Cobo Talk Only

[Libertine Seguros]

While Cobo doping, clean, doping is certainly a possible explanation for his horrid 2010 it is also possible that he was not happy a Caisse, spat the dummy and did not try. Perhaps he wanted to be leader and they said he had to work for others.

I don't think Cobo really has ever been one of those guys who wanted to be leader, more a Klöden type. However, it's clear he didn't really fit in at Caisse, even before Valverde got banned and the team had to do all their reappraisals. You would have thought a healthy Soler and Cobo would have made a half decent tilt at the GTs at some point, but Soler suffered with nagging injuries and Cobo, I don't know. Maybe he didn't like the look of his race program, maybe his confidence was shot, maybe he was a bit spooked by the pressure of going from a team nobody expected to do anything at most races they entered (Fuji-Servetto) to a team which had high expectations at almost every race they entered. As he's always been a bit of a whimsical character, maybe Unzué didn't know how to motivate him (we've seen in the past with various characters this problem, Rujano and Moncoutié to name but two). It's certainly a possibility that a couple of poor performances in the early season or getting caught behind splits and giving up due to it not being worth continuing on the final stage of Paris-Nice, followed by Critérium International, caused him to be moved further and further down the food chain at Caisse, which had a knock-on effect on his confidence and his effort levels. By the time we got to the last 2 months of the season they didn't even bother putting him on the road.

 

[WillemS]

That seems like a probable explanation. Confidence is on of the hard-to-deal-with psychological factors than can knock the most talented man down to low performance. Sometimes, I am still amazed by the ignorance surrounding psychology in professional cycling. You can optimize gear, medical support, physical training, but forget all about the fact that you are dealing with humans, humans who must have the physique and gear to perform, but also the right psychological state in that import controlling station called the brain.

Thus, Cobo's psychology can be another candidate factor for the surprising difference between last year's and this year's performance. As can doping. We don't know.

 

[roundabout]

I don't care what anyone thinks. Hope this son of a ***** tests positive.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't care what anyone thinks. Hope this son of a ***** tests positive.

Why is that?

 

[User Guide]

ill

After my hopes were somewhat raised by a seemingly cleaner Tdf whatching Cobo on Cuena las Cabres made me feel sick, not to mention how good he looked after the finish.He had more in the tank.Im done believing.

 

[Polish]

Don't know if Cobo is dirty or clean.

But the win today was gearing.

34 compact with 32 cog?
High cadence spin.
Spin spin spin.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Cobo is hilarious.

and he can talk at a frenetic pace even after an effort like he did on Angry Lou today

 

[brollebol]

Watching that last ascent ****ed me off...

I can't stand watching those retards on the side of the road blocking everyone's path and screaming in the riders' ears. Then on top of that Cobo wins. A rider who has always ridden for dodgy teams (SDV and everything that came after that) and in the one season he rides for a team that actually makes the news for something else than doping positives he's completely **** (2010). Now back at the old nest he suddenly rides up that mountain as if it were a speed bump.

I don't buy it for a second (and neither did the commentators of the sports channel I was watching...)

 

[doperhopper]

I would like to see some investigation into the performance of Cobo also. I don't if he doped, but he might.

But I don't think testing during a GT will reveal everything, doping pre-race is on the most important things in a good doping program. Train harder, condition your body. Did you know that placebo-effects of medication can be partly conditioned? Sometimes this is counter-productive (Environmental cues in a heroin addict's home causes body preparations before the shot, therefore increasing his tolerance. A shot taking without those cues can therefore cause an overdose as the body hasn't prepared for the usual dose.) Pain killers sometimes work in the opposite direction, killing more pain. Maybe conditioning doping during training with cycling effort can cause a placebo doping-like body effect during cycling effort in a race, without the actual doping product present. That's just a bold hypothesis.

oops, Ferrari's secret revealed - and that was supposed to be Bryuneel's main magic trick to be brought into ShackTrekSchleck bussiness (maybe they still have a placebo cancer ace in the pocket)

 

[Maxiton]

Don't know if Cobo is dirty or clean.

But the win today was gearing.

34 compact with 32 cog?
High cadence spin.
Spin spin spin.

High cadence? Give it a break.

Watching that last ascent ****ed me off...

I can't stand watching those retards on the side of the road blocking everyone's path and screaming in the riders' ears. Then on top of that Cobo wins. A rider who has always ridden for dodgy teams (SDV and everything that came after that) and in the one season he rides for a team that actually makes the news for something else than doping positives he's completely **** (2010). Now back at the old nest he suddenly rides up that mountain as if it were a speed bump.

I don't buy it for a second (and neither did the commentators of the sports channel I was watching...)

Nobody believes it. Well, maybe the very young, those who don't ride, and the willfully naive. It's a joke.

It really is like watching pro wrestling. The only thing missing were the wacky costumes, chair throwing, and an audience of Walmart shoppers.

 

[classicomano]

Toot tooooot Cera-train coming through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dk1KC9DDBQ

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Watching that last ascent ****ed me off...

I can't stand watching those retards on the side of the road blocking everyone's path and screaming in the riders' ears. Then on top of that Cobo wins. A rider who has always ridden for dodgy teams (SDV and everything that came after that) and in the one season he rides for a team that actually makes the news for something else than doping positives he's completely **** (2010). Now back at the old nest he suddenly rides up that mountain as if it were a speed bump.

I don't buy it for a second (and neither did the commentators of the sports channel I was watching...)

Did they buy Froome's performance? That was every bit as funny as Cobo's.

Today was hilarious. Actually comedy. It was like Mosquera on Bola del Mundo, only far, far funnier. Mosquera not only didn't win, but some people still hoped he wasn't on the sauce. I don't think anybody buys what Cobo's selling. It's perhaps the best type of comedy - extremely black, cynical humour that sometimes manages to be absolutely hilarious without once making you laugh out loud. Like a dark farce.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Cobo's face doesn't fit. He'll be well and truly Mosquera-ed for this

 

[Frosty]

Any idea of the time up the climb today?

 

[Maxiton]

Did they buy Froome's performance? That was every bit as funny as Cobo's.

Today was hilarious. Actually comedy. It was like Mosquera on Bola del Mundo, only far, far funnier. Mosquera not only didn't win, but some people still hoped he wasn't on the sauce. I don't think anybody buys what Cobo's selling. It's perhaps the best type of comedy - extremely black, cynical humour that sometimes manages to be absolutely hilarious without once making you laugh out loud. Like a dark farce.

Sums it up nicely.

Cobo's face doesn't fit. He'll be well and truly Mosquera-ed for this

And if it doesn't fit you must not acquit.

 

[brollebol]

Did they buy Froome's performance? That was every bit as funny as Cobo's.

Actually they didn't really. They said that this was the "Vuelta of the domestiques" and they added that it was 'curious' that people like Cobo and Froome outperformed proven climbers such as Nibali, Menchov and Purito.

Too bad they can't speak their mind really because I'd love to hear what they really think about these performances...

 

[jens_attacks]

Any idea of the time up the climb today?

i have to check it once again to be sure.
i clocked it live and the time of cobo was something like 43:43,two seconds slower than heras in 2002.average speed something like 17.29 km/h.
very high tempo at the foot of the climb,this time it wasn't chechu,it was sagan!!!

what an epic ride,i'll watch it tonight again

froome will attack on pena cabarga this will be amazing stuff

 

[sky forever]

Any idea of the time up the climb today?

Around 44 minutes.

 

[spalco]

Toot tooooot Cera-train coming through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dk1KC9DDBQ

That's ****ing hilarious. They are almost literally sprinting up that mountain.

That Cobo, how anyone who doesn't hate Wiggins/Sky can support him in this race just boggles the mind.

 

[hrotha]

That Cobo, how anyone who doesn't hate Wiggins/Sky can support him in this race just boggles the mind.

 

[THISISIT]

That Cobo, how anyone who doesn't hate Wiggins/Sky can support him in this race just boggles the mind.

Not everyone thinks doping is such a great evil.

 

[Fergoose]

After my hopes were somewhat raised by a seemingly cleaner Tdf whatching Cobo on Cuena las Cabres made me feel sick, not to mention how good he looked after the finish.He had more in the tank. Im done believing.

I also think he was keeping plenty in reserve. He could have attacked far earlier instead of continually looking over his shoulders and messing about with Anton. Maybe he didn’t want to make it look too absurd like it was in that Youtube clip. The worst thing is I had barely the slightest doubt that what we saw with Cobo today would happen, even though it would mean witnessing back to back solo attacks pulling away from a peloton at 100% and never weakening towards the line.

You just don’t see things like that in recent TdFs. Its why people grumble about the lack of attacks in recent Grand Tours. Its because guys like Rodriguez and Nibali can’t pull things out like that because they are almost certainly not contaminated anything like to the same extent as Senor Cobo.

I’m surprised the UK commentery team didn't roll their eyes and gripe about injustice (as is the traditional British way). They were very effusive in their praise of Cobo (on air at least, I’m sure they’ll be different when they don’t have to be quite so professional).

I thought we were going to see the ultimate cycling irony with ‘Mr Clean’ being used by Geox to propel the man whose team was withdrawn in disgrace from the TdF Sastre won. Good of Geox to at least pretend that Cobo needed any such assistance.

 

[Fergoose]

So does anyone know what the testing regime for the Vuelta is?

I'd still really like an answer to that if possible. Is there a link where we might find out? What sort of time frames are we looking at for any tests conducted today?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I’m surprised the UK commentery team didn't roll their eyes and gripe about injustice (as is the traditional British way). They were very effusive in their praise of Cobo (on air at least, I’m sure they’ll be different when they don’t have to be quite so professional).

Wouldn't their hands have been somewhat tied by the second act in this great comedy script?

Cobo wasn't quite as ridiculous as he was in 2008 - there he pulled double the time out of a stronger field on a less difficult climb. I don't think he's anything like as blatant as he was in 2008. But he's still shadier than most, and that 2010 sticking out like a sore thumb on his palmarès really does not help anybody keep the faith even if they actually wanted to.

 

[THISISIT]

I’m surprised the UK commentery team didn't roll their eyes and gripe about injustice (as is the traditional British way).

I should have added to my comment above, "or believe they have the ability to divine who is doping and who isn't."

I think there's probably good reasons to think Cobo is probably on the go-juice, but I don't see any good reason to think Wiggins, Froome, and the rest at the front of the race aren't.