lukesdad
Guest
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Tour de France 2012 (with SPOILERS)
- Thread starter Flying_Monkey
- Start date
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aJohnson
Senior Member
- Location
- Bury, Manchester
He hasn't, though people assume he has because of the previous and current Frank situations.
Chuffy
Veteran
- Location
- On the banks of the Exe
Stop pedalling your piffling pedantry, you silly man!
Look - A is blatantly wrong (Schleck! That Cofidis bloke!). Plus, even the guys who are loudly trumpeting that climbing speeds are well down (Science of Sport, Vaughters etc) would stop well short of claiming that there is zero doping going on. Vastly reduced? Yes. Way down on the bad old days? Yes. Hugely encouraging progress since the early 00s? Absolutely. None at all? No.
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
showing yer age again there, fella !
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
Changing the subject slightly...
To what extent does the panel think the ability of the Liquigas team to compete has been affected by the fact that two of their key climbers also rode the Giro? I hardly recall seeing Sylvester Szmyd at all in this Tour, and Basso (who has had a stinker of a season all round, tbh) has faded very quickly every time the gradient has gone up. Of course, you don't have to think very hard to come up with plausible reasons why Basso might not be the force he once was.
I said at the time that I thought Nibali would have been a better bet for them at the Giro. A stronger, fitter Liquigas team might have made life much harder for Sky at the Tour, but Nibali's relative weakness in TTing was always going to affect his chances in the Tour. Kristijan Koren looks a really good prospect, and Sagan seems to be developing into an all-rounder in the Hinault/Kelly mould, but they don't have the strength in depth of Sky.
d.
To what extent does the panel think the ability of the Liquigas team to compete has been affected by the fact that two of their key climbers also rode the Giro? I hardly recall seeing Sylvester Szmyd at all in this Tour, and Basso (who has had a stinker of a season all round, tbh) has faded very quickly every time the gradient has gone up. Of course, you don't have to think very hard to come up with plausible reasons why Basso might not be the force he once was.
I said at the time that I thought Nibali would have been a better bet for them at the Giro. A stronger, fitter Liquigas team might have made life much harder for Sky at the Tour, but Nibali's relative weakness in TTing was always going to affect his chances in the Tour. Kristijan Koren looks a really good prospect, and Sagan seems to be developing into an all-rounder in the Hinault/Kelly mould, but they don't have the strength in depth of Sky.
d.
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
That Cofidis bloke - Di Gregorio, was arrested in relation to an old investigation wasnt he? Now to do with this year's performance. And Schleck says he was poisoned....
I think all we can really say with is that the climbing speeds this year and the calculated wattage/kg are not inconsistent with the leaders being clean.
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
I think you'll find it's pendantry.
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
I guess they had to put some of their strongest players in for their "home" tour...and it's thrilling to see Sagan coming through as a new all-rounder when things have been dominated by specialists for a while now. But overall I think Liquigas just havnt had the same focus as Sky and BC.
Project Rainbow Jersey for Copenhagen was years in the making and it seems like Project Yellow Jersey has been likewise, just everything sacrificed for that. Very difficult to imagine a hypothetical Italian World Champion acting as water carrier for his team?
Shame that that degree of focus and dedication has made the race less interesting to watch as a spectator sport though..
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
Who seriously tested him this year in the TDF? no one so far.
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
Could he play petanque as good as me?an easy win?
could you do it?
Chuffy
Veteran
- Location
- On the banks of the Exe
Which is wot I sed.That Cofidis bloke - Di Gregorio, was arrested in relation to an old investigation wasnt he? Now to do with this year's performance. And Schleck says he was poisoned....
I think all we can really say with is that the climbing speeds this year and the calculated wattage/kg are not inconsistent with the leaders being clean.
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
True, but it was a bit blinkered of them to regard Basso as their strongest player. Internal politics getting in the way of cycling.
Will Fotheringham tweeted a link to a 2010 Guardian article the other day. As he said, the killer quote is the last one...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jul/18/team-sky-tour-de-france?CMP=twt_gu
I think there's been plenty of excitement myself, just not as much of it in the form of GC contenders slugging it out against each other in the mountains as there has been in the past.
d.
Feeling it too, Pete! My age, that is.
Noodley
Guest
You're not gonna get clean GC contenders slugging it out, time after time, km after km, day after day. What you will get tho is a fairer sport, a more interesting sport, a more tactical sport and healthier riders. And more riders being able to have their day.
You choose. Anyone who wants the former had be as well hold the syringe and push the products into the riders' veins.
You choose. Anyone who wants the former had be as well hold the syringe and push the products into the riders' veins.
