The Sky-Con-O-Meter. Predictions on how much more ridiculous they can get

[Amsterhammer]

Re: Re:

Best titled thread in the Clinic, no doubt.

I've seen this movie before, and today was one of the most laughable days I've witnessed in some time. I'm reminded of USPS in about 2001-2004 when their train would just crush everyone, including some of the most elite climbers in the world being dropped by USPS domestiques, and riders like Hincapie were winning MTF stages.

The most amazing thing, is that since Froome is a relatively late bloomer like Chris Horner, we could feasibly see another 5+ years of this, easy.

Possibly, but one thing that (hopefully) has changed somewhat is that in the USPS days the UCI was complicit and simply closed their eyes to doping, and strenuously attacked anyone who dare suggest such a thing (Walsh, Kimmage, etc). Don't think that's the same attitude anymore.

I'd like to believe you, Velo, but I'm really not sure. You can gauge the degree of my disgust today that I'm actually posting in the Clinic. I may have tripled my lifetime Clinic posts today. I was literally speechless with indignation this afternoon, and I was actually mad.

Honestly, this was a vomit-inducing spectacle. Every true cycling fan was slapped in the face today.

Thomas, who wins E3 by beating Stybar and Sagan and nearly wins G-W, is now disposing of the world's top climbers.
Porte, who dropped out of the Giro is now dropping Quintana, Contador, Niabali, you name it.

Pro cycling is to cycling what pro wrestling is to wrestling.

Totally agree with the above. Today was an utter farce, an affront to common sense and decency.

 

[DefectiveDetective]

Re: Re:

Doping IS professional cycling. Always has been. The quality of the dope has always driven the quality of the pro races. And it is only going to get more freakish with genetic doping. There is NO hope of cycling reforming itself! There is ZERO evidence of positive change.

If you're not convinced yet.....you will be.

Very true. And I have been convinced since I started watching cycling. Watched tennis earlier in life because I played in college - I was never good enough to make a living from sport - went and got an RN instead. I need no convincing about how freakish sport will get when genetic doping arrives...has it already?...is more my question.

And how stupid + blind do the ones responsible for creating this spectacle in sports think the fans are? Can't we at least be allowed the information? Then we can enjoy the great wonder of science and the amazing responders in the light of day.

HGH and EPO are both technically gene doping.

 

[ggusta]

Re:

Doping IS professional cycling. Always has been. The quality of the dope has always driven the quality of the pro races. And it is only going to get more freakish with genetic doping. There is NO hope of cycling reforming itself! There is ZERO evidence of positive change.

If you're not convinced yet.....you will be.

+1.
Today was a black mark in a sport that has more black marks than a leper colony. And to see posts by people who are fans that usually have some semblance of sanity just sort of going along with it. UCI, Froome, the team and Sky are just an embarrassment to the sport, but the fans have deluded themselves to the point of world wrestling fans to try and take this cr#p seriously any longer. They are both now just parodies of actual sports. And it makes me sick to think what a beautiful sport it once was and could be.

Stick a fork in it. I'm done.

 

[panyagua]

Re: Re:

Doping IS professional cycling. Always has been. The quality of the dope has always driven the quality of the pro races. And it is only going to get more freakish with genetic doping. There is NO hope of cycling reforming itself! There is ZERO evidence of positive change.

If you're not convinced yet.....you will be.

Very true. And I have been convinced since I started watching cycling. Watched tennis earlier in life because I played in college - I was never good enough to make a living from sport - went and got an RN instead. I need no convincing about how freakish sport will get when genetic doping arrives...has it already?...is more my question.

And how stupid + blind do the ones responsible for creating this spectacle in sports think the fans are? Can't we at least be allowed the information? Then we can enjoy the great wonder of science and the amazing responders in the light of day.

HGH and EPO are both technically gene doping.

C'mon. Gene doping refers to the introduction of exogenous DNA, RNA or cells containing certain nucleic acid sequences, not using a particular protein or peptide. Or, as we're probably going to see in the near future (or not see, but suspect) direct tinkering of one's own DNA via techniques such as CRISPR/Cas.

 

[thehook]

What SKY did today was put a fork in the Peleton.

You want to tell me Froome is a "Freak" , "Mutant" , "Clean", once in a generation rider. ( where have I heard that before?). Go ahead feed me the B.S.
I got it! But when Porte beats Quintana as a set up guy for the attack! G can be a Classics Rider and hammer the world best on a real climb like today!

NOT NORMAL

Mr. Cookson
I hope your pleased with what you saw today. Your kid works for SKY. You are letting one team make a mockery of an entire sport. That will be your legacy.......You are fast becoming a FRAUD!

I love my sport. I will still root for my favorite riders/teams. But it is fast becoming WWE.

EDIT: Just watched the post race. " G, I was riding with Valverde!, And kinda stuck behind TJ"
A real classics rider? Hmm

 

[Berzin]

All I want to know is what regimen Froome is on. I could buy the EPO/blood transfusion-Testosterone-HgH trifecta if it asn't for how skinny he is while putpowering all his rivals. There has to be a new drug out there that's at the root of his performances. AICAR?

Who knows...

Whatever it is, it's something not too many in the peloton have access to.

 

[MarkvW]

This is the UCI's "Simeoni Moment." Even the tiniest sliver of hope was extinguished today.

 

[rm7]

We all know what til happen... When the first person gets caught (ex Rasmussen, Landis, Hamilton) and he looses everything, and then decides to snitch everybody else...... In 2025 we'll know what happened at Team Sky 2012-20xx

No reason it would be different this time. A lot of big people will go down with this.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Re:

All I want to know is what regimen Froome is on. I could buy the EPO/blood transfusion-Testosterone-HgH trifecta if it asn't for how skinny he is while putpowering all his rivals. There has to be a new drug out there that's at the root of his performances. AICAR?

Who knows...

Whatever it is, it's something not too many in the peloton have access to.

I don't know. Lots of guys looking inhumanely skinny in a relatively new way and still laying down the power. My guess is it's somehow understood at Sky they are free to dope.

This is like the Suisse event this year, only in front of a giant audience.

Just insane. I knew 2015 was going to be a joke.

 

[ohiwa nz]

Re:

This is the UCI's "Simeoni Moment." Even the tiniest sliver of hope was extinguished today.

I think I agree. I certainly agree that "today was one of the most laughable days I've witnessed in some time". Maybe naive, but I had thought there was, just perhaps, a sliver.

 

[doperhopper]

Re:

What SKY did today was put a fork in the Peleton.

You want to tell me Froome is a "Freak" , "Mutant" , "Clean", once in a generation rider. ( where have I heard that before?). Go ahead feed me the B.S.
I got it! But when Porte beats Quintana as a set up guy for the attack! G can be a Classics Rider and hammer the world best on a real climb like today!

NOT NORMAL

Mr. Cookson
I hope your pleased with what you saw today. Your kid works for SKY. You are letting one team make a mockery of an entire sport. That will be your legacy.......You are fast becoming a FRAUD!

I love my sport. I will still root for my favorite riders/teams. But it is fast becoming WWE.

You can still keep loving the sport of cycling (you riding a bike), but you should realize pro cycling is not sport, it's in the showbusiness category. It's their job to do whatever the ones paying them want them to do - well, maybe cruel, maybe sad, but that's showbiz. Maybe the problem is that unlike the wrestling shows (not part of olympic wrestling or whatever called sport) ProCycling still pretends via the UCI smokescreen that they have something to do with sport. Should be treated like these crazy japanese track races organized by the bookmakers (ninja wrestling on bikes).

 

[ray j willings]

Re: The Sky-Con-O-Meter. Predictions on how much more ridic

It Looked far worse because Berti is tired and the only so called competition Quintana looked like he was out of his depth and perhaps "we will have to wait and see" Not at the level we think he his or potentially can be.
When someone dominates the doping/Peds become noticeable.
But if Bertie was in top form or another climber was riding well it would not be such a talking point.
I mean look at Nibs and Bertie ...that got beat by riders who they would normally eat for breakfast.
Its not really about Froome's ride being alien its about getting it in perspective ,,,but it has highlighted the issue.

 

[Walkman]

Re:

Best titled thread in the Clinic, no doubt.

I've seen this movie before, and today was one of the most laughable days I've witnessed in some time. I'm reminded of USPS in about 2001-2004 when their train would just crush everyone, including some of the most elite climbers in the world being dropped by USPS domestiques, and riders like Hincapie were winning MTF stages.

The most amazing thing, is that since Froome is a relatively late bloomer like Chris Horner, we could feasibly see another 5+ years of this, easy.

Yet, in 2009 you called the Verbier stage "the best stage in the race"…

Domination is no fun when it's not your favorite?

 

[Walkman]

Re:

Utterly beyond any credibility. The Tour is done for me. A ****ing stick insect on turbo dope destroys the field, while his main domestique sprints past Quintana for second. Are you ****ing kidding me?

Funny, when in 2009 when Contador smashed the all time VAM-record, you wrote:

"Contador went away like a only a great champion can, all credit to him."

 

[Franklin]

But Wouter, what is the difference between a Great Champion and a Great Dopeguzzling Responder? I'd say they are the same thing.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Utterly beyond any credibility. The Tour is done for me. A ****ing stick insect on turbo dope destroys the field, while his main domestique sprints past Quintana for second. Are you ****ing kidding me?

Funny, when in 2009 when Contador smashed the all time VAM-record, you wrote:

"Contador went away like a only a great champion can, all credit to him."

Not comparable to 2009. Though obviously Contador (like everyone else) was also on something back then, yesterday was just beyond ridiculous, not so much because of Froome (we have all come to the point where his mutant attacks don't surprise os anymore), but rather because LRP and GT without any effort dropped all the other team leaders.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Since this is the thread for predictions about Sky, I think they will let someone else win today's stage, however, Froome and team won't let anyone of substance drop them on the Tourmalet, let alone the short climb to Cauterets. So if someone like Contador or Quintana attacks, he won't get ahead. If some stragglers who are 10 minutes down attack, they'll be allowed to win. Sky may try to have Porte win the stage, but I think they'll save that for the Alps.

I expect the day to Plateau de Beille to be just as laughable as yesterday though. Sky will shrink the group to about 15 riders over the Port de Lers, with a third of those riders being on Sky. Then we'll see a repeat of the climb to Soudet.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Re:

Since this is the thread for predictions about Sky, I think they will let someone else win today's stage, however, Froome and team won't let anyone of substance drop them on the Tourmalet, let alone the short climb to Cauterets. So if someone like Contador or Quintana attacks, he won't get ahead. If some stragglers who are 10 minutes down attack, they'll be allowed to win. Sky may try to have Porte win the stage, but I think they'll save that for the Alps.

I expect the day to Plateau de Beille to be just as laughable as yesterday though. Sky will shrink the group to about 15 riders over the Port de Lers, with a third of those riders being on Sky. Then we'll see a repeat of the climb to Soudet.

This. +1

 

[BYOP88]

Re:

Since this is the thread for predictions about Sky, I think they will let someone else win today's stage, however, Froome and team won't let anyone of substance drop them on the Tourmalet, let alone the short climb to Cauterets. So if someone like Contador or Quintana attacks, he won't get ahead. If some stragglers who are 10 minutes down attack, they'll be allowed to win. Sky may try to have Porte win the stage, but I think they'll save that for the Alps.

I expect the day to Plateau de Beille to be just as laughable as yesterday though. Sky will shrink the group to about 15 riders over the Port de Lers, with a third of those riders being on Sky. Then we'll see a repeat of the climb to Soudet.

How about a spoiler alert!!

Also did you hack this from their computer?

 

[Amsterhammer]

Re: Re:

Utterly beyond any credibility. The Tour is done for me. A ****ing stick insect on turbo dope destroys the field, while his main domestique sprints past Quintana for second. Are you ****ing kidding me?

Funny, when in 2009 when Contador smashed the all time VAM-record, you wrote:

"Contador went away like a only a great champion can, all credit to him."

You really felt called upon to go back and search what I wrote six years ago as some kind of attempt to discredit my opinion now? Different time, different circumstances entirely. Have you considered getting a life?

 

[djpbaltimore]

I don't see SKY detonating the race before the last climb. Those are very long valley roads to deal with before they arrive at PdB. Roche and Konig don't look up to climbing with the final 15 either at this point.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Best titled thread in the Clinic, no doubt.

I've seen this movie before, and today was one of the most laughable days I've witnessed in some time. I'm reminded of USPS in about 2001-2004 when their train would just crush everyone, including some of the most elite climbers in the world being dropped by USPS domestiques, and riders like Hincapie were winning MTF stages.

The most amazing thing, is that since Froome is a relatively late bloomer like Chris Horner, we could feasibly see another 5+ years of this, easy.

Yet, in 2009 you called the Verbier stage "the best stage in the race"…

Domination is no fun when it's not your favorite?

That would have been in regards to the overall standings and what it meant for a certain arrogant Texan. Don't forget that Armstrong expected to roll up to the start and win.

 

[doperhopper]

How about this: How ridiculous/effective could antiSKY actions go?

There were already many suggestions, but how about ignoring them (Sky) completely? They arrive setting the pace on Tourmalet, the rest just softpedals for 5-10 min (as if "dropped") and continues their own race (and nobody says a word, total silence).

Sure as hell it won't happen even if the majority agrees, but what would UCI/ASO do? Can't just throw everyone away. And what would Skyborgs' reaction be?

 

[thehog]

Re: The Sky-Con-O-Meter. Predictions on how much more ridic

Looks like a good article

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/from-pillows-to-pinarellos-inside-team-skys-marginal-gains-world/

From pillows to Pinarellos: Inside Team Sky's marginal-gains world

Surely it must have something new in it to be published today?

"Team Sky were the first to start cooldowns after a race, and the other teams called us crazy to begin with," he says. "Now, name me a WorldTour team who doesn't cool down post race. It provokes recovery and for us there is no other option."

Well not yet... lets read on...

Among the carbon, Lycra, tools and rubber you might come to expect from a World Tour cycling team, we were also shown around some of the other supplies with which the marginal gains of Team Sky are truly showcased.

With memory foam pillows and mattresses (with different thicknesses for different riders), hypoallergenic bedding, dehumidifiers, air purifiers, air conditioning units and heaters, Team Sky ensures every rider gets the best possible rest during races. Combined with a dedicated team of carers preparing, cleaning and laundering each hotel room night after night the infrastructure behind the riders before and after each race is astounding

Pillows? Ok, we're heard about that, other teams have pillows, riders were using their own 10 years ago... anything else?

The team has approximately 290 bikes at any one time. With riders keeping a training road and TT bike at home (usually the previous year's), the service course stores the current season's fleet of race bikes, along with around 250 sets of wheels and a huge selection of tyres. However, this is just the beginning…

They have bikes and wheels? Well that certainly is new... incredible

 

[Benotti69]

Re: The Sky-Con-O-Meter. Predictions on how much more ridic

Looks like a good article

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/from-pillows-to-pinarellos-inside-team-skys-marginal-gains-world/

From pillows to Pinarellos: Inside Team Sky's marginal-gains world

Surely it must have something new in it to be published today?

"Team Sky were the first to start cooldowns after a race, and the other teams called us crazy to begin with," he says. "Now, name me a WorldTour team who doesn't cool down post race. It provokes recovery and for us there is no other option."

Well not yet... lets read on...

Among the carbon, Lycra, tools and rubber you might come to expect from a World Tour cycling team, we were also shown around some of the other supplies with which the marginal gains of Team Sky are truly showcased.

With memory foam pillows and mattresses (with different thicknesses for different riders), hypoallergenic bedding, dehumidifiers, air purifiers, air conditioning units and heaters, Team Sky ensures every rider gets the best possible rest during races. Combined with a dedicated team of carers preparing, cleaning and laundering each hotel room night after night the infrastructure behind the riders before and after each race is astounding

Pillows? Ok, we're heard about that, other teams have pillows, riders were using their own 10 years ago... anything else?

The team has approximately 290 bikes at any one time. With riders keeping a training road and TT bike at home (usually the previous year's), the service course stores the current season's fleet of race bikes, along with around 250 sets of wheels and a huge selection of tyres. However, this is just the beginning…

They have bikes and wheels? Well that certainly is new... incredible

Fan Millar got writers block and rehashing old press releases.........