Giant-Shimano

[Netserk]

think the salient question is, why do they all look like male models now.

respectable notable exceptions being wigans and froome

T use since teens?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I don't find Giant-Shimano especially suspicious at all.

I just dislike them as a team. They're like a diet HTC.

 

[trevim]

I just dislike them as a team. They're like a diet HTC.

Yet they keep performing even in the hardest races of the calendar.
I also dislike them at first with all the sprint focus, but they seem way better now, getting results everywhere with guys like Dumoulin, Barguil, Degenkolb, Geschke,...

 

[Justinr]

What do you think of his head?

HTC days:

This year:

Now I don't have a pic of him as a kid, but what's the verdict?

Looks like he has a good dentist.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Looks like he has a good dentist.

Indeed, from LSoH:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ-6TCPdbl0

 

[Archibald]

I find Kittel pretty suspicious, particular after his TT performance in the tour last year (hilly).

considering his background in TT??

They ride Giants. T Mobile rode Giants. T Mobile doped. Obviously, Giant-Shimano dopes!

Oh, and Kittel's hair is clearly indicative of doping

I think his uncanny resemblence to Ivan Drago (a well known doper) is far more suspicious!

 

[Netserk]

considering his background in TT??

Ask Purito what kind of ITT that was

 

[Gung Ho Gun]

I find Kittel pretty suspicious

More and more so I'd say

 

[the sceptic]

Kittel reminds me of Cipollini.. amazing power. Imagine if he had his train too.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Kittel reminds me of Cipollini.. amazing power. Imagine if he had his train too.

Don'T know why Kittel deserves a spot in the clinic.
Anyway, he'll have Degenkolb as a leadout guy in July. Will be enough for him to whip the floor with Cavendish

 

[Gloin22]

Don'T know why Kittel deserves a spot in the clinic.
Anyway, he'll have Degenkolb as a leadout guy in July. Will be enough for him to whip the floor with Cavendish

Because every rider that wins a stage at GT is seen by clinic as a pretty suspicious doper. It's just the clinic you know

 

[Gung Ho Gun]

We need to have someone to talk about until the mountains come and someone goes absolutely ballistic
And his sprint today was absolutely ridiculous

 

[senatorrick]

Because every rider that wins a stage at GT is seen by clinic as a pretty suspicious doper. It's just the clinic you know

Totally agree! The fact is, there pro athletes, every sport dope's get that through your head's! When I used to bmx race and won 48 straight races between the age's of 9 and 12 I'm pretty sure everyone was clean, so maybe you guys should head out to some local kids races to see clean cycling.

 

[senatorrick]

We need to have someone to talk about until the mountains come and someone goes absolutely ballistic
And his sprint today was absolutely ridiculous

It was the first sprint I enjoyed since the 90's

 

[Franklin]

Concerning the pro peleton at the time, im pretty sure Addy Engels and Rudi Kemna were about as clean as they come.

Ah yes, mr. Rudi Kemna "I only used Epo for one year".

A truly magnificent example of cleanliness

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Don'T know why Kittel deserves a spot in the clinic.

Uh, cos Germans dont dope?

And his sprint today was absolutely ridiculous

It was like Cavendash two years ago in the stage before Paris; pas normal.

Kittel is in a league of his own, whatever it is he is doing it is working like clockwork. Re-watch the video, he was 30 metres back with 100 to go. Incroyable.

 

[jens_attacks]

When I used to bmx race and won 48 straight races between the age's of 9 and 12 I'm pretty sure everyone was clean, so maybe you guys should head out to some local kids races to see clean cycling.

might have been dirty cycling at its finest, they were still pooping themselves at that age

 

[Ferminal]

He must have had good advice to make his 2011 transformation. 2010 an ok rouleur, riders like Phinney, Matthews and Degenkolb were vastly superior in every department. One day he woke up and realised he is actually a pure sprinter?

 

[Franklin]

He must have had good advice to make his 2011 transformation. 2010 an ok rouleur, riders like Phinney, Matthews and Degenkolb were vastly superior in every department. One day he woke up and realised he is actually a pure sprinter?

Not saying this holds for Kittel, but not everyone dares to sprint. It takes guts. It's conceivable he got more confident and then became effective.

I could be miss-attributing this one, but Knetemann once said that he knew plenty of fast guys who couldn't win a mass sprint, but where killers in smaller groups. Then again, he would say that considering his own "sprint" with Moser, so if it was indeed him who said that it's not without bias

 

[Ferminal]

He did sprint though, he just wasn't a star of the class. He clearly traded off his aerobic capabilities to become a top sprinter. How "natural" that transformation was is anyone's guess.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Looks like Kittel has been caught doping or had his UCI protection taken away. Could be great new for Cav!

 

[Netserk]

Looks like Kittel has been caught doping or had his UCI protection taken away. Could be great new for Cav!

Or just gave a lame excuse so he could leave and be ready for the Tour.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Or just gave a lame excuse so he could leave and be ready for the Tour.

No chance of that given today's stage profile. If he had done it after the stage then fair enough.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

"abandoned due to a fever"...SSDD. So when will they announce the positive?

 

[Arnout]

No chance of that given today's stage profile. If he had done it after the stage then fair enough.

Giro organizers might not like that. He already won two stages, if he wins three stages and then abandons he's sort of taking the ****.

Now he is "forced" to abandon so he can say to the Giro organizers that he would've wanted to continue, surely today as he would've been the big big favorite for the win, so he is shooting himself in the foot too by leaving now. Sort of sharing the pain.

That or clinic reasons.