Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: Dave Cooper please on April 30, 2013, 10:18:49 PM
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To keep proper cycling talk out of the drug cheat's thread.
So. will Wiggo be allowed by Sky to go for the TDF or will they insist on Froome being the leader?
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I think that it will depend on how he does in the Giro.
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I think that it will depend on how he does in the Giro.
He still signs on?
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Well Tebbit told us to get on our bikes.
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Why is there so much speculation regarding the team leader, as far as I am aware Froome has been announced as the team leader end of story, the rest is just Sky ramping up a bit more interest in the sport.
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Why is there so much speculation regarding the team leader, as far as I am aware Froome has been announced as the team leader end of story, the rest is just Sky ramping up a bit more interest in the sport.
Brailsford hasn't announced anything yet which makes me think he might see how it goes over the first few stages to see which of the two of them is most on form.
All of the speculation about Froome being the leader stemmed from the couple of stages last year where it was obvious that he was climbing much better than Wiggins and could have blown him away but had to wait, could be fascinating to watch the first couple of mountain stages to see who attacks first.
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I think Team sky will do exactly what they did last year as a team, control the races but this just leave those two to slog it out between each other in the later stages rather than protecting just Wiggo.
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Why is there so much speculation regarding the team leader, as far as I am aware Froome has been announced as the team leader end of story, the rest is just Sky ramping up a bit more interest in the sport.
Brailsford hasn't announced anything yet which makes me think he might see how it goes over the first few stages to see which of the two of them is most on form.
All of the speculation about Froome being the leader stemmed from the couple of stages last year where it was obvious that he was climbing much better than Wiggins and could have blown him away but had to wait, could be fascinating to watch the first couple of mountain stages to see who attacks first.
It was mighty impressive seeing Froome pull away from Wiggins last year. People moan about tactics in F1 eh.
Froome has gone on record saying he has been told he will be team leader hasn't he? Or did I imagine that.?
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I think Froome was under the impression that Wiggins would target the Giro this year leaving him as leader for the TDF, but I don't think it was ever set in stone by Sky and the way Wiggins is talking he seems to think it will all be decided just before the start or even during the race.
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Why is there so much speculation regarding the team leader, as far as I am aware Froome has been announced as the team leader end of story, the rest is just Sky ramping up a bit more interest in the sport.
Brailsford hasn't announced anything yet which makes me think he might see how it goes over the first few stages to see which of the two of them is most on form.
All of the speculation about Froome being the leader stemmed from the couple of stages last year where it was obvious that he was climbing much better than Wiggins and could have blown him away but had to wait, could be fascinating to watch the first couple of mountain stages to see who attacks first.
It was mighty impressive seeing Froome pull away from Wiggins last year. People moan about tactics in F1 eh.
Froome has gone on record saying he has been told he will be team leader hasn't he? Or did I imagine that.?
Or is it all just helping Sky's cause, keep the other teams guessing, Brailsford can keep schtum whilst all the other teams think about who to target. Next there will be a story about special wheels or an extra link in a chain that adds 1 mph to average speed.
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My personal opinion is that it should be Wiggins, unless he is mightily out of form/fitness.
Surely he deserves the chance to be able to defend his title?
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If Wiggins wins the Giro this year, it will be a greater achievement than him winning the TdF in my opinion. the course isn't set for him and contenders like Nibali will be mad for it.
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Looking forward to the Giro, if Wiggins goes well then I think it will be very difficult to keep him from defending his Tour win.
Interesting to see how Cav gets on. If OmegaPharm are so keen to get Pettachi in then they must be a bit concerned about the lead out.
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I posted on the lying Lance thread about the threat from Colombia, they've put a team of climbers together which will be a test for Wiggins' aspirations for the Giro.
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I posted on the lying Lance thread about the threat from Colombia, they've put a team of climbers together which will be a test for Wiggins' aspirations for the Giro.
Can't see it myself, Duarte and Atapuma might win a mountain stage or two between them but they won't win the overall GC.
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Giro preview on 5Live now amazingly.
Colombia will take some stages. As will Rambo Rabbotini. Nibali will win it. He is is ace form and has a good team around him. Brad won't be able to handle the mountains in my view.
As for Brad vs Froome, its all good hype and keeps the riders on their toes. Dave B will love it.
Let's just hope Cav gets a sprint train.
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Cav in pink, some finish, brilliant.
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Time trial today, so that could well see Bradley in pink later.
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Nibali will win it. He is is ace form and has a good team around him. Brad won't be able to handle the mountains in my view.
Wiggins murdered him on the mountains in last years TDF. Okay so the Giro mountains are more brutal but Sky have a couple of very good climbers to help him out.
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Froome confirmed as TDF team leader:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/22426361
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That's a shame for Wiggins not to be able to defend his title, but it's all about the data & the stats & if they point to the Froome Dog then so be it.
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Nice for a team to be in that situation though eh?
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Nibali will win it. He is is ace form and has a good team around him. Brad won't be able to handle the mountains in my view.
Wiggins murdered him on the mountains in last years TDF. Okay so the Giro mountains are more brutal but Sky have a couple of very good climbers to help him out.
Agree although said climbers are said to be fed up and not prepared to work for him. Uran is off next year to elsewhere (dont know where yet, will find out soon) and Henao wants a bigger role (more money). Nibbles has a much stronger team all working for him too. After the last few days just stying upright looks to be the biggest concern so I think this will be more open than I thought.
Cav should win today, totally flat stage and not much wind.
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Once again (see my Gilbert tip in last years TdF) I called it though it wwas a piece of piss today. Tomorrow might bes brutal and lots of the key men are scared about tomorrow. Might be compelling viewing. Look out for the Ryder, he will excel on a stage like tomorrow.
Oh and Fergie is a coont.
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There's a possibility the other contenders may put Brad under pressure today given the time trial tomorrow. Interesting stage I think.
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Such beautiful scenery to ride through.
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Such beautiful scenery to ride through.
Absolutely, I spend more time looking at that than the race.
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Well that was pretty savage. Wiggins looked terrible. If you didn't see it just try and catch the last 20kms. It was carnage. Never seen so many people fall off.
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Wiggins hasn't been at his best so far by any means, but blimey has he had some bad luck so far in this race
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Some crap luck again yesterday, bit childish with the bike throwing again as well, not as if the bike failed, it was a puncture.
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Understandable frustration from Wiggins. The plan would have had him a few minutes up by now and defending in the mountains.
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That is a brutal climb to finish todays stage.
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Wiggins just got destroyed as the tarmac hit 20% near the end
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He did well to just lose 30 seconds.
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Indeed. He needs to start picking up a few bonus seconds or its all going Nibali's way in the mountains.
Highlight of the day was the spectator falling off the edge of the road 5km from the end, comedy classic.
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interesting that uran was given free rein to attack which was in stark cntrast to Frrome at last years tdF. this suggests Brailsford doesnt think brad has the legs. I can't see him taking too much time out of Nibali or the resurgent Cadel Evans. Hoping my bet on Gesink to finish top3 comes off!
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Wiggins a minute behind the peleton.He looks fucked.
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He's got a chest infection (wiggo). Has had it for a week so I gather. Team meeting tonight to decide if he packs in. Uran now leader. Cavs 100th career win today.
If they ride it sunday could be epic. Over the Galibier but its in doubt as there is loads of snow.
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He's out of it on doctors orders.
Tour Of California is on Eurosport in the evenings at the moment as well, individual TT today but tomorrow is a great mountain stage up & over Mount Diablo.
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Just like at HTC, Cav looking like he's got a team behind him that'll put themselves on the line to get him to the sprint. Bodes well both for the remainder of the Giro and the Tour to come.
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Well what a shit week. Stages altered, today cancelled. Tomorrow changed all due to crappy weather. Bloody snow. And then to cap it all Danilo DiLuca tests positive for EPO. He is a dick anyway. Now he is a banned for life dick. Looks like Cav has a good chance of winning the red points jersey now though so thats a bonus.
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I really hate cheats in all sport.
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DiLuca won the Giro in 2007? What a tool.
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Lance has had a pop at Di Luca. Sometime reality is beyond even the most outlandish imaginations.
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A brutal Giro, great performances by Nibili and Cav.
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Beautiful scenary in the mountains yesterday.
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Cavendish now has 41 stage wins in the three Grand Tours, he might never catch Eddy Merckx (64) but could get close to Petacchi's 48 in the TDF if all goes well.
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Wiggins doubtful for the Tour due to a knee injury, let the conspiracy stories begin..........
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/may/31/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france
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Wiggins doubtful for the Tour due to a knee injury, let the conspiracy stories begin..........
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/may/31/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france
Out according to SSN.Maybe packing in the fags will help his chest infection!
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/22735801
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Wiggins doubtful for the Tour due to a knee injury, let the conspiracy stories begin..........
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/may/31/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france
Nah, no conspiracy. You don't enter the Tour unless you are 100% fit and Wiggins isn't.
What it does though is open up another spot for a dedicated domestique to help Froome.
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Porte will be Froomes main helper. Lopez, Cataldo, and Thomas will probably make up the rest of his guards.
Very handy injury. Stops the internal warring. Means that he gets to miss a race that doesn't suit him this year.
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Henao signs for Sky for another 3 years. Uran is off to Omega Pharma. Froome will re-sign for Sky just before the Tour and Stannard and JTL are gone.
I hear that wiggo is on the shit list and has probably got a season left there.
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Froome is handily placed in the Criterium du Dauphine, 5 seconds behind the leader but well ahead of the rest of the climbers with the big hills to come including a Huapt Categorie climb to the finish today.
Could be his fourth stage race win of the season, he's in great form for the TDF.
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Frome just took the piss there Great stuff.
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Awesome from Froome, and you can't take it away from Team Sky who just paced him up that hill.
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Slightly off topic, I was out riding Thursday early doors, when I crept up on a rider crawling up a minor ramp on the cissy ring, he was wearing the Sky Kask team helmet, Sky team Oakley glasses, Sky Rapha team jersey, Sky Rapha team bib shorts, Sky team issue over boots & sat atop a Pinarello Dogma 65 in Sky team colours c£10k of bike. I had to double take when I saw who it was, or actually who it was not, it was just some overweight banking type on his commute through Richmond Park, there's liking Team Sky & there's taking it a bit far, team kit is for the team. Rule 17 applies here. Know The Rules http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/
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Froome looks good. Did well again today. In fact all the 'Skyborgs' as they are unflatteringly now known looked good. TdF team will be super strong.
Love to see crap riders in all the gear. Still I'd rather that then no-one out on the roads as it used to be 5 years ago. Then it was a nice surprise to see someone.
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Yes, Sky are going to become the team everyone else hates aren't they?
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Froome and Sky look to be in good form for the Tour.
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Yep. The Skyborgs, UK Postal (reference to Armstrongs team), and several other names are regularly in use now. And their times and methods are under massive focus as a lot of people are convinced that their level of success can't be 'normal'. There is no real evidence out there to speak of but people will talk.
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They can talk all they want, but the very success that Sky are having means they will be tested more than anyone.
The fact is, Sky riders aren't destroying records and storming up mountains at unprecedented speeds, they are just well ahead of their rivals in this post-doping era. They won't have a rider who will dominate a stage, they will have several riders who will grind down the opposition and take the team leader through to the end. It's a whole new era and the other teams are going to have to adapt fast.
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During the olympics Team GB used the excuse that no other riders/teams took their turn to lead the peleton which mean that Team GB had nothing in the tank to chase a break away group (or something like that).
Is there a risk that similar could happen in the TdF, or are there more riders within Team Sky that they can rotate better? Or more simply as an average the Skyborgs will consistently finish near the top and therefore have a rider winning the whole thing?
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Who knows? They'll be a marked team for sure and it will be interesting to see which other teams will be willing to chase down breakaways or will they just let Sky tire themselves out?
I think in the TDF more teams will have a vested interested in the general classification, it would be bad form to be worrying purely about Froome and not trying to get their own man into yellow.
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Olympic Team only had 6 riders as opposed to 9 in the Tour, far more difficult to control. I think Sky will jmainly ride at their own tempo, the concern might be that without Mick Rogers, who will be riding for Contador this year, they might lack a leader on the road with his experience.
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I think a lot will depend on how much steak Contador eats before the Tour.
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Olympic Team only had 6 riders as opposed to 9 in the Tour, far more difficult to control. I think Sky will jmainly ride at their own tempo, the concern might be that without Mick Rogers, who will be riding for Contador this year, they might lack a leader on the road with his experience.
Judging by his performance this week I think Richie Porte has shown he can do the job of Froome's lieutenant going up the mountains, and Christian Knees has ridden seven consecutive TDFs so he has the experience to be the major Sky domestique.
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Anyone follow the Tour Series in the UK? http://www.tourseries.co.uk
I'm going to watch in Woking tomorrow evening, the IG Team Sigma Sport are the ones to watch, Joe Perrett won the UK 25 TT at the weekend.
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I think the new tactic is being defined as massive breakaway groups on hilly days. This is what happend over three days in the Dauphine and again today in the Tour de Suisse. On flat days the sprint teams will close them down but on hilly days everyone will leave any closing down to Sky. We can then expect a Spanish Armada once Sky's numbers are reduced. Its going to be tough to break them (Sky) but with enough co-operation amongst other teams its possible.
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Isn't co-operation between teams against the rules?
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Isn't co-operation between teams against the rules?
How can it be? Teams will always work together in the peleton, taking it in turn on the front etc.
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The breakaways always fascinate me on a psychological level. If you've ever heard of the Prisoner Dilemma you'll know what I mean. Imagine you & 1 other rider ahead of the peloton, a mile to go, the peloton out of reach, the other rider urges you to work with him, do you? Are you the stronger better sprinter? You don't know this rider, so do you work with him or not?
Self interest or co-operate?
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It;s even better if the peleton IS within reach, then the two of them have to work together or neither of them will win.
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I need to tell my cycling partner about this co-operation thing, he's never heard of it.
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Teams co-operate openly. Some managers even offer money for help (which is illegal). Riders from different teams will also work with each other too based on favors either done or promised. Unpopular riders (voeckler for example) or teams (Sky) wont get much help from anyone though.
Dont forget that the end game here for most teams is TV time. If they get people in breaks they get more TV time with the added advantage of possibly breaking Skys domination.
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....I didn't realise the housewives favourite lil tommy voekler was unpopular. Any idea why?
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He is unpopular for a few reasons. He sticks his tongue out and looks like a tit. His team only ever ride when the TV coverage is on. Lots of rumours of doping (his sidekick Pierre Rolland got busted for a leading doping indicator on sunday. Although it wasn't a positive). And he doesn't toe the line in the peloton (probably his biggest crime in the riders view), attacks at odd times, doesn't always help out, doesn't get his team to ride.
In the heavy group think of the peloton this is bad stuff!
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All good points. I'd be surprised if there were wide-spread doping at Europcar. The Spanish teams, the Italians yes (vini fantini), but the French have been generally clean since Festina etc.
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I agree about the French teams being generally clean but this is Europcars 2nd dodgy health check in the last few months. There is evidence to suggest they are abusing the medical certification system to take cortisone.
And in other news the UCI president (fat Pat McQuaid) is up for re-election. Hopefully the idiot gets booted out as he is responsible for a lot of the crap that we currently see around doping.
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Sky announced their team today. Froome, Porte, Thomas, Boasen-Hagen, lopez, Kirienka, Siutsou (spelling) and Kennaugh, Stannard. Surprised that Kennaugh got in although he was really good in the Dauphine.
Froome will win and this is a strong strong team to support him.
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Why no Uran? Too much effort in the Giro I guess and probably off at the end of the season too.
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That is a statement of intent from Sky, they aren't going for anything other than the yellow jersey. No sprinters (other than maybe Boassen-Hagen) but a load of superb climbers and domestiques.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
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Froome is about evens, Contador 4/1 and the rest 16/1 and above.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
You will be proved wrong. I honestly can't see anyone beating him if he doesn't crash out.
He can climb, has the best support climbers in the peleton, and he can time trial.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
You will be proved wrong. I honestly can't see anyone beating him if he doesn't crash out.
He can climb, has the best support climbers in the peleton, and he can time trial.
Totally agree. Unless something very bad happens Froome will win it. He and the team look so strong.
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When does it start?
And what's the best/most descrete way of following it from your desk at work (radio is okay)?
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When does it start?
And what's the best/most descrete way of following it from your desk at work (radio is okay)?
Starts on the 29th of June. I'm happy with the BBC live text updates since I'm not allowed the radio. I think Radio 5 had the ends of each stage live on the radio last year.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
You will be proved wrong. I honestly can't see anyone beating him if he doesn't crash out.
He can climb, has the best support climbers in the peleton, and he can time trial.
Totally agree. Unless something very bad happens Froome will win it. He and the team look so strong.
Am I spoilt by all our successes but why does the thought of Froome underwhelm me?
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When does it start?
And what's the best/most descrete way of following it from your desk at work (radio is okay)?
It starts next Saturday - 29 June. I normally follow the updates on the BBC website during the day and then watch the highlights on ITV4 in the evening.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
You will be proved wrong. I honestly can't see anyone beating him if he doesn't crash out.
He can climb, has the best support climbers in the peleton, and he can time trial.
Totally agree. Unless something very bad happens Froome will win it. He and the team look so strong.
Am I spoilt by all our successes but why does the thought of Froome underwhelm me?
I know what you mean, that's partly why I've said he won't win it.
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I don't know a massive amount about cycling but Froome is quick in the time trials and climbs very well in the mountains and the sky team seem to be ahead of the game so unless I'm missing something he's surely got to be the favourite.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
You will be proved wrong. I honestly can't see anyone beating him if he doesn't crash out.
He can climb, has the best support climbers in the peleton, and he can time trial.
Totally agree. Unless something very bad happens Froome will win it. He and the team look so strong.
Am I spoilt by all our successes but why does the thought of Froome underwhelm me?
I know what you mean, that's partly why I've said he won't win it.
I know what you mean as well. He doesn't have the appeal of Wiggins for me. I'll still be supporting him though and I'll be amazed if he doesn't win.
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I don't know a massive amount about cycling but Froome is quick in the time trials and climbs very well in the mountains and the sky team seem to be ahead of the game so unless I'm missing something he's surely got to be the favourite.
He is the favourite, doesn't mean he's going to win it though.
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Uran and Henao are going for the Vuelta. Take some time to watch the flatter stages. Stannard and Kirienka will do 20k turns at the front. Froome is a carisma free zone but a good rider. My prediction is Froome first. Contador second. Quintana third. Cav or Sagan for green. And Valverde to give a positive test.
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As much as I'd love to see the Froome Dog win, I can't see it happening, I'll happily be proved wrong.
You will be proved wrong. I honestly can't see anyone beating him if he doesn't crash out.
He can climb, has the best support climbers in the peleton, and he can time trial.
Totally agree. Unless something very bad happens Froome will win it. He and the team look so strong.
Am I spoilt by all our successes but why does the thought of Froome underwhelm me?
I know what you mean, that's partly why I've said he won't win it.
I agree he isn't Wiggo and doesn't have the same personality etc, but I think he could have won it last year if he wasn't following team orders. There were times last year when he could have left Wiggo behind in the mountains but didn't because of team orders.
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Mad skillz.
[ Invalid YouTube link ]
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Do we want to do a mini-league like last year?
http://fantasy.cyclingnews.com/team.aspx?page=view
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Do we want to do a mini-league like last year?
http://fantasy.cyclingnews.com/team.aspx?page=view
I'll give it a go.
edit:
League H&V
Password: rotterdam82
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My money's on the bloke that takes the most drugs.
As an aside, is there a TdF for women? Never seem to hear about them taking part.
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I'll do a team tonight on my night shift.
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My money's on the bloke that takes the most drugs.
As an aside, is there a TdF for women? Never seem to hear about them taking part.
No there is not. Not yet anyway.
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There used to be a womens TdF but its gone as there was no sponsorship.
My team is in.
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My money's on the bloke that takes the most drugs.
As an aside, is there a TdF for women? Never seem to hear about them taking part.
10 laps round Sutton Park.
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Mad skillz.
[ Invalid YouTube link ]
Not mad enough.
Half boy, half bike Danny MacAskill is the daddy.
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj6ho1-G6tw)
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Sv3xVOs7_No&NR=1)
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The "Cycling Sox" have registered
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Do we want to do a mini-league like last year?
http://fantasy.cyclingnews.com/team.aspx?page=view
I'm in team nice stroke
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OnlyOnePabloAngel have applied to join.....do I need to take a drug test?
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Digital EPO for anyone who wants to cheat Strava & put in a mighty hillclimb segment, it's what the internet has become :shakes head:
http://www.digitalepo.com/
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FFS - the mini league could do with an accept all button!
:D
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You have got until 10am tomorrow get in
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Do we want to do a mini-league like last year?
http://fantasy.cyclingnews.com/team.aspx?page=view
I'm in team nice stroke
You might want to swap out Rasmussen. It's coming up as not in a team. I had Grivko in the same teamless uniform.
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Haliborange Overdose are in.
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Do we want to do a mini-league like last year?
http://fantasy.cyclingnews.com/team.aspx?page=view
I'm in team nice stroke
You might want to swap out Rasmussen. It's coming up as not in a team. I had Grivko in the same teamless uniform.
Thanks swapped for David Lopez.
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Bollax - missed the cut off.
I shall just have to dwell on what might have been, I think I came second last year. Possibly for the best that I take the Sir BW approach, although stopping near the top rather than at the top.
Really hope Cav takes yellow tomorrow.
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Lance says that you can't win the tour without drugs
http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/9432050/lance-armstrong-says-the-record-tour-de-france-winner
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How would he know? He was always juiced up.
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I don't like the way that the ITV commentators are making it sound like Cav is a certainty to win today. Even going as far to show where they'll be interviewing him after his victory
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I don't like the way that the ITV commentators are making it sound like Cav is a certainty to win today. Even going as far to show where they'll be interviewing him after his victory
Aye it's all a bit London 2012 road race isn't it!
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What a f*ck up!
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Rather hilarious opening to the tour de france opening stage.
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And then Cav crashes...
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I'm sure Yorkshire won't make the same mistake next year...
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What a f*ck up!
Bit of a farce
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And then Cav crashes...
Don't think he went down did he? Still what a monumental f**k up.
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Is Orica GreenEdge managed by Alex McLeish ?
"Parking the bus" as a defensive measure
(http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2010110.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/A-bus-is-stuck-under-the-finish-gantry-on-the-finish-line-at-the-end-of-the-213-km-first-stage-of-the-100th-edition-of-2010110.jpg)
(http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2010106.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Tour-De-France-2010106.jpg)
Most of the crashes (apart, maybe, from the last major one) seemed to involve those flimsy looking advertising hoardings
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What a pathetic day. They lowered the gantry at the finish before the last of the traffic went through (organisers fault) then they said they'd finish at 3k to go and announced it on race radio (which all riders hear via thier radios) then changed their mind because they got the bus out. If there was a real "patron" in the peloton then the riders would have called it off at that point.
Tony Martin out. Sagan and Contador hurt. Stannard and Thomas also hurt (though much less). Stupid stage route caused all of this.
Still tomorrow should be good. Lots of hills and lots and lots of attacking. My money is on Dan Martin.
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The changing of the finish line and then reverting back caused the crash as the sprinters teams were forced to jockey for position at short notice.
A farce.
Also when did the rule change that everyone gets the same time if there's a crash, I always thought it was 3kms but yesterday the crash was definitely outside this.
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No points/scores on the fantasy league yet, seems a bit odd, normally these things get updated pretty sharpish.
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The changing of the finish line and then reverting back caused the crash as the sprinters teams were forced to jockey for position at short notice.
A farce.
Also when did the rule change that everyone gets the same time if there's a crash, I always thought it was 3kms but yesterday the crash was definitely outside this.
I think it falls into an 'exceptional circumstances' situation where the crash was probably caused by the race organisers fucking everyone about.
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Points are up there now.
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"Exceptional circumstances" = we make the rules up as we go along.
Some years they enforce the time limit and some years they don't. personally i'd be extremely frustrated with rules not being clear at the outset.
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Cav is the man - you beauty.
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Just as the first sound of the cuckoo heralds the start of spring, so the first Cav stage win at the Tour heralds the start of summer.
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Just as the first sound of the cuckoo heralds the start of spring, so the first Cav stage win at the Tour heralds the start of summer.
And then he crashes yesterday and has a melt down in the team bus apparently!
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Cav is the man - you beauty.
Didn't cover himself in glory the following day with his post race behaviour though did he? Word is the French rozzers were called to the team bus.
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First big mountain stage today. Last climb could be interesting as there are some steep sections. Expect the start of the spanish armada today. J Rodriguez for the win.
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The Cannondale team rode an awesome stage yesterday, completely blew most of the sprinters out of the race and they thoroughly deserved to see Sagan finish it off.
Today is when we see who is really in contention for yellow.
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Cav is the man - you beauty.
Didn't cover himself in glory the following day with his post race behaviour though did he? Word is the French rozzers were called to the team bus.
I can't ever get to liking Cavendish, sure he doesn't mind too much though. He is so bloody monotone and only ever ok if everything has gone just how he wants it to. I suspect he must be bloody murder to live with.
Let's hope the race really gets going today, all been a bit limp to my mind so far with no real excitement except for the bus!
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Froome has gone for it.
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The Froome Dog smashed it today, I may have to change my prediction if he carries on like that, Contador was blown into the weeds.
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Sky looked strong today, Froome really laid down a marker. Kennaugh's turn at the front deserves a mention.
That's two days running one team has dominated. Be interesting if anyone can take Sky on tomorrow.
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Sky looked strong today, Froome really laid down a marker. Kennaugh's turn at the front deserves a mention.
That's two days running one team has dominated. Be interesting if anyone can take Sky on tomorrow.
I think Kennaugh did brilliantly and will be challenging the GC in the next year or two.
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Gauntlet thrown.
I don't care that Froome isn't Wiggins, he doesn't care either, what a ride.
Froome will never make a lot of friends, but what a talent!
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Yesterday's stage annoyed me slightly in that Quintana did all the work and got no reward.
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Crazy stage yesterday. Froome and Porte were literally 'unbelievable'. That type of performance raises a lot of questions. These marginal gains are becoming less and less believable. Hope I am wrong.
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Crazy stage yesterday. Froome and Porte were literally 'unbelievable'. That type of performance raises a lot of questions. These marginal gains are becoming less and less believable. Hope I am wrong.
I think you are wrong, Sky are the most tested team in the peleton purely because people can't believe they can produce performances like that.
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Well this is an interesting start to the stage. Froome only has Porte with him.
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Looks like Froome has fucked up the rest of his team!
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I hope I am wrong. Anyway looks like the Spanish armada is having a go today. Froome totally isolated.
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Brummie Dan Martin takes it! What a day$ racing. Froome did well to stay in yellow as that was a dangerous day for him.
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Brave stuff from Froome, he was isolated throughout and just hung on all the way. It's probably good that it's now a rest day followed by a short time trial because that would have taken a lot out of him.
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Brummie Dan Martin takes it! What a day$ racing. Froome did well to stay in yellow as that was a dangerous day for him.
Brummie Irish no less - the best combo there is ;D . Never mind jocks waving sticks at serbs in front of the posh. Never mind a bunch of neckless taffs beating a bunch of neckless aussies. Dan Martin was the performance of the weekend!
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Not sure what movistar were thinking. When Quintana attacked why didnt Valverde counter in the old 1-2 tactic. All they did was managed to keep the race together. Unlikely froome will be so isolated so early again. Do Sky's accusers think they are taking things which leave them dropped after 40kms?
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Urine thrown over Cav
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/23251598
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Dirty, smelly, insufferable French.
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Beautiful scenary this morning, except the bag of pee of course.
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Typical, Cavendish taking the piss.
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Guess what idiot took Tony Martin out of his team after his crash early in the tour and then forgot to put him back in again for the Time Trial?
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Never seen Cav beaten like he was last night before. The look on his face as Kittel passed him! The beginning of the end?
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Never seen Cav beaten like he was last night before. The look on his face as Kittel passed him! The beginning of the end?
Not yet I suspect but Kittel is cleary a force to be reckoned with and Cav has acknowledged that. We will see what happens today.
This seems to be a difficult tour for him, OPQP have been inconsistent and it looks like they may bring in Renshaw for next year which should help.
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Cav was back at the front again today.
It looks like Team Sky were caught out by the cross wind and Froome's lost some of lead
BTW how come "Cycling" isn't on the main list of sports on the BBC website this year. I swear that it was there last year
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What s day of racing. Sky are in trouble and everyone knows it now. They have lost their really big flatland riders in Kiryenka and Edvald and Thomas is knackered. Stannard can't do it all and today showed their weakness. Expect Movistar and Saxo to go mental on Sunday on Ventoux. Froome has got 8 men within 5 minutes and little help around him. He can't mark them all.
I hear that there is also concern that Froome isn't handling it too well physically. He is thought to be dog tired and he looked it today.
Todays was probably Cavs best ever win in the TdF. Amazing day. Just about to watch the highlights again on Eurosport.
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Hindsight is wonderful but Sky might be regretting leaving Eisel and Knees out. Their experience would been invaluable.
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This tour is much less of a walkover than was predicted. I think Froome is going to get pummeled in the alps.
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Eisel is a big loss. He wouldn't have missed that break yesterday. I think I need next week off to watch it!
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Next week is brutal, I've never known so many huge climbs in such a short space of time.
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This tour is much less of a walkover than was predicted. I think Froome is going to get pummeled in the alps.
I've only caught a couple of stages live, and had to follow the others on highlights/reports or whatever, but it seems like its been a great tour so far. Memorable stages, good sprints, riders taking each other on, can't wait for the Alps..
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Sundays stage looks like it could be an epic. I'm really enjoying this years TDF and it is great to see that no one person or team is dominating it.
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Today's stage is going to be great. I'll be in Paris on Sunday. Can't wait. The only trouble is, I'll miss seeing the highlights on Friday and Saturday's stage.
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Sundays stage looks like it could be an epic.
Just take a look at the graphic !!
(http://cyclingperspective.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Tour-de-France-2013-Stage-15-profile.jpg)
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The Giant of Provence, on a baking hot day, at the end of this Tour's longest stage. Brutal.
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Superb from Chris Froome. Looks like Kenya is going to get its first TdF winner.
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Excellent, just excellent from Froome today. He is head and shoulders above the field in the mountains, and the way he took apart druggie Contador was a delight to see. Its also so refreshing to see a Tour leader willing to attack and put more time into his rivals, than to merely defend the advantage.
Barring a miracle Froome's going to be the second British Tour de France winner in a row. Which is staggering considering so many years in the doldrums. Just glad that Froome considers himself to be British, what with his British father, grandfather and passport:
Froome said: "Although I was riding under the Kenyan flag I made it clear that I had always carried a British passport and felt British. It was then we talked about racing under the Union Flag, and we stayed in touch."
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That was a remarkable ride up The Ventoux, it looks a bit like a volcano and must have felt like one in that heat.
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Awesome stuff from Froome. He won me over with that ride today. I'm sure it was troubling him immensely he hadn't previously.
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Tomorrow is the double ascent of Alpe D'Huez. This will be classic for no other reason than its never been done. Full on Spanish Armada day tomorrow for me. Breaks from 1Km. Saxo, Movistar, and Euskatel in the breaks with Belkin and Astana hitting it on the climbs. I was at the start yesterday and 80% of the riders were on static trainers an hour befor the start getting warmed up as they knew it was going to kick off from the start. Tomorrow will be the same. If Froome holds on tomorrow then he will break them mentally. As it stands after yesterday Movi and Saxo still think that they might engineer something.
Oh and I am creaming the league. Come on boys!
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Well done Froome on another great stage win. Contador looked gutted when he saw Froome's time in the time trial. Maybe he's beginning to think he can't win.
The next two days are going to be very interesting though. All of Froome's rivals have to attack and attack as much as possible. it's going to make for some very interesting cycling.
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There was some talk yesterday that, due to the descent being wet, the stage might end the first time that that get to the top of Alpe d'Huez
Have they made a definite decision yet ?
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There was some talk yesterday that, due to the descent being wet, the stage might end the first time that that get to the top of Alpe d'Huez
Have they made a definite decision yet ?
Weather looks good so far......
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Rain stayed mostly away, good job because that's a hell of a descent! Don't look down!
Gotta go back up again as well, there are some evil bastards who design the TDF course.
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Richie Porte must be the hardest working waiter in the world.
How much will he be fined for dropping back to pick up Froome's tea ?
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It looks like it is Froome who is going to get a time penalty, but the 20 seconds won't affect him.
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They both got 20 seconds and fines of 200 quid each. The Sports Director got a 800 quid fine. His car had broken down earlier in the stage and he took a while to get back up so missed the cut off point for food and drink. (20k from the finish).
Its all over now. Barring a crash its Froomes. Might be some good racing for 2nd though.
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They both got 20 seconds and fines of 200 quid each. The Sports Director got a 800 quid fine. His car had broken down earlier in the stage and he took a while to get back up so missed the cut off point for food and drink. (20k from the finish).
Its all over now. Barring a crash its Froomes. Might be some good racing for 2nd though.
I can see the point of the no feeding inside 20K rule in a sprint stage where they start jostling for position about then and you don't want cars in amongst them and you don't want wrappers and suchlike discarded on the road, but on a high mountain stage it seems a bit daft, maybe one they can look at.
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And while they're looking at that, they could perhaps look at the rules regarding the mechanic giving the rider a push after a non-mechanical bike change in the ITT. Sky and Froome used the current rules to their advantage on Wednesday.
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They should be made to carry a packed lunch and wear a spare inner tube around their shoulders
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Looking forward to today, Froome has performed superbly as have Sky even when reduced to seven. Just the one bad day.
Hope Cav makes it five in a row, but got a feeling he might struggle. He's the only one of the top sprinters who finished the Giro which was brutal. That must take its toll.
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Froome deserves it. he deserved it last year also when he was clearly better than Wiggins.
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I see that its an evening race today.
All those long stages in the heat of the day and the organisers have the easiest day (for the bulk of the pelaton) in the cool of the evening.
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Well done Froome Dog, Kenya's first TdF winner, I have to hold my hands up and say fair play, I thought he'd have more of a challenge from Contador and a few others. Cadel Evans looked completely spent on Ventoux, where was his team? Nowhere, that's where. I wonder if we'll see Wiggins back in Sky colours again?
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There was an interesting feature on TV yesterday regrading cycling in Kenya. It featured Froome's "mentor". A bloke who makes Chris Gayle look hyper.
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Well done Froome Dog, Kenya's first TdF winner, I have to hold my hands up and say fair play, I thought he'd have more of a challenge from Contador and a few others. Cadel Evans looked completely spent on Ventoux, where was his team? Nowhere, that's where. I wonder if we'll see Wiggins back in Sky colours again?
Evans is another who completed the Giro, came third, and did not have the legs to compete for GC.
Could be his final Tour, next year BMC may be built around TJ.
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Sister of Top Cat is in Paris (as she was for the final last year). I'm watching Channel 4 just in case I can catch a glimpse of her (she's outside HSBC Bank!).
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Cav was never going to catch up but he did seem to hit a pothole just before the line.
Congrats to the Kenyan, South African, Brit (delete as applicable). But for team orders, today could have been Froome's second straight win.
Who do we have to win next year?
If Wiggo doesn't take part, I'd like to see Richie Porte win.
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Cav was never going to catch up but he did seem to hit a pothole just before
His lead out team was outmuscled by Kittel's and Greipel's. Too far back when they swept round.
Thomas and Kennaugh might be GC contenders in years to come. Froome again for 2014.
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They will surely just go with Froome again? He's head and shoulders above anyone else at the moment so if he's fit Sky will pick him.
Porte will win plenty of races but he's not in Froome's class going up the mountains and he will always lose a bit in the time trials.
Quintana is the threat next year, he looks a real talent.
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Can't see anyone beating Froome for the next couple of years. Still looking forward to next years TDF and Uk start
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Yes all very good this year and last year.
By the way when do we find out if these guys are reasonably "clean"?
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Froome deserves it. he deserved it last year also when he was clearly better than Wiggins.
I agree with this. Froome's a superb competitor, pity he's not British. He's about as British as Zola Budd Im afraid.
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Froome deserves it. he deserved it last year also when he was clearly better than Wiggins.
I agree with this. Froome's a superb competitor, pity he's not British. He's about as British as Zola Budd Im afraid.
Isn't his father British and raised him as British. I'm fairly sure I've seen something where he said he's always considered himself British even when he was racing for Kenya.
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Yes all very good this year and last year.
By the way when do we find out if these guys are reasonably "clean"?
Froome and Sky are the most tested team in the peleton, if he's using then it's something they haven't got a test for.
Froome deserves it. he deserved it last year also when he was clearly better than Wiggins.
I agree with this. Froome's a superb competitor, pity he's not British. He's about as British as Zola Budd Im afraid.
His Dad is English, born in Gloucestershire, he represented England at hockey. By saying Froome is not British you are basically saying that anyone born abroad to an ex-pat family isn't British either.
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My partner refuses to believe Wiggins or Froome are clean, or Usain Bolt for that matter. My own view is while it may be proved years down the line that she's right it ruins the spectacle in the present to assume that athletes can't achieve amazing things without chemical assistance. If you don't celebrate them now then when do you? In 20 or 30 years it wouldn't quite be the same.
Aside from all that congratulations to Froome, brilliant win and thoroughly deserved. He's clearly the best all round rider in the race. He owes Richie Porte a pint or two, or whatever cyclists drink, just as Wiggins owed him last year. If Quintana can improve his time trialling I think he'll surpass him but it's Froome's title to lose next year.
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Yes all very good this year and last year.
By the way when do we find out if these guys are reasonably "clean"?
Froome and Sky are the most tested team in the peleton, if he's using then it's something they haven't got a test for.
Froome deserves it. he deserved it last year also when he was clearly better than Wiggins.
I agree with this. Froome's a superb competitor, pity he's not British. He's about as British as Zola Budd Im afraid.
His Dad is English, born in Gloucestershire, he represented England at hockey. By saying Froome is not British you are basically saying that anyone born abroad to an ex-pat family isn't British either.
Did you see the piece Eurosport did on Froome re his childhood & upbringing in Africa? He even had an Afrikaans twang to his accent so it's understandable people view his nationality with a a little suspicion to be fair.
He desperately needs a personality implant.
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Yes all very good this year and last year.
By the way when do we find out if these guys are reasonably "clean"?
Froome and Sky are the most tested team in the peleton, if he's using then it's something they haven't got a test for.
Froome deserves it. he deserved it last year also when he was clearly better than Wiggins.
I agree with this. Froome's a superb competitor, pity he's not British. He's about as British as Zola Budd Im afraid.
His Dad is English, born in Gloucestershire, he represented England at hockey. By saying Froome is not British you are basically saying that anyone born abroad to an ex-pat family isn't British either.
Did you see the piece Eurosport did on Froome re his childhood & upbringing in Africa? He even had an Afrikaans twang to his accent so it's understandable people view his nationality with a a little suspicion to be fair.
He desperately needs a personality implant.
Wiggins is a much more likeable (and marektable) than Froome.
As for nationality, I wonder what Norman Tebbit thinks. It is a bit like his test but in reverse.
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First casualty at BMC this morning, John Lelangue leaves BMC Racing.
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My partner refuses to believe Wiggins or Froome are clean, or Usain Bolt for that matter.
I am with her/him. I think UB will follow where others have ended up!
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My partner refuses to believe Wiggins or Froome are clean, or Usain Bolt for that matter.
I am with her/him. I think UB will follow where others have ended up!
Please post your evidence for this as I'd love to read it.
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My partner refuses to believe Wiggins or Froome are clean, or Usain Bolt for that matter.
I am with her/him. I think UB will follow where others have ended up!
I think you are wrong. Usain Bolt, for instance, hasn't done anything which his times from childhood didn;t hint at, he really is just a freak of nature! Okay so his parents might have been drugging him up since he was six but he was running incredibly fast from a very young age.
Sky have released their training and performance stats to the press (which the press can't publish for obvious reasons) to show that Froome's performance is down to incredibly detailed and rigourous training. People have pointed to his burst of speed up Mount Ventoux as proof that he must be on something, but in training he rode up that same mountain dozens of times at race speeds and practiced the kick near the top over and over again. Plus he got a (totally legal) assist by riding behind a motorbike for a couple of hundred yards!
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Cyclists are probably tested more times than any other sportsmen, particularly those at the top.
I don't have the numbers at hand but Froome, Wiggins & Cavendish are all included in the most tested category. I genuinly believe that all three, and all the main players, are clean and go along with Wiggin's outburst at the last Tour.
Probably with the French media it is just a reluctance to accept British domination.
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My partner refuses to believe Wiggins or Froome are clean, or Usain Bolt for that matter.
I am with her/him. I think UB will follow where others have ended up!
Please post your evidence for this as I'd love to read it.
The phrase "I thinK" implies that I think not that I know or have evidence.
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OK - what's your logic in reaching that view?
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I think you are wrong.
I hope so however with Armstrong disgrace and track Athletes being "found out" on a regular basis I am just dubious that anyone is clean these days.
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His Dad is English, born in Gloucestershire, he represented England at hockey. By saying Froome is not British you are basically saying that anyone born abroad to an ex-pat family isn't British either.
I thought that the Gloucestershire connection was that Froome's mother's parents were from Tetbury before emigrating to Kenya (where Chris' mother was born).
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His Dad is English, born in Gloucestershire, he represented England at hockey. By saying Froome is not British you are basically saying that anyone born abroad to an ex-pat family isn't British either.
I thought that the Gloucestershire connection was that Froome's mother's parents were from Tetbury before emigrating to Kenya (where Chris' mother was born).
Might be, I've not taken that much notice, just caught bits of stuff when listening to the Eurosport commentary.
Not that bothered really, he wants to be British so I'm happy with that.
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God Save The Queen played on the Champs-Élysées is always a bonus.
Wiggo won it easily last year. Froome totally pissed it this year. And will next year.
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Wiggo didn't win it easily.
As for Froome pissing it next year, possibly, but I'd expect a major challenge from Quintana, he's quite a talent.
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Are there (m)any cases of Team Sky suing journalists etc who question their cleanness? That was part and parcel of armstrong's tactics whereas Sky appear to have been quite open towards the media. It's not evidence of being clean but they're at least trying to be proactive in clearing things up.
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Wiggo didn't win it easily.
As for Froome pissing it next year, possibly, but I'd expect a major challenge from Quintana, he's quite a talent.
Didn't Quintana lose a few minutes in the time trials? He will have to improve there if he wants to challenge, and also he will be a marked man next year. But I hope he does well, I like his style.
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Are there (m)any cases of Team Sky suing journalists etc who question their cleanness? That was part and parcel of armstrong's tactics whereas Sky appear to have been quite open towards the media. It's not evidence of being clean but they're at least trying to be proactive in clearing things up.
They invited at least one journo to spend time with the team prior to the Giro, I think it was a guy from the Sunday Times, they saw everything, I really don't think Sky have anything to hide and they encourage openness with the press and authorities.
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I think you are wrong.
I hope so however with Armstrong disgrace and track Athletes being "found out" on a regular basis I am just dubious that anyone is clean these days.
That's one of the worst things about the Armstrong era. People now just assume that winning cyclists are doping, when the statistical evidence and advances in drug testing completely suggests otherwise.
The times the peloton were regularly putting up in the doping era are largely astonishing compared to the last couple of years. No sport is ever going to be completely clean of some form of cheating, but cycling has undeniably become a much cleaner sport in recent times.
Froome is just head and shoulders above the rest at the moment, the best climber and the best time trialist of the GC contenders. There has not been one scrap of evidence, rumor or anything that could lead people to believe that he is doping. On the contrary, he rides for a team which has allowed notorious anti doping crusading journalists to follow them through every aspect of their operation.
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His Dad is English, born in Gloucestershire, he represented England at hockey. By saying Froome is not British you are basically saying that anyone born abroad to an ex-pat family isn't British either.
I thought that the Gloucestershire connection was that Froome's mother's parents were from Tetbury before emigrating to Kenya (where Chris' mother was born).
Might be, I've not taken that much notice, just caught bits of stuff when listening to the Eurosport commentary.
Not that bothered really, he wants to be British so I'm happy with that.
Not sure about the mom's side but his dad is British. Froome also said that the has always considered himself to be British. a little like my son who was born in London and has thus far lived most of his life in Nigeria. However, he will always be a dyed in the wool Villa fan. Wherever he's living or 'from'.
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I see that its an evening race today.
All those long stages in the heat of the day and the organisers have the easiest day (for the bulk of the pelaton) in the cool of the evening.
It certainly wasn't cool - it was still 35 degrees at 11pm. The tarmac around the Arc De Triomphe had all melted - we were so relieved we managed to find a relatively shady spot for our wait.
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I find it hard to believe Froome is clean. Being the best climber and best time trialist is too much like the bad old days. Someone his size shouldn't be soundly beating the more powerfull guys on flat tt's without some illegal help.
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Surely its not just about how big they are, its power to weight. If he has less baggage to cart around then he wont have to be so extremely powerful. Triathlon competitors dont tend to be big bastards, just incredibly fit, and they have to use a varying amount of mucsles. Fair play to Froome, and for what its worth, i think he is clean. The step change in mentality, and the huge policing in the sport now is the evidence I would quote.
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Well Sky have provided all the training data for all of their riders to the UCI to show how they are achieving the results they are getting so if there's anything untoward it should come out.
Some people are never going to be convinced that a TDF winner can be clean, that's the legacy Armstrong et al have left the sport to carry I suppose.
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Surely its not just about how big they are, its power to weight. If he has less baggage to cart around then he wont have to be so extremely powerful. Triathlon competitors dont tend to be big bastards, just incredibly fit, and they have to use a varying amount of mucsles. Fair play to Froome, and for what its worth, i think he is clean. The step change in mentality, and the huge policing in the sport now is the evidence I would quote.
Power to weight doesn't matter in flat time trials, it's only pure power output. Weight comes into it uphill with gravity playing the major factor.
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Well Sky have provided all the training data for all of their riders to the UCI to show how they are achieving the results they are getting so if there's anything untoward it should come out.
Some people are never going to be convinced that a TDF winner can be clean, that's the legacy Armstrong et al have left the sport to carry I suppose.
I just don't believe anything to do with Froome. Backstory, blood data, the lot. It's extremely rare for a 27 year old to appear out of nowhere and be a world beater, there's normally some kind of talent and progression from a young age. I've only been following cycling since 93 and the times when someone has appeared with no track record and tore it up they've been doped to the eyeballs.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to be wrong but I've ended up so cynical with the sport.
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Surely its not just about how big they are, its power to weight. If he has less baggage to cart around then he wont have to be so extremely powerful. Triathlon competitors dont tend to be big bastards, just incredibly fit, and they have to use a varying amount of mucsles. Fair play to Froome, and for what its worth, i think he is clean. The step change in mentality, and the huge policing in the sport now is the evidence I would quote.
Power to weight doesn't matter in flat time trials, it's only pure power output. Weight comes into it uphill with gravity playing the major factor.
Weight always matters, it just matters more when you're climbing, it's fairly basic physics, the energy required to move object x from a to b changes based on the weight of the object, being on a bike doesn't alter that, climbing a mountain just means you add a multiplier for gravity.
Efficiency is the key to success in cycling, getting the maximum speed for the least possible effort. Team Sky and the UK athletics Cycling teams have based their entire training regime around minor changes for maximum reward with their entire lifestyle in the buildup to and during major events. They've got set sleeping patterns and diets (including water intake), they have every second of their training monitored to pick out technical inefficiencies and they 'share the load' in the peloton better than any other team in the tour. The team leader has a 'mate' (Froome was Wiggo's) whose job is to help him up the hills and lead the charge to close down breakaways.
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Well Sky have provided all the training data for all of their riders to the UCI to show how they are achieving the results they are getting so if there's anything untoward it should come out.
Some people are never going to be convinced that a TDF winner can be clean, that's the legacy Armstrong et al have left the sport to carry I suppose.
I just don't believe anything to do with Froome. Backstory, blood data, the lot. It's extremely rare for a 27 year old to appear out of nowhere and be a world beater, there's normally some kind of talent and progression from a young age. I've only been following cycling since 93 and the times when someone has appeared with no track record and tore it up they've been doped to the eyeballs.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to be wrong but I've ended up so cynical with the sport.
He's not exactly come out of nowhere though? This was his fourth top-4 finish in a grand tour.
And don't forget he suffered from bilharzia when he was 24, when you would normally expect a cyclist to appear.
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I just don't believe anything to do with Froome. Backstory, blood data, the lot. It's extremely rare for a 27 year old to appear out of nowhere and be a world beater, there's normally some kind of talent and progression from a young age. I've only been following cycling since 93 and the times when someone has appeared with no track record and tore it up they've been doped to the eyeballs.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to be wrong but I've ended up so cynical with the sport.
Just because you hadn't heard of him until last year doesn't mean he just appeared out of nowhere!
He's been a professional for six years and spent his youth cycling up and down mountains in southern Africa.
A lot of the reason he didn't get too many wins in his early professional career is he suffered from Bilharzia, a parasitic blood disease contracted in Kenya, look it up. *EDIT* as Hipkiss said already!
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If Froome and/or Sky are cheating then they are doing it brilliantly in order to avoid detection.
Top riders are tested in and out of competition more than any other sport, I have no doubt that Froome and the vast majority of the peleton are clean with just a few rogues and rascals left.
I enjoy the sport more than ever in that belief.
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I just don't believe anything to do with Froome. Backstory, blood data, the lot. It's extremely rare for a 27 year old to appear out of nowhere and be a world beater, there's normally some kind of talent and progression from a young age. I've only been following cycling since 93 and the times when someone has appeared with no track record and tore it up they've been doped to the eyeballs.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to be wrong but I've ended up so cynical with the sport.
Just because you hadn't heard of him until last year doesn't mean he just appeared out of nowhere!
He's been a professional for six years and spent his youth cycling up and down mountains in southern Africa.
A lot of the reason he didn't get too many wins in his early professional career is he suffered from Bilharzia, a parasitic blood disease contracted in Kenya, look it up. *EDIT* as Hipkiss said already!
Don't believe the Bilharzia tale. Would fit in perfectly as a cover story for a dodgy bio passport.
He's been pro for 6 years and sucked for four of them. Joined sky and found the magic ingredient. Same as Wiggins. How at such a late age did he suddenly learn to climb? It's not something you can learn to do, like perfect a freekick through practice, it's in your biological make up.
No one has adequately explained how super skinny riders like Froome and Wiggins can beat monsters like Cancellara in flat time trials yet.
It reminds me of times when Rasmussen, Pantani, Virenque, Mancebo, Sevilla, etc really skinny guys who time trialled with the best and outclimbed everyone else.
Look at Ryder Hesjedal in this years giro, someone I believe is cleaner than most. He lost a lot of weight beforehand to combat Nibali and Wiggins, and also ended up losing a lot of Power too. How do Froome and Wiggins put out monstrous power outputs at those weights?
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How do Froome and Wiggins put out monstrous power outputs at those weights?
[/quote]
Bloody hard work and sacrifice, which is why I doubt you will see Wiggins going for the Tour or the Vuelta again.
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The problem is they can't win either way. I think Armstrong trotted out every excuse under the sun and so has made us all sceptical. Shame on him.
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How do Froome and Wiggins put out monstrous power outputs at those weights?
Bloody hard work and sacrifice, which is why I doubt you will see Wiggins going for the Tour or the Vuelta again.
[/quote]
Sounds like a Lanceism to me.
''What am I on? My bike busting my ass, 6 hours a day.''
Are you not at all sceptical with regards to Wiggo that he became a top tier climber in his 30's? There's many examples of this happening before. Unforuntaley they've all been busted since.
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Surely its not just about how big they are, its power to weight. If he has less baggage to cart around then he wont have to be so extremely powerful. Triathlon competitors dont tend to be big bastards, just incredibly fit, and they have to use a varying amount of mucsles. Fair play to Froome, and for what its worth, i think he is clean. The step change in mentality, and the huge policing in the sport now is the evidence I would quote.
Power to weight doesn't matter in flat time trials, it's only pure power output. Weight comes into it uphill with gravity playing the major factor.
Weight always matters, it just matters more when you're climbing, it's fairly basic physics, the energy required to move object x from a to b changes based on the weight of the object, being on a bike doesn't alter that, climbing a mountain just means you add a multiplier for gravity.
Efficiency is the key to success in cycling, getting the maximum speed for the least possible effort. Team Sky and the UK athletics Cycling teams have based their entire training regime around minor changes for maximum reward with their entire lifestyle in the buildup to and during major events. They've got set sleeping patterns and diets (including water intake), they have every second of their training monitored to pick out technical inefficiencies and they 'share the load' in the peloton better than any other team in the tour. The team leader has a 'mate' (Froome was Wiggo's) whose job is to help him up the hills and lead the charge to close down breakaways.
Please don't tell me all these little extras like Wiggo using his own pillows and warming down more than others has led to him being able to keep pace with a doped to the gills Contador, Schleck and Armstrong in the mountains in 09.
We've heard it all before anyway, those who believe will believe no matter what and those who don't won't accept any evidence either.
Cycling for me is a broken sport until those that were involved in Omerta and systematic drug use are no longer associated with the sport. From team managers, Soigneurs to the President it's still 90% the same faces.
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There's no point discussing this, you've clearly decided that both of them must be on drugs and will forever view them in that light. That's a pretty sad state of affairs given there is no evidence to suggest either has ever done anything wrong (lance had rumours for years, as did mostof the other high profile dopers).
If you don't think small changes can make a big difference then you don't believe it, doesn't stop it being true.
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Just because someone is built like a brick shithouse doesn't mean they have endurance. They are suited to shorter distances and bursts of power. Its why its possible to see Mo Farah beat Usain Bolt over 600 metres.
With Froome he wasn't at a team like Sky - a professional team whose techniques were sneered at but now mostly copied. Peter Withe was a nobody until he joined Villa and fit. Farah, as mentioned has come good over the last couple of years. Jonathon Edwards was almost 30 when he started breaking records and winning world titles and 34 for an olympic title.
There are countless people who don't obtain brilliance immediately. Doesn't mean its drugs.
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There's no point discussing this, you've clearly decided that both of them must be on drugs and will forever view them in that light. That's a pretty sad state of affairs given there is no evidence to suggest either has ever done anything wrong (lance had rumours for years, as did mostof the other high profile dopers).
If you don't think small changes can make a big difference then you don't believe it, doesn't stop it being true.
Yes, it is a sad state of affairs. It hasn't been innocent until proven guilty for years in cycling now.
Clean riders posting times up climbs as fast as or very close to well known dopers historical times does not look good at all.
Although I don't go in for cross sport comparison Peter Withe wasn't exactly a nobody, being a 1 in 3 striker in the top flight, Jonathan Edwards had won International medals at 23 and well Mo Farah, I don't believe he's clean either :O. Froome has Zero reputation for anything before finishing 2nd in a grand tour and Wiggins becomes a climber at the grand old age of 30 after both pedalled square wheels up even small hills for years.
Cycling and most other sports aren't comparable so please don't bother posting more 30 somethings who ended up winning something. Genetic potential at the top level of cycling is massively important. That's why you see thoroughbreds winning from a young age.
Sky didn't invent modern cycling and are no more professional than the majority of the other continental teams, they train just as hard and are just as cutting edge. It's media baloney to suggest otherwise. Sky have employed more than a few shady characters with bad links to the past, just like everyone else has and as usual it will come down to who has the most expensive program.
Anyway it's pointless arguing about cycling, the ''sport'' has become a charade and is nowhere near to sorting itself out of it's own mess yet.
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Just because someone is built like a brick shithouse doesn't mean they have endurance. They are suited to shorter distances and bursts of power. Its why its possible to see Mo Farah beat Usain Bolt over 600 metres.
With Froome he wasn't at a team like Sky - a professional team whose techniques were sneered at but now mostly copied. Peter Withe was a nobody until he joined Villa and fit. Farah, as mentioned has come good over the last couple of years. Jonathon Edwards was almost 30 when he started breaking records and winning world titles and 34 for an olympic title.
There are countless people who don't obtain brilliance immediately. Doesn't mean its drugs.
At last, some sense in the thread. Great post Pete, I totally agree. The first time I ran a marathon it took me 4 hours. After training for a couple of years and changing my training technique I could run a marathon in under 3 hours and was in my mid thirties. So yes, changing training techniques can change an athlete.
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Literally 30seconds of searching and clicking the 2nd link down took me to a BBC report - here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18921784)
The important bit is:
Another measure which might make a better comparison, according to Dr Ross Tucker of the sports science institute at the University of Cape Town, is the power-to-weight ratio.
Dr Tucker says you can see a marked difference between today and the bad old days when there were no tests for blood doping or drugs such as EPO.
"In the late 1990s and early 2000s if you were going to be competitive and win the Tour de France you would have to be able to cycle between 6.4 and 6.7 watts per kilogram at the end of a day's stage.
"What we are seeing now, in the last three or four years, is that the speed of the front of the peloton [of] men like Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, is about 10% down compared to that generation and now the power output at the front is about 6W/kg."
So your assertion that they're posting times close to well known dopers isn't true and your entire argument is based on that false assumption.
As for Mo Farah he has been regarded as a massive prospect in 5k and 10k for years, he didn't burst onto the scene in any way, his performance increases every year are perfectly reasonable and in line with expectations for someone who was regarded as an olympic hopeful when he was a teenager. Again there is nothing in any of the data to suggest he's ever taken drugs so why can't you believe that it's down to talent.
The innocent until proven guilty thing is silly, you might as well not bother following the sport if you're going to have that attitude, the Armstrong situation means that cycling needs to be whiter than white for a few years, the risks otherwise are too great. There will still be cheats, the same as any sport but you won't have the systematic team wide doping that has been seen previously. I'd be very surprised if anyone at sky is doing anything dodgy, they're very open with the press and are happy to give full access to journalists during tours.
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According to wiki Bradley Wiggins didn't properly change from a track cyclist to a road cyclist until after the 2008 games (where he did well).
2009 he came 4th in the TdF (later upgraded to 3rd).
2011 he won the Dauphine and 3rd in the vuelta.
2012 he won shed loads.
It's no as if he came from nowhere, he was a track cyclist that improved as a road cyclist from 2009 to 2012 when he started devoting all of his time to the road part of the sport.
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According to wiki Bradley Wiggins didn't properly change from a track cyclist to a road cyclist until after the 2008 games (where he did well).
2009 he came 4th in the TdF (later upgraded to 3rd).
2011 he won the Dauphine and 3rd in the vuelta.
2012 he won shed loads.
It's no as if he came from nowhere, he was a multiple world champion track cyclist that improved as a road cyclist from 2009 to 2012 when he started devoting all of his time to the road part of the sport.
Added the bold bit because it's important, it's not like he started from nothing in 2009, he was already considered one of the greatest track cyclists of all time at that point, and had entered the giro and tdf a few times already and been in the middle of the pack (during the armstrong era).
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"[quote
The innocent until proven guilty thing is silly, you might as well not bother following the sport [/quote]
I'd say most sport not just cycling.
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Well Sky have provided all the training data for all of their riders to the UCI to show how they are achieving the results they are getting so if there's anything untoward it should come out.
Some people are never going to be convinced that a TDF winner can be clean, that's the legacy Armstrong et al have left the sport to carry I suppose.
Training date from Froome = PR stunt.
Release data from Froome before 2011 when he became a god and have it analysed inconjunction with recent data, also would like to see medical files regarding his Bilharzia for a true time frame of the illness.
Wiggo was shite on the road before 2009 when he kept up with dopers. Tell me how. He didn't just start focussing on the road then either btw hadn't cracked a grand tour top 120 (so not even mid peleton). He had some results in TT's as you'd expect, he is and was a world class time trialist, he had a pedigree in it but never once not a single time did he show an ability to climb.
Suspicious.
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Suspicious.
Suspicious maybe, but certainly no proof. Team SKY have been very open to the press and other organisations in order to prove they're innocent. Also there are not the stories of bullying and lawsuits which followed lance armstong about.
You've also got to remember that Brailsford's work also extends to Team GB as well. A number of these athletes/cyclists are not rich and I think something would have leaked if the whole set up was corrupt yet they're probably the most successful cycling nation in the world at the moment.
Personally, I can't see it.
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Suspicious.
Suspicious maybe, but certainly no proof. Team SKY have been very open to the press and other organisations in order to prove they're innocent. Also there are not the stories of bullying and lawsuits which followed lance armstong about.
You've also got to remember that Brailsford's work also extends to Team GB as well. A number of these athletes/cyclists are not rich and I think something would have leaked if the whole set up was corrupt yet they're probably the most successful cycling nation in the world at the moment.
Personally, I can't see it.
Sky haven't been open to the press.
They have released a handful of power data files on Froome to a single person and he has analysed that the performances over the last 18 months by Chris have been consistent.
I could have told you that, he's won everything he's targeted by and large. What about before? He claims he had a disease in 2010 to explain being shite, what about 2009, 2008 ? What would his files show then? There's only so much improvement a top tier cyclist can make over a couple of years from their starting physiology.
All they would need to do is release a large sample of files to numerous respected scientists that are spread over a period of 4/5 years, correlated with his bio passport results and tied in with his bilharzia story it would tell everyone what they needed to know.
Give a good reason why sky wont do this. I can't. Their number 1 rider is plagued by accusations and they pretty much do nothing to prove it otherwise. All the data needed is in their hands.
Chris' Bilharzia backstory doesn't add up anyway. Neither the length of time, his description of it, time periods, treatment etc.
Why would any GB cyclist leak any info they have on Brailsford and corruption? If it was a team wide program they'd be on it themselves and would only implicate themselves in it. Armstrong shat on enough people to make some real enemies and it was this that brought him down.
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Stop saying Froome had no pedigree, it's just not true.
2005
1st Stage 2 Tour of Mauritius
2006
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour of Mauritius
1st Stages 2 & 3
2nd Anatomic Jock Race
2007
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Mi-Août Bretonne
1st Stage 5 Giro delle Regioni (Under-23)
1st Stage 6 Tour of Japan
2nd Berg en Dale Classic
2nd Time trial, B World Championships
3rd Road race, All-Africa Games
2008
2nd Overall Giro del Capo
3rd Giro dell'Appennino
4th Overall Herald Sun Tour
2009
1st Stage 2 Giro del Capo
1st Anatomic Jock Race
From wikipedia, not difficult to find, so his pedigree was to place well in pretty much every event he entered. I know none of those major competitions but they are the ones people ride in early in their careers. He turned pro in 2007 as a 22 year old, which is quite late so seeing him start to show true potential a couple of years later than normal is perfectly reasonable.
There is nothing in his career history to suggest anything untoward.
On Bilharzia there are medical records of a return infection last year, which have been included, with the blood results, in documents given to the press, how can you question it?
You seem to be utterly convinced of his guilt and are ignoring the complete lack of evidence.
Is there any major world athlete you think is clean?
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Why would any GB cyclist leak any info they have on Brailsford and corruption? If it was a team wide program they'd be on it themselves and would only implicate themselves in it. Armstrong shat on enough people to make some real enemies and it was this that brought him down.
Pendelton is as mad as a bag of frogs and positively hates Brailsford from what I can tell. She is also seemingly desperate for media attention so I wouldn't put it past her to release rumours or speak to the press, yet you never hear anything.
Brailsford also looked after the BMX riders and loads of other riders you failed to make the squad, dieticians, physios, kit cleaners: all people who would arguably need to limelight and money that they could be obtained by grassing Brailsford up.
All my evidence is completely circumstantial but so is yours and the burden of proof has to be with the governing organisations not the most successful team.
By the way, did that journalist ever take Team Sky up on the offer to travel with them and stay in their hotels etc 100% of the time?
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Stop saying Froome had no pedigree, it's just not true.
2005
1st Stage 2 Tour of Mauritius
2006
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour of Mauritius
1st Stages 2 & 3
2nd Anatomic Jock Race
2007
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Mi-Août Bretonne
1st Stage 5 Giro delle Regioni (Under-23)
1st Stage 6 Tour of Japan
2nd Berg en Dale Classic
2nd Time trial, B World Championships
3rd Road race, All-Africa Games
2008
2nd Overall Giro del Capo
3rd Giro dell'Appennino
4th Overall Herald Sun Tour
2009
1st Stage 2 Giro del Capo
1st Anatomic Jock Race
From wikipedia, not difficult to find, so his pedigree was to place well in pretty much every event he entered. I know none of those major competitions but they are the ones people ride in early in their careers. He turned pro in 2007 as a 22 year old, which is quite late so seeing him start to show true potential a couple of years later than normal is perfectly reasonable.
There is nothing in his career history to suggest anything untoward.
On Bilharzia there are medical records of a return infection last year, which have been included, with the blood results, in documents given to the press, how can you question it?
You seem to be utterly convinced of his guilt and are ignoring the complete lack of evidence.
Is there any major world athlete you think is clean?
No offence Paul but the evidence of his pedigree you've posted is a joke.
There is everything in his Career history to suggest he's a fraud. He placed 3rd in a single pro tour top ranked race and that's it. Then he should have won the Vuelta, then he probably would of won the tour, then he did win the tour. He's not a rookie kid, his progression doesn't make any sense.
On bilharzia read up about the treatment needed, symptoms and side effects and then read a few articles with Chris' take on it. Doesn't make sense.
Try to pin down when he claimed he caught the disease. There's so many conflicting interviews between him, Brailsford and his Girlfriend that it doesn't make sense.
I'm convinced of his guilt because I've never seen a nobody come through at his age and dominate with all the questions hanging over him that Sky could end with providing full evidence, which they haven't, without being juiced up.
Froome takes treatment every 6 months, why? I haven't seen any report that Froome has given anyone his records from 2008-2013. Especially medical records.
And yes I do think some major atheletes are clean but that's not the point.
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By the way, did that journalist ever take Team Sky up on the offer to travel with them and stay in their hotels etc 100% of the time?
Dave Walsh from the Sunday Times stayed with them during the Giro I think.
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Try to pin down when he claimed he caught the disease. There's so many conflicting interviews between him, Brailsford and his Girlfriend that it doesn't make sense.
In order to give your argument a tad more credibility can you provide some examples?
Your argument sounds a lot like those aimed at Lance, yet at least in that instance there were people prepared to go into print, even get sued. Other than your beliefs which are not evidence based, I have hardly heard any accusations directly against Froome (or team sky).
You might be proved right in time, but you're yet to provide anything in the way of evidence which has convinced me.
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By the way, did that journalist ever take Team Sky up on the offer to travel with them and stay in their hotels etc 100% of the time?
Dave Walsh from the Sunday Times stayed with them during the Giro I think.
...the results of which are no doubt behind a murdoch paywall or being written into a hard back book no doubt. If anyone has any links they'd be appreciated.
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By the way, did that journalist ever take Team Sky up on the offer to travel with them and stay in their hotels etc 100% of the time?
Dave Walsh from the Sunday Times stayed with them during the Giro I think.
...the results of which are no doubt behind a murdoch paywall or being written into a hard back book no doubt. If anyone has any links they'd be appreciated.
He's put a lot of stuff up on Twitter during the Tour, basically saying that he believes in Froome and that it's nothing like the Armstrong era
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Wiggo was shite on the road before 2009 when he kept up with dopers. Tell me how. He didn't just start focussing on the road then either btw hadn't cracked a grand tour top 120 (so not even mid peleton). He had some results in TT's as you'd expect, he is and was a world class time trialist, he had a pedigree in it but never once not a single time did he show an ability to climb.
Suspicious.
That's because he was principally a track cyclist where you don't tend to see many mountains!
Track and road cycling are vastly different in the way the athletes need to train.
Oh bugger it, why am I bothering to try to explain it to you, you have made your mind up and life id just too short!
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On bilharzia read up about the treatment needed, symptoms and side effects and then read a few articles with Chris' take on it. Doesn't make sense.
I've read up on it and I don't see anything to suggest Froome is making it up (and the blood results showing the presence of the parasite have been made available to the press). There's also plenty of reports that the infection was found during medical tests after he joined sky but there was no way of knowing how long he had been infected for. If you do some research you'll find that people often live with it for years without it being diagnosed or treated. The descriptions of treatment are perfectly acceptable as well. Additionally what benefit does making up that specific infection give him? The drug used to treat it isn't on the WADA list and won't mask the taking of anything else on there, the side effects aren't similar to anything you'd experience on the more likely illegal drugs and are actually quite harmful to the body. It doesn't make sense to make this up.
Seeing as you're the one questioning it can you provide anything specific in the accounts of anyone involved to back up your claims.
As for the results I posted, what they show is that he had some ability, and if you look at stage splits for grand tours he'd entered previously there are a few days where his performance was much higher than expected for his position, something Dave Brailsford has commented on previously, saying when they took him on the first task he set was for them to determine why he couldn't deliver those performances consistently, the medical staff involved put it down to the Bilharzia, which is perfectly reasonable.
Final point, you keep saying they could just release the data, they released everything since he joined them, the data before that isn't really in their hands. Even if they have been provided with data from his previous team (which is surely the case as I'd guess that's fairly standard practice) as they didn't gather it what value does it give for them to release it?
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On bilharzia read up about the treatment needed, symptoms and side effects and then read a few articles with Chris' take on it. Doesn't make sense.
I've read up on it and I don't see anything to suggest Froome is making it up (and the blood results showing the presence of the parasite have been made available to the press). There's also plenty of reports that the infection was found during medical tests after he joined sky but there was no way of knowing how long he had been infected for. If you do some research you'll find that people often live with it for years without it being diagnosed or treated. The descriptions of treatment are perfectly acceptable as well. Additionally what benefit does making up that specific infection give him? The drug used to treat it isn't on the WADA list and won't mask the taking of anything else on there, the side effects aren't similar to anything you'd experience on the more likely illegal drugs and are actually quite harmful to the body. It doesn't make sense to make this up.
Seeing as you're the one questioning it can you provide anything specific in the accounts of anyone involved to back up your claims.
As for the results I posted, what they show is that he had some ability, and if you look at stage splits for grand tours he'd entered previously there are a few days where his performance was much higher than expected for his position, something Dave Brailsford has commented on previously, saying when they took him on the first task he set was for them to determine why he couldn't deliver those performances consistently, the medical staff involved put it down to the Bilharzia, which is perfectly reasonable.
Final point, you keep saying they could just release the data, they released everything since he joined them, the data before that isn't really in their hands. Even if they have been provided with data from his previous team (which is surely the case as I'd guess that's fairly standard practice) as they didn't gather it what value does it give for them to release it?
Where has it been reported they released all of Froome's data? The Journalist that reviewed it said he got 18 data profiles spread over 2 years. The two years he's been any good. He's been at sky for 4, plus they will have access to full medical records during his career, why wasn't that passed on, why specifically only 18 profiles? . Will respond to the rest later after work.
The man they gave his data to also had Armstrongs and said in his opinion it was fine. Make of him what you will.
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Thing is if you are a young rider and you turn up for a stage race not eying to win but to support your team leader or go for stage wins your overall position could be very low. In fact some riders will ease up on a mountain stage to fall well behind overall so on subsequent days, if they attack, they can be allowed to stay away. Or ease up to conserve energy for a big push later.
Comparing positions in such races year on year is not like for like.
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Thing is if you are a young rider and you turn up for a stage race not eying to win but to support your team leader or go for stage wins your overall position could be very low. In fact some riders will ease up on a mountain stage to fall well behind overall so on subsequent days, if they attack, they can be allowed to stay away. Or ease up to conserve energy for a big push later.
Comparing positions in such races year on year is not like for like.
Don't bring logic and fact into this, they are all on drugs as well you know.
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That's because he was principally a track cyclist where you don't tend to see many mountains!
Track and road cycling are vastly different in the way the athletes need to train.
Wiggins discussing (briefly) the change in training here:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/19/sir-bradley-wiggins-track-olympics
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Went to see a stage of the Tour Of Portugal last week, so low key you could wander around the team camper vans, chat to riders & team mechanics and nobody batted an eyelid, great fun.
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Most road races apart from the TdF are like that. I have been to loads and its free access everywhere. Its one of great things about pro road racing.
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Tour of Britain starts next week. Would love to go to either the Stage through the Lake District or the ITT at Knowsley Safari Park but, alas, they are on school days. I know that the Vuelta takes place at the end of August, but I do think the organizers of the Tour of Britain miss a trick not holding it during peak holiday season.
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There is no room in the calendar to move it forward. The ToB is selling it self as a race for smaller teams (6 not 9 riders) so it cheaper to race in and teams are viewing it as a good warm up for the World Champs now which are always the week after (in Florence this year). August is full of Pro Tour level races which the big teams are legally obliged to attend. Ideally they want the ToB to attain Pro Tour level but its a long way off at the moment.
I don't know what subject you teach but can't you work cycling into a lesson (languages - mutli lingual sport, maths - timing and power outputs etc etc) and take the kids to watch it?
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Horner wins the Vuelta at the grand old age of 41, what do you make of that? :o
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Horner wins the Vuelta at the grand old age of 41, what do you make of that? :o
He's fit, a late developer and has to date due to injury had a very easy season?
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;D
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Why was the opening stage of the Tour Of Britain on farm tracks? Oh no my mistake it was in a third world country and they were A roads.
Finish on the pavement, that didn't really do the sprinters any favours did it.
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Steady on! There have been some good roads and racing. Monday in the lakes was immense. Today should be good too.
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Went to see a stage of the Tour Of Portugal last week, so low key you could wander around the team camper vans, chat to riders & team mechanics and nobody batted an eyelid, great fun.
They're doing the same in london on sunday.
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Why was the opening stage of the Tour Of Britain on farm tracks? Oh no my mistake it was in a third world country and they were A roads.
Finish on the pavement, that didn't really do the sprinters any favours did it.
I realise that it's probably to do with logistics and you don't necessarily want a really hilly first stage but I've often wondered why they don't bring the Scottish stage up the country a bit. There's some pretty challenging climbs up here near-ish the Highlands which then quickly turn into flat roads near the coast for the sprinters.
Maybe I should send Alex Salmond an email saying part of his independence campaign should be the Tour de Scotland.
:D
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Not a particularly auspicious day for British Cycling. The whole team out of the road race before the BBC coverage starts
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Not a particularly auspicious day for British Cycling. The whole team out of the road race before the BBC coverage starts
And this, which is being quietly reported by SSN:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/24321502
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Big girls blouses all of 'em.
Rui Costa World Champion? Well done mate but not exactly who anyone would have picked before the race.
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Brotherton (BBC Commentator) picked him.
I went. What a 'mare of a day for the brits. Only two of em showed up (Cav and Rowe). The rest were counting down the miles to thier holidays except Wiggins who was counting down the miles to the bus...
The race was about 1.5 hours too long really and the weather was biblical but the last lasp and a half of th circuit were pretty spectacular. If no-one has seen Urans crash then check it out on t'web. A right belter (and I can say that as he was ok).
Only one decent race left this season now (Lombardia). Booo.
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I'm just pleased the Spanish didn't win, I still think of Valverde as a wrong'un.
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I agree Valverde is an unabashed drugs cheat. Felt sorry for Nibali at home being made to chase Rodriguez so Rui Costa got a free tow.
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The bloke who runs the Giro (Aquarone) has stepped down amid allegations of financial irregularities. An Italian sports administrator taking back handlers (allegedly) -who'd have thunk it.