CSC riders: Sastre was the real winner.

[Klodifan]

Excuse us, kind Frenchmen. We Americans can be haughty. We can be delusional. We can be accusatory, and we love laughing at you while ignoring the outrageousness of our own situations...

it is unfair to single out and generalize all americans. cycling's doping problems are well known by the public b/c the tour and all its intrigue and backstories has always been closely tied to the press. moreso than any other sport, it is about the human condition triumphing over insurmountable obstacles. doping, therefore, is a much more dramatic element since it challenges the integrity of that struggle. other sports are not marketed nor understood in quite the same way as the tour and cycling in general.

so, yes, americans want to be entertained. this is not unique. most nations do. i do not see a wide divide between most americans looking the other way in regards to peds than any other nation and its favored sports. in the case of operation puerto, most of the athletes involved were not cyclists, but from other sports. yet, these names were not leaked to the press. there was much speculation that a fair amount of footballers were involved with fuentes. i dont see a huge european outcry for names to be revealed. no. in fact, cycling took the fall once again. cycling was chosen by the press to be the poster sport for doping. the facts belie this characterization. so, it is not americans who hold the monopoly on peds and ignorance or haughty attitudes. it is all fans of professional sports in all countries who scoff at cycling while cheering on their chosen team from any sport back home.

btw, bonds is ridiculed throughout america. so passes here for him.

 

[Klodifan]

can david millar be any more self-absorbed? everything is about him, blah, blah blah.

anyways, i will give slipstream an A for PR, thats for sure.

 

[thoughtforfood]

Depends on the PED.

Lim et al, I hope you're right about Vaughters, but my gut tells me he's the anti-doping de jour and he's playing the game. David Z is a reputed doper and has been such for the past five years. Millar is in the same boat, especially considering his hardline stance on doping while at the same time working with Cecchini.

I will say this. Millar and Zibriskie, who both exhibit profound technique on the bike, would have much to gain from a clean peloton and that idea may have caused a shift in their thinking. Even doped, neither would win a GT, but clean, against clean riders, they would stand an excellent chance to win world cups.

Right now Slipstream has in its employ two excellent American riders reputed as clean. One is Brad Huff, who won the Tour of Normandie in 2006 and, I believe, medaled in the omnium at the worlds this year. He's a figher and sprints well.

The other is former u23 world tt champion, Danny Pate. He has an extensive list of credentials including two stage wins at International Thuringen Rundfahrt.

I'll be pulling for this team. I don't think they'll be devoid of doping issues, but at least it'll be an American team NOT doped to the gills, which will be a nice change.

I am with you here, but I have to say that past buying socks, no way am I getting any of the kit. It is pretty freakin' ugly. Past that, I will be following them extensively. Hopefully the former Roubaix champ will be Stewart O. That guy is a serious bad ass.

 

[limerickman]

I am with you here, but I have to say that past buying socks, no way am I getting any of the kit. It is pretty freakin' ugly. Past that, I will be following them extensively. Hopefully the former Roubaix champ will be Stewart O. That guy is a serious bad ass.

I think Stuey's a good bet to join Slipstream.

 

[thecyclist]

But it will be Bäckstedt.

 

[thoughtforfood]

Had the NFL had the same rigorous testing as cycling, the Carolina Panthers might have showed up for Super Bowl XXXVIII a little shorthanded. As it turned out, several Panthers reportedly used performance-enhancing drugs during the 2003 season, and two of them allegedly had prescriptions for steroids filled right before they appeared in the Super Bowl.

DAMN YOU WBT!!!!!!!!!!............but you are right, and I am sure it is true for all of the NFL.

There is one thing you are overlooking, and that is that cycling is an endurance sport, and there is a difference in how many look at the effect of drugs on differing types of sports. I am not justifying their use in any sport, but there is that perception. Track and field is looked at in a similar manner to cycling, and public opinion is different. I dont think doping by downhill ski racers would be nearly as harshly as cycling because of the difference in someone having stronger muscles, and another having both stronger muscles, and an increased ability to supply oxygen to their muscles, therefore being able to perform feats of endurance beyond non-doping levels. I think that is also why soccer (excuse the Americanism) doping would never really carry the stigma of cycling doping either. IMO.

 

[Gregers]

I've got quite serious reservations about Millar. He goes through all the motions of being a born again, anti doper. He says the right things and always appears suitably contrite. And yet.... Millar works with Cecchini, which despite his protestations is simply incompatible with the stance he takes-at best it is just dumb.
And what's with all the stuff about Vino, how he defended him to all his friends and feels let down. He can't have been that willfully blind about the Astana kingpin. Astana FFS!!! He knows all the background and yet still acted as a cheerleader for Vino and is now 'shocked'. I find all this difficult to reconcile .

 

[wicklow200]

Slipstream have signed a lot of youngsters too


Daniel Martin at 20 years old looks like a future climbing star - nephew of Stephen Roche and son of a former pro.

 

[Rolfrae]

And what's with all the stuff about Vino, how he defended him to all his friends and feels let down. He can't have been that willfully blind about the Astana kingpin. Astana FFS!!! He knows all the background and yet still acted as a cheerleader for Vino and is now 'shocked'. I find all this difficult to reconcile .

I did think that was odd. How could an insider with doping knowledge actually think Vino was clean? Even most of Vino's fans wouldn't have held that opinion. Whatever the case he won't be doping on Slipstream. I am going to allow myself the (perhaps deluded) opinion that this team will be worth believing in.