The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[Klodifan]

So, this past tour is certainly one to remember for many years to come. too many to pick from but here is my very brief list as not to monopolize the thread.




The Good:

Team Barloworld - Soler and Hunter's stage wins

Cancellara's honorable defense of the maillot jaune

Soler offering water to the Chicken



The Bad:

Astana getting the boot

Chickengate



The Ugly:

Riders vs. Canines x 2

Mick Rogers abandons

Borat




your picks?

 

[limerickman]

The Good:

Tom Boonen - winning the Maillot Vert

Cancellara's honorable defense of the maillot jaune

Soler's ride

Kloden shaking hands with the Chicken at the sign on before Stage 15 : and the general bonhomie of the participants toward each other

Bradley Wiggins solo ride for 160km

Thomas Voekler being applauded as he entered the Champs

Geraint Thomas finishing his first TDF and the great support that LeTour got while in England



The Bad:

The question marks that remain over the TDF GC result


The Ugly:

Vono for his stupidity

Moreni for his stupidity

 

[whiteboytrash]

Another UGLY: Moreni finishing on the Col d'Aubisque in 6 and half hours and being met by police at the top... no time for a shower just **** in this jar and come us ! what a day !

UGLY 2: Wiggens getting back to the hotel and been asked to stand outside under police guard whilst sniffer dogs and police go through his personal possessions.

UGLY 3: Vino barely being able to walk the stairs to sign in on the opening TT to then blitz the field by 2 minutes.... give that holy water to the cripples...

UGLY 4: Just when it looks like Disco are going to win the Tour Armstrong appears from no where and in the team car !

UGLY 5: Levi Homohieper embarrassed how fast he rode and trying to explain it. What did Ferrari put in my blood for that stage ! **** that was magical stuff !

UGLY 5.5: Levi's illegal tow... they played it again on EuroSport on Sunday... absolutely disgusting.... the team car was going at 80km at hour up a mountain ! The Gerolsteiner team car was behind them honking their horn trying to get them to stop....

UGLY 6: Kid Contador having a mechanical and falling back to the chase group... gets a new bike and then sprints back to the lead group ! and then attacks... they were already riding at the speed of Pantani ! Are you serious ?

Good: Nothing. Because I don't know what I believe anymore. (well maybe Lim's use of the word "bonhomie" ! )

The Good:

[c
Kloden shaking hands with the Chicken at the sign on before Stage 15 : and the general bonhomie of the participants toward each other

Bradley Wiggins solo ride for 160km
our got while in England[/color]



The Bad:

The question marks that remain over the TDF GC result


The Ugly:

Vono for his stupidity

Moreni for his stupidity

 

[Cobblestones]

I'll wait with my summary until all the results are in.

The test results that is.

 

[Eagle of Toledo]

UGLY 5.5: Levi's illegal tow... they played it again on EuroSport on Sunday... absolutely disgusting.... the team car was going at 80km at hour up a mountain ! The Gerolsteiner team car was behind them honking their horn trying to get them to stop....

Yup, aside from the doping that was the ugliest memory of the Tour for me, personally I thought better of Levi.

How much was he penalized? 10 sec.

How far did he miss the second step of the podium by? 8 sec (9 actually).

Ouch. Too bad for Levi, next time don't cheat.

 

[limerickman]

I'll wait with my summary until all the results are in.

The test results that is.

+1!

 

[Markz]

Yup, aside from the doping that was the ugliest memory of the Tour for me, personally I thought better of Levi.

How much was he penalized? 10 sec.

How far did he miss the second step of the podium by? 8 sec (9 actually).

Ouch. Too bad for Levi, next time don't cheat.

He would have been worse off in time had he not had his seat adjusted back into contention. The podium was a gift.

 

[JohnO]

The good: They're finally taking the doping situation seriously, and aren't afraid to nail anyone.

The bad: A lot of bad publicity, a lot of snide remarks from fans of other sports. And a lot of riders didn't get the message last year.

The ugly: It isn't over yet.

 

[Maison]

He would have been worse off in time had he not had his seat adjusted back into contention. The podium was a gift.

I seem to recall Indurain taking a can of coke outside of the feed and getting penalized, but saying the penalty was less then what he would have lost had he not taken it. I believe it was a year he won the Tour.

 

[Bro Deal]

There were a lot of good sporting moments in this Tour if you turn a blind eye to the doping. It really was a great race.

Overall I think the bad is that racing has suffered an even bigger credibility crisis than it had before. It comes from a combination of the top riders getting tossed out, dark clouds hanging over riders and teams still in the event, and performances that defy belief. Even for the casual fan I don't think it is possible to pretend anymore that the competition is legit.

I come to this conclusion based upon conversations I have had in the last week with people who don't ride very seriously but still have a passing interest in the Tour. These are people who never thought much of me telling them that the sport was a dopefest and I was never willing to argue the point when it was obvious that they got into cycling because of Saint Lance, but now they have come to their own conclusions.

I think that this year has done a lot to move cycling a lot closer to profesionaly wrestling status in the public's mind.

 

[Maison]

Should we, as cycling fans, honestly care about what the public thinks? These are the people who like sports like cricket and baseball for their great action. People who call cycling the scourge of sport while turning a blind eye to the fact that if all other sports tested like cycling does we would see cycling drop way down the list of dirty sports. Sport is entertainment and while I would love for their to be no doping or cheating of any kind, I know it won't happen. I love to watch cycling whether everyone dopes or nobody does for the action, tactics, and intelligence. Nothing will change that for me.

 

[tcklyde]

The Good --

Wiggins takes 5th in the first TT. Remains outspoken against doping.

Linus Gerdemann wins stage seven and takes the yellow jersey. Speaks out against doping.

Stage 18.

Some fun mountain stages -- with some real drama and lots of attacks (provided the doping is ignored).

Tests working.

Riders protest doping.

The Bad --

Rogers crash.

O'Grady's crash and injuries.

McEwan misses the time cut.

The Ugly.

Vino, Mayo, Chicken, Moreni (especially b/c he made Cofidis look like chumps) nearly destroy the Tour.

More bickering between ASO and UCI.

Dopers still winning the Tour.

 

[slovakguy]

good: how the new dope screen protocols seemed to trip up a few of the "better" prepared competitors (vino, mayo)

bad: m. rasmussen's "trust me" comment. smacks of hubris

ugly: contador/discovery getting a suspect win. aso should have just left the top spot blank as a fitting legacy of this tour

 

[saluki]

UGLY 6: Kid Contador having a mechanical and falling back to the chase group... gets a new bike and then sprints back to the lead group ! and then attacks... they were already riding at the speed of Pantani ! Are you serious ?

He never made it back to the lead group microbrain. Have you always been such a liar? Really, what is the difference between you and the dopers. I see none.

 

[thebluetrain]

He never made it back to the lead group microbrain. Have you always been such a liar? Really, what is the difference between you and the dopers. I see none.

Exposed.

"Contador had a wheel change after a puncture and was sucked up by the chase pace of Astana, but it was all too much for Vino, who began to fade. Contador then attacked out of the Vino group with 2.5 kilometres to go, followed by Sastre and Menchov, while Klöden was trying to pace Vino, who had croaked in the last kilometres of the Tignes ascent."

1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 4.49.40
2 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.47
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.12
4 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 3.13
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto
7 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana
8 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel 3.31
9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 3.35
10 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC

 

[thoughtforfood]

Good: It is over

Bad: Somebody won

Ugly: Some people actually celebrate what happened

 

[saluki]

Exposed.

"Contador had a wheel change after a puncture and was sucked up by the chase pace of Astana, but it was all too much for Vino, who began to fade. Contador then attacked out of the Vino group with 2.5 kilometres to go, followed by Sastre and Menchov, while Klöden was trying to pace Vino, who had croaked in the last kilometres of the Tignes ascent."

1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 4.49.40
2 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.47
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.12
4 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 3.13
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto
7 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana
8 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel 3.31
9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 3.35
10 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC

What is amazing is that he tells these kind of lies every day. To tell this one he had to assume that the forum was too stupid to remember a race that just happened. For the Disco bashing crowd that are his fans, I guess that is true.