not be given to other riders who finished on the podium, such was the level of doping during Armstrong's era.

The agency said 20 of the 21 riders on the podium in the Tour from 1999 through 2005 have been "directly tied to likely doping through admissions, sanctions, public investigations" or other means. It added that of the 45 riders on the podium between 1996 and 2010, 36 were by cyclists "similarly tainted by doping."

The world's most famous cyclist could still face further sports sanctions and legal challenges. Armstrong could lose his 2000 Olympic time-trial bronze medal and may be targeted with civil lawsuits from ex-sponsors or even the U.S. government.

In total, 26 people -- including 15 riders -- testified that Armstrong and his teams used and trafficked banned substances and routinely used blood transfusions. Among the witnesses were loyal sidekick George Hincapie and convicted dopers Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis.

USADA's case also implicated Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari, depicted as the architect of doping programs, and longtime coach and team manager Bruyneel.

Ferrari -- who has been targeted in an Italian prosecutor's probe -- and another medical official, Dr. Luis Garcia del Moral, received lifetime bans.

Bruyneel, team doctor Pedro Celaya and trainer Jose "Pepe" Marti opted to take their cases to arbitration with USADA. The agency could call Armstrong as a witness at those hearings.

Bruyneel, a Belgian former Tour de France rider, lost his job last week as manager of the RadioShack-Nissan Trek team which Armstrong helped found to ride for in the 2010 season.

Well it is official now Cadel Evans has won more TDF's than Lance Armstrong

[sh10]

good riddance

[belchardo]

justice imo

[slobsy]

http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/lance-armstrongs-endgame?page=0,0

not a bad read

[q-money]

His ultimate legacy most likely is out of our hands. Fans who may not yet be alive will decide who he was. To us, today, Eddy Merckx is the greatest cyclist who ever lived, not a fraud who tested positive for a stimulant while leading the 1969 Giro d'Italia and had his 1973 Giro di Lombardia win stripped for the same. Joop Zoetemelk is the hardman who started and finished 16 Tours—a record—and won one. He's not a reprobate who was caught doping at the 1979 Tour, received a paltry penalty of a 10-minute time addition, and maintained his second-place podium spot. Jacques Anquetil is the five-time Tour winner who in 1961 took the yellow jersey on Stage 1 and wore it all the way to Paris, not a boastful cheater who said, during a French television interview, "Leave me in peace—everybody takes dope." And Fausto Coppi is il campionissimo, the champion of champions, not an admitted doper who said on Italian television that he only took drugs when necessary—"which is nearly always."

...

[RedMexican]

everyone should just get off the blokes case imo, it seems a but ****ed how everyone else is offered immunities as such, to confess against him, why not go after the bloke 5 years ago when he could still compete.
us anti doping agencies should just gtfo

[belchardo]

everyone should just get off the blokes case imo, it seems a but ****ed how everyone else is offered immunities as such, to confess against him, why not go after the bloke 5 years ago when he could still compete.
us anti doping agencies should just gtfo

yep, clearly USADA's fault. how dare they go after the single most systematic, organised and brazen CHEAT in cycling history!

[RedMexican]

yep, clearly USADA's fault. how dare they go after the single most systematic, organised and brazen CHEAT in cycling history!

i understand where you are coming from, but i mean offer other cheats immunity if they dob in other, just doesnt make sense to me
a good doco if you have the time to watch it is bigger, faster, stronger.

[belchardo]

i'll extend a metaphor: "no honour amongst dopers". quite happy to have cheats turning on each other. but i also see you're point. then again, the police do this kind of thing all the time. greatest good and all that.

interesting down here in canberra at the moment. stephen hodge has admitted to doping during his cycling career, he's on the ACT hall of fame and has written a letter to the ACT government saying he should be removed from the list. he's also got a track at mount stromlo (big cycling area down here) named after him, and he's said he is happy to let the ACT government decide if his name should be removed from the track. now, the cynic in me says this is a great PR move from him to garner sympathy/support. another part of me thinks, why only come out now if you're so wracked with guilt? the rest of me thinks "what a guy".

i wonder what response armstrong would have got had he gone down this path?

the whole sport (elite level) stinks, and it's going to take a long time to clean it up.

there are no winners here.

[RedMexican]

i'll extend a metaphor: "no honour amongst dopers". quite happy to have cheats turning on each other. but i also see you're point. then again, the police do this kind of thing all the time. greatest good and all that.

interesting down here in canberra at the moment. stephen hodge has admitted to doping during his cycling career, he's on the ACT hall of fame and has written a letter to the ACT government saying he should be removed from the list. he's also got a track at mount stromlo (big cycling area down here) named after him, and he's said he is happy to let the ACT government decide if his name should be removed from the track. now, the cynic in me says this is a great PR move from him to garner sympathy/support. another part of me thinks, why only come out now if you're so wracked with guilt? the rest of me thinks "what a guy".

i wonder what response armstrong would have got had he gone down this path?

the whole sport (elite level) stinks, and it's going to take a long time to clean it up.

there are no winners here.

that is very true. i know what you mean though cheats dobbing cheats in. It will eventually bring the whole sport into disrepute.
yeah i know about stromlo, i have a mate who i hung out with since i was 14 competing at world level for 4X and downhill, stromlo is such an awesome setup

i agree completely at the end of day cycling is going to come out worse off

[q-money]

well there was a few winners belch, but they were all drug cheats

[q-money]

also as I said before, this wont affect cycling in Europe in the slightest, they are deadset mental for it

your Anglos with some kind of misguided sense of fair play might have a cry until another yank/brit/strayan wins it and then they'll be back on the peloton sooner than you can say clenbuterol

[RedMexican]

clenbuterol

good ole horse thermogenics

[MFKS]

the whole sport (elite level) stinks, and it's going to take a long time to clean it up.
there are no winners here.

Honestly I don't see how this is relevant. Cycling has had a bad image for years with doping. The issue with Lance relates to the recent past in an era where every man and his dog knows drugs were rife. How is this really gonna effect cyclings short term future when everyone also knows that the governing bodies are all over trying to stamp drugs out and this generation of cyclists are definitely much cleaner than previous generations

Cycling authorities have acknowledged they have a problem in their sport are at the forefront in the fight against drugs. It is not like they ain't fighting the matter head on. It is unfortunate that the users are also still trying harder to outwit them but how is that the governing bodies fault.

Despite the drug issues in the last 20 years in cycling and most of them were really about 8-10 years ago from now people still tune in to watch the TDF and other big races. Matter of fact I have been watching the Presser on Eurosport tonight for next years TDF. Hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for it one little bit and the images of the TDF that have been shown make me look forward to next year when the guys go up Alp D'Huez, Mont Vonteux etc and I will be watching and not giving two ****s if they are on the gear.

[parksey]

let them take what ever they want, I say.

[sammydog]

One of the Sky riders have now admitted to doping. There has been a few rumours about that team, will be interesting to see if anymore come out.

[seldom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU7JS-sp6CY&feature=player_embedded

[q-money]

went for a ride into newy and back through dumaresq and round honeysuckle and back to new lambton this morning, deadset newy has a great setup for cycling

people aren't trying to kill you on sight either, which is a pleasant change

[boz-monaut]

yep, it might not have a Centennial Park to ride around but it's pretty sweet

you should add the foreshore, Nobbys and King Edward Park to your loop, then down Memorial Drive and Parkway Ave

and you don't really get the dicks until peak hour or unless you go near Maitland

[q-money]

ah yeah forgot to add that bit in, did the foreshore and back up hunter street, through darby and the back of the athletics track, then the westbound sprint section on dumaresq, lol

20mph look out i'm a badass

[boz-monaut]

mph it'd be good, kph you'd be at about my level

also, how good is the grass on the Athletics Field these days?

[The Dunster]

A bus side swiped a cyclist at Belmont a few weeks ago.
Bus merges left into cycling lane and cyclists shoulder gets slammed by the side of the bus.
It scared the crap out of me seeing it - can only imagine what went through the cyclists mind as he went down.

Fortunately the only fatality was the bike.

[parksey]

what bike are you running, q?

[sammydog]

Newcastle is pretty good to cycle around, but I do avoid areas like the main section of Belmont, Sandgate to Maitland (at peak hour). Some really good riding around the Lake as well.

There are tools in cars, but if you take a bit of care riding you minimise your chances of having an encounter. I actually find I have most of my run ins with cars when riding between Charlestown and Dudley. Strange because it is a super wide road, but I have been run off the road quiet a number of times on that section.

[The Dunster]

I've been stuck behind a car driving slow only to have the car behind me within a metre of my back wheel honking his horn.

So when we stopped at the next intersection I went to the passenger side window and asked "what the **** are you doing" ?

Drivers reply - "I wasn't beeping you mate I was beeping the driver in front of you" ?

Hence, bloke thought he was doing us both a favour.

[q-money]

what bike are you running, q?

cannondale caad9-7 with a mix of shimano bits on it

it's a great frame, have a few things to change out, though

[q-money]

and chapeau sir wiggo, richly deserved award for a brilliant track career and his stellar year on the road

i guess looking back at this year's TDF now, it really was an amazingly well planned race by sky, there was a great article in ride mag (i think, which is brilliant btw, australia should be proud of it) about rogers and porte and the way they smashed down all of the attacks this year by watching the wattages of everyone on breaks and who could sustain peak outputs for what amount of time and the like. great planning, may have looked boring at the time but it really was one of the more interesting things from the sport science side of things this year.

compare that to la vuelta, (which i was lucky enough to see the last day of) which was won off the back of an absolutely insane solo attack from contador on stage 17, some things you just can't plan for. i know he polarises people, but he is ****ing amazing when he goes off one, absolutely blew purito out of the water. again in the latest ride mag there is a breakdown of how the move was planned out by straya's own brad mcgee - great read

my favourite moment of this year - marc madiot going mental at thibaut pinot in stage 8 of the tdf when he knows he's got it in the bag


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q1NuAW5GMc

[sammydog]

i guess looking back at this year's TDF now, it really was an amazingly well planned race by sky, there was a great article in ride mag (i think, which is brilliant btw, australia should be proud of it) about rogers and porte and the way they smashed down all of the attacks this year by watching the wattages of everyone on breaks and who could sustain peak outputs for what amount of time and the like. great planning, may have looked boring at the time but it really was one of the more interesting things from the sport science side of things this year.

The best thing about Sky's effort in the TDF was the way they built the team. They built a team that would win by destroying others in the hills.

Contrast that to BMC who built a team to protect Cadel in the early flat stages, but was of next to no use once they hit the hills. Unfortunately, you don't gain time protecting people in the flats.

[The Dunster]

Given the manner in which Sky went in the time trials I can see this fairytale ending in tears just like Armstrongs did.

[q-money]

so is it wiggo or froome you're worried about?

[sammydog]

There is a theory that Wiggens lost a lot of weight to improve his hill climbing ability, which should have hindered his time trials. But after the time trials he had improved there as well on past form.

[MFKS]

There is a theory that Wiggens lost a lot of weight to improve his hill climbing ability, which should have hindered his time trials. But after the time trials he had improved there as well on past form.

Got huge suspicions on Wiggo for those reasons. Lost body weight and his performances improve out of sight. This bloke has gone from being a pretty handy TT to smashing blokes like Fab Cancellara and Tony Martin who specialise in the TT. This is on top of being at the pointy end of the race all the time. Fab and Tony can at least bludge along in the peleton most days saving themselves for the TT where as Wiggo had to be riding on the pace. Then he comes out and flogs them in a TT and denies he is not on the gear and people believe him.

I am calling BULLSHIT

Bloke comes across as a smug **** too

[sammydog]

And there is smoke around the Sky team and some of the medical staff they have on board.

It does all point in one direction.

[seldom]

so is it wiggo or froome you're worried about?

Hope Froome is clean...one of my faves

[belchardo]

i'll suspect he's a cheat if he does it for the next three years in a row.

otherwise, i think sky built the team they needed around the man best suited to winning and trained them to perfection.

froome looked like he could have won it if it weren't for team orders a few times.

sad that a guy can't win a cycling event these days without being suspected of being a cheat.

[boz-monaut]

to be fair to Sir Wiggo, no one of any real repute is suggesting he's a doper

these days it's much, much harder to dope and the improvements you get from doping are minimal, particularly when you consider that the samples and blood passport data are stored, so that you can at any time in the future be busted for cheating, have your tours and knighthoods taken away

plus, it's not like Wiggo just exploded on the scene out of nowhere

[seldom]

to be fair to Sir Wiggo, no one of any real repute is suggesting he's a doper

these days it's much, much harder to dope and the improvements you get from doping are minimal, particularly when you consider that the samples and blood passport data are stored, so that you can at any time in the future be busted for cheating, have your tours and knighthoods taken away
plus, it's not like Wiggo just exploded on the scene out of nowhere

Boz...people thought this 20-30 years ago...to say that improvements from doping is minimal I take it refers to the drugs that are currently detectable what about ones not detectable now but may be in the future. As for being busted and having their glory taken away dont forget these guys get to live like kings for years and make squillions instead of perhaps only being alsorans in the big picture

[sammydog]

So, there seems to be few roadies in here. Anyone mtb?

[The Dunster]

So, there seems to be few roadies in here. Anyone mtb?

I started riding MTB in my 40's because my achillies and knees - not too mention two fingers that are for little more than show- are near fooked from 37 years of riding BMX.

I'm not very good though as it is an entirely different skill set to ride a MTB.

My usual ride is / was grass tree, big dipper, Easy Way Out. Kenny, High Roller, BJ's, it happens, Seussland.

BJ's is probably my favourite trail.

[q-money]

i'm a big fan of BJs at most times

[MFKS]

i'm a big fan of BJs at most times

I see where your going with that :gent: :yay:

[sammydog]

Well BJ's does go down.

[sammydog]

I started riding MTB in my 40's because my achillies and knees - not too mention two fingers that are for little more than show- are near fooked from 37 years of riding BMX.

I'm not very good though as it is an entirely different skill set to ride a MTB.

My usual ride is / was grass tree, big dipper, Easy Way Out. Kenny, High Roller, BJ's, it happens, Seussland.

BJ's is probably my favourite trail.

Should get a forum group ride happening. I've been off the bike for a few months and spent more time in there with a shovel than I have riding.

BJ's is cool, I prefer twisties, just wish it was longer.

The lookout on Snakes and Ladders is sweet as well, but the view is becoming overgrown.

[q-money]

might clean out the brush for you today with this weather, was going to ride to work today but in the words of MFKFC...**** that SHIT

[The Dunster]

Should get a forum group ride happening. I've been off the bike for a few months and spent more time in there with a shovel than I have riding.

BJ's is cool, I prefer twisties, just wish it was longer.

The lookout on Snakes and Ladders is sweet as well, but the view is becoming overgrown.

226

[sammydog]

The most photographed spot in Glenrock. Actually needs a good fire to get rid of some of the Bitou Bush.

[q-money]

http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Lance-Armstrong-on-Oprahs-Next-Chapter

le cheat to win

[sammydog]

Saw that, when the only person you will take an interview with is Oprah, it is definitely an admission of guilt. Should be good for a laugh.

[belchardo]

tried to make a donation to USADA as well.

so from what i've read, he's still not admitting he's a drug cheat, but he will admit it if he gets to compete again.

sod him. admit or don't, he shouldn't be allowed to compete in organised competitions again.

look forward to him jumping around on the lounge screaming about how much he loves katie holmes.

[q-money]

anyone interested in going to the track nationals this year in sydney?

i am but ****ed if i know how to get tickets or whatever

http://tracknationals.subaru.com.au/senior/

[RedMexican]

lance armstrong holding an interview with oprah next week. keen to what comes of this

[q-money]

http://la33e.tumblr.com/

hot ladies on bikes, nuff said

[The Dunster]

Drug testing protects the teams at the top and holds back the less cashed up teams starting out.

They need to take a look at the ANDRA regulations and introduce a "Top Fuelers" or unrestricted class.

[q-money]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/armstrong-confesses-to-doping-report-20130115-2cqbz.html

the cheatingest cheat in the history of cheating fesses up

[parksey]

:'(

[q-money]

good thing he never road a giant ey

[parksey]

there would have been no need for drugs if he had done

[q-money]

in non-cheating news, luke durbridge does the double for the first time in 'strayan professional road racing history, with a 20k solo win in the national road race

http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2013/01/elite-mens-road-race-national-championships-2013-results/

would love to see him get a shot at the classics, he is a monster in the TT

[hawk]

in non-cheating news, luke durbridge does the double for the first time in 'strayan professional road racing history, with a 20k solo win in the national road race

http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2013/01/elite-mens-road-race-national-championships-2013-results/

would love to see him get a shot at the classics, he is a monster in the TT

maybe the Olympics :(