Cycling Thread

[Paddingtonwolf]

Wiggins is going a long way to nailing the whole fucking shooting match today....

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Holy shit - 1 minute 43 seconds taken out of Evans!

 

[Sniffer]

Cheers Paddy. You are quicker than the BBC live updates!

 

[Knockout Ned]

Another excellent day for Sky, Evans and Nibali have a lot to do now.

Should make for some suicidal/adventurous attacking in the coming stages!

 

[FrankMunro-371]

Sadly for Cycling, and in particular the Tour de France, the drugs issue is never far from the headlines.
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French rider Remy Di Gregorio is detained for questioning by French police after a raid on the Cofidis team hotel.

Di Gregorio has been detained for questioning with two other people for alleged trafficking of performance enhancing drugs.
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[Paddingtonwolf]

There is always one story like this. He is being questioned. He will probably get thrown off the tour and banned. Cyclists are tested more than any other sport, and it is always very public. TBH - it makes sod all difference to cycling or TDF any more.

 

[guinnesswolf]

 

[guinnesswolf]

 

[guinnesswolf]

 

[guinnesswolf]

 

[FrankMunro-371]

There is always one story like this. He is being questioned. He will probably get thrown off the tour and banned. Cyclists are tested more than any other sport, and it is always very public. TBH - it makes sod all difference to cycling or TDF any more.

That is good, as it is a shame when a few spoil things for the majority.

As a matter of interest, why are cyclists tested more than other other sportsmen and women?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Because this reputation came about quite correctly over many years of constant abuse of the rules. Now on any stage of the tour, the stage winner, wearers of ALL the classification jerseys, and then a number of randomly selected cyclists are tested immediately upon finishing the stage. There are then random anti-doping tests the next morning as soon as they get up. There is regular out of competition testing too. Cycling wants the cheats rooted out, and wants to be clean.

 

[Knockout Ned]

As a matter of interest, why are cyclists tested more than other other sportsmen and women?

Cycling has a long history of doping, for many years it was acknowledged and accepted but not spoken about outside of the peloton, unless you wanted to be cast aside and left to find a normal job forever regretting that you never 'made it'.

I believe it's a willingness of cycling's authorities to eradicate such practices and clean up its act, or at least be seen to be trying to (if you can afford to donate large sums of money in the support of the grass roots then suspicious looking tests can be made to disappear, mentioning no names).

 

[Donegal Wolf]

Because this reputation came about quite correctly over many years of constant abuse of the rules. Now on any stage of the tour, the stage winner, wearers of ALL the classification jerseys, and then a number of randomly selected cyclists are tested immediately upon finishing the stage. There are then random anti-doping tests the next morning as soon as they get up. There is regular out of competition testing too. Cycling wants the cheats rooted out, and wants to be clean.

They always tested the first 3 in the stage plus overall leaders but were always 1 step behind the dopers technology wise and doubt the UCI had the "will" to try to catch the cheats. seeing doping an an unfortunate by product of cyclists pushing themselves to the limit day after day.
It was when the French police went in heavy handed following the Festina scandalin the late 90's when things blew up with talk of the tour being finished, they realised that things had come to a head and they needed to get there house in order, plus sponsors didnt want to be associated with cheats and a tainted product.
Random testing has certainly helped that, along with police sticking their nose in and the media not content to turn a blind eye as they did previously .

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Having said that it does get tedious that le monde invariably runs a doping story the week before the tour. This year it was a rehash of the old armstrong story, which may well have legs, but it is hardly new news is it? the fact that l'equipe is a major sponsor of the tour and a rival to le monde says a lot about that...

 

[Knockout Ned]

These cases always seem to arise or reach significant phases during or around the Tour. The Cofidis case began over 12 months ago (so I read) and only now they start taking suspects in...

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I cant remember the last significant dope case during the vuelta or the giro

 

[Knockout Ned]

It's almost like they're trying too hard to be noticed...

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

We can go back to Tommy Simpson who was killed as much by the 'mickey finns' in his muesette as the heat on the ventoux, to I believe it was Joop Zootemelk (correct me if wrong I haven't the books here) who was the first thrown off for faking a dope test with a tube from his backpack rather than piss from himself, to Ancquetil who freely admitted doping in the early 60s. Cycling has really improved since Operation Porte and I believe the authorities are starting to win the war

 

[Knockout Ned]

Not read much about Zoetelmelk, just snippets from Fotheringham's book on Merckx which never mentioned the test. Heard stories of faking samples before though so entirely plausible.

Cycling is a hell of a lot cleaner but the fall out from decades of abuse won't go away quickly.