twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Yeah it's a race for the hard men. Superb stuff from Stybar
The Bicycle Racing Thread 2014
- Thread starter The Boy
- Start date
Yeah it's a race for the hard men. Superb stuff from Stybar
Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
I think I've said this before...Though it makes sense that we all stop pretending he might (and if he does, be any kind of force - many people forget he has turned up before without being arsed and (literally) not been at the races - I only had the dream alive for the Tour as he would love to show Froome he's still got it).
If his last stop before retiring is the track (yaaaaawn) in Rio, then only an the hour record and Roubaix are a) grand/worthy enough to motivate him (a massive ask/risk, knowing our Brad) and/or b) fit in with the physical changes and training required to be in the running for the gold. I can't see 19 (The superagency he's signed to)/Brailsford letting him do low level 7 day processions leading out the 2nd tier Sky hopefuls for the next few years.
I think the hour record is the more feasible of the two. The P/R is a classic (ahem) example of a sport where you need a whopping amount of planets to be in alignment AND have one of your luckiest days in the saddle. I don't think it's the sort of thing you can target and then call yourself a favourite (indeed by doing so you'd simply get marked out of the game).
Although it is my favourite of them all. If he wins PR I think my Wiggo fandom fawning might even take me over the edge
Surprised Froome is doing the Vuelta tbh. On armchair-fan-paper it's hard to see past Quintana (and therefore a damn tough effort to finish second). Stranger things have happened though...
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
He won't take on the hour even with the rule changes IMHO-there isn't the hunger for the pain needed to prevail. Tony Martin or Phinney are more feasible candidates.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bu7mxq9CIAA0rj0.jpg
Professional cyclist Carlos Betancur rocks up to the Vuelta a Burgos.
Professional cyclist Carlos Betancur rocks up to the Vuelta a Burgos.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
And duly finishes five and a half minutes down on stage one.
I have to admit that I like him even more than I already did now that he looks like a commuter who accidentally got caught up in a professional bike race.
yup, first thing i thought when i saw that pic was "ten more kilos lost and I'll look like a pro (for a given value of pro)"
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
Froome, Nieve, Deignan, Kiryienka, Siutsou, Kennaugh, Cataldo, Knees, Rowe. Not quite their best possible line up, but a very strong one.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
I'm not sure that the JTL case will shed much light on more complex passport cases: his defence had the basic, insurmountable problem of a single wildly improbable without blood doping blood test. There's a lot more room for the creative expansion of doubt where the evidence against is based on the interpretations of fluctuations over extended periods. JTL had a test result that was the bio passport equivalent of getting caught with his hand in the jar.
This has nothing to do with UKAD's evidence, but out of curiosity, was anyone even slightly surprised when he was popped? His was a classic zero to hero transformation at an advanced age.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
The incident by the way makes Sky look downright incompetent. It appears they carried out no blood testing on a rider who had just come from nowhere to be the next big thing before signing him for big money.
Garmin, who were also interested in signing him, had already blood tested him once and wanted to carry out a series of further blood tests before making him an offer.
Garmin, who were also interested in signing him, had already blood tested him once and wanted to carry out a series of further blood tests before making him an offer.
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Less to do with whether a stronger case can be made for Roman, as whether Dr Hampton is the person to be arguing that case. I might be being a little unfair - as you say he had little to work with in the JTL case.
Can I raise my hand to say to say I was surprised? That was as much to do with not properly understanding the Bio-passport though - figured his performances that had been raising eyebrows looked increasingly suspicious the longer he went without coming close to repeating them on a team like Sky with their scientific approach, but didn't realise that he would have been tested the previous year, or that discrepancies would show up in hindsight as they did.
In other news, Vino and Kolobnev charged with corruption with regards the alleged buying/selling of an edition of L-B-L.
http://www.lesoir.be/631258/article...-vinokourov-et-kolobnev-inculpes-pour-corrupt
http://www.lesoir.be/631258/article...-vinokourov-et-kolobnev-inculpes-pour-corrupt
I don't know, but I've just looked at the odds and Quintana, Froome, Bertie and Purito are well ahead of anyone else.
The plot thickens:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/betancur-will-stay-at-ag2r-says-lavenu
Tbh, it's getting a bit silly now.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
I'm looking forward to seeing how he gets on at Lombardia and the WC!
He has a contract with Ag2r, so presumably one side or the other is enforcing it. If the team can keep him away from the beer and calentado breakfasts, he is after all a huge talent.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Bearing in mind the season they have had, sky must be desperate for something in spain. Especially with it being in spain, i shudder when i hear about certain riders having a good day after a bad day yesterday and also when i see the likes of contador and evans doing so well. Am i just being cynical or what?
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
Evans? Do you mean Valverde? Evans is neither doing well nor a rider who copped a ban in the past.
The good day/ bad day thing is a feature of cycling that goes way back before the advent of blood doping. If anything the absence of bad days is a more notable feature of full throttle doping.
