Tour de France 2007 thread (1 Viewer)

[rettucs]

went to Tour of Ireland in Kilkenny and Ennis . relaxed atmosphere at start lots of kids getting Stephen Roche's and the Schleck's autographs etc. and Eric Vanderaeden cycling around in a green jersey.
I didn't know David Duffield would be there, so that was a bonus as he's a legend.

yeah, I was there in Kilkenny and at the end in Dublin. The end was a bit of a shambles and it was a terrible shame. The peloton were told to stop chasing after the first circuit of merrion sq cos the leaders had lapped them. It'd have been deadly to see them going flat out for 9 laps of that. As it was they only went flat out for 1 lap. Still great though, and that Andy Schleck is a total gent. Standing in for photos, talking to everyone, etc. Got some great pics of the whole thing.

I notice there are 4 riders that did the Tour of Ireland riding in the Tour of Spain at the moment. 3 of the CSC boys and Deignan from Ag2R.

See some other T-Mobile lad tested positive for an appetite suppressant there. Not good for the 'clean team' that they're meant to be. Also, Gerolsteiner are pulling out of the sport. The drugs knock-on continues.

 

[flashback]

Stick up your photos there Scutter if you get a chance...

 

[IFF]

See some other T-Mobile lad tested positive for an appetite suppressant there. Not good for the 'clean team' that they're meant to be. Also, Gerolsteiner are pulling out of the sport. The drugs knock-on continues.

lorenzo bernucci. he won a stage 2 years ago in the tour de france on a thursday, riding for fassa bortolo (mengin of fdj was away with a few km's to go. the cheat vino attacked. bernucci attacks as well. mengin crashes at a corner. takes down the cheat vino. bernucci avoids crash and wins stage)

dissapointed. he was apparently using appetite spressants for 4 years. over the counter stuff. an ingredient in them were added to the banned list late last year

though it's interesting that after a year of it being banned, he only tested positive now

 

[rettucs]

Stick up your photos there Scutter if you get a chance...

just tried uploading some to flickr and was gonna post on the link. Its giving me jip though. Seems the site is undergoing some maintenance and the whole thing is flaky as hell at the moment. Will try again tomorrow.

 

[rettucs]

ok, got some up there. Try the following link and see if you have any joy. Its a handful of snaps from a fairly crap camera in both Kilkenny and Merrion Square. Link is;

you might need to register to see

Edit: The link tells who I am. Can't have that. I'll PM you the link

 

[rettucs]

Saw this article in the Tribune by Mark Scanlon a couple of weeks back

Tribune Archive

You can't compete with drug cheats Mark Scanlon


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ALL week I have been reading obituaries about my cycling career and the future of the sport because of my comments. I've heard that I quit cycling for good because of drugs in the sport. However, all of this is only partially true - I have been misquoted on more than one occasion. I am not turning my back on cycling, just the UCI ProTour.There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I am not enjoying it, and I haven't enjoyed it for some time. Secondly, there are drugs in the sport and I'd had enough of being associated with this, although I must stress the first reason was far more influential.
In ProTour cycling you cannot win anymore. You cannot compete with those that are cheating. Even if you do manage a win, you are immediately deemed to have cheated. I was not good enough to win but there were many people around me who were and felt these emotions as well.
Looking back on my career, there have been a lot of highs.
In 2003, I won a stage on the Tour of Denmark and held the yellow jersey for three days. I became the first Irish rider in the Tour de France since Stephen Roche and I also got to ride in the Giro d'Italia last year. I can't say that I've enjoyed racing in recent times though. There has just been a grinding down of what I have felt for cycling over the years. As an amateur I had a passion for the sport and it excited me. That hasn't been the case as time has gone by, although it's tough to walk away from the higher levels because there was potential there at the beginning and I had big ambitions.
When I won the junior race at the World Cycling Championships in 1998, people were saying this guy could be the new Kelly or Roche. I was never sure about that, but I certainly never fulfilled my potential.
I think my major error was staying in Marseille when I turned professional. I couldn't handle living abroad by myself in a small apartment in the south of France. There were times when I would have gone to a race for a week and ended up being away for double that because other guys were injured. That's what happens when you're not at the top. I was an average, middle-of-the-road rider and, as such, you don't get to choose your race programme.
You can be racing for a lot more days than you had anticipated and it really takes it out of you. Last year I planned on 90 days in the saddle and it ended up closer to 120, so the time off is another bonus from leaving it all behind.
Being a middle of the road rider was not financially terrible, mind you. You wouldn't be making millions, but it wouldn't be 10 an hour either. At the same time, you wouldn't be retiring on it after 10 years -if you had the mortgage paid off you'd be doing well.
As for the drugs, I never understood it. I don't think it's the race organisers or team managers or sponsors that are causing it anymore. It's just the cyclists themselves and I could never get over that. Guys are getting caught and other guys are still doping. It was a shock because guys are losing their sponsors and their jobs. Then they are suddenly unemployed.
The biggest problem with the sport is that it tars everyone.
In general it's clean, but when you get to the World Cup and Tour de France there are always a few guys who see that they can make a few bob quickly There need to be bigger financial penalties, because guys who have cheated still get to keep their winnings and often don't care about the ban after the pay out.
I made those remarks on the eve of the Tour of Ireland but I didn't mean to do it any harm. I'm going to call the race organiser Daragh McQuaid to explain all of that personally.
The rest is in the past and I still have a number of options. I'd like to captain a third division Irish continental team and there is always the Irish track cycling team if I could get my head around that. Whatever happens, I can't say I'll ever look back and miss what has happened in the last few years.
Mark Scanlon is Ireland's number one cyclist In conversation with Ewan MacKenna

 

[nuke terrorist]

cheers, thanks very much for that Scutter.
I was surprised that no one commented on Mark retiring before but I think this page had gone quiet for a few weeks at the time.
I'd have loved him to have a long career in the pro-tour, but I just as relieved he knew the price wasn't worth paying.
remember who he outsprinted to become world champ ? Pozzato, who is one of the riders representatives in Italy.

Simeoni said Pozzato was one of of the riders who intimidated him after he was recaptured after being chased in the tour a few years ago.
also in a very good interview with Carlos Da Cruz in Pro Cycling last month he alleged that Pozzato raised the speed in the grupetto during the tour when he saw Philippe Gilbert was struggling in an attempt to get him eliminated . Gilbert is probably Belgian cycling's biggest opponent of doping and eventually didn't make it to Paris. actually he's also a riders representative , strangely and the only one I trust. he's back on form in the Vuelta actually.

Bernucci stage win in the tour was a big surprise and he was almost anonymous since. one or twice a year I'd find myself wondering what had happened to him.

 

[nuke terrorist]

things are clicking in a big way for Deignan at the Vuelta.
after Saturday's TT he was 146th overall.
on the next stage to Cerler in Pyrenees I saw two AG2R finishing together, thinking it was Turpin or Dupont with Goubert and didn't think anything of it. until I checked the results- it was Deignan in 16th place 2:04 down.
this left me anticipating Monday's trip to Arcalis in Andorra and this time he was even better, 12th place just 51 seconds down on Menchov.
he moved up 76 places to 70th in two stages and was the first rider on a French squad to finish on Monday.

after what he's been through over that last year and a half plus ( broke collarbone on second day racing last year - I think, glandular fever and this season more lack of racing due to knee problems - he finally getting a good run again. he'd had an impressive debut season in 2005.
his preparation for the Vuelta didn't seem to be enough for him to have the form to do much in Spain, he need more racing.
very impressive anyhow.

 

[rettucs]

things are clicking in a big way for Deignan at the Vuelta.
after Saturday's TT he was 146th overall.
on the next stage to Cerler in Pyrenees I saw two AG2R finishing together, thinking it was Turpin or Dupont with Goubert and didn't think anything of it. until I checked the results- it was Deignan in 16th place 2:04 down.
this left me anticipating Monday's trip to Arcalis in Andorra and this time he was even better, 12th place just 51 seconds down on Menchov.
he moved up 76 places to 70th in two stages and was the first rider on a French squad to finish on Monday.

after what he's been through over that last year and a half plus ( broke collarbone on second day racing last year - I think, glandular fever and this season more lack of racing due to knee problems - he finally getting a good run again. he'd had an impressive debut season in 2005.
his preparation for the Vuelta didn't seem to be enough for him to have the form to do much in Spain, he need more racing.
very impressive anyhow.

unbelievable. I watched this last night and couldn't believe it when I saw him up with the big hitters. He only dropped out of the leading group with Sastre tried to kick and shake off Menchov. Even the commentators had to double-check that it was him. Hes really ridden himself into top form. He was indifferent enough in the Tour of Ireland, started slow in the Vuelta, and now things are clicking into place for him. I presume he'll be riding for Ireland in the worlds?

 

[IFF]

more about deignan

he's in an 11 man break today. there's 50km left. they have a 7:30 minute lead

come on deignan.

there are good riders in the group so it'll be hard but come on deignan

 

[nofriendo]

Landis loses appeal against ban

 

[nofriendo]

Pereiro named 2006 Tour champion

 

[IFF]

congratulations to oscar pereiro in his rightful jersey

 

[rettucs]

congratulations to oscar pereiro in his rightful jersey

I have my suspicions. It was inevitable this would happen. And Peiriero has obviously been ultra-careful this year cos he'd know that he'd be watched like a hawk. His results bear that out. He's had a very average season for someone who did so well in the Tour last year.

Interesting that theres no word on who Contador will ride for next year. Lots of the Disco riders are being snapped up, but there doesn't seem to be the interest in him.

Apparently the Rat (Rasmussen to you and me) is talking about being back in competitive action soon. I wonder how the peloton will react to that. Interesting picture of him in Procycling, waving to one of the Rabbo riders going over the top of a climb, and the Rabbo rider waving back. You'd think the Rat would be unpopular as hell after what happened in the Tour. More fuel to suggest they're all at it.

 

[IFF]

i did think that photo of rasmussen was odd when he waved at ardila and ardila waved back

 

[nofriendo]

so contador to astana ! he should settle right in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/7027983.stm

 

[Franco]

Contador and astana banned from this year's tour.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/02/13/cycling.contador/

Reckon i'm gonna go to the race this year. Plan is to head up the mountains to the stage at Pau. Anyone ever been to a mountain stage? good laff?

 

[IFF]

Contador and astana banned from this year's tour.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/02/13/cycling.contador/

i'm mixed about this decision. on the one hand, the team Astana has been involved in doping scandals twice so far and it's only 18 months old. the last 2 tours it's been the same. twice fooled, thrice shy

on the underhand, they do have the defending champion Contador and are nearly a whole different team altogther

i really just don't know

 

[rettucs]

no, good riddance to them. Anything that Bruyneel turns his hand to has a stink about it if you ask me. For the tour organisers to have done different would have been to fly in the face of all the efforts that have been made to expose the cheats. Its a shame the tour will be without so many stars, but its only right too.

Incidently I met this Danish bloke last week who told me he bought a fancy Colnago bike from a bike shop in Italy which was owned by the rat himself (rasmussen). He said hes an awful nasty piece of work in the flesh. Arrogant as hell. I don't think too many people anywhere have any sympathy for him.

 

[flashback]

Anything that Bruyneel turns his hand to has a stink about it if you ask me.

I think you might be right there.

I've heard two stories in particular involving him which are disturbing, to say the least.