Help me find someone to root for at Le Tour

[sniper]

Is Anthony Roux riding the Tour?
If so I'd root for him.

 

[markene2]

I will be rooting for Bardet, always on the attack!

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

Root for contador as that would be the first time someone has come back from a ban to win the tour de France ( and perhaps any major blue ribbon event).

valverde - Liege?

I meant global sporting event. Tour de France, Wimbledon, Olympic 100m, 10 000m, f1 key players on some of the team events too like FIFA WC, NBA mvp, Superbowl qb,

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Either way, Basso's 2010 Giro is a better shout than Valverde's Liège, although your mileage may vary on Contador's 2012 and 2014 Vueltas.

 

[The Hitch]

There could also be Contador 2015 giro, scarponi 2011 and Hesjedal 2012 giro. Though yeah Basso would he first. But I meant tdf level events since hacks like Walsh just say that the secondary events are doped but the premier event - tdf is clean.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Would Contador winning really accomplish much?

We had something like that in athletics. Gatlin won a Bronze in 2012 and he's a twice banned serial offender without even a hint of feigned regret, and, remarkably enough, the popular narrative is that either he's still benefiting from past drug use, leading some to call for lifetime bans, or, even more remarkably, that Gatlin isn't "believable" right now despite passing the tests, even though Bolt is clean because he passes them.

In cycling, we've had Vino win the olympic road race.

Granted, the TdF is much bigger than 100m Bronze and the olympic road race, but I don't think things would be markedly different.

 

[mrhender]

Really it depends on your approach as cycling fan.. if you dont like nasty sursprises then pick riders outside the big four... or maybe even big 50/100 as we know cycling can deliver surprises on every corner.. if you accept the doping then just cheer for the rider you enjoy watching the most.. I wouldn't put my head on the block for anyone and i am quite cynical in general.. yet i never bore from the unanticipated events occoring and riders suddenly facing obstacles that doping is no deterrent against... that is the only "pure" form of cycling i can hang on to...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Go for Hesjedal.
The guy has been clean since 2006 or whatever, besides hes entertaining race wise.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Not Davide Appollonio.

 

[Archibald]

Re: Re:

Root for contador as that would be the first time someone has come back from a ban to win the tour de France ( and perhaps any major blue ribbon event).

valverde - Liege?

I meant global sporting event. Tour de France, Wimbledon, Olympic 100m, 10 000m, f1 key players on some of the team events too like FIFA WC, NBA mvp, Superbowl qb,

oops, read that as "perhaps any major blue ribbon [cycling] event"

 

[Archibald]

Re: Re:

Root for contador as that would be the first time someone has come back from a ban to win the tour de France ( and perhaps any major blue ribbon event).

valverde - Liege?


Adam Hansen for a rouge stage win
likewise any other stage hunter from a break

as for the rest, it's kind of a preference against some riders. So if Froome doesn't win, then great. Same with Valverde...
If it's Contador v Quintana in the last few k's of stage, then I'd prefer Contador as I really just can't warm to Quintana - something about him irks me.
As for overall, I'm not too fussed as long as it isn't the farce that is Froome/Sky and Nibali/Astana 2014. I'd like Contador to do the double and put paid to all this "can't be done" nonsense, and perhaps then see more of the top guys attempting both Giro and Tour

added a team and rider

fair call, although, Nibbles does have somewhat more credibility as a rider than the Froome Show - you know... actually looks like he can ride a bike, hasn't appeared out of nowhere, no super-rpm seated attacks, rule violations by domestiques who're performing ridiculous feats like Porte (Ax3, fetch the gels, etc), all the other nonsense from DB...
Nibbles rode exactly where we expected him to be - behind the other top contenders that had dropped out and above those we expected him to beat. He just did it a bit too obviously. A bit too 'tranquillo'

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Root for contador as that would be the first time someone has come back from a ban to win the tour de France ( and perhaps any major blue ribbon event).

valverde - Liege?


Adam Hansen for a rouge stage win
likewise any other stage hunter from a break

as for the rest, it's kind of a preference against some riders. So if Froome doesn't win, then great. Same with Valverde...
If it's Contador v Quintana in the last few k's of stage, then I'd prefer Contador as I really just can't warm to Quintana - something about him irks me.
As for overall, I'm not too fussed as long as it isn't the farce that is Froome/Sky and Nibali/Astana 2014. I'd like Contador to do the double and put paid to all this "can't be done" nonsense, and perhaps then see more of the top guys attempting both Giro and Tour

added a team and rider

fair call, although, Nibbles does have somewhat more credibility as a rider than the Froome Show - you know... actually looks like he can ride a bike, hasn't appeared out of nowhere, no super-rpm seated attacks, rule violations by domestiques who're performing ridiculous feats like Porte (Ax3, fetch the gels, etc), all the other nonsense from DB...
Nibbles rode exactly where we expected him to be - behind the other top contenders that had dropped out and above those we expected him to beat. He just did it a bit too obviously. A bit too 'tranquillo'

Nibali came third (as a domestique!) in the same GT Froome got kicked out of for holding on to a police motorbike. Just sayin'.

 

[Archibald]

Re: Re:

Nibali came third (as a domestique!) in the same GT Froome got kicked out of for holding on to a police motorbike. Just sayin'.

that'd be Nibali/Liquigas 2010 not Nibali/Astana 2014

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

[quote="42x16ss
Nibali came third (as a domestique!) in the same GT Froome got kicked out of for holding on to a police motorbike. Just sayin'.

that'd be Nibali/Liquigas 2010 not Nibali/Astana 2014 [/quote]
Just backing you up re: Nib's (relative) credibility vs the Froome transformation

 

[Archibald]

Re: Re:

Nibali came third (as a domestique!) in the same GT Froome got kicked out of for holding on to a police motorbike. Just sayin'.

that'd be Nibali/Liquigas 2010 not Nibali/Astana 2014

Just backing you up re: Nib's (relative) credibility vs the Froome transformation

 

[heart_attack_man]

Re:

But I meant tdf level events since hacks like Walsh just say that the secondary events are doped but the premier event - tdf is clean.

Genuine question - do you know where he has said something along these lines? Would love to read it.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

But I meant tdf level events since hacks like Walsh just say that the secondary events are doped but the premier event - tdf is clean.

Genuine question - do you know where he has said something along these lines? Would love to read it.

It was a "talk" he had in 2012 in front of a live audience about Armstrong. He was asked about contador winning the vuelta. He said that Spain is corrupt and let all the people at the vuelta dope so it's a sham race. There is no transcript but I was not the only one who watched it and noted his response at the time.

 

[hrotha]

To be fair he's not necessarily wrong, even if he reached that conclusion for all the wrong reasons. The 1999 and 2008 Tours were probably much cleaner than the rest of the season.

 

[King Boonen]

Nibs is clean. Obvs.

 

[sniper]

Re:

To be fair he's not necessarily wrong, even if he reached that conclusion for all the wrong reasons. The 1999 and 2008 Tours were probably much cleaner than the rest of the season.

Indeed.
In fact, the 2010 Vuelta is a great example of how teams use that race to experiment with new drugs.
The 2011 Vuelta is a good example of how individual riders use that race to up their program a few notches.

Not sure why Walsh wanted to make that point in the first place.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

At least they tried. It wasn´t Gerdemanns fault that no one took his offer... Hardly can blame him.

I think I read this before with other cyclists as well. But the truth is nobody cares about him because he is not a GC rider.

 

[the delgados]

Pick a random no-name domestique and create a groundswell of support for the guy.
Some folks did that at the Tour Down Under a few years back, and it was pretty awesome.
I don't remember the name of the rider, but he was stunned to learn he became one of the most popular riders in the peloton.

 

[hrotha]

Re:

Pick a random no-name domestique and create a groundswell of support for the guy.
Some folks did that at the Tour Down Under a few years back, and it was pretty awesome.
I don't remember the name of the rider, but he was stunned to learn he became one of the most popular riders in the peloton.

First Vichot, then Madrazo and Wouter Mol.

 

[BYOP88]

Re: Re:

Pick a random no-name domestique and create a groundswell of support for the guy.
Some folks did that at the Tour Down Under a few years back, and it was pretty awesome.
I don't remember the name of the rider, but he was stunned to learn he became one of the most popular riders in the peloton.

First Vichot, then Madrazo and Wouter Mol.

Didn't the Vuelta do this a few years ago too? I think it was Yannick Talabardon who was on Credit Agricole.

 

[Billie]

Re:

To be fair he's not necessarily wrong, even if he reached that conclusion for all the wrong reasons. The 1999 and 2008 Tours were probably much cleaner than the rest of the season.

Not sure when to consider a race clean but pyrenees in 2008 where the most doped up weekend of the season.