announced today that the UCI is not to attend the Tour & that they will ban radio use on flat stages. Makes me wish Astana were invited so they couldn't dope.
ASO announce UCI is banned fully from Tour & no radios on flat stages.
- Thread starter whiteboytrash
- Start date
I think you underestimate the prowess of JB. Sure, he cannot juice his boys up as much as he would if the UCI were there, but he will still juice them up alright!whiteboytrash said:
I second that. In yesterday's stage all you saw were people speaking into their jerseys for the last 50km of the stage...Klodifan said:
At least you feel if Astana were there and juiced up, FFC/ASO/WADA would catch them at it. Perhaps a last minute invite to the Tour wouldn't be such a bad idea 
And that speaking into the jerseys thing is just shite - good on Prudhomme banning the radios for some stages - would still like to see them go in the mountains too.
Still, after the farce of the Giro and the worst performance by a GT winner in living memory, the Tour can't be anything else but great this year.
And that speaking into the jerseys thing is just shite - good on Prudhomme banning the radios for some stages - would still like to see them go in the mountains too.
Still, after the farce of the Giro and the worst performance by a GT winner in living memory, the Tour can't be anything else but great this year.
micron said:At least you feel if Astana were there and juiced up, FFC/ASO/WADA would catch them at it. Perhaps a last minute invite to the Tour wouldn't be such a bad idea
And that speaking into the jerseys thing is just shite - good on Prudhomme banning the radios for some stages - would still like to see them go in the mountains too.
Still, after the farce of the Giro and the worst performance by a GT winner in living memory, the Tour can't be anything else but great this year.
I'm all for the banning of radios - and smaller teams while we're at it. I'm tired of watching one team control a whole stage.
I loved the Giro - di lucas ride on the third last stage, a very close final GC, the up hill TT finishing on a dirt roads, multiple break away wins, multiple stage winners, jens voigt winning another stage (man I love that guy), ricco coming of age (temper tantrums aside!), almost every top 10 rider having a bad day, the sella revelation - awesome race! If the TdF is half as good it will have been a great cycling year...
In this cyclingnews.com article a few days ago... they mentioned that 70% of riders wanted to use radios. I don't understand the relevance of that survey. That's like saying 70% of the peloton want to be allowed to dope. The article is shown below:
cyclingnews.com said:Riders for radios
Radio in the ear of former Gabriele Bosisio (LPR Brakes)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
The debate surrounding the use of race radios has been swirling about this season, and now the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) has released the results of an opinion survey which reveals that the majority of riders are in favour of the devices. Criticism of the radios has come from race organizers, the media, and fans who feel that the riders have become nothing more than puppets as the directors pull the strings from the team car.
The CPA and its president Cédric Vasseur sought out the opinion of the riders themselves by polling each professional individually. The UCI was scheduled to hold a discussion on the matter with its Road Commission last Friday to develop new rules surrounding the use of radios. The UCI banned them in espoir races this year, and the Tour de France organizer Christian Prudhomme has considered prohibiting their use as well.
"The result of this opinion poll shows that 70% of the riders are in favour of the use of the ear pieces during the competitions," the CPA statement read. "The main reasons they bring up are the following: safety on the course, - not only for the riders to be informed in time of the dangers they will meet on the road, but also to avoid the continuous motion of vehicles at the back and in the middle of the bunch, and the possibility for the riders to be in permanent communication with their team-mates and their team manager."
The CPA called the use of radios "progress to improve their work conditions", and pointed out that the use of radios is not compulsory."The 30% of the riders which are against the use of the ear pieces think that the fact of forbidding its use would make it easier for the riders who want to take the initiative of attacking by themselves to do it freely, and that as a consequence the races could unfold in a completely different way and be less predictable."
ASO and WADA are not exactly saints either. I'm sure ASO will have no problem with Valv. (Piti) starting the race.
There was also the whole "men in black" thing and Jaksche hinting that it was Vinokourov and his manager who made Saiz go back to Fuentes.
No one want to see his goods be damaged year after year... ASO needed to react after losing broadcasting TV and after some partners requested a decrease of their payment because of repeated drug's scandals.fscyclist said:
If you have to cut a head better to cut the worst : the Liberty-Seguros-Disco-Astana
Whilst I'm sure getting rid of radio's is a great idea when it comes to making the race more exciting I think there is also a safety aspect to be considered. Without radio's domestiques are sent back to team cars to get instructions, thus increasing the time spent by these riders in the team car convoy which isn't a particularly safe place to be. Personally I'd go with a policy of 1 rider per team to have the radio, perhaps with a restriction saying it can't be the rider in your team placed highest on the GC.
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