The Climb (Froome's first autobiography)

[ScienceIsCool]

dunno if you can use fedex for blood samples or if you need to maintain a strict "chain of custody"

Dude. It's not a murder trial... Look for the conspiracies where they actually exist.

John Swanson

 

[lenric]

I read the quotes that were posted from Froome's autobiography and... he seems to be a very insecure guy with the complex of beating everyone, especially the best rider since Armstrong, or, at least, the most famous.
I mean, Froome looks like an overly obsessed guy and the "how's your coffee" thing is very strange to say the least... Froome will self-destruct and Contador's going to win.

 

[Catwhoorg]

dunno if you can use fedex for blood samples or if you need to maintain a strict "chain of custody"

You can.

Sealed individual vials, inside sealed packaging satisfies the Chain of Custody.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

You can.

Sealed individual vials, inside sealed packaging satisfies the Chain of Custody.

And the UCI have a contract with an individual transport company for economies of scale cost savings.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Words are cheap. I'll believe lotto doing **** because one of their domestiques got slighted by froome when I see it.

But of course froome losing say 4 minutes on the cobbles would be the dream. Close enough that he would still have a big chance to win. Far enough that he would have to go full effect on some mountains.

Nah, for me the dream would be Cound having a Willy Voet style encounter with the border police and Dawg popping a poz the same day. Cue everybody throwing out their drug stash just like in '98 and then let's see what the race brings and who is the strongest.

And maybe this time we would finally, finally have a cleaner sport.

 

[Granville57]

Yes. This sounds correct. But you wouldn't be asking the testers who collect the blood to "test it for everything including tropical diseases".

All they are doing is collecting a sample of blood.

So the Dawg's BS story about asking the UCI to test is just that... BS.

Yes, you could ask the tester to check for everything if it's a quarterly test like what Lowe did at Del Moral's, where they send the results to the UCI and also to your team. Those quarterly checks are nothing like an actual OOC dope test.

But that's not the issue here. The issue is that Froome originally claimed (on video) that when submitting to the regular UCI tests, he asked those same folks to check for other things due to his erratic health. He said absolutely nothing about a separate tropical disease specialists being right next door. Nothing whatsoever. But now we are told that this was the case, and this is how his bilharzia was discovered. Should such a seemingly simple story need to become so complex? Unless it's not a simple story...

Nah, for me the dream would be Cound having a Willy Voet style encounter with the border police...

Stop! You had me right there.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

With what? He can lose time on the cobbles and do another day or three destroying all in the mountains/TT with his current (June 2014) form.

This is why this year's TdF is already boring. You know it's going to be Froome going alien and everyone else looking like the amateurs from the local cafe run.

If we're really lucky, the British stages turn out to be narrow-enough, hilly-enough, twisty-enough to really mess with Froome's standings. And then, top it off with the cobbled stage in France. Sky had a good DS for the Classics this year, let's hope he stays home for the TdF and they get the joker who managed the Olympics race.

Granted, he's done himself no favors with this book. But he's got the power to shut them all up and *everyone* that matters knows it.

I pretty much agree. But after today, I think Froome's confidence is a bit shaken.

 

[veganrob]

Froome was looking at his computer pretty hard today. I think he was very surprised to see AC still on his wheel the whole way. They will be taking runs at Froome in the Tour to weaken him.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Froome was looking at his computer pretty hard today. I think he was very surprised to see AC still on his wheel the whole way. They will be taking runs at Froome in the Tour to weaken him.

The parallels between Armstrong and Froome are staggering. Unfortunately, it appears that most Froome fans are new enough to cycling to have only a passing knowledge of this "Lance" guy.

 

[veganrob]

I haven't seen any VAM numbers or anything, and I am sure Froome has most likely gone faster before. But he looked more pained than I had seen in the past.
What do you think?

 

[The Hitch]

I haven't seen any VAM numbers or anything, and I am sure Froome has most likely gone faster before. But he looked more pained than I had seen in the past.
What do you think?

Probably because he approached the climb more as a series of 500m sprints than as a whole climb

 

[Granville57]

Froome was looking at his computer pretty hard today. I think he was very surprised to see AC still on his wheel the whole way.

I only just watched the final few k of today's stage. Seeing Froome look back only to find Contador still on his wheel after that first blistering attack was priceless.

 

[42x16ss]

I haven't seen any VAM numbers or anything, and I am sure Froome has most likely gone faster before. But he looked more pained than I had seen in the past.
What do you think?

I think he's worried. The form Rogers and Majka showed at the Giro combined with Contador's early season showings may have shaken his confidence. We still haven't seen anything from Keuziger yet either.

Add the tensions with Wigans and potential fallout from this comedic masterpiece and there may be an implosion come July...

 

[veganrob]

Probably because he approached the climb more as a series of 500m sprints than as a whole climb

Makes sense. I don't think Froome is going to dieseling anybody off his wheel so his plan of attack will be the bursts of speed.

Which of course clean riders can't do. hahah

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Makes sense. I don't think Froome is going to dieseling anybody off his wheel so his plan of attack will be the bursts of speed.

Which of course clean riders can't do. hahah

The last time we saw full idiocy like today was the legendary battle between Contador and Rasmussen up the Peyresourde.

 

[42x16ss]

The last time we saw full idiocy like today was the legendary battle between Contador and Rasmussen up the Peyresourde.

I'm ok with that Would prefer another '98 style mass bust, but since that's not really on the cards I'll settle for second best

 

[Granville57]

The last time we saw full idiocy like today was the legendary battle between Contador and Rasmussen up the Peyresourde.

And here we were being led to believe that "clean" cycling was going to boring. And not just from Brailsford, mind you. People right here in The Clinic were accusing some of us of having unrealistic expectations, and that by demanding "entertainment" we were somehow to blame, in part, for the doping arms race (and yes, I will dig up those posts if need be).

We were hypocrites by applauding audacious and relentless attacking styles, and yet condemning dopers at the same time. "You can't have it both ways" was the general mantra.

OK then, good to see that "clean" cycling can be just as exciting after all. I do wonder why all the criticism was leveled against some of us in the past though. It seems that we can have it both ways after all. Good to know.

Make no mistake about it though, today's stage, from the highlights I've seen, was thoroughly entertaining. This year's TdF should make both Barnum and Bailey blush.

I can't wait!

 

[Butterhead]

Yeah you heard it he was towed around France lol, Wiggo fans thinking he is as good as Froome haha.

Its beyond me, you still havent got a clue about what is going on.
Unbelievable.

 

[UlleGigo]

I'll have to get this book I think. The excerpt are pure gold and I'm a real sucker for post-apartheid inspired subtle racism infused within a fictional ghost written autobiography.

 

[manafana]

does he mention his asthma much in the book? Those exemptions for inhaler are always a bit dodge.

I still stand by no one writing book till there retired before that is just cashing in for selling only a part of your story

 

[manafana]

The parallels between Armstrong and Froome are staggering. Unfortunately, it appears that most Froome fans are new enough to cycling to have only a passing knowledge of this "Lance" guy.

cant argee with this side of an argument, froome has always been built to climb and was regarded to do so.

People had actual info on Lance most people just didn't believe it, we have mud for froome but what is it he is doing to cheat then?

Lance was much more aggressive to those who opposed him. Froome a little ruthless yes but with the media and fans no were near of a fraud.

 

[neineinei]

My take is that these are the quarterly health checks the UCI has athletes do to prove they are healthy enough to race (the same sort of tests that Matt White sent Trent Lowe to Dr. Del Moral's clinic for, which caused all the brouhaha and eventually saw White leave Garmin for OGE.)

For me, the issue would be if these quarterly UCI health checks are being included in the biopassport numbers of tests performed. Because they would be tests that are extremely easy to fool, given that the athlete makes an appointment with a doctor's office to go in and be checked, have blood drawn, etc. You would know exactly when you are being tested and could thus ensure your blood parameters would be stable. Hopefully the biopassport doesn't rely overly heavily on only these prearranged quarterly health checks. (And that's an issue worth investigating - I don't know the answer.)

For road riders, the medical exams are undergone through their team.

http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI1/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUxNTQ&LangId=1

The medical tests are probably mostly done by the team doctors, so it would be a complete failure if they are used as doping tests.

When a complimentary examination is carried out by a person or institution other than the team doctor, the rider must identify himself by presenting his health record. For the 1th and 3rd examinations, the rider must come in person to the laboratory recognized by the UCI.

http://www.uci.ch/Modules/BUILTIN/g...bjTypeCode=FILE&type=FILE&id=MzcwODg&LangId=1

Froome/Walsh are probably confusing the medical tests and doping tests. The medical tests seems to be part of UCI's anti-doping program, but they are hopefully not counted as doping tests or used as part of the ABP profile. There is nothing in the information about them on UCI's website that says the results are posted in ADAMS, like the results from ABP tests are. The results are to be sent to UCI in a medical monitoring control declaration. But there is a chance the information is old and outdated, several forms and documents are date marked 2008.

 

[No_Balls]

Reading parts of this book left one with a slight surrealistic feeling. Is this for real? Heck, even Lance knew how to deal with teammates ("There is no i in team") directing his bullying behavior towards outsiders keen on breaking the Omerta. Sure, he could also bully weaker links within the team into submission but Froomey-boy starts the backfiring before his career even has begun.

Froome should only have lapdog Porte after this and one wonders what kind of stranglehold there is on UCI and ASO given this book. No one can be that stupid to give the go of a book like this before the Tour.

Or is it Walsh who has discovered ways to set up Froome? By the use of his lack of IQ. He seems like, how should we say, not only go *** on the road if you get it.

 

[Franklin]

We used Fedex. There's just additional paper work and that's as much for customs officials as it is for the shipper. All sorts of chemicals have to move around the world all the time on both large and small scale. Getting a bit of blood to a lab for testing within a 1.5 day window is not difficult (not cheap either). Logistics is a whole industry that has these problems figured out, so the excuse that a cyclist is too remote to test is red herring IMO.

Thanks this makes a lot of sense. Just so far outside of my expertise that I never thought much about it.

 

[thehog]

We used Fedex. There's just additional paper work and that's as much for customs officials as it is for the shipper. All sorts of chemicals have to move around the world all the time on both large and small scale. Getting a bit of blood to a lab for testing within a 1.5 day window is not difficult (not cheap either). Logistics is a whole industry that has these problems figured out, so the excuse that a cyclist is too remote to test is red herring IMO.

The issue within the paasport as outlined by WADA is there is no B sample. Therefore they require very strict methods of sending the samples. A 36 hour window is mandated from collection to store/test. Thus Kenya gets ruled out from most testing.

This is important if an athletes challenges the results. Without a B sample you don't have integrity.

And reading between the lines perhaps UCI/IAAF/WADA just avoid collecting a samples in these types locations for that reason.

It's the same as Tiede. Why the f--- was Froome suggesting no testing in Tiede? Why test in Tiede when your markers are elevated? Froome was playing the audience. As any test don't there isn't going to net a positive or much else.

That's why Nibili was tested 5 times in one month off Tiede.