The Nightmare Scenario



gtm

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Jul 27, 2009
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In 10 to 14 days time we open our morning papers to find Contador & Schleck the younger have been disqualified for doping. Armstrong rolls up like 'Christ coming to cleanse the temples' to collect the yellow jersey & proceeds to give a holier than thou lecture on the evils of doping & how cheats never prosper:eek:.

To be frank pro cycling is so deranged these days the above outcome is not beyond the realms of possibility.:mad:
 
gtm said:
In 10 to 14 days time we open our morning papers to find Contador & Schleck the younger have been disqualified for doping. Armstrong rolls up like 'Christ coming to cleanse the temples' to collect the yellow jersey & proceeds to give a holier than thou lecture on the evils of doping & how cheats never prosper:eek:.

To be frank pro cycling is so deranged these days the above outcome is not beyond the realms of possibility.:mad:

If that happened then most on here would cry "Armstrong paid them to spike the tests!@!@!!!!!!!!!"
 
At the moment, Bodry was surprise by the body of some riders who seemed to be lacking of fat. BTW he mentionned the PED AICAR able to burn fat, and they are preparing a test for it.
Could they test later all the OOC urines collected prior that Tour? Will McQuaid agree or deny like the last GIRO?
 
swampy1970 said:
If that happened then most on here would cry "Armstrong paid them to spike the tests!@!@!!!!!!!!!"

Naah - my guess is LA may know AC & AS are dangerously over exposed vis a vis the testers and may be bidding his time. He is far too cute to put himself in a similar position (he is as we are assured by Mrssr's Liggett & Sherwin the master 'tactician' after all!). If he is doping he will be using new & exotic steroids no one has heard of before. I would expect the professional peleton have more or less given up on blood doping for the time being what with the blood passports etc - new steriods that will give them stronger recovery times will be what they're up to. I've been watching this race for 20 yrs + & this one was 'dirty'.
 
The Tour is a business, a company... not really a competition in the sense that most people understand it. It's more like a traveling cycling circus - some might even go so far as to compare it to the pro wrestling of cycling. Despite all the minor protestations, they tend to profit from having lots of Americans take an active interest in it. They aren't about to cook that golden goose egg.
 
longfemur said:
The Tour is a business, a company... not really a competition in the sense that most people understand it. It's more like a traveling cycling circus - some might even go so far as to compare it to the pro wrestling of cycling. Despite all the minor protestations, they tend to profit from having lots of Americans take an active interest in it. They aren't about to cook that golden goose egg.

Is there proof of this? Not necessarily disagreeing with the statement, but I believe this to be a prime example of the "Lance-factor" perception I mentioned in another thread. BTW, I believe the tour was around and thriving long before American cyclists/viewers took an active interest in it; I could be wrong though...
 
tonyzackery said:
Is there proof of this? Not necessarily disagreeing with the statement, but I believe this to be a prime example of the "Lance-factor" perception I mentioned in another thread. BTW, I believe the tour was around and thriving long before American cyclists/viewers took an active interest in it; I could be wrong though...

It was and existed and thrived but as bad as some hate to admit it, and will never admit it, sponsors and things have changed.
It is more profitable to have Armstrong in the spotlight, at least for some.
It would have been even better to have Jan in this last race also and Armstrong tried to get him but other factions have applied pressure to keep him out of cycling..
I won't get into who I suspect applied this pressure since it would raise another debate.
People love the controversy and hear what they want to hear.
My wife tells me that I don't like Armstrong ,which is not true. I don't like the propaganda and spin that surrounds him ,follows him and permeates cycling.
Did you know his heart is 30% larger than the average fat a** that never exercised a day in his life. ( insert smug sarcatic emoticon rolling eyes furiously).
 
jhuskey said:
It was and existed and thrived but as bad as some hate to admit it, and will never admit it, sponsors and things have changed.
It is more profitable to have Armstrong in the spotlight, at least for some.
It would have been even better to have Jan in this last race also and Armstrong tried to get him but other factions have applied pressure to keep him out of cycling..
I won't get into who I suspect applied this pressure since it would raise another debate.
People love the controversy and hear what they want to hear.
My wife tells me that I don't like Armstrong ,which is not true. I don't like the propaganda and spin that surrounds him ,follows him and permeates cycling.
Did you know his heart is 30% larger than the average fat a** that never exercised a day in his life. ( insert smug sarcatic emoticon rolling eyes furiously).

Is it really more profitable to have Gunderson in the spotlight, or would it be just as profitable to have an American with more than a lottery's chance to win the tour in the spotlight? Still interested in seeing some of this "profitable" proof though...again, I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but this perception needs to be quantified in some manner...

I also don't dislike (dbl negative - oops) Gunderson on a personal level - never met the guy, but from the books I've read and interviews I seen, I'm quite sure he wouldn't like me if I met him. It's clearly apparent from what I've gathered that if you can't do anything for him, he has no time for you. I know, I know, supporters will chime in with his "charity" work, but those endeavors are self-serving IMO...others will disagree and that's their right and perogative - no problem...
 
The TDF and cycling in general has suffered a significant downturn in recent years.
The money coming in to the sport has dropped.
This is due to the plethora of doping scandals and the association of the sport with drugs.
 
poulidor said:
At the moment, Bodry was surprise by the body of some riders who seemed to be lacking of fat. BTW he mentionned the PED AICAR able to burn fat, and they are preparing a test for it.

I think he's onto something. I just made a long post over at the cyclingnews forum, but I will also repeat it here.
 
I believe the tour was around and thriving long before American cyclists/viewers took an active interest in it; I could be wrong though...
It was around, and maybe thriving sometimes. But, the intensity of the interest was nowhere like it has been since Armstrong started winning. I mean, even in France, despite all the people that cheer as the tour goes by for a few minutes, the Tour does have its critics. Armstrong is one factor that has changed it from some strange, mildly interesting foreign event into the all-hype, all-the-time NFL football of cycling. There was a bit of a similar phenomenon when LeMond did it, but nowhere near to the same extent. No internet back then.

Not trying to be contrary about it on purpose, but I can get a lot more excited about Olympic road racing, track racing, and the classic road races than I do about any of the long tours. Take the climbs out of the tours and there's nothing left. I can't get too excited about them. It's mostly always a case of everybody ride about the same for a hundreds of kilometres, one contender win it on one well-planned climb, and then coast along with the pack again the rest of the way to Paris, letting some non-contenders provide the excitement.
 
Cobblestones said:
I think he's onto something. I just made a long post over at the cyclingnews forum, but I will also repeat it here.

Thanks. That will benefit some of us who could go over there and read, but couldn't be arsed because of a ban that's in place :D

Always good reading your insight!