Most believable Tour in years?

[Dear Wiggo]

Lemond seemed to imply on ES that this year's Tour is the most believable in a while. He said this after checking out the watts that Nibali has been producing

make of it what you will.

Has Lemond called anyone out since Lance?

 

[Tonton]

There is some serious fatigue now on discussing doping in cycling. Many posters and fans have just opted out, seen it all before, different clowns but same circus year after year.

Some of it, on this largely english speaking site is due to less LA talk. Unfortunately, it is also due to the fact that all there is to do for now is speculate. It may take 10 years, tests on B samples, to reveal if the SKY was as clear as advertised, if the Columbian invasion was for real, and so forth. until then, there are still ways for the thugs to be one step ahead of the guys trying to catch them.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

Most believable Tour in years?

A bit like trying to decide which version of A Nightmare on Elm Street is most believable.

 

[Benotti69]

ammattipyöräily @ammattipyoraily · 2m

#TDF, Stage 16. Thibaut Pinot set a new record time on Port de Bales.

.................

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

.................

Thibault the Tailwind Tiger.

 

[Le Baroudeur]

Holy crap. I woke up this morning and the sky was pink.

I'm struggling to see how your drinking habits are relevant?

 

[Tonton]

.................

It goes to show that hard work pays off

 

[SundayRider]

Lemond seemed to imply on ES that this year's Tour is the most believable in a while. He said this after checking out the watts that Nibali has been producing

make of it what you will.

I saw that as well. Can't believe how much weight Lemond has put on, would never guess he once the best cyclist on earth...

 

[shawnrohrbach]

Nibali is just as bad as Froome last year and Contador pre ban. Dominant and always in control. Can go faster when he wants in all terrains. Alien.

Blood and EPO doping imo. Similar model as all the other intra season donkey to racehorse dopers in the past: Armstrong, Basso, Schleck etc.

But below him things looks better and the players have provided one of the better tours in years. Of course helped by an excellent parcours which offers opportunities for racing on many stages.

Take out Nibali and this tour would have been a 9 out of 10 form me.

It would have enormous benefits to the sport if Nibali tested positive shortly after the tour.

I guess I am also still a bit of a cynic. Here's why. http://www.shawnrohrbach.com/READ

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

Why are people saying the numbers look good? The GC top-5 after 3 finishing climbs were 13-2 vs pVAM.

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

2009>2010>2012>2011>2008

http://www.cyclismas.com/biscuits/a-different-approach-to-comparing-climbing-performances/

The CERA year is the most believable.

 

[difdauf]

2009>2010>2012>2011>2008

http://www.cyclismas.com/biscuits/a-different-approach-to-comparing-climbing-performances/

The CERA year is the most believable.

So much riders suspended in 2008 that they made the average speed fall.

 

[zlev11]

all of the guys that tested positive for CERA at that Tour stood out like a sore thumb, though. most likely all of the "stars" knew about the test and laid off of it and went back to more traditional (less effective) doping.

 

[The Hitch]

Some of it, on this largely english speaking site is due to less LA talk. Unfortunately, it is also due to the fact that all there is to do for now is speculate. It may take 10 years, tests on B samples, to reveal if the SKY was as clear as advertised.

So Indurain was clean?

 

[42x16ss]

all of the guys that tested positive for CERA at that Tour stood out like a sore thumb, though. most likely all of the "stars" knew about the test and laid off of it and went back to more traditional (less effective) doping.

The '08 Giro was a strong hint that CERA was going to be targeted at the TdF yet so many still went beserk with it. Schumacher looked like he'd borrowed an engine from the other Schumacher...

 

[mrhender]

Michael Rasmussen on TDF 2014- doping

M.Rasmussen was a guest in the danish TV2 coverage yesterday..
Here is some of what he said when asked about doping in this years peleton (from memory)

-Asked about howcome the doping questions where seemengly lesser this year as opposed to last year/other years

He answered to this that having three french guys dooing well in the GC was clearly reducing the medias (I'am guessing he meant the normally sceptical french media) interest in focusing on the subject..
( I didn't get the impression that he meant french guys proved it more clean, rather he was implying double standards)

-Asked about Nibali doping?

Answered that he didn't know, bu that Nibali would be the best cyclist ever! if clean.. (not a particulary optimistic statement)

-Asked of his view in general as to the Tour

Answered that his love for TDF is intact regardless of the dope...

So in conclusion, not a specifically optimistic stance he has, of course his credibillity is not top-notch and everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt..

 

[Freddythefrog]

2014 Tour to non-cyclists

I well remember a guy at work who never rode a bike, but was into various sports, coming up to me in 1998 to tell me how funny it was that Cipo' was leaving the Tour early because "the weather was too hot" - the guy is ?Italian - I go to Italy for a hot holiday ! was what how he rounded it off. He thought it was a p**s take and marker of what the riders thought of the fans - dumb idiots.

In the last 7 days I have had several of my work colleagues come up to me. The synthesis of their thoughts is only at one place. These guys are more than capable of translating a fellow work colleague's call on a Monday morning or Friday - "I have been up all night puking - it must have been something I ate" into a more realistic translation.

The view of all the early departures is deeply skeptical, with one suggesting that the riders must be scared of some new test the authorities have developed.

We might get in a froth here, but I would suggest that 100% of a certain type of sports fan are convinced that the current generation of pro-cyclists are as doped as they ever have been, but that the Armstrong story has taught them to cover their tracks with some more plausible form of excuse.

Most of these guys watched one of the recent programs on TV on Lance and all said - he was in the clear - for ever, even with his comeback - why did he stuff Floyd ?

A sad indictment of the anti-PED testing of the last 20 years.

 

[42x16ss]

M.Rasmussen was a guest in the danish TV2 coverage yesterday..
Here is some of what he said when asked about doping in this years peleton (from memory)

-Asked about howcome the doping questions where seemengly lesser this year as opposed to last year/other years

He answered to this that having three french guys dooing well in the GC was clearly reducing the medias (I'am guessing he meant the normally sceptical french media) interest in focusing on the subject..
( I didn't get the impression that he meant french guys proved it more clean, rather he was implying double standards)

-Asked about Nibali doping?

Answered that he didn't know, bu that Nibali would be the best cyclist ever! if clean.. (not a particulary optimistic statement)

-Asked of his view in general as to the Tour

Answered that his love for TDF is intact regardless of the dope...

So in conclusion, not a specifically optimistic stance he has, of course his credibillity is not top-notch and everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt..

I'd actually say his credibility is pretty good. There are quite a few riders and a lot of team staff left from '07 so he would have some idea of what they have done/still do. Rasmussen also knows what is necessary to climb at the speeds he was doing, which are still being matched now.

I suspect he could say more but doesn't want to deal with legal BS.

 

[Frosty]

2009>2010>2012>2011>2008

http://www.cyclismas.com/biscuits/a-different-approach-to-comparing-climbing-performances/

The CERA year is the most believable.

Wasnt that the year that the testing in the tour was done by a French authority rather than the UCI?

 

[Netserk]

Wasnt that the year that the testing in the tour was done by a French authority rather than the UCI?

Yep.

The independence of the UCI has been called into question repeatedly by the AFLD and ASO in the past. The ASO went so far as to hold its events outside the UCI's sanction in 2008, using the French agency to perform controls.

In 2009, the UCI was back in charge of controls for the Tour, but former president of AFLD, Pierre Bordry, accused the UCI of giving extra time for Lance Armstrong and his team to arrive for their doping controls.

The conflict led WADA to send independent observers to the 2010 edition, but it found no serious violations by the UCI. More recently, the dossier of evidence against Armstrong has again called into question the independence of the UCI.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/afld-comes-to-agreement-with-uci-over-tour-de-france-tests

Then Armstrong came back and Clerc got sacked. That was a big turning point.

 

[rainman]

In the last 7 days I have had several of my work colleagues come up to me. The synthesis of their thoughts is only at one place. These guys are more than capable of translating a fellow work colleague's call on a Monday morning or Friday - "I have been up all night puking - it must have been something I ate" into a more realistic translation.

The view of all the early departures is deeply skeptical, with one suggesting that the riders must be scared of some new test the authorities have developed.

.

But the big name departures have all been caused by serious injury due to crashes. Surely they don't think that a top rider in the TDF would risk a career ending injury by crashing out in order to avoid a dope test?

 

[darwin553]

Yes I wouldn't have said that before the tour but since the demise of Contador I can believe again.

 

[Tonton]

So Indurain was clean?

When answering "most believable Tour in years", I noted more folks in 'Road Racing' than on 'the Clinic' 50 to 31, so the answer is yes according to the members of this forum: it used to be the other way around. I was quoted, and the post read that everyone was tired of the same old posts. To me it's mostly due to less LA discussions in 'The Clinic', which used to represent a huge proportion of the traffic on the dope related discussions. Big Mig, Mr. 60%, the chicken and Vino were generating less threads and comments/opinions than even Hamilton or Landis. English speaking site was my conclusion. I never mentioned Big Mig, but followed the TdF then, read enough since to believe that his performances (and the entire Banesto team) were EPO fueled. Come on The Hitch

 

[doperhopper]

But the big name departures have all been caused by serious injury due to crashes. Surely they don't think that a top rider in the TDF would risk a career ending injury by crashing out in order to avoid a dope test?

yeah, how about career-ending dope test?

 

[Lord Stanley]

König: "Finally my bad day came, it could've been worse though. Most of my opponents had their bad days already anyway, it's just normal. And that's a sign that this TDF is clean."