Giro 2008 Stage 16 - May 26: San Vigilio di Marebbe => Plan de Corones (ITT), 12.85km - Page 4

I'll make my one Giro post, since I have recently lost nearly all interest in pro cycling:

Yay Pellizotti. Too bad you'll only be a lacky to Basso next year. It's also just not the same with a helmet hiding a toker hairdo worthy of Jeff Spicoli

Go Simoni. It does not look like there is any reason not to come back next year.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Why have you lost interest ? The doping or just that Contador is cheating his way to victory (again) ?

Yes "yay" for Pellizotti. Watching the mountain TT stage again this morning I have to say Pellizotti looked absolutely farked when he finished. He couldn't speak... even when they interviewed him some 6 or 7 minutes later he was still breathing hard.... again Contador looked like he could have taken a mobile call as he crossed the line. Didn't get to see Ricco after his finish.

However I not sure how Contador could have "prepared" for this Giro the way he wanted. ie getting the blood bags in etc. I think he maybe riding clean not because he wants to but it was his only choice..... hence all the statements about not having time to prepare etc etc.

I basically lost faith that the sport will improve. It's a combination of seeing the ProTour ethical code get thrown out the window with the hiring of Basso, DiLuca getting off, Jaskche and Sinkewitz not being able to find a team, the RSA taking bribes to allow Astana in the Giro, continued screw ups by the UCI and McQuaid, etc.

The thought of watching a super doped up DiLuca battle with a super doped up Contador and a super doped up Ricco and a super doped up Pellizotti does not excite me in the least.

One of the Astana riders dropped that they knew they were going to the Giro two weeks in advance. The "negotiations" between the Kazakhs and the RSA must have taken some time before that, so they might have suspected they had a good chance of racing a month or more in advance. Frozen blood taken during the off-season could easily be used. Ricco already stated the obvious truth.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

Yes fair call on all fronts. It was a promising start to the season with Paris-Nice. Things were looking good. But once the GT's roll around the blood bags come out of the fridge. Its a bit sad really. Its hard to know whats going on but what gets me is the total adoration for Contador by 99% of the media. Its beyond just liking the way he rides its like.... well its like Microsoft from the early 90's.... they knew the best marketing was not paid advertisements but news articles of their products written in a good light. Therefore a lot of journalists were paid to write nice things or more to the point the articles were written for them because journalist are generally lazy........

Yeah, I also find interesting the nonstop positive coverage that both cyclingnews & velonews give to Astana and especially Contador. I've always wondered if they have a hidden business relationship between the organizations. They give more coverage to non-American Astana than to American and (supposedly) clean Slipstream and High Road. Shows you that fans and mainstream cycling media only care about who is winning and not if they are clean.

'The Tuesday Comment' in Cycling Weekly sums up what a lot are feeling...

Good article. I liked this comment although I don't believe it..... “They're climbing faster in Portuguese races than the do in the Tour de France now.”

I doubt Klodi was holding back. He simply isn't riding well

Well, they advertise LA's new secret "never be tired again" snake oil, and The Hog's book to go along with their suckie suckie of all things Contador. I am watching, and while there hasn't been a single person destroying the field, the question marks are hanging in the air almost visibly. The observation about Contador is spot on also...it is not beyond considering that he really is doing just enough to win, but not enough to show just how "special" he is.

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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
-- Albert Einstein

Amen.

Contador, and other riders with less power than precedent years!

Only 410-420 normalised Watt!
Where are the "Champions" of the recent past who were able to produce easily 450Watt.

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6 +2 (according Ashenden) samples with EPO should have banned Lance Armstrong to start next TDF !