2009 TDF stage 18: Annecy - Annecy 40.5 km - Page 4

Contador was the U23 Spanish National Time Trial champion many years ago... Lets not forget this little fact. The guy knows how to ride against the clock, especially at the end of a stage race where the results are sometimes skewed towards those who are freshest.

However, in a one day time trial event like the Grand Prix des Nations you'd expect Cancellara to win.

Doping blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

Unreal victories have been the order of the day since Armstrong used more EPO than anyone else in the 1999 race, transforming himself into the best time trialist and best climber in the world. It has been a joke ever since. The ASO, with full knowledge of the results of Armstrong's retrospectively tested urine, still allowed him to race the Tour. So complaining about Contador does not make sense.

The real tragedy is that Basso, FLandis, and Vino are not there. Those three might have added a little excitement to the race.

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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

i think LA should be as worried as AC. i heard they have developed a test for Geritol-CERA.

Since Riis, it's a joke, even Indurain on mountains was a joke too.

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

Do you have any more information? I googled it and basically found nothing.

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Steve
CyclingForums.com

Fair points.

Check out Australia however.... and look at the murder rates since a banning of guns has happened there. Unless something has changed recently.. murder rates/violent crime have gone up there instead of down.

There's a city here in Georgia (forget the name) that strangely enough has a local law requiring a household to have a firearm in the house. I have no idea how that became a law, but ironically the crime rate (burgalry, murder, etc.) are nearly 0.

The pros/cons can be debated either way with good arguments to be made on each side.

I'm far from a zealot in either direction, and the only firearms I have in the household are ones I had when I hunted as a child..which I don't do anymore. I haven't actually fired one of them in a very long time although I'm very capable of doing so should the need arise.

I can tell you from recent rumblings I hear in this country that the right to bear arms has become even more important to many. The reasons have nothing to do with a desire to commit a crime (quite the contrary in fact).

This country was founded on the concept of personal freedom as defined in several ways..one of them being freedom from an oppressive government (implied if not specifically said). The right to bear arms, in some respects..was an ultimate guarantee that freedom could be protected. Currently we're finding ourselves in a position in which government is pushing for what many describe as a re-distribution of wealth (for good reason), and also pushing for the removal of one of the rights that ultimately allow society as a whole to stand up and say "no we're not doing that any more".

This is completely off-topic so I'll close it out by saying that the right to bear arms is much deeper than being tied to crime rates. It's a very controversial topic (perhaps even as much so as "did Armstrong dope?")..lol.

Making guns illegal doesn't make them inacessible to criminals any more than making drugs illegal makes them inaccessible. But this and other political discussions shouldn't matter here.

Contador is aiming to be the new Indurain, and looks to be headed to finish in yellow barring anything unusual. It will be interesting to see what happens in the race for 2nd and 3rd. I don't think Wiggins will have it in him, but we may bs surprised. One thing is for certain, it will be hard and hot on the way up to that big piece of bald rock.

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Originally Posted by Flyer:
It is a matter of reading comprehension that you challenged by.

I think he was joking. Geritol is vitamin-tonic for old people.

It is something new that is a double edged steroid:

here is the scoop on Geritol (paraphrased from a reputable source knowledgeable about this potent substance):

In the body, components of Geritol become a part of your hemoglobin and myoglobin. Hemoglobin carries oxygen through your blood to tissues and organs. Myoglobin helps your muscle cells store oxygen.

Not only that, but Geritol is used to provide vitamins and iron that are not taken in through the diet or are caused by illness, pregnancy, poor nutrition, digestive disorders, and many other conditions.

as for the CERA, here is the details on that (again, taken from a reputable source knowledgeable on this potent substance):

CERA is a pegylated form of epoetin-beta. CERA is a 60-kDa molecule, approximately twice the molecular weight of epoetin-alfa.[12,13] A large methoxy-polyethylene glycol polymer is incorporated into the epoetin molecule, essentially doubling its molecular weight compared with epoetin. This modification markedly prolongs CERA's half-life in humans to about 135 hours. In addition, CERA binds to EpoR more slowly than Epo. These 2 attributes result in CERA triggering the JAK2 Epo signal transduction cascade without being internalized. Consequently, CERA has more sustained biologic activity. CERA has been tested extensively and can be used less frequently than epoetin-alfa or darbepoetin-alfa -- it can be administered either once every other week or once monthly.

so the combined substance is most likely to appeal to cyclists of more advanced years. the younger guys can stick to straight EPO-CERA.

What about A. Schleck? Has he ever ridden an ITT even close to this one?

Mansmind you are talking rubbish here:

4509.0 - Crime and Safety, Australia, Apr 2005

Different studies say different things:

Results of the '96 Australian Gun Laws (updated 2009) (GunsAndCrime.org)

A little more interesting reading:

http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/guncontrol_20010302.html

And how much faster could Contador have gone with a better position? He was constantly moving back on his saddle throughout the entire TT...Well done, AC.

So do people and organisations with vested interests.

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Steve
CyclingForums.com

100% agree, which works from both sides of any issue. All you can do is look at the information available and form your own opinion. In the end that's all any of us have.. an opinion.