2013 Tour de France route announced

[eddieo]

2013 Tour de France route announced

Tour de France 2013

Will Lance be there?

Guess it will be a tad slower this year......

was reading the riders taking EPO have/had to set alarm clocks for middle of night and do 10 minutes on exercise bike due to risk of blood clotting....Now that is dedication

 

[GaRRy]

2013 Tour de France route announced

Tour de France 2013

Will Lance be there?

Guess it will be a tad slower this year......

So are you implying Mr Wiggins was on drugs?

otherwise why would it be slower?

 

[eddieo]

all about the team Garry...the team

 

[GaRRy]

all about the team Garry...the team

so you are implying Mark Cavendish and Chris Frome were on drugs instead then ?

or was it just members of Team Sky who arnt British ?

 

[eddieo]

Oh please...take a chill pill, its the weekend (almost)

 

[flecc]

I don't think we can draw any conclusions of the comparative speed of the race in 2013, the course is much tougher so will result in slower average speeds over many stages.

I doubt there's any chance of Lance Armstrong showing his face in France during the event or probably any other time soon. The last thing he will want to do is keep his issue in the news and he's unlikely to seek a reunion with the riders who gave evidence against him. And the other riders won't exactly want to be seen in friendly conversation with him for obvious reasons. There is a lot of ill feeling towards him, much of it latent from his past bullying behaviour towards certain riders.

 

[GaRRy]

Oh please...take a chill pill, its the weekend (almost)

But I am chilled Eddie.

Surely you realise im being awkward just for the hell of it ?

 

[Pedalo]

There was an interesting program on radio4 a few months ago in which then and now race times were discussed. It can still be heard here:

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less - Episodes by date, July 2012

 

[Oxygen Bicycles]

I bet Lance and the USPS Team wasn't the only one riding on dope during all those races winning years. I read somewhere that even though he was riding on dope he probably won against others who were on dope too. The trouble is that the ROAD CYCLING is just totally spoiled by doping culture and partially that's due to distance they have to cover. Tell me what other sport discipline has a race that lasts for over 2 weeks day by day with no break and the day off?

Andrew

 

[flecc]

True Andrew, and among those involved in doping were some of those giving evidence against Lance Armstrong. But as for the race length and hardship, for most of it's over a century existence there was no doping since it's a relatively modern phenomenon. There just wasn't the knowledge of performance enhancing drugs available and the gains from pain killers like morphine and cocaine are offset by the disadvantages where performance is concerned. Earlier riders just did it the hard way as most still do.

 

[Hugh]

Brandy and black coffee

 

[flecc]

Brandy and black coffee

. Yes, but those are the time-honoured gentleman's way of sustaining themselves.

I doubt the cycling authorities drugs test with breathalysers!

 

[flash]

. Yes, but those are the time-honoured gentleman's way of sustaining themselves.

I doubt the cycling authorities drugs test with breathalysers!

Performance enhancing drugs have been used in cycle racing, both track and road since the 1960s. What happened in the 1990s was that individual adhoc drug use by individual riders became organised "medical programmes" of which the US postal team were the most organised, but they were not the only ones involved check this link as an example.

Festina affair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I do not believe the use of drugs in cycling has ended. It will be more clandestine. Training in countries with no testing programmes and been tested before entering countries with testing programmes.

This situation breaks my heart, but while we have ex cyclists at the top of the sport who have a doubtful history, will cycling become clean, I doubt it.

If a ride looks too good to be true it probably is.

If you are interested read Paul Kimmage's book Rough Ride

Rough Ride - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

or read these articles

Doping expert wants Team Sky's drug stance put under the microscope | Sport | The Observer

UCI leaps to Lance Armstrong's defence with attack on French testers | Sport | guardian.co.uk


Greg LeMond calls on UCI president Pat McQuaid to resign | Sport | guardian.co.uk


Will I still watch le tour? Yes I was in Paris for the finish this year, I am addicted to cycle racing and have been for the last 50 years, but I am very sad about the cheating.

 

[flecc]

That's what I mean by "relatively recent phenomena", such as the Tour de France and cycle racing in general pre-dating the '60s by a very long way.

I'm not quite as gloomy as you about the prospects for cleaner cycle racing flash. Finally nailing Armstrong who was probably the cleverest of all at concealing his activities has been a real wake-up call for all concerned. The very existence of the UCI is now being threatened by the other sporting organisations and the cycle industry, story here.

Sky's root and branch investigation will expose others as they get dismissed or excluded as prospects, sounding further warning over the next year or so..

 

[flash]

That's what I mean by "relatively recent phenomena", such as the Tour de France and cycle racing in general pre-dating the '60s by a very long way.

I'm not quite as gloomy as you about the prospects for cleaner cycle racing flash. Finally nailing Armstrong who was probably the cleverest of all at concealing his activities has been a real wake-up call for all concerned. The very existence of the UCI is now being threatened by the other sporting organisations and the cycle industry, story here.

Sky's root and branch investigation will expose others as they get dismissed or excluded as prospects, sounding further warning over the next year or so..

Sean Yates quits Team Sky and retires from professional cycling | Sport | The Guardian

 

[Oxygen Bicycles]

I read now that UCI wants all the prize money back from Mr Armstrong. In my view they are now behaving like a fools now with demands of all prize money back from him.

Even though Armstrong was cheating he wasn't the only one doing so and probably least first 5 top teams were doping. It's the UCI that should be now heavily fined for allowing such things. They clearly shown their weaknesses that has lasted for nearly a decade. I hate doping and I'm have such an anger that Lance was on dope because I was his greatest fan for what he did not only in the sport but on the cancer side too helping so many to fight this disease.

Now the question is: Will I forgive him and still respect him? Even though I'm so sad this happened I will probably forgive him and still respect him for what he did in general in his life. As mentioned in the previous thread it wasn't just Lance, it was entire cycling environment being totally spoiled by doping. and Lance was just a little peanut in the entire system that was really f... up with UCI at the front that allowed for all this s... happening.

Andrew