Bicycle Racing 2012

[Nigel Irritable]

Bio-passport was introduced in 2008, no? Menchov finished 2nd in 2010 tour. Well, ok, he finished 3rd. And 2nd in Romandy. Plus a couple of top 10/5 finishes in GTs last year despite riding for a pro-conti team.

And one of those decent GT finishes last year came after losing silly time early on and team leadership switching to Cobo.

Don't get me wrong though, I really do think that he'll most likely get another anonymous top 10. He hasn't looked like a GT winner in quite a while and he's also getting on a bit. But he's one of only a few guys who are theoretically capable of winning on this parcours, absent Pereiro style luck. So I think 22-1 odds are generous.

I mean, put it this way: there's a better than 22-1 chance that each of Wiggins and Evans will manage to crash, lose silly time on some innocuous stage, have a colossally bad day or come down with food poisoning. A much better than 22-1 chance really, when you consider the past record of each. And who do you fancy to win then? Sanchez, Gesink, Van Den Broecke and possibly others are capable of winning it, but the parcours favours Menchov more.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Sky line up seems to confirm that it's all for Wiggins. Only Eisel and Boasson Hagan are obviously there primarily for Cavendish. That could liven up the sprints a bit because Boasson Hagan isn't particularly good at sprint positioning and therefore Iisn't an ideal lead out.

All the rest of them look like they are there to make the climbs as dull as they can manage.

On another note, Dan Martin is in the Garmin team. Great to see him make his Tour debut, even though the course suits him about as much as it would suit Igor Anton or Joaquim Rodriguez. Hopefully he's being brought to attack like a madman, rather than to get bottles for Hesjedal.

 

[The Boy]

Hesjedal can't be going for GC surely?

 

[The Boy]

Hesjedal can't be going for GC surely?

Indeed he can. Wtf.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Indeed he can. Wtf.

I can't see him having the form to do particularly well.

 

[butchersapron]

He can go for what he wants.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

He can go for what he wants.

Fair point. And I suppose from Garmin's point of view, they may as well milk the publicity even if they are realistic about how he'll actually go. They always have Danielson and Vande Velde to fall back on for their inevitable top 10.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Triple post

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Triple post.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

National Road Race Championships were this weekend in most countries. Stannard won in Britain, in a race that isn't far off being an internal Sky competition. Boonen won in Belgium. Terpstra won in Holland. Ventoso won in Spain. Bouhanni won in France. Pelizotti won in Italy, on his return from suspension. Matt Brammeier won in Ireland, for the third time in a row!

 

[The Boy]

Good win by Bouhanni. Between him, Demare and Pinot FdJ are shaping up to have a bright future ahead of them . Assuming they deliver on their promise obvs.

 

[DexterTCN]

http://inrng.tumblr.com/post/26769888220/wiggins-quote

Bradley Wiggins

In the post-stage press conference Wiggins was asked what he thinks about people who point fingers at Team Sky and hint that he is doping.
Here’s his response:

“I say they’re just fucking wankers. I cannot be doing with people like that.​

It justifies their own bone-idleness because they can’t ever imagine applying themselves to do anything in their lives.​

It’s easy for them to sit under a pseudonym on Twitter and write that sort of shit, rather than get off their arses in their own lives and apply themselves and work hard at something and achieve something. And that’s ultimately it. Cunts.”​

Thanks to Twitter’s @richardmoore73

 

[Gmart]

So a British one two in the General Classification for the first time in the Tour de France.

Good work

 

[SpookyFrank]

http://inrng.tumblr.com/post/26769888220/wiggins-quote

Bradley Wiggins

In the post-stage press conference Wiggins was asked what he thinks about people who point fingers at Team Sky and hint that he is doping.
Here’s his response:

“I say they’re just fucking wankers. I cannot be doing with people like that.​

It justifies their own bone-idleness because they can’t ever imagine applying themselves to do anything in their lives.​

It’s easy for them to sit under a pseudonym on Twitter and write that sort of shit, rather than get off their arses in their own lives and apply themselves and work hard at something and achieve something. And that’s ultimately it. Cunts.”​

Thanks to Twitter’s @richardmoore73

Does cocaine count as a performance-enhancing drug?

 

[butchersapron]

Only for pimps.

#offourstreets

 

[The Boy]

Good enough to get Boonen banned.

 

[twistedAM]

Anyone reckon Tony Martin has a chance of beating Wiggins or Spartacus in the Olympic ITT?
Tempting at 6/1 (3rd fav) but doesn't seem to have much form this year and his broken wrist wrecked his TdF.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Anyone reckon Tony Martin has a chance of beating Wiggins or Spartacus in the Olympic ITT?
Tempting at 6/1 (3rd fav) but doesn't seem to have much form this year and his broken wrist wrecked his TdF.

I'd say that 6-1 is a fair price. At peak form, he should be the favourite, but he probably won't be at his best. So not a bargain, but not a terrible price either.

 

[The Boy]

So Roche is off to Saxo-Tinkoff to ride for Bertie. Good move?

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Holy shit, the Armstrong case is really getting interesting now. The UCI (Pat McQuaid prop.) has written to USADA instructing them to stop the Armstrong proceedings. USADA have told them to go fuck themselves:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-03-15-30-19

 

[twistedAM]

Holy shit, the Armstrong case is really getting interesting now. The UCI (Pat McQuaid prop.) has written to USADA instructing them to stop the Armstrong proceedings. USADA have told them to go fuck themselves:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-03-15-30-19

McQuaid The man must be well used to being told to fuck off by now.

In a testy exchange of letters made public Friday as part of the court case, the International Cycling Union (UCI) proposed that it appoint an independent panel to determine whether the charges against Armstrong have merit. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency responded there should instead be a "Truth And Reconciliation Commission to clean up the sport of cycling once and for all."

 

[Nigel Irritable]

http://www.cyclismas.com/2012/08/mcquaids-last-stand/

Unbelievable stuff, even from the UCI.

McQuaid really is Ireland's gift to international sports. I wonder is there any other sport with a governing body headed by a man who received an Olympic ban for breaking the sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa?

 

[twistedAM]

That's a point. He's on the IOC now as well.
Sports politics, eh?

 

[The Boy]

Fat Pat getting worried he might get dragged into the mire?

 

[The Boy]

Apparently the WC is going to Qatar in 2016. Yet to be confirmed but a few places reporting it.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

I've just been reading Jonathon Vaughters twitter feed and thought it was worth noting that he is a very outspoken believer in Wiggins. I hadn't realised just how outspoken. Obviously he has a vested interest in Wiggins being the real deal, given that Wiggins had his first breakthrough with Garmin and that Vaughters pushes the view that cycling is now nearly clean pretty hard. But he also has absolutely no reason to be fond of Wiggins, after the Sky transfer row, and he definitely has access to Wiggins pre-breakthrough test numbers. Wiggins even seemed surprised by him weighing in on his behalf (and was grateful).

I don't see why Vaughters would stick his neck out for Wiggins if he wasn't pretty confident.

 

[The Boy]

Speaking of doping, Alberto is back today.

 

[where to]

dead cert for vuelta then? froome looks to be on the wrong side of his peak.

 

[The Boy]

dead cert for vuelta then? froome looks to be on the wrong side of his peak.

Sky riders peak all year long, dontchaknow.

Tbh, though, I'm not sure. He's had 6 months out and will only have 8 days of competitive racing to get his shit together. Maybe Henao?

Actually, I'm gonna stick my neck out and say Rodriguez.

 

[The Boy]

Not usually fussed by the American stage races, but for a website Tour of Utah takes some beating:

http://tourtracker.tourofutah.com/