2008 Tour de France Stage 20 - Sat July 26: Cerilly-St. Amand-Montrond (ITT), 53 km - Page 13

for me it's more Sastre rode just a bit above himself (fresher as h's had a lot less racing this year compared to previous years), Evans rode below himself, and Menchov rode way below himself. Neither Evans nor Menchov had team support to help them out.

And Kirchen comes third.

If you include riders who were based in Spain, then they've won 10 Tours in a row now, or 15 of the last 18 if you prefer. It's because of the good weather.

first 2 he was based in France

err, not weather, the climate.

climate is conducive to artificial exogenous substances

And there are good gynaecologists there as well for their girlfriends/wives...

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I don't understand the suspicion around Sastre's pefromance unless everything is suspicious in Tour de France.
For instance, both Sastre and Menchov has participated in some Vueltas over the last years and in a few occasions their results were very close in TTs (for instance look at last TT in Vuelta 2005).
Secondly, in last year's Vuelta Evans lost his 3rd place in last TT. Therefore, final TT has been the worst point of GT for Evans before.

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Why am I still a fan of dopers sport?

And you don't think Menchov was doping in those Vueltas?

How about Sastre then? When did he start? Just prior to this tour, or suddenly night before the TT ? Are the "bad" TT performances without dope or with some bad dope perhaps? Maybe he's a casual doper?

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"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

I think any rider who is riding at the same level they were three years ago is very very suspicious--that includes Evans. There should have been a drop off in performance or a change in recovery ability. When I look at Valverde and Cunego, I see two riders who are not what they used to be and a good possibility that they stopped or limited their doping.

Any rider who is Spanish, lives in Spain, is on a spanish team, trains in the Canary Islands, or has any other connection to Spain adds to the suspicion.

So my bull**** meter is pegged with Cancellara, whose performance just keeps getting better and better, can hammer day after day in the mountains and still rip an incredible time trial, and trains on Tenerife, home base of Dr. Fuentes.

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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