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Official Cycling Thread of Garish Lycra and LANCE ARMSTRONG

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T

Tarazet

Member
NOTE: PLEASE SPOILER TAG DAY OF THE RACE RESULTS

So now that Lance's road to the Tour is all but secured, let's get it on. Most of the major classics are done already, but "La Doyenne" (Liege-Bastogne-Liege) is on tomorrow on Versus and the Tour of Italy starts next week. Lance will be there, but my money's on Ivan Basso, when he's on form he is unstoppable.

Trackies and MTB enthusiasts are welcome as well. Cycling isn't that popular on GAF, so please feel free to bump for any and all reasons.

Full schedule:
Apr. 26 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Belgium
Apr. 28-May 3 Tour de Romandie Switzerland
May 9-31 Giro d'Italia Italy
May 18-24 Volta a Catalunya Spain
June 3-7 Tour de Luxembourg Luxembourg
June 7-14 Dauphiné Libéré France
June 13-21 Tour de Suisse Switzerland
July 4-26 Tour de France France
July 6-13 Tour of Austria Austria
Aug. 1 Clásica de San Sebastián Spain
Aug. 2-8 Tour de Pologne Poland
Aug. 16 Vattenfall Cyclassics Germany
Aug. 18-25 Eneco Tour of Benelux Belgium / Netherlands
Aug. 19-23 Tour of Ireland Ireland
Aug. 23 GP Ouest-France France
Aug. 29-Sept. 20 Vuelta a España Spain
Sept. 12-19 Tour of Britain Great Britain
Sept. 7-13 Tour of Missouri United States
Sept. 24 World Championships - Time trial Switzerland
Sept. 27 World Championships - Road race Switzerland
Oct. 11 Paris-Tours France
Oct. 17 Giro di Lombardia Italy
 
B

bjaelke

Member
Finally a cycling topic! :)

I can't wait for La Doyenne. So many riders with a chance to win the race. My favourite is Andy, but I'm slightly biased towards the Danish team :D

Michele Bartoli's "who to watch":
Valverde will be the favourite again, or maybe his teammate Joaquím Rodríguez. The others are Thomas Dekker, Cunego and, if they can race, Di Luca and Rebellin. The Grand Tour men, like Nibali and Sastre, handle the long climbs well, but in the Classics you need explosiveness.
Click to expand...
 
M

Meier

Member
Is Tyson Apostol (think that's his last name) a somewhat well known cyclist? He was hilarious and weird on Survivor.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
I know him by his name, but can't put a face on him. I guess that's the downside of riding with a helmet :lol
 
B

bjaelke

Member
Current situation
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)
Peloton at 1.35
Click to expand...

:lol

Looks like I was right with Andy!

Edit: Final results

1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank
2 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Silence-Lotto
5 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Katusha
6 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC
8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux
9 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Saxo Bank
10 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
Click to expand...
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
It's been an interesting season already, and with Lance's return to cycling, it has brought the sport more to the forefront again here in the States.

Anyone see what went down last week at the Tour of Turkey? Check out this video on YouTube for one of the most despicable acts you're likely to see. The video is long, so if you want to jump to what I'm talking about, go to the 3:40 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoEd...ureblog.blogspot.com/&feature=player_embedded
 
P

perryfarrell

Member
In various interviews, Theo Bos has said that he did not mean to pull the other dude off his bike. He was acting defensively, putting a hand on the dude's shoulder. If you watch the video slowly, you can see that it wouldn't make sense for Bos to pull him off his bike (it would be suicidal). (Bos nevertheless remained on his bike, tho.)

Bos has more experience in track riding than in road racing, perhaps that's why the accident happened.
 
O

octopusman

Member
Kung Fu Jedi said:
It's been an interesting season already, and with Lance's return to cycling, it has brought the sport more to the forefront again here in the States.

Anyone see what went down last week at the Tour of Turkey? Check out this video on YouTube for one of the most despicable acts you're likely to see. The video is long, so if you want to jump to what I'm talking about, go to the 3:40 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoEd...ureblog.blogspot.com/&feature=player_embedded
Click to expand...
Disgusting

Theo Bos was cleared from charges, I'd expect better behavior from a 5 time world champion. What a bastard.

Slo mo? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8K_7bJQaaI
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Great performance by Andy Schleck. When his brother Frank started winning big races like Amstel Gold, he said Andy was even better than him. He was right.

As for the Theo Bos thing, the video doesn't look good for him. He swears up and down that he was already being pushed into the barriers, but it's illegal to take your hands off the handlebars when you're sprinting. It's incredibly dangerous for this exact reason. Instead of just being taken out himself, Impey went down too.
 
G

Gallbaro

Banned
I loves me some cycling but do not really car for watching other people race bikes so my contribution will be for GAYF:


red-bicycle-shorts.jpg
 
T

Tarazet

Member
perryfarrell said:
In various interviews, Theo Bos has said that he did not mean to pull the other dude off his bike. He was acting defensively, putting a hand on the dude's shoulder. If you watch the video slowly, you can see that it wouldn't make sense for Bos to pull him off his bike (it would be suicidal). (Bos nevertheless remained on his bike, tho.)

Bos has more experience in track riding than in road racing, perhaps that's why the accident happened.
Click to expand...

Actually Bos went down and was taken away in an ambulance with Impey. Impey definitely got it worse though, as he was just released from the hospital today.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
Davide Rebellin has allegedly been caught using CERA at the Olympic Games last year.
Cyclist named in Olympic CERA positives
Two cyclists have been implicated in new doping positives which have come out of retroactive testing of samples from last year's Beijing Games.

The Associated Press reported that two cyclists, three track and field athletes and one weightlifter are the six Olympians who the International Olympic Committee said tested positive for the EPO variant CERA.

La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that one of the positive cyclists is Davide Rebellin, who took second in the road race in Beijing. The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has confirmed only that one of the athletes is from Italy, but has not given a name.

Rebellin's former trade teammate Stefan Schumacher tested positive for CERA following retroactive testing of Tour de France samples last October. The tests were completed after the German had already participated in the Olympic time trial.

AP reports also that two of the six were medalists, one in cycling, the other a gold-medal winning track and field athlete.

The IOC began performing retroactive testing on the Beijing Olympic Game samples in January using a newly developed test for the recently introduced EPO drug Mircera. Several riders tested positive for the same drug during the 2008 Tour de France.

Seven samples of 847 total tested from the Olympic Games turned up positive for CERA. Two of the positives were from the same athlete.

The ICO confirmed that it used the same blood test which the French anti-doping agency AFLD used last year to declare Stefan Schumacher, Bernhard Kohl and Leonardo Piepoli positive following retroactive testing of Tour de France samples.

Rebellin, Kohl and Schumacher were teammates on the now-defunct Gerolsteiner squad.

In the re-testing, the ICO said it "focused primarily on endurance events in cycling, rowing, swimming and athletics."

"Most of the work was conducted at the WADA-accredited laboratory in Lausanne, in close collaboration with the accredited labs in Paris and Cologne," the IOC announced.

According to CONI, the positive was on the 'A' sample only. Any positive athlete has the right to request confirmation testing of the 'B' sample.

"The further analysis of the Beijing samples that we conducted should send a clear message that cheats can never assume that they have avoided detection," said Arne Ljungqvist, Chairman of the IOC Medical Commission. "The vast majority of athletes do not seek an unfair advantage. We intend to do all we can to ensure that they have a fair environment for competition."

The IOC said it is notifying the athletes of any "adverse analytical finding" through their National Olympic Committee (NOC).

CONI announced that it had forwarded the IOC documents onto its Antidoping prosecutor. Athletes from Italy signed a declaration before participating in the Olympic Games promising not to violate the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules.

The IOC allows retroactive testing of samples up to eight years after collection, allowing athletes to be tested for substances as newly validated tests are developed.

The first rider to test positive for CERA was Italian Riccardo Riccó. He was kicked out of the Tour de France following the test. The AFLD performed retroactive testing on blood samples of riders who it had targeted for having either suspect performances or suspicious blood values or urine test results.
Click to expand...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/apr09/apr29news

DavideRebellin009-vi.jpg
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Right after he won his third Fleche Wallonne too. The B sample isn't back yet, but it doesn't look good for Tin-Tin.

Andreas Kloden is also being linked to doping, which is much less surprising.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
Armstrong plans team announcement after 2009 Tour
Lance Armstrong believes there is a "high" probability he will start a professional team of his own for the 2010 season. The American expects the announcement to come this July, after he races the Tour de France.

"I would like to have my own team: to be the owner, director and... cyclist. Because if I have a team I also want to race. It does not necessarily have to be the Giro and Tour, but only when I have the desire," he said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport after the Tour of the Gila stage race in the USA.

Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, announced his comeback to the sport last fall. He joined his former team manger Johan Bruyneel at team Astana and announced his support of an Under 23 development team.

"The name? That of the principal sponsor. Its probability? High. You will know it in July. Even if it is hard to convince sponsors to give money with the economic crisis and news of doping."

Armstrong travelled from USA and arrived in Rome this morning. Tomorrow, he will meet with Italy's Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, to present his cancer foundation's programme.

From Rome Armstrong travels to Venice for the Centenary Giro d'Italia, May 9 to 31. He will lead the team with USA's Levi Leipheimer, winner of Tour of the Gila and Castilla y León.
Click to expand...

---

Giro d'Italia starts this Saturday - Start list
 
B

bjaelke

Member
I can't stop laughing at their situation. Armstrong agreed to ride for Astana for free, but now it turns out that everyone has been riding for free :lol

While seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong readies himself for the first Giro d'Italia of his career, he spoke of a possible solution to the financial woes facing his Astana team.

"I don't have any concrete answers, but I suspect we can find some funding that would get us from June to the end of the year," Armstrong told the Associated Press. "It could be a combination of people that have a shared interest in Livestrong and want to see Livestrong promoted around the world and believe in what we're doing."

"Maybe the situation gets resolved, and the guys start getting their dough," continued Armstrong. "Otherwise, I think the license ought to be transferred to [team director] Johan [Bruyneel], and we try and start a team in the middle of the season."

Armstrong expressed his frustration with the Kazakh backers of Astana.

"I don't know them, I don't have a personal relationship with them, but I get frustrated," said Armstrong. "These Kazakhs, they don't return phone calls and there's not a lot of clarity about what is going to happen."

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has sent notice that it will withdraw the professional licence from the team if the matter is not quickly resolved.

"I'm only going to say we're aware of the situation and we are in contact with the team and [the Kazakhstan] federation," UCI president Pat McQuaid told the Associated Press. "We're going to wait to see how this develops."
Click to expand...

It really sucks considering the Giro. They got a nice team lined up, but this stur in their finances might affect the team.

Astana
Christopher Horner
Levi Leipheimer
Lance Armstrong
Janez Brajkovic
Yaroslav Popovych
José Luis Rubiera
Steve Morabito
Daniel Navarro
Andrey Zeits
Click to expand...
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Team time trials ftw.
Also, Leipheimer will win this Giro, and will still not get 5% of the attention Armstrong gets, calling it now :p.

Oh, and Boonen is an idiot :lol
 
S

Salazar

Member
My interest in cycling was massively heightened by a UK holiday. I want a Pashley or a Gazelle: can't decide which.
 
T

titiklabingapat

Member
Salazar said:
My interest in cycling was massively heightened by a UK holiday. I want a Pashley or a Gazelle: can't decide which.
Click to expand...


Pick whichever is prettier :p

Here's mine that I imported all the way from the Netherlands to the states.

3483883239_eac17b5cff.jpg


Tires, saddle and handlebar grips were all replaced by prettier components.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Apparently the Giro is actually getting broadcast here in the USA! I'll be catching the 11 pm feed tonight, only one I'll be around to see.. Universal Sports is showing all the stages live.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
Landis is riding for the American team OUCH, so I don't think we'll see him in any big tours. Fortunately.
sonarrat said:
Apparently the Giro is actually getting broadcast here in the USA! I'll be catching the 11 pm feed tonight, only one I'll be around to see.. Universal Sports is showing all the stages live.
Click to expand...
I was following it on their online stream. Good connection, but I had to turn off the volume thanks to the shitty commentators.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
This has to be the worst excuse ever:
"I do not think I have a problem with cocaine, I have problems when I drink too much. 364 days per year I am good. But if I drink too much, it's exactly like I change in my head," Boonen told Belgian Radio1.

"I need help," he told sporza.be. "Someone should teach me to understand what happens when I drink too much."
Click to expand...

So he does cocaine AND he's an alcoholic...fantastic.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
I think it's a lame excuse. If drinking seems to affect your judgment abilities over whether to take cocaine or not, then you have to destroy the catalyst.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Heh, some fairly major people lost time today, including Basso and Leipheimer, wasn't expecting that. Excellent win by Petachhi btw, Cavendish really never stood a chance.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Kabouter said:
Hah, Cavendish is looking really pissed on the podium now :lol
Never seen someone spray champagne with a look like that :lol
Click to expand...

:lol Calm down buddy, you're in the lead. It's not like you aren't going to win 35282342 races.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
Alejandro Valverde received a two-year suspension from the Italian anti-doping tribunal today in Rome for his connections to the 2006 doping investigation Operación Puerto. The decision prohibits the Spaniard, 29, from racing in Italy and the Tour de France, which passes through the country this year.
Click to expand...
.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Petacchi takes two in a row and is now in the lead. This time Cavendish got caught behind a crash which left only 57 riders together at the end, none of the favorites lost time though.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
"It [cocaine] is everywhere, really everywhere," said Boonen, explaining why it was hard for him to resist the temptation. "I really want to say this, not only for me but for all the people that are using it. It's even easier than to drink a cup of coffee."
Click to expand...
Such a legendary entertainer :lol Coffee, really?

---

A small preview of today's stage (it's a climber!):
Today should not be a frenetic bunch sprint like we've seen for the past two stages because there's a small obstacle at the finish: the 13.75km ascent to San Martino di Castrozza.

While the relatively gentle gradients averaging just over 6% should allow a small group to sprint for the stage win, the more difficult 8.5km climb to Croce d'Aune should ensure that the lead group will have all the main contenders present.

It might not be the stage where the Giro d'Italia will be won, but today certainly can be where the Giro could be lost.
Click to expand...
 
K

Kabouter

Member
sonarrat said:
Petacchi takes two in a row and is now in the lead. This time Cavendish got caught behind a crash which left only 57 riders together at the end, none of the favorites lost time though.
Click to expand...
Menchov lost time...
I wouldn't call him a top favourite, but he certainly has a shot at top 3.
 
B

bjaelke

Member
He's propably saving him self for Tour de France. He came fairly close to the podium last year (less than a minute?).
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Found out that the TV channel broadcasting the Tour de France down here is also doing the Ashes at the same time. Guess which sport gains precedence of hitting their HD channel? Damn you cricket!
 
K

Kabouter

Member
sonarrat said:
Lance lost 3 minutes today.. Menchov wins stage, Di Luca takes the lead.
Click to expand...
Yes, saving himself, psssh.

Also, Lance losing time isn't surprising, wasn't on his game yesterday either. Just can't keep up when the tempo really gets kicked up a notch. Maybe he'll get better though, if not now, then later in the season.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Kabouter said:
Yes, saving himself, psssh.

Also, Lance losing time isn't surprising, wasn't on his game yesterday either. Just can't keep up when the tempo really gets kicked up a notch. Maybe he'll get better though, if not now, then later in the season.
Click to expand...

He finished surrounded by Astanas who had done their work for Levi.. the only one left with Levi at the end was Chris Horner. I knew when I saw Horner win the San Francisco Grand Prix in 2003 that he needed to be racing in Europe.

Di Luca is now looking primed for a repeat of 2007. If he could get through today, then he can get through anything in this Giro.
 
S

subrock

Member
As bad as I want this thread to exist, I'm 5 days behind on my giro. Spoilers hurt my heart. I'll come back once I'm up to date. Can we spoiler tag day of the race stuff?
 
T

Tarazet

Member
subrock said:
As bad as I want this thread to exist, I'm 5 days behind on my giro. Spoilers hurt my heart. I'll come back once I'm up to date. Can we spoiler tag day of the race stuff?
Click to expand...

No problem by me.
 
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