2010 TdF

[Southminster_Shrimper]

as a novice lycra cycling watcher i really enjoyed what coverage of "le tour" i saw.

main battle of note, for me, was the one in one of the latter mountain stages which was just Schleck vs Contador.....the glaring from Schleck was brilliant. it wasnt the best finish but the will he wont he battle was just captivating.

The Cav sprints for the line having cycled that far was breathtaking. I am sure he was featured in the inflight BA mag I read recently aswell.

Didnt think i would enjoy it as much as i did. while all you experts will prob ridicule me for the here and now and lack of road cycling knowledge but i genuinely wasnt sure about the TdF but I did really look forward to catching bits of the eurosport live coverage of an afternoon.

i may just tune in next year.....

 

[Uncle Leo]

as a novice lycra cycling watcher i really enjoyed what coverage of "le tour" i saw.

main battle of note, for me, was the one in one of the latter mountain stages which was just Schleck vs Contador.....the glaring from Schleck was brilliant. it wasnt the best finish but the will he wont he battle was just captivating.

The Cav sprints for the line having cycled that far was breathtaking. I am sure he was featured in the inflight BA mag I read recently aswell.

Didnt think i would enjoy it as much as i did. while all you experts will prob ridicule me for the here and now and lack of road cycling knowledge but i genuinely wasnt sure about the TdF but I did really look forward to catching bits of the eurosport live coverage of an afternoon.

i may just tune in next year.....

You could do a lot worse than heading in to London on the weekend of the 18th/19th September to watch the final stage of the Tour of Britain. A good few TDF riders will be present and there was a good atmosphere around the place last year. I believe ITV4 will be covering the race fairly comprehensively too.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Don't forget guys that the Tour of Britain actually hits Essex this year too (well [spit spit spit] to be precise, Colchester).
17 Sept Stage 7 Bury St Edmunds - Colchester (151km)

Final stage is Sat 18th, 100km circuit race.

Wiggins is riding, allegedly. His final race of 2010.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Don't forget guys that the Tour of Britain actually hits Essex this year too (well [spit spit spit] to be precise, Colchester).
17 Sept Stage 7 Bury St Edmunds - Colchester (151km)

Final stage is Sat 18th, 100km circuit race.

Wiggins is riding, allegedly. His final race of 2010.

So he's not doing the Vuelta then? I've heard conflicting stories on this front.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

So he's not doing the Vuelta then? I've heard conflicting stories on this front.

Not according to BBC Sport today.
Anyway, can't see him managing 3 grand tours in one season.

 

[Southminster_Shrimper]

from a novice....team sky had a lot of build up and delivered not alot. They seemed to be in with a shout at the end of a few stages but lacked the real punch to cross the line in any reak position of note.

(I suffer from this myself but with less lycra and on an mtb much to the disgust of regular roadies)

did the pressure of expectation get to team sky?
will their lycra replicas be cheaper on wiggle from now on?

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

from a novice....team sky had a lot of build up and delivered not alot. They seemed to be in with a shout at the end of a few stages but lacked the real punch to cross the line in any reak position of note.

(I suffer from this myself but with less lycra and on an mtb much to the disgust of regular roadies)

did the pressure of expectation get to team sky?
will their lycra replicas be cheaper on wiggle from now on?

I think Sky's tactics were a bit confused. They seemed to be trying to cover all bases and ended up not really covering any.

Boasson-Hagen isn't a top class sprinter, he's a good sprinter but more in the sense of if he's in a break you'd fancy him in a sprint rather than being a bunch sprinter as he hasn't the top end speed to win sprints against Cav (who has?) or an Ale-Jet (although still good enough to compete against Hushovd). But Sky seemed to keep on trying to put a train up there. It was almost as if they were trying to send a message to Cav that they would provide a team if he wanted to defect from HTC. Maybe Sky benefit from Cav winning as it boosts cycling in Englandthe UK, and as the de facto national team they stand to benefit more from this in the future, maybe this is the best way to meet their aim of bringing about a British champion of the TdF, by acting as Cav's domestiques and closing the gap to ensure the bunch sprint and the extra publicity of a stage winner boosts the search for a British GC contender.

They didn't really commit fully to Wiggins either and some of their tactics seemed strange (one day in the mountains they burned their domestiques and ended up burning up the peleton only for Wiggins to be dropped later on as a victim of the pace).

For a completely new start-up team, I don't think they did too badly. I suppose they are improving their standing in the peleton by doing their turns on front and I think after a very shaky start earlier in the year they are becoming accepted, which is important. Geraint Thomas improved his reputation and had a few days in a jersey, albeit only white. They certainly had a better tour than say, Milram. I think Milram didn't have a single rider in the top 50 of GC or KOM, finished bottom of the team standings, didn't win a single stage and Ciolek was an after thought for Green down in about 10th. I think until Luke Roberts got into a break of about a dozen and finished 5th, their highlight was the stage neutralised by Cancellera when they got a couple of riders towards the front as they rolled home (behind Chavanel) in a non-race situation. Maybe I'm being harsh on them, but if anyone can remember what Milram did, please remind me!

 

[Uncle Leo]

Don't forget guys that the Tour of Britain actually hits Essex this year too (well [spit spit spit] to be precise, Colchester).
17 Sept Stage 7 Bury St Edmunds - Colchester (151km)

Final stage is Sat 18th, 100km circuit race.

Wiggins is riding, allegedly. His final race of 2010.

And here's the route

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/_ns_pdf/stage_8_route_map.pdf

Disappointing that it's not in Central London like last time, but I'll head along anyway.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Maybe I'm being harsh on them, but if anyone can remember what Milram did, please remind me!

Rode around with gorgeous white spoked Lightweight £2k wheels ;)

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

And here's the route

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/_ns_pdf/stage_8_route_map.pdf

Disappointing that it's not in Central London like last time, but I'll head along anyway.

Morecambe (H).

 

[Uncle Leo]

Morecombe (H).

I thought we had Morecambe that day?

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Some interesting articles about the tide turning against the Golden Boy over the past few days have surfaced.

The words "Liestrong" & "Pharmstrong" continue to crop up. He's now apparently hired a hot shot criminal defence lawyer too...

 

[EastStandBlue]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11441045

Shock.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11441045

Shock.

Media frenzy & more than likely the defence of injesting through infected/doped meat is true.
Clenbuterol stays in the system for ages and so anybody doping with it runs the risk of it being detected for a long time (unless this time he's maybe mistaken how to take his masking agent).

However, another rider has been banned for 2 years recently for exactly the same offence, so you could argue the precedent has been set, although I hear this other guy has now lodged an appeal with the sports arbitration people.

 

[Bluesmanager]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, just about the most corrupt sport in existence.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, just about the most corrupt sport in existence.

Or equally a sport that knew it had endemic problems and has upped its game in trying to "out" the drug cheats. Pro riders are now tested, on average, more than any other professional sportsman. In Italy last week there were another 50 arrests of riders (both pro & amateur), team officials & doctors relating to alleged doping. The UCI Blood Passport is a step in ensuring most riders are clean.

Check out www.bikepure.org (or follow them on FB or Twitter) and you'll see more about what I'm on about.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

It sounds like a tiny amount, but what I don't understand is how they can have pinpointed the "contaminated" food with any certainty.

It's depressing news, particularly as it comes from the TdF and apparently the MTF on the Tourmalet, but at least cycling are doing something about it: compare it to cricket where the match-fixing allegations still aren't being properly investigated.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, just about the most corrupt sport in existence.

Sadly cricket appears more corrupt as at least the cyclists are doping to try and improve performance.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Obviously it'd be unfair to judge him before he's tried, but I find the fact they've found the contaminated meat so soon a little conspicuous...

While I was studying I attended a lecture on doping in sport that heralded track athletics and cycling as two specific sports that could, in theory, benefit from legalising the use of PEDs in certain events. If they opened the field to those who use PEDs and designated events for them, whilst issuing instant life bans for those found guilty of doping in "straight" events, then I dare say the allure wouldn't be half as much. I'm not saying I agree with the stance personally, but it's certainly an option to consider in a sport that is so rife with controversy.