Viva le Tour

Go Cadel Evans

Come on Aussie

Is he the one with the best drugs this year then?

what no other fans of le tour

Me. Just haven't managed to catch much of it yet

@ Nev - it's unfortunate that cycling gets it in the neck because it's probably more open about drug abuse than any other sport. I think that they're further down the road of sorting it out than most.

yeah they manage to catch it out and name the offender during the tour instead of waiting a few years like they do with the olympics

poor form nev, cheats get caught in cycling, thats the main difference with any other sport

Well said Fraser, it peeves me to see the press having a go at cycling, when other sports have been implicated, and done nothing to clean up their act.
Nev, try googling "Balco laboratory California", or having a look at the Dwain Chambers story, to see the cocktail of performance enhancing drugs he was on. I will see if I can find the link, and post it here.

This is a bit of a shocking eye opener, and to think he wants to run in the Olympics. No wonder People like Steve Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes are disgusted.
The letter which exposed Chambers' shocking regime | Sport | The Guardian

Another one here, watching every night, can't wait for the carnage in the pyrenees and alps must add...superb win for cav the other day, viva GB...worlds no1 track squad

Originally Posted by Nev

Is he the one with the best drugs this year then?

You don't like people on bikes, do you Nev, that much is obvious

I record it every night, ITV4. They have met the drugs problem head on and publically. The temptation must be there, but I think there is less now in Pro cycling than athletics, where they all protest complete innocence.

Originally Posted by Fraser

Me. Just haven't managed to catch much of it yet

@ Nev - it's unfortunate that cycling gets it in the neck because it's probably more open about drug abuse than any other sport. I think that they're further down the road of sorting it out than most.

Well said, that man.

The most recent débacle, Operacion Puerto in Spain, fell apart because it became clear that many high profile footballers and tennis players were involved with the 'lab' concerned (not before most of the cyclists involved had been dealt with though). I couldn't possibly name them but one of them just had a very good time with strawberries and cream lately (I don't mean in a sexual way) and the others are known to kick pig bladders around in Spain's capital city - infact, a bottle of 'German Bier' went on a trip to the US to cool off out of the spotlight.

Drugs are still a very real problem but cycling is doing more than any other sport to stamp it out and the testing regimes being introduced are leading the way in the sporting world, with for example, blood passports.

This year's Tour is the most open for years because the drugs and blood doping are nearly gone. Long may it continue.

....and Manuel Beltran just got done for bloody EPO abuse!

What a w4nker!

I think he must have taken his chances with the new EPO just out, which there isn't a test for yet. At least, that's what the authorities were saying, maybe they are fighting dirty now and they actually did have a test all along - bloody good job too if that's the case.

Ordinarily, with the new blood passports that are operated by all the Protour Teams now, anomalies in his blood would have given him away. But because of the stupid politics currently going on in the Sport (between the International body - the UCI, and the French company which runs several big races like the Tour - the ASO), the Tour isn't being run under the auspices of the UCI and the ASO don't have access to the riders' blood profiles. Even without a drug test per se for the new EPO, the changes in his blood would have shown up.

Instant ban for life is what he needs - although even the statutory 2-yr ban would finish him off, he's 37 now, which is why I think he did it, out of desperation for his flagging career. Having said that, he comes from an era where he has probably taken/done stuff in the past. Come to think of it, the death penalty wouldn't be inappropriate, because every time this type of thing happens now, sponsors and potential sponsors will consider not being involved in the Sport - the Sport will die at this level unless these b4stards get it in their thick skulls. The days of it 'being your job' to perform and win at all costs are over - everyone needs to understand that.

He was in Armstrong's Discovery Team - I wonder if he has any dirt to dish out on the guys in that Team now that he'll possibly be wanting a bit of money for selling his story? If Armstrong were to ever be implicated in anything, that would be a very big disaster for the Sport.

I feel guilty of putting bad karma
on it now.

I'm holding you personally responsible Nev!

For anyone interested in the current doping scene, in particular "operation Puerto", here is a link:
www.cyclingnews.com - the world centre of cycling

It is interesting to note, that out of over 200 athletes implicated in the Operation Puerto case, only 34 - all cyclists - are the only ones to have been named. There are La Liga players from Barcelona and Real Madrid, and Tennis players, but they remain anonymous.

They're not totally anonymous Andy, use your word-power to suss out Champion tennis and football players from my previous post .

Only when the very big names in the really high powered sports became implicated, did the Spanish Police suddenly and unexpectedly 'lose interest' in prosecuting those implicated in Operacion Puerto.

For those not in the know, Operacion Puerto was centred on a medical lab in Madrid where evidence of dodgy goings-on was found. Various athletes' names were found in little black books under nicknames and pseudonyms.

Originally Posted by VO2Max

They're not totally anonymous Andy, use your word-power to suss out Champion tennis and football players from my previous post .

Only when the very big names in the really high powered sports became implicated, did the Spanish Police suddenly and unexpectedly 'lose interest' in prosecuting those implicated in Operacion Puerto.

For those not in the know, Operacion Puerto was centred on a medical lab in Madrid where evidence of dodgy goings-on was found. Various athletes' names were found in little black books under nicknames and pseudonyms.

Hi.VO2Max,

these GUYS /GIRLS Are influenced by thier
coaches,seems to me,for how else
would they explain the surge in performance?

Back to the old story,
rewards so high for the winners,
and who supports the underdogs,

(I tend to )

John.

VO2Max, the word anonymous was used, because nobody in the media has named them, they have been "protected", as you rightly say. It's a pity the press "worship" other sports, and pick on cycling. I wonder how many of those involved, have a "swoosh" as their sponsors trademark? I know what you mean by "strawberries and cream", it would explain an awful lot, and it would be sad.
John, their coaches have to be complicit in the doping process, we know this from the US sprinters.
At least my own races were fuelled by beer and wine (both drugs, but not I suspect, performance enhancing).

I catch the TdF on and off, I like to see the sprint finishes mostly, saw one today in the pouring rain, won by a Brit...

C-A-V-E-N-D-I-S-H!!!!

He's unbeatable when he gets a sniff of the line!