Tour de France 2007

[Ugg]

Well, I'm not as gung ho about the TdF this year as I have been in the past, the doping allegations seem to overshadow it at every turn. However, the enthusiastic turn out in England for the first two days has been pretty cool. I didn't realize there were so many cycling fans in the UK!

It's great that Ulrich and Armstrong aren't riding this year, it's time the younger riders have a chance.

Is anybody here going to see it live? My first and only time was in 1988, watching them sprint up the Champs Elysee is pretty cool.

 

[Silver-Fox]

yeh people love cycling in UK, i do as well more Trials biking though

i wil watch it not live because i have no money to get there

 

[CortexRock]

I was a marshall on race day in Canterbury, and working promotions the weekend before.

I'm not into cycling, but I spent all day in the city, helping people find the best viewing spots and handing out literature, balloons and toys. People were out with their families on a lovely sunny day, enjoying all the events and activities.

I ache all over from all the walking, but it was a fantastic event - hope the Tour de France comes back here again.

It really was one in the eye for all the whingers who were filling the local press with negative comments about the cost and the disruption!

 

[MacsRgr8]

Whoa... this thread is not really kickin' off, eh?

Not many cycling enthousiastss here? IIRC the TDF 2006 did get enough attention here...

Ah well.

We have had the Alps, and are waiting for the Pyrenees now!
Rasmussen doing very well (nice for us Dutch followers... ok, he is a Dane, but as he rides for Rabobank he is actually one of us ) and am anxiously waiting for Saturday's time trial.

Couple of Spanjards are very, very much in the picture too.

BTW.... shed a tear for the T-Mobiles
I loved the "Telekoms" of old (Zabel, Ullrich, Voigt). And was so sad to see Rogers leave the Tour so dramatically, escpecially after that gr8 win by Gerdemann. It really looked like T-Mobile team was coming back after a dreadful time.

 

[Don't panic]

BTW.... shed a tear for the T-Mobiles
I loved the "Telekoms" of old (Zabel, Ullrich, Voigt). And was so sad to see Rogers leave the Tour so dramatically, escpecially after that gr8 win by Gerdemann. It really looked like T-Mobile team was coming back after a dreadful time.

just don't get that tear analyzed....

the telekom of old was without any doubt the most doped team in the history of sports

 

[WildCowboy]

I've been TiVo'ing each day and watching it in the evenings. It's been a very interesting tour...still anyone's race.

There have been some amazing performances...

• McEwen in Stage 1 working his way back into and through the entire peloton in just a few km, only to come from nowhere and blow by the rest of the sprinters like they were standing still.
• Cancellara in Stage 3 bursting to the lead and holding everybody off. Of course the breakaway group gave it away by farting around in the last few km.
• Gerdemann owning everybody and just flying down the hills to victory in Stage 7.
• Rasmussen dominating the final climb in Stage 8.

Soler put on quite a show yesterday...looked like Discovery had a brilliant strategy and I though they were going to catch him on the descent, but they just didn't have enough legs. I loved the TV shot when Soler got the update on the chalkboard that the Discovery duo was closing on him, and he just took it up another three notches to seal the victory.

Looking forward to watching today's action tonight, but it could be a bit boring with the mostly downhill run. Don't spoil it for me!

 

[emw]

I haven't watched much since I don't get the appropriate channel here (I watched some on vacation last week), but they'd showed a clip last night where a rider hit a dog. Neither was injured, apparently, but the front tire crumpled like so much tin foil. Wild.

 

[WildCowboy]

I haven't watched much since I don't get the appropriate channel here (I watched some on vacation last week), but they'd showed a clip last night where a rider hit a dog. Neither was injured, apparently, but the front tire crumpled like so much tin foil. Wild.

Oh yeah...that was crazy. Everybody seemed to be okay (hope the dog didn't have any internal injuries)...he turned the wheel just enough right at the moment of impact to get that torque on it that bent the thing nearly in half.

 

[MacNut]

Im curious about how the dog is, that looked like a nasty collision.

 

[dejo]

I was in London to catch the Prologue and then the next day managed to catch the peleton flying by near the Tower of London as my fiance was waiting in line for tickets. Since I returned home I've been able to catch nearly every stage on Versus.

 

[WildCowboy]

Vinokourov tests positive for a blood transfusion on the day of his time trial win. Un-freaking-believable. How can any rider think they can get away with it? (Assuming it all pans out in the end...)

Linky

 

[MacsRgr8]

Why... why... why...?

Now all the Astana squad has gone home too.

Vino was one of my heroes for this year's Tour...
Is this sport EVER going to be clean?!!?!?

EDIT:
Now, I haven't read all the info about this affair, but....
I can't imagine Vino being such a bone-head! I mean, is it just that the "covering up" medicine wasn't good enough? Now that Vino has done it, can we assume more riders are using drugs too, but what thay are using is far harder to trace?
Or was Vinokourov in such a state of dispair that he simply thought: "what the heck... I have lost anyway.... maybe they won't test me as I have had such bad luck already"

 

[killerrobot]

It's lost a lot of prestige over the last few years with all the doping claims. Ulrich and Armstrong's rivalry (and doping?) fueled the enthusiasm for a while.

I've been watching it "live" on TV daily but, honestly there are really no "big" names that are all around impressive that you are just dying to see win, at least in my book.

 

[Don't panic]

How can any rider think they can get away with it? (Assuming it all pans out in the end...)

because most of them do get away with it.
go no farther then the yellow jersey for an example.

 

[MacsRgr8]

because most of them do get away with it.
go no farther then the yellow jersey for an example.

That's what I am wondering.

Why is it they do get away with it..?
Is it the better "covering up" medicine?
Are they simply lucky that every time test results are just within the acceptable values? (so maybe suspicious, but nothing more or less than that)

And why was Vino caught? Been too careless? Simply unlucky because for one reason or another his test results managed to be slightly too high (or low) compared to the usual acceptable values...?

I assume they draw a line when comparing the test results. Close to the limit but didn't exceed: suspicious, but not caught. A little over the limit and you're banned for a long time....

 

[Macky-Mac]

this is so sad! what a grand event the Tour is........it's such a shame to see it being damaged like this

 

[Don't panic]

That's what I am wondering.

Why is it they do get away with it..?
Is it the better "covering up" medicine?
Are they simply lucky that every time test results are just within the acceptable values? (so maybe suspicious, but nothing more or less than that)

And why was Vino caught? Been too careless? Simply unlucky because for one reason or another his test results managed to be slightly too high (or low) compared to the usual acceptable values...?

I assume they draw a line when comparing the test results. Close to the limit but didn't exceed: suspicious, but not caught. A little over the limit and you're banned for a long time....

i think is a bit of all. they just keep ahead of the curve form a pharmacological point of view, so the labs are always playing catch up.
and many/most of the 'doping' products are not enhancing performance per se, but are used to cover up the effect of the real doping.

at the beginning of the epo epidemics, the hematocrt levels were absurd and really dangerous (55-60%, normal being 45), they couldn't detect epo, so they just said that above 50 was considered unhealthy and the racer had to stop for that day. miracolously then, all rider started having HCT levels of around 49.5%. all of them.

 

[Montserrat]

What amazes me about this instance of doping is that Vinokourov appears to have done the 'old school' blood transfusion style doping. There is nothing that can be done to hide that - since the transfused blood cells are different from the host, unlike EPO and most modern doping methods. Very strange. Stay tuned for contamination allegations...

Oh and I managed to catch prologue and stage 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lachlustre/792687469/

 

[ProFont]

because most of them do get away with it.
go no farther then the yellow jersey for an example.

Not that I'd be terribly surprised, but let's see a positive test first, eh?

 

[Don't panic]

Not that I'd be terribly surprised, but let's see a positive test first, eh?

well, the point of the post was exactly that he is likely NOT going to get caught.

 

[ProFont]

well, the point of the post was exactly that he is likely NOT going to get caught.

If you're this cynical, I'd like your opinion on Armstrong's victories.

 

[MacsRgr8]

If you're this cynical, I'd like your opinion on Armstrong's victories.

You think he was 100% clean?
Nothing proven, but that was the same case with all those T-Mobile riders I enjoyed watching a few years ago, who all claimed to have cheated.

The idea of this "new start" is to forget what has happened in the past, and start all over.
Now that Vino is caught, and now Moreni too it's becoming increasingly difficult to believe it all.

Still, nice win by Rasmussen today.

 

[ProFont]

You think he was 100% clean?

Nah, most likely not. Still, I like to pretend that at least some of the riders are great athletes.

 

[true777]

I wish TV stations would stop reporting about the Tour and all sponsors would pull out based on the continued doping incidences. I can't believe anyone still cares about watching these drugged-up zombies. This race isn't about who is the best athlete, but about who is best at not getting caught in their dirty drug schemes. It is laughable and it is sad.

 

[elppa]

I wish TV stations would stop reporting about the Tour and all sponsors would pull out based on the continued doping incidences. I can't believe anyone still cares about watching these drugged-up zombies. This race isn't about who is the best athlete, but about who is best at not getting caught in their dirty drug schemes. It is laughable and it is sad.

Rant, rant, rant. No facts.

Operation Puerto: 200 Athletes named. 34 Cyclists. So what about the footballers, tennis players and other athletes involved? Brushed under the carpet.

All of your American sports: American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Athletics e.t.c. are completely riddled with drugs.

Does anyone care? Seemingly not. Sponsors still pour money in and the media still report it. Yet your not banging on your high horse about those.

Professional Cycling is the whipping boy in the media for doping and yet is doing the most to clean up its act. What are some other sports doing? Very little.

You can't tar everyone with the same brush. There are many openly clean riders in the pro peleton. Go to CSC Pro Cycling's website and you can view the results (PDF) from blood tests. CSC are one of the best teams in the world and they are doing in clean.

Get back to me when you can find the same info for the athletes from your super clean all American sports.

I think I will be waiting a while…


Sounds like you are shouting off from ignorance. You get cheats in every walk of life.