At what point does it become acceptable to discuss the elephant that is...

[Ferminal]

Axel Merckx?

 

[BYOP88]

Always a good time to discuss Axel. (but not now for me the end of the game is near)

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

Elaborate...

 

[Hemassist]

Elaborate...

Axel Merckx.

The first heir of the famed Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx. Known to be the keeper of the keys to Ferrari offices, the documented tinkler of fencamfamin and pemoline, and the ambassador for Damien The Leper Society.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Axel Merckx?

That is an excellent question, I hear he has daddy was awesome get out of jail free cards though.

 

[42x16ss]

That is an excellent question, I hear he has daddy was awesome get out of jail free cards though.

I'm not sure how well they work outside of Belgium though. Was he ever brought in to the USADA investigation at all?

 

[Fatclimber]

Axel Merckx?

Meh, small elephant in a big room. Poor responder, nothing to see here. Never a big impact.

He does have a fondo! I would rather his above Levi's or George's by a great margin.

PS: anything goes in the clinic, except recently deceased of course.

 

[Netserk]

Doesn't he run a team for young riders now?

 

[Stephen_M]

He sure does - whatever the Bontrager Team is called now (Bissell Development, maybe?).

With his experience from team's like Motorola, Polti, Phonak and T-Mobile, it's not hard to imagine the wealth of knowledge he brings to young aspiring athletes! It worked well for Sean Yates (and still does)...

 

[Ferminal]

Doesn't he run a team for young riders now?

Yes, young riders who are astonishing at his team then struggle to finish races after they secure their handsome pro contracts.

The Merckx Recommendation twenty years ago is a notable point in cycling's history, whilst Axel couldn't live up to his father's reputation on the bike, it seems he shares the knack for making sure his mentees are adequately prepared.

 

[Gung Ho Gun]

Poor Eddy never could've imagined that Lance doped
He's simply a victim of that pathological liar
Bruyneel is evil
All other Belgians involved were just unlucky to get tangled up in the web

That's about the story in Belgian media I believe

 

[Benotti69]

The name of Merckx in cycling just means doping to me. Axel is part of the problem. A small part thankfully.

 

[Fortyninefourteen]

Axel Merckx.

The first heir of the famed Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx. Known to be the keeper of the keys to Ferrari offices, the documented tinkler of fencamfamin and pemoline, and the ambassador for Damien The Leper Society.

Coincidence or not?: Fencafim was developed by Merck.

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

Axel Merckx.

The first heir of the famed Baron Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx. Known to be the keeper of the keys to Ferrari offices, the documented tinkler of fencamfamin and pemoline, and the ambassador for Damien The Leper Society.

Yeah, I know who he is.

I'm just wondering who the elephant is supposed to be.

 

[Escarabajo]

He sure does - whatever the Bontrager Team is called now (Bissell Development, maybe?).

With his experience from team's like Motorola, Polti, Phonak and T-Mobile, it's not hard to imagine the wealth of knowledge he brings to young aspiring athletes! It worked well for Sean Yates (and still does)...

Scary, real scary!!!

Maybe he no longer thinks about that.

 

[Ferminal]

lol, close race on between Boswell, Craddock and Dombrowski as to who can manage to break their 2014 CQ duck first. Stuyven having a once in a generation pro debut by comparison.

 

[CycloAndy]

lol, close race on between Boswell, Craddock and Dombrowski as to who can manage to break their 2014 CQ duck first. Stuyven having a once in a generation pro debut by comparison.

So following this logic, they may have doped at Bontrager but are now struggling because they are riding clean at Sky? Sounds possible. Shame this will be ignored by the anti-Sky brigade when weighing up the evidence.

 

[The Hitch]

So following this logic, they may have doped at Bontrager but are now struggling because they are riding clean at Sky? Sounds possible. Shame this will be ignored by the anti-Sky brigade when weighing up the evidence.

How does that weigh into the evidence? Froome must be legit cos a different rider sucks?

 

[blackcat]

Axel Merckx?

not really an elephant, he's more a mouse

if he was not the scion of the dude who sporned him, he would not have ever been a pro. a bit like wiggins decade in the wilderness post-Linda Mac. If he was not a British rider, he would have been pulling beers in a pub in the pennines

 

[Ferminal]

So following this logic, they may have doped at Bontrager but are now struggling because they are riding clean at Sky? Sounds possible. Shame this will be ignored by the anti-Sky brigade when weighing up the evidence.

Yes, and Armstrong was clean because Burrow was a spud at USPS relative to his Pantani smashing days.

 

[blackcat]

Yes, and Armstrong was clean because Burrow was a spud at USPS relative to his Pantani smashing days.

Burrow, best climber ever in the UK.

 

[Archibald]

Poor Eddy never could've imagined that Lance doped

yeah, the same Eddy who supposedly introduced Lance to Ferrari

 

[Cloxxki]

Rough deal in life for Axel.
Daddy doped to fame, and when he followed the example, the doping climate actually suited their genes less.
So you have a dad no-one can ever live up to, and then you get competitiors who are better respondents, even though no-one expect anything from them. Harsh.

 

[Master50]

Rough deal in life for Axel.
Daddy doped to fame, and when he followed the example, the doping climate actually suited their genes less.
So you have a dad no-one can ever live up to, and then you get competitiors who are better respondents, even though no-one expect anything from them. Harsh.

You can hardly compare the doping practices available to Eddy and the doping practices available to Axel. 1 makes you faster the other manages pain but does not make you faster only capable of handling stupid workloads and too many race days. I would expect that Axel on EPO is faster than Dad on pot belge.

 

[Hemassist]

You can hardly compare the doping practices available to Eddy and the doping practices available to Axel. 1 makes you faster the other manages pain but does not make you faster only capable of handling stupid workloads and too many race days. I would expect that Axel on EPO is faster than Dad on pot belge.

That is a race I'd pay to see! 1 Hour Pursuit or a side by side climb would be golden.