Majka

[ciranda]

Hard to check because all the years of team and cycling info gathered by fans on the forum disappeared with the Tinkoff takeover, but iirc the sponsor was rumoured to be the Strauss Group/Raya Strauss? Part of an initiative to promote cycling and cycle sport in Isreal. They funded the training camp too.

I'll let you guess the other pay to ride riders on the team.

Bruno Pires and Anders Lund when Leopard didn't want them anymore in the second year of their contracts when Bruyneel came in. Both are good cyclists and both got new deals with Saxo after that year. Timmy Duggan when Spidertech didn't happen as they wanted it to. Jonathan Cantwell paid with his own savings. And he was in the Tour de France! Takashi Miyazawa definitely by some material sponsor but he was an okay rider unlike Cantwell. Ran Margaliot by some Israelian resort and I don't think he finished any races.

 

[mrhender]

It is a forum. To expect anything other than discussion, opinion and banter is silly.

And to challenge any opinion here is exactly what I would expect the forum enabling me to... (as it also does)

But I do not think I understand where you are going at, as I merely tried to discuss the issue of Majka and his love for motorbikes that suppossedly suggest doping..

Nothing more, nothing less...

 

[Le Baroudeur]

Bruno Pires and Anders Lund when Leopard didn't want them anymore in the second year of their contracts when Bruyneel came in. Both are good cyclists and both got new deals with Saxo after that year. Timmy Duggan when Spidertech didn't happen as they wanted it to. Jonathan Cantwell paid with his own savings. And he was in the Tour de France! Takashi Miyazawa definitely by some material sponsor but he was an okay rider unlike Cantwell. Ran Margaliot by some Israelian resort and I don't think he finished any races.

Lund? hmm. Tanner?

Cantwell gets a thumbs up for effort… They can't all be No.1

 

[Le Baroudeur]

And to challenge any opinion here is exactly what I would expect the forum enabling me to... (as it also does)

But I do not think I understand where you are going at, as I merely tried to discuss the issue of Majka and his love for motorbikes that suppossedly suggest doping..

Nothing more, nothing less...

the phenomenon is called 'The Votex'...

 

[sittingbison]

Gentle(wo)men,
there has been an intensive sustained and determined effort to derail this thread....right from the second post.

Situation dealt with.

Keep calm and carry on
bison

 

[proffate]

phil and paul's take on the moto sling was that it was silly to do that in front of the commissaires and cameras. That pretty much sums it up. Cheat if you must but don't let the fan see

 

[yespatterns]

He's a cheat, that's proven. Is he a doper I think the probability is high. The resemblance to ricco in terms of arrogance and being an unintelligent diva is uncanny. I'm a TS fan, but the guy gets more unlikable by the day. If he gets found out, I certainly won't be surprised or shed a tear.

 

[el chava]

So sticky bidons, fake mechanicals are also indicators of doping?

I guess we can now conclude that wheelsuckers are all doping because of their "dodgy egoistic mentality". Yes, in fact only those selfless domestiques who never pushes anyone in the peloton, never takes a bidon within the 10k (and never win) are the real winners.

 

[el chava]

He's a cheat, that's proven. Is he a doper I think the probability is high. The resemblance to ricco in terms of arrogance and being an unintelligent diva is uncanny. I'm a TS fan, but the guy gets more unlikable by the day. If he gets found out, I certainly won't be surprised or shed a tear.

Low intelligence, arrogance, diva-esque behaviour and general "unlikability" does not indicate doping whatsoever. I am sure you will find a great deal of riders with the exact opposite traits, who where doped beyond belief. You could start with Tyler Hamilton for instance.

 

[yespatterns]

Low intelligence, arrogance, diva-esque behaviour and general "unlikability" does not indicate doping whatsoever. I am sure you will find a great deal of riders with the exact opposite traits, who where doped beyond belief. You could start with Tyler Hamilton for instance.

I agree, one thing (moto skitching/drafting) and the other (doping), aside from the implied lack of morals, have little to do with each other. Personally I find him suspect of the later and generally dislike him. My dislike makes it difficult to give him the benefit of the doubt.

And Hamilton wasn't very intelligent and was a bit of a diva at times. so was his non-existent twin I hear.

 

[andy1234]

It is a forum. To expect anything other than discussion, opinion and banter is silly.

So why act so indignant when the banter is directed towards you?
Take your own advice, before hitting the report button.......

Now how about responding to my question?
"Cheating is a line, when you cross it you cannot uncross it"
Are you suggesting that someone who cheats, for example by holding on to a motorbike, will cheat at everything?

 

[simoni]

Grabbing a motorbike was cheating, why would he not dope if he is prepared to grab motorbikes to gain an advantage......

What was it Brailsford said about you dont cheat on Monday and not Tuesday......

Daft thing is that the motorbike grab gained him practically no advanatage compared with the serial car drafting that goes on at the back of the bunch in every porfessional race.

I read it as more levering himself out of the bikes path than getting a tow.

And if we're questioning Majka, I'd be looking at the giro rather than this. Calling it doping is wilfully ignoring the clever tactics, teamwork (and luck?) that got him into the position in the first place.

 

[simoni]

Are you suggesting that someone who cheats, for example by holding on to a motorbike, will cheat at everything?

Consequences of cheating = probability of being caught * severity of sanction (+ some sort of personal/moral factor)

If the benefit of cheating > consequences of cheating then if will occur.

To suggest that taking a tow is analagous to doping is clearly utter rubbish. Its the same as saying that because I speed I'm likely to one day murder my wife.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Even so, there are some here claiming that the motorbike "got in the way".
Yet Majka can be seen changing direction, swinging in behind the bike, not the other way around.
Clearly, given the fact that he was fined and docked time, the race jury reached the same conclusion from the tv footage

On Avondetappe last night when asked directly, Majka tried to make the same claim about the motorbike getting in the way and said that he only touched it, but didn't take a pull.

So, having first cheated, he's now lied.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Most cyclist will try and cheat. Its simply part of the culture.

The vast amount of managers in this sport will scold him from doing it in public of course. Its wrong, its against the ethics of the sports etc.

Had it been off camera and Majka told his team about it, they would probably all be laughing in the bus.

All of that isn't the worse part of the performance to me. Instead its the self believe he would be much better than everybody else long before the line. It was obvious. Its be seen before many times.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

"Since my return from Italy I have not trained much, I was very tired and still feel the effects of this 3-week race. I do not feel ready to compete in the Tour de France"




He loses 40 minutes in the first two mountain stage, then Contador he's out and suddendly Majka he's one of the best climber in the race behind Nibali and maybe Pinot,Peraud
Dirtiest performance of 2014 tdf

Hey, wasn't there a rest day recently...???

 

[ChewbaccaD]

There are far more than three (Poljanski is also one to watch), and there is also considerable political and economic mitigation for the increase in Polish passport carrying presence in sport. I suggest you do some research about polish talent in all sport under other nationalities.

Ban me Susan but at what point is a discussion a farce due to the complete ignorance of the participants? Is the forum still a venue for verbal dribble conceived without an iota of though? If so it really serves no purpose at all beyond being a mouthpiece for venom, insecurity and emotionally fuelled accusation.

I see you're familiar with Oleg Tinkov...

Yea, no chance the guy is charged...

 

[The_Captain]

Actually, whilst fairly insignificant in itself the whole moto sling thing does encapsulate the whole mentality of doping/cheating etc.

Is the sling cheating or just a bit of gamesmanship? Riders probably do it because they think it's generally accepted, like stealing a few yards on a throw in or at a free kick in football. They don't consider it cheating. Everyone does it, just don't be blatant about it and don't get caught.

Wind the clock back a few years and this was certainly the attitude in the peleton towards doping. Maybe not everyone, but certainly the majority. Have attitudes changed? Personally I'd say yes. By how much I can't say as I don't have an inside line to the pros. Does it stop people cheating? Of course not - there are many reasons why people cheat, but changing the perception of these things is one step towards stopping people dope.

I wouldn't agree with Benotti when he says that if they're prepared to "cheat" a little then they'd be prepared to dope though. People's moral compasses don't tend to be sent to black and white. There's always a grey area that people will be willing to exploit.

 

[Benotti69]

Actually, whilst fairly insignificant in itself the whole moto sling thing does encapsulate the whole mentality of doping/cheating etc.

Is the sling cheating or just a bit of gamesmanship? Riders probably do it because they think it's generally accepted, like stealing a few yards on a throw in or at a free kick in football. They don't consider it cheating. Everyone does it, just don't be blatant about it and don't get caught.

Wind the clock back a few years and this was certainly the attitude in the peleton towards doping. Maybe not everyone, but certainly the majority. Have attitudes changed? Personally I'd say yes. By how much I can't say as I don't have an inside line to the pros. Does it stop people cheating? Of course not - there are many reasons why people cheat, but changing the perception of these things is one step towards stopping people dope.

I wouldn't agree with Benotti when he says that if they're prepared to "cheat" a little then they'd be prepared to dope though. People's moral compasses don't tend to be sent to black and white. There's always a grey area that people will be willing to exploit.

I dont see any moral compass in pro cycling. The UCI flaunts the rules for favoured teams and riders so where are teams supposed to get their moral compass direction from?

We see blatant cheating in sport all the time, from diving in soccer/football to guys holding bottles too long or 'magic spanners'.........

I repeat there is no moral compass in the sport. There cant be when Cookson is backed by a guy like Makarov.

 

[el chava]

I dont see any moral compass in pro cycling. The UCI flaunts the rules for favoured teams and riders so where are teams supposed to get their moral compass direction from?

We see blatant cheating in sport all the time, from diving in soccer/football to guys holding bottles too long or 'magic spanners'.........

I repeat there is no moral compass in the sport. There cant be when Cookson is backed by a guy like Makarov.

I don't really want to start this discussion, but morality within sport is a bit of tricky issue; "winner takes all" and so on. And especially in a historically dirty sport as cycling. Maybe this is why we watch it? To experience people acting on a scene where our normal civilised morals are suspended somehow.

As I said, long discussion...

 

[andy1234]

I don't really want to start this discussion, but morality within sport is a bit of tricky issue; "winner takes all" and so on. And especially in a historically dirty sport as cycling. Maybe this is why we watch it? To experience people acting on a scene where our normal civilised morals are suspended somehow.

As I said, long discussion...

Morality is a relative concept.
For some, doping isn't a moral issue, simply a business decision.
For others, getting up in the morning and putting their undies on left leg first, instead of right, constitutes a moral failing.

The second group cannot comprehend the actions of the first, in the same way that religious fundamentalists cannot entertain the idea of an alternative ideology.

Cheating happens every day, by everyone, in every walk of life.
Speeding? Taking a long lunch on your employers time? exaggerating n a CV..... its all cheating.

Is exaggerating on a CV a gateway to embezzling the company?
Of course not.

To suggest so ( as some have) is stupendously dumb......

 

[manafana]

phil and paul's take on the moto sling was that it was silly to do that in front of the commissaires and cameras. That pretty much sums it up. Cheat if you must but don't let the fan see

yeah agreed, so blatant thing to do no camera or not, also why no kom points taken away sprint points mean nothing to him.

 

[Benotti69]

Morality is a relative concept.
For some, doping isn't a moral issue, simply a business decision.
For others, getting up in the morning and putting their undies on left leg first, instead of right, constitutes a moral failing.

The second group cannot comprehend the actions of the first, in the same way that religious fundamentalists cannot entertain the idea of an alternative ideology.

Cheating happens every day, by everyone, in every walk of life.
Speeding? Taking a long lunch on your employers time? exaggerating n a CV..... its all cheating.

Is exaggerating on a CV a gateway to embezzling the company?
Of course not.

To suggest so ( as some have) is stupendously dumb......

We are talking about cycling.

There are rules. Are you happy that riders break rules?

What is the point in having rules in the 1st place if they get flaunted. Accepting that people break rules is commonplace so therefore we must not punish them is idiocy.

Rojas got kicked out of race today for taking a tow, yet Majka not. So what is the point in rules?

To suggest that the sport should be accepted as unruly is dumb and that cycling has such a problem with rule breakers (doping being the biggest problem) is what keeps it a minority sport even though so many people actually own a bicycle.

 

[roundabout]

Easily one of the best behind Nibali today.

 

[Czapiewski]

We are talking about cycling.

There are rules. Are you happy that riders break rules?

What is the point in having rules in the 1st place if they get flaunted. Accepting that people break rules is commonplace so therefore we must not punish them is idiocy.

Rojas got kicked out of race today for taking a tow, yet Majka not. So what is the point in rules?

To suggest that the sport should be accepted as unruly is dumb and that cycling has such a problem with rule breakers (doping being the biggest problem) is what keeps it a minority sport even though so many people actually own a bicycle.

Have You seen a tow of Rojas that You are able to compare it to Majka?