2012 Tour de France

[CAMPYBOB]

What's that meant to mean?


The 'experts' were spouting that Froome was so much thinner than Canc that he had an aero advantage over the 4-time world champ...I ain't buying it. Froome was also supposed to be a good climber...like Lance...and now a good ITT rider...like Lance.

Now...what else was Lance good at???

Today's course was supposed to suit a more climbing oriented TT'er...again, according to the expert commentators on Eurosport...a way of explaining Froome and Wiggo's full-on rides.

The "anonomous" thing is just another dig at dumbass tone loco. Not only can't the moron spell an Engrish word korectly, he thinks that anyone that disagrees with his much self-valued opinion or makes a suggestion about doping by anyone other than someone posting their full name, DOB, Social Security Number and blood type has an invalid opinion or is just plain incorrect.

 

[An old Guy]

Many of the riders did not do their homework - riding the course in preparation. The climb was a bit more than advertised.

Many riders thought they had the wrong gear for it. That mistake caused a lot of time.

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by An old Guy .

Many of the riders did not do their homework - riding the course in preparation. The climb was a bit more than advertised.

Many riders thought they had the wrong gear for it. That mistake caused a lot of time.

Do you have any examples? if that's the case it's a pretty stupid mistake.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Most of the the heavy hitters pre-rode the course. Cadel pre-rode it.

Domestiques, like Andreas Kloden did not pre-ride the course, but were utilized as test beds. Kloden was told to go flat out and followed by his DS. His splits, gearing, speed and advice were used for the following riders on the squad.

Kloden stated that the climb with 5K to go was a "surprise".

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB .

Most of the the heavy hitters pre-rode the course. Cadel pre-rode it.

Of course they did /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by An old Guy .

Many of the riders did not do their homework - riding the course in preparation. The climb was a bit more than advertised.

Many riders thought they had the wrong gear for it. That mistake caused a lot of time.

It's the one stage I haven't managed to watch so far - some guy I met doing laps yesterday said something about the wind and that the flags were going crazy. According to him the announcers didn't make a big deal of it. Strong winds can make an insignificant climb a tough climb, they can make a tough climb a real farkin nightmare.

 

[steve]

Cofidis hotel raided, Di Grégorio arrested at Tour de France On the Tour de France first rest day, police officers and gendarmes of the French Central Office against Environmental Damage and Public Health (OCLAESP) have raided a hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse, where French team Cofidis were staying. They have taken Rémy Di Grégorio into custody, at the demand of a Marseille investigating judge who is currently working on a doping-related case.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cofidis-hotel-raided-di-gregorio-arrested-at-tour-de-france



Di Gregorio detained amid doping investigation French rider Remy Di Gregorio was being detained for questioning by French police, a gendarmerie source said on Tuesday.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1667746/Di-Gregorio-detained-amid-doping-investigation

 

[jhuskey]

Doping agencies timing is always great. Always on time to disrupt the tour.

 

[danfoz]

The timing sounds politically motivated. Lead inspector and judge will get high profile. Problem is if I remembered you as having disrupted the race and not having the discretion to wait till the end, I'd make sure you never got my vote. I'm petty that way.

 

[limerickman]

Seemingly Di Gregorio was under suspicion when he was at Astana?

Cofidis have a terrible reputation in the sport anyhow.

 

[slovakguy]

Originally Posted by danfoz .
The timing sounds politically motivated. Lead inspector and judge will get high profile. Problem is if I remembered you as having disrupted the race and not having the discretion to wait till the end, I'd make sure you never got my vote. I'm petty that way.

presuming that the french authorities acted only after having met their threshold for an actionable offense (not simply grandstanding the matter), would it be better to allow a suspected cheat to continue in the competition and having an effect on the race outcome, even with cofidis' lack of a credible g c candidate?

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by slovakguy .


presuming that the french authorities acted only after having met their threshold for an actionable offense (not simply grandstanding the matter), would it be better to allow a suspected cheat to continue in the competition and having an effect on the race outcome, even with cofidis' lack of a credible g c candidate?

And then there's just that. Damning evidence beyond reasonable doubt. Could be. That is the million dollar question, and those not on the jury will just have to wait and see.

 

[slovakguy]

still the question, do you think it to be better to allow a suspected drug cheat to continue to compete when that very participation might influence the outcome?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

still the question, do you think it to be better to allow a suspected drug cheat to continue to compete when that very participation might influence the outcome?

Are you referring to Basso or Valverde? Maybe Kash or Vino? Scarponi's name has come up in certain circles....him?

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by slovakguy .

still the question, do you think it to be better to allow a suspected drug cheat to continue to compete when that very participation might influence the outcome?

Honestly? I don't care to speculate on things I don't know about. I don't know what the evidence is yet. Maybe they got a smoking gun. All I know is what I've read in another article that included the word "presumed". And are any of these guys competing for (or domestiquing for riders contending for) any real prizes, i.e. jerseys and/or GC, or are we just talking possible stage wins (and between Sagan and Cav, and the way Wiggo and Froome seem to be climbing those all look pretty much locked up anyhoo)? I'm thinking even doped to the gills these guys would still be half rate and competing for nothing more than a few minutes of camera time.

I would prefer a suspected child molester not chaperone the local kindergarten day out, however at the end of the day it's just a bike race (he didn't just say that did he?), and points, placings, and other rewards can be taken away as easily as they were given out after the fact.

edit: plus aren't organizers still able to test riders daily - barring "a smoking gun", seems like an easy way to keep a lid on things. Btw slovakguy I agree with your notion of threshold of actionable offense. I would however be curious to know what that threshold is. In the old days they used to be able to burn a witch on neighbor say so.

 

[slovakguy]

what i'm driving at is this; the authorities in france (both civil and private [a.s.o.]) have decided to take action against a rider. i believe they are not grandstanding because of the high profile the tour offers for the very reasons you cite, i.e., a charge of them abusing their powers. and, even if their action results in no sanction against the rider, the uci, aso and all those putting on these shows would be obligated to remove the rider from competition. even if he never challenges for any of the prizes on offer, his very presence in offering support to any of his teammates vying for those prizes taints the competition. i'm afraid the days when a rider could be given the benefit of the doubt have passed. the cheaters have ****** in the punch for so long that even, sadly, the clean riders are now suspect. i'll shed only crocodile tears for de gregorio since he chooses to participate in this event and, therefore, accepts the rules which govern it. in the end, it his fault for having raised the attention of an official agency of the french government and he will have his day in court.

 

[limerickman]

Originally Posted by danfoz .

Honestly? I don't care to speculate on things I don't know about. I don't know what the evidence is yet. Maybe they got a smoking gun. All I know is what I've read in another article that included the word "presumed". And are any of these guys competing for (or domestiquing for riders contending for) any real prizes, i.e. jerseys and/or GC, or are we just talking possible stage wins (and between Sagan and Cav, and the way Wiggo and Froome seem to be climbing those all look pretty much locked up anyhoo)? I'm thinking even doped to the gills these guys would still be half rate and competing for nothing more than a few minutes of camera time.

I would prefer a suspected child molester not chaperone the local kindergarten day out, however at the end of the day it's just a bike race (he didn't just say that did he?), and points, placings, and other rewards can be taken away as easily as they were given out after the fact.

edit: plus aren't organizers still able to test riders daily - barring "a smoking gun", seems like an easy way to keep a lid on things. Btw slovakguy I agree with your notion of threshold of actionable offense. I would however be curious to know what that threshold is. In the old days they used to be able to burn a witch on neighbor say so.

You're quite correct to say that sport isn't real life. However if you're a clean cyclist and you're getting beaten by riders who dope then this is real life for that rider.
Each rider is trying to secure his/her living and race results matter.
If you can't achieve the results, you need to be able to show that what you did do at least helped on of your team to win a race.

If relatively unsuccessful riders are doping, you can be sure that they're depriving clean riders of results and/or preventing clean riders from winning.

The sport needs to start to reward clean riders - and it needs to stop rewarding dopers.

 

[danfoz]

I've thought about this some on the way home and I think that sentiment is correct. My initial problem with the headline was seeing it as a high profile opportunity to capitalize on. Probably just an early morning mistake. It's likely a refreshing feeling for the clean riders seeing others hauled off, and probably an 'oh ****' moment for other guilty riders in the peleton.

And I digress, it's not just a bike race, it is a beast all of it's own, dependent on many, and many dependent on it for their livelyhoods.

 

[Andrija]

Today and tomorrow we should be able to see if there's some excitement left in this Tour.
I'm happy to hear some riders openly talking about their readiness to attack and fight. That should guarantee some action. It would be dull just to talk and not to do.
Hope their strategy will be fruitful.

 

[jhuskey]

I hear Wiggins is going to drop 5 pounds of weight by cutting off his sideburns. Should give him an advantage.