Vino's TT win

[joe_papp]

UFC/MMA + epo =

... the fasted growing sport is UFC those guys will learn from other feds not to ask and for sure never tell.

I can confirm that EPO is already in use in UFC/MMA type fighting (don't remember which league/series/weight class, sorry), but it is.

 

[fatandfast]

I am sure that lots of guys in UFC and the other fighting stables/gyms are max juiced. The organizers are not going to make a big issue unless their fan base starts to fall off. They seem to have successfully worked it into their sport as part of a end product that people love, or at least buy. Without some Olympic and history worries they have developed a hybrid that people and companies put their money behind. Franco Harris thought he could do this with cycling 20+ years ago but the NBL fizzled. I would love to sit for a beer with early racers that had to bring their own tires and fix their own bikes as part of the race. I am sure they feel little connection with today's sport. Today's racers are great the left over old time format sucks. I went to a six day last year and to see how much fun people have drinking and listening to music while watching racing as the back drop makes you smile.Everybody should to Phili and get a beer at the wall !

 

[Oldman]

I am sure that lots of guys in UFC and the other fighting stables/gyms are max juiced. The organizers are not going to make a big issue unless their fan base starts to fall off. They seem to have successfully worked it into their sport as part of a end product that people love, or at least buy. Without some Olympic and history worries they have developed a hybrid that people and companies put their money behind. Franco Harris thought he could do this with cycling 20+ years ago but the NBL fizzled. I would love to sit for a beer with early racers that had to bring their own tires and fix their own bikes as part of the race. I am sure they feel little connection with today's sport. Today's racers are great the left over old time format sucks. I went to a six day last year and to see how much fun people have drinking and listening to music while watching racing as the back drop makes you smile.Everybody should to Phili and get a beer at the wall !

Really appreciate your prior statement about random swipes at Horner, et al. Cannot say you can ever view ANY professional sport without skepticism but as an Old Era cyclist I can still enjoy and relate to the sport. Mostly because the Old Era racing was a cruder version of the current day. I was skeptical then, too. That skepticism came from dropping guys on climbs that are now current day GT contenders. There's some satisfaction in that.

 

[Martinello]

They way I interpret Vino's statements after the TT he seems to be on the lookout for a team, probably with the intention of racing the Vuelta.
The good Alexandr has probably not been wasting his time on the Kazahk plains during his suspension, so my bet is that he is going into the fall on equal terms with many other cyclists.

PS: It was rumoured that Vino had doped with his fathers blood in an act of desperation after having imploded on stage 14 in the 2007 tour. Vino denied that, rebuking that doping with his fathers blood would have caused a non-negative for vodka.(http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2007/07/25/vinokourov-doping.html)

 

[cody_57]

Agreed. Plus, Vino's personality is such that he transcends characterization as just another automaton-like pro cyclist taking orders via radio from the team car. While not even in the same galaxy as Lance w/ respect to his global impact, within the sport of cycling - doped or not - Vino brought (and will bring again) an attacking style that defied tactical-logic and encouraged a visceral, emotional response from his fans. Granted, his doping encouraged a visceral, emotional response of a different sort from his non-fans, but ... such is cycling.

Yes, I loved watching Vino going out front against all odds, just like Jens. But isn't that exactly what Contador got villified for this past TdF? If anyone ever watched Eddy race, he would do "stupid" things that would give a current DS a heart attack. I hope things get really shaken up in the next few GTs where there's some actual crazy racing, as opposed to the somewhat boring prossessions we've seen when team-lance (not meant derogatory, just don't feel like listing them!) would (typically) take the yellow in the TTT and then control the peloton from there till the end. It was great watching those races from a tactical perspective, but boring as hell from a racing perspective.

And, no, I'm not disillusioned that PEDs may be used in cycling. It is unbelievably rife in most professional sports, I just hope the guy I'd like to see do well, doesn't get caught with a syringe in the arm at any given point.

 

[BigBoat]

i beleive large numbers of riders are clean, and the sport is cleaner than it has been in probably 100 years, but im not stupid...

Less doped NO. Autologous blood doping has the exact same effect as EPO. However not all the top TDF riders are blood doped like they were when epo was a free for all. However, epo use is a free for all out of competition in those not on the testing list. Lots do do it.

100 years ago the stimulants, hallucinogens, alcohol, etc made racing very dangerous but these substances did not do "much" to help.

Why do you watch then?

He was homologous blood doping - using someone else's blood. Like Tyler Hamilton

Thats not really true...He was blood dopin with his own blood and the centrifuge that was used probably dirty with somebody else's blood...like a teamate or somebody.

 

[hmronnow]

remember this d-bags return to the peleton



http://www.grahamwatson.com/2001/paristours/image7.html

Virenque Wins Paris-Tours

Richard Virenque (Domo) has won his first postsuspension victory. Virenque sallied off the front after 12 km, forged an 18-minute lead, and held on to win Paris-Tours in 6:58:32. Two seconds later, Oscar Freire (Mapei) took the bunch sprint for second from Erik Zabel (Telekom). Erik Dekker (Rabobank) remains the World Cup leader after the 254-km race.

Yes, I remember that - it was extremely exciting to watch on TV. holding off the sprinters with only a handful of seconds for several kilometers. I'm pretty sure both his quads were in cramps (looked like that on the footage), meaning he made it due to an incredible willpower. Past doper or not, he gave us something impressive.

Now, do people think he was doped that day?
Would be very coy to dope on your return from a ban.

 

[craig1985]

Anyone can understand anger over a little sentence for a big crime. Vino and the rest are part of a game regulated by thugs and old guys trying to hold on to their jobs through hush money and corruption at every level. Vino is back because of the rules not because he picked his own punishment. Hacks at Horner and others that have not been caught for anything is another shot over the bow from a Boat load of sh#t. Doping and it's testing are a joke played by the guys holding the rule book. You want no doping, 10 years 1st pop, lifetime for 2nd. Pack fill are shot up and never caught for 5 or 6 year careers. Who and how people are tested make lots of criminals including the testers. MLB make cycling look like Cub Scouts, the fasted growing sport is UFC those guys will learn from other feds not to ask and for sure never tell.

So would you reduce sentences for those who brake omarta and confess?