Liège-Bastogne-Liège

[User169]

Bloody hell.

1. Vino
2. Kolobnev
3. Valverde

 

[Legs]

a bad, bad day for clean cycling, methinks...

 

[Speicher]

Alexander
Alexandr
and Alejandro

 

[Keith Oates]

Not a result that has given me any pleasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[giner1961]

And me, Ohh dear

 

[mangaman]

Very depressing

You could hear the disappointment in Dave Harmon's voice when Gilbert couldn't get across to the front 2.

You could tell he wouldn't give Vino the time of day. He remained very diplomatic although throwing in enough references to Vino's "controversial past".

Let's hope Vino and Astana don't build their TDF team around him. If they do I hope Contador acts alone (or with the aid of riders from other teams) and ignores team orders.

 

[iLB]

travesty

 

[Steve Austin]

You got to admit Vino rode a good race. Great bit of riding by vino today

 

[iLB]

but having two known drugs cheats on the podium, wtf?!

 

[Skip Madness]

I'm trying to work out why Vino is so much more dislikable than other riders post-suspension. Maybe it's just that things are still a bit raw, but I'd also say the complete lack of any apparent remorse is a driving factor. I watched with my dad, and both of us sat there giving our opinions on the other riders, unable to actually applaud Vino and say, "Yeah, good ride, he earned that." Even though he did earn it (presuming he's clean).

Mind you, I've still not taken to Ivan Basso since his comeback. And any goodwill I might have been able to generate for Riccardo Riccò (very little) has been completely wiped out by him being a sexist prick.

I think it's no longer a stretch to put Philippe Gilbert alongside Fabian Cancellara and Alberto Contador as the three best riders in the world right now. Edit: and by right now I mean the accumulation of results over the past two years, besides their current domination.

As for Valverde - Christ, when will this thing be done with?

 

[johnr]

I've been following the spring races closely for the first time and been surprised how exciting I've found it. This result is a real kick in the proverbials. I was hoping for another round of the fascinating duels and outstanding individual performances to close this chapter and whet the appetite for the summer to come.

After this, it's back to 'does he, doesn't he...?'

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Watched this on the internet yesterday and would say that Vino did ride a good race but it didn't give me any pleasure to see him win, maybe for the reasons that Skip Madness gives above.

Gilbert said this after the race - "It's the first or second victory [this season] for Vinokourov. He has a lot of class. I've seen him during the holidays and he didn't look bad. He was good." - very sporting of him.

 

[raindog]

He's done his time like plenty before, now we have to accept that he's clean untill, if he isn't, he's caught again. No different to Millar, surely?

 

[ColinJ]

No different to Millar, surely?

The difference is in the attitude. Millar (eventually) admitted what he'd done and appears to be genuinely sorry and trying to make amends. Vinokourov on the other hand still denies having done anything wrong.

 

[raindog]

Yes, that's true I suppose, but technically there's no difference between what they've done. I allways liked Vino "before" because of his attacking "let's have a go and stir things up" attitude so I just thought it was pretty good to see him win yesterday when he was way down the list of most people's favourites for the win.
Anyroad, he's certainly in good shape for someone his age, which I suppose is another reason to be suspicious.