RoadSkater.Net - Comments for "pro cycling tours"

Why Operation Puerto Riders Allowed at Tour of California 2009

In reply to Spanish Cycling Federation Takes a New Look at Doping, Drugs in Cycling's Operacion Puerto Case:

I had read this earlier but forgot to include it. This shows a couple of ways at least of looking at the situation, and includes Hamilton and E Gutierrez in the list of course...

http://www.velonews.com/article/87976

It also talks about the team of last resort for those accused of doping...Rock Racing.

I'd like to say after a rider has served a two year ban, I think that's enough to let it go. I think Hamilton has done this, and Landis (not part of Puerto).

If You Missed Tour of California Live Try Cycling TV On Demand!

In reply to Watch Tour of California 2009 Bike Race Pro Cycling Live Free Internet GPS Maps Standings Finish Times Course Profiles:

I was so happy that I'd be where there was a tele today with cable so I could watch Tour of California Stage 3 live! Just when the racing was to begin, I went out to use the restroom and came back to...

NHL Hockey!

Now I have nuffink against NHL Hockey as it is skating, after all, if indoors and ice. But after watching four guys rotate and a pack of indifference a ways back, I was ready for the reel-in and sprint. So I went back to the PC to the official site.

Thank you tracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

I was so obsessed I left a visit with my family to watch the computer. It was only when I had a look in later that I realized the full day was up as broadcast live.

That's better than or at least different from the Vs. coverage and condensation. I was able to watch the parts I wanted, and hear some EuroUKisms too, like chukkin it down wif rayne from announcers Martin McCrossan and Magnus Backstedt. More info here...

http://www.cycling.tv/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=20300&ATCLID=3644066

Cycling TV even has different bitrate options from which to choose. Sweet! Thanks!

Check it out! Oh, it worked in Firefox and Internet Destroyer, but I didn't get it to work (and quit trying) in Google Chrome (might do but I gave up and watched in Firefox).

WATCH HERE...
http://www.nmnathletics.com/newMediaPlayer/console.htm?oemid=20300

This made me very happy. I got to watch the Thor Train again. It was great how they stopped at the finish and looked back for their teammates to celebrate. Super!

Mancebo Takes Stage 1, Cancellara and Sastre Out

In reply to Fabian Cancellara Wins Tour of California Prologue: Levi Leipheimer 2nd, David Zabriske 3rd, Armstrong 10th:

Mancebo took Stage 1 bringing up more doping discussions (he was implicated in Operacion Puerto though I guess it's unresolved). Prologue winner Cancellara dropped out due to illness (fever), while TdF champ Sastre crashed and Landis flatted. It was a strange day all around, with video blackouts and the race shortened due to weather. I didn't see it. Just read about it.

Snafus, but cool Picture in Picture too

In reply to Watch Tour of California 2009 Bike Race Pro Cycling Live Free Internet GPS Maps Standings Finish Times Course Profiles:

OK as I listen briefly, the announcers are not announcing (this on the official amgentourofcalifornia.com site), and they're talking with each other perhaps not knowing we can hear it all. Surely they do know but don't feel they need to announce for some reason. Still there's pic in pic and one of the guys mentioned to me beforehand (Svein Tuft of Canada...search nytimes.com for an article) is way ahead. Early yet, and I hate to miss it, but must go out now! Arrgh. If only I had set up stream recording. Videolan? I think it does it.

Tour de Georgia Support Petition Now Online

In reply to Tour de Georgia 2009 Pro Cycling Race Flats Out:

KennyJ of APRR found this petition and it seems like an OK thing to do so I thought I'd pass it along. It's in support of keeping the Tour de Georgia going in 2010 after taking 2009 off. Too bad there's no way apparently to get it going for 2009. Better still would be to move the whole thing to North Carolina! Here's the link...

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-tour-de-georgia

I'm not sure how much private info they want for you to be able to sign, but I thought others would want to know.

that's a shame

In reply to Tour de Georgia 2009 Pro Cycling Race Flats Out:

That's sad! I'll have to find another excuse to go up Brasstown Bald next year.

Landis Case Sad Either Way

In reply to The Floyd Landis Saga Continues...:

I still have to say there is no compelling explanation for the findings of the lab. (Meaning, I still see no reason to think synthetic testosterone was accidentally in his blood or placed into his blood samples, but I'm no expert, and I don't think the Tour de France would have wanted this outcome.) The problem is, I'll never know. But in the USA we are so fond of "reasonable doubt."

Either way, what he did in the Tour de France was amazing and exciting, even if it turns out it likely involved cheating.

I guess he has missed his 30 days to appeal in the Swiss court (?) having lost the "new trial" in New York and the first arbitration in California. This new move seems to me to be more about addressing the fans, and perhaps sponsors, and trying to get out of paying the $100,000 before being able to race again.

I agree with one thing...that $100,000 seems like a very "round" figure to represent actual expenses for anything.

He also perhaps is making some good points about the insider buddy system where these same people take different roles on different occasions, all as a way of making some good money (while perhaps passionately believing in what they're doing as well).

I fear it'll always be a tainted and amazing victory marked by his daring descents and the disbelief of the languid (and bittersweet, as it turns out) peloton, most notably the teams who could have marked him but did not. No matter what, I feel sad for Landis, and for the sport...just a different sad depending on what I think is true at the time.

But I did learn as a tike in football that cheaters do win and they're often pretty smug about it. I learned it again with a lead off third base when I knew there was a balk in progress (first baseman hiding the ball while pitcher on the rubber as if to pitch) but it didn't matter about the rule book or what I knew about the Little League rule book, knowing more than the ump who just wanted to make a few bucks and go drink with some buddies instead of being home alone or worse.

Ahh, sports! The great teacher! Thanks for the note.

While being pro USA, I'd like to say yay Levi for 2nd in the Vuelta and yay Zabriske for medaling in the world championships time trial.

Related stories, including recently some about Armstrong's own testing in 1999...
http://roadskater.net/aggregator/sources/14

Armstrong...for the suspicious, note the url...
http://english.aljazeera.net/sport/2008/10/2008102103346231859.html

Zabriske...
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/5-0&fd=R&url=http://sports.es...

Leipheimer...
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/9-0&fd=R&url=http://www.sltri...

Thanks for the link

In reply to The Floyd Landis Saga Continues...:

Thanks for the link, Skatey-Mark. I don't read any cycling news for the most part so I appreciate your updates on Floyd.

Tour de Georgia

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Thanks for helping me figure out how to be able to watch this on my computer. I happened to be sick and couch-bound for two days during the event, and I must say the Road Atlanta Team Time Trials were very therapeutic to watch.

Great memories linger of the Tour de Ga about 3 years ago, and I keep asking myself 'how come there aren't that many spectators this year?'. The answer is of course 'because Lance isn't there!'. I think we were about a foot away from him on the last bend at the top of snowy Brasstown Bald. I don't think I could tell which one was Lance in the end, but I'm pretty sure I screamed hard into Levi Leipheimer's right ear. Sorry Levi.

Tour de Georgia Always Fun

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Well, it's over now but it was great to be able to see the TdG over the internet, despite video glitches, moto crashes we didn't get to see (hope all are ok), the choice between an unimpressive background or a bunch of lamers waving at the cam (more on this), and some obvious learning going on for the announcers. All in all I can only say thank you to WCSN.com and to all those mentioned above. If it were not for you folk, I probably would not have followed the event, and certainly would not have gotten anything near the flavor of the event that I can say I got on my notebook with a video in the corner as I worked on other things.

Today wasn't quite a parade and there was some excitement, mostly for the extremely strong finishes garnered by Team High Road. It's a shame George Hincape didn't make his one sprint work out, but he has a clothing line so we'll not feel sad for him, OK?

The saddest part if true would be if Trent Lowe really had enough spank in the legs to win Brasstown, but simply didn't, thinking Levi the only threat. I can tell you that nobody mentioned a threat from anyone else on the broadcast, and even in interviews immediately after that stage, Lowe seemed to think he had it.

But we saw the emergence of another young rider in the TdG, as we did with Tom Danielson in past years, and time will tell if he will become a seasoned, mature pro. But from the way he took that mountain, I'd say only he could stop himself now. You hear about dancing on the pedals, but really, there were times he quite literally looked as if effortless compared with other known strong riders.

So, is it fair to ask? Is he doping? Every time I think someone's making it look easy, there's a question later. How much testing goes on at Tour de Georgia? These are just some of the questions I have now. I think Sivtsov is headed for the Giro, and it will be fun to see what he'll do there, as he lives and trains in Italy.

Nice Article on Sweet Rider from Belarus

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Spoilers may follow...Check it out. Methinks we'll be hearing from this guy, and from his fellow countryman, our own skart!

Good times watching cyclists suffer!

http://www.velonews.com/article/75405/sivts-who-a-primer-on-kanstantin-sivtsov

Spoilers...

Certainly as Chechu Rubiera (Astana) hit the right turn into the Brasstown Bald road, with CSC's Bradley McGee, it looked good for Levi. Rubiera would surely take him to the top once Levi caught up. On WCSN video playback time (NOT race time but much shorter) it was 3:10:18. The first part of the splintered peleton was barely in view at this point, but catching fast were maybe a dozen. McGee dropped back soon. By 3:12, Levi was 3rd with Trent Lowe on his wheel.

With the AVERAGE grade at 12%, Rubiera took a relative flat place to let Levi reach and by 3:13:10 he had handed over his water bottle to Levi. Rubiera, Leipheimer, Lowe.

By 3:14 Chris Horner was up, and Rubiera dropped back. By 3:17, Levi was up front, and twenty seconds later they passed the left switchback where eebee and her son and I had hung out in 2005 (methinks). (Before the riders arrived we moved upward to one of the 20% grades, the steepest spot short of the top, just after a relative flat, where we could see them for a few more seconds and be on the inside of a left bend with nice views up and down.)

Leipheimer got some draft from a CSC rider briefly, then Horner made it back up but Levi didn't really take the shelter for some reason. By 3:20 they hit a massive wall and the seven or so became three, as idiots ran along and generally got in the way (bless their hearts). At this point it was clear that Kanstantin Sivtsov was for real, with Levi and Trent in front.

Lowe was marking Leipheimer but definitely not going to go in front before the last few meters, and Sivtsov likely grinning in happy pain at the back. What a chance for him. He really looked very comfortable even at 3:24 as Oscar Seville reappeared amazingly behind Sivtsov!

With 1K to go Sevilla was up front. Incredible to bridge up to the other three. And Rory Sutherland was impressive as he dug in to catch the now dropping off Sevilla, Levi up front, Sivtsov, then Lowe, the latter two mostly side by side.

Sivtsov took off at 3:27:10 and Levi appeared to make a very brief go at it but from all appearances, neither Leipheimer nor Lowe had any concern over Sivstov...and apparently everyone forgot that he was only six seconds behind Lowe!

Sivstov vanished out front briskly and this set up the two GC leaders (on the road at this point) for a dual. And surely Levi would have his Tour de Georgia finally.

With 300 to go, Levi backed off, then sprinted, but Lowe was on him. Another try at this was also futile and both riders looked in much more difficulty that Sitsov, who mostly sat and gasped to the win. Lowe crossed before Levi after all and Lowe and many others thought this meant Lowe would go into Atlanta in the yellow jersey.

However, Svitsov took took ten seconds out of Lowe, who only had six to give, and later the Tour announced Svitsov had the yellow and four seconds! Svitsov took till video player time of 3:29:24 (finishing in 3.47'16" officially), with Levi six seconds behind Lowe. These guys averaged about 9.5-10 mph on that incredible climb.

Check out the stage results here:

http://www.tourdegeorgia.com/results.html

Notably the top ten for the day was an international mix: 1 BLR; 1 MEX; 2 NZL; 2 AUS; 3 USA; and 3 ESP. Sweet.

Brasstown Bald Breakaway?

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

I won't give too much away I hope but just want to say if you get a chance to watch this stage on a replay on wcsn.com (probably a day or two from now) it's good stuff. An early break had four, then five tried to bridge up, but one dropped out. Heading to the climb before the entrance to the last 3.1 mile climb at Brasstown Bald, the peleton had caught all but two riders, who had bridged up from the peloton earier. With four seconds between two riders in the GC (overall winner), the climb would settle things between leader, Trent Lowe, and Levi Leipheimer. The day had a nice surprise at the end, of sorts, and it looks like we know the winner of the Tour de Georgia, barring an actual contest on the last day instead of a parade. They still have to ride down the Champs de 'lanta. The early riding was good as the day was full of crunchy ups and twisty downs along the kudzu and trailer decorated backroads of Georgia, and I mean that with all due respect, darling.

Moto Driver Breaks Wrist; Collides with Spectators

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Hey I found out later that moto 2 (that stays in the back or with the peleton if there's a breakaway) was involved in an accident at the start of the race stage just after the rollout. Apparently two folk old enough to know better went out into the street after the pelo rolled, and the moto creamed them, sending all four (2 peds, moto driver, viddygrabber) to the hospital. Motoman broke his wrist methinks. Bummer!

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/sports/stories/2008/04/25/bikepeds_0426.html

Audio OK; Rain on the descent; Pack of four still hanging on

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Audio started working about an hour in, so if you watch the rebroadcast and there's no viddy, there's a heads up. The group of four is still hanging on after Woody's Gap. As they're getting closer to Dahlonega, it's raining with still one KOM (King of the Mountains) climb to go. They're in rolling hills now, having passed through some beautiful country today, including mountain tops and bottomland rushing streams. The front group will likely be caught, but contains the US cyclocross champ, the CAN road champ, and a three-time olympian from KAZ, and one other guy who obviously has some chops to hang with this bunch for hours. Oh these guys have gotten max coverage today due to the low budget nature of the coverage...one motorbike or cam is out of commission today, so all the viddy has been in the main group. No face time for the big dogs unless they hump it into gold town. Sweet stuff when these guys go through these rural intersections. What gorgeous countryside. Ah...me tinks of me yoof in the Carolina Black Mountains and Blue Ridge. Imagine what it's like shooting viddy sitting backward on a moto (I assume) on these twisty downs!

Road Atlanta TTT Excellent; Into the Hills

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

The Road Atlanta Stage 4 Team Time Trial was good fun with some interesting insights, some of which might be worth a go on inline skates. There are some great riders in this year's Tour de Georgia. It looks like Slipstream, High Road, Astana brought some of their best.

Today's Stage 5 from Suwanee to Dahlonega gets them into the hills and after just under an hour he viddy seems questionable when they get into the trees. Still as I work along it's not too bad in the corner of the screen there. So far, however, I don't seem to be getting any audio!

Free is good, though, and watching cyclists struggle in pain up hills is a well-recalled pleasure even without commentary.

A group of four struggles it's way up as I type, and I'm not in nearly as much pain at the laptop as I am usually when watching cyclists leave me chopping my way up the hill behind them. Wow, now over the top they're flying down, taking the whole road as they know they own it today. Those corners at speed feel great and make me want to get ready for hilly pain and joy!

Some of these tricksters hold on to the water bottle in the hand off to get a boost from the car it seems...or maybe it just looks that way. Cyclists wouldn't cheat would they?

OK, that's it for now. Give a watch if you can. Yes it's not just the Jittery Joe team that's jumpy, but free tv is a sweet thing, especially when it's human powered wheels rocking down the highway.

For once, Internet Exploder Works Better (on My XP Setup)

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Just a quick note to say with the WCSN page, it's best on my pc at least to load that into Internet Exploder to launch the player. I've mucked about with tons of different video players and such, so it may not be about the browser, but the player the browser is trying to use. In any case, it works better for me, for now, with IE. The same is NOT true with Roadskater.net. What a shame we couldn't work it out to see all of the Tour de Georgia live, in person. It's a killer to be so close and yet so unable to be there! Brasstown Bald and downtown Atlanta should be extraordinarily excellent. At least we can see video this year. That will help attendance in future years, and watching live will be even better knowing you can go home and see more than a few seconds, as exciting as that is. They're getting the idea that a road event with a criterium at the end works well for the host destination city on some days. I think Tour de Georgia has put North Carolina to shame, sad to say, as much as I love NC...who could watch Tour de France and not "get it" that those images will draw tourist if you make sure to pick a date and locations that showcase the beauty of your area. Good job, Georgia. Hate to admit it, but you outdid us. It's not like we didn't know, with finishes in Winston-Salem and Greensboro for the old Tour de Pont, where we could see young Lance Armstrong as a bulked up powerhouse before the weight loss and whatever else of the cancer recovery years.

Very informative!

In reply to Watch Tour de Georgia Cycling Video and GPS Tracking Free Online:

Thanks for posting all this, Roadskater! Very informative. I just wish my schedule had worked out in synch with the Tour de GA. Unfortunately I'll be in Tybee Island a week too late, and Metro Atl on all the wrong days :-(

More Tour de France Doping Connections, Podiums, Announcers, Wow

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

I just read another fine article, on ESPN's site by Bonnie DeSimone, and it mentioned several interesting things, reminding me of some. How strange it is that people who are outcasts at one moment look a little more sane, later. Or vice versa! Anyway, part of the article says:

Compelled to give a deposition in a multimillion-dollar case Armstrong brought against a Dallas-based insurance company, Andreu testified to hearing a then-cancer-riddled Armstrong admit to past use of performance-enhancing drugs. (Armstrong continues to deny the allegations.)

Then, Andreu made his own admission, telling New York Times reporter Juliet Macur that he had used the blood booster EPO while training for the 1999 Tour, Armstrong's first victory.

Would he do it again? Well Andreu says he knows it was wrong, but seems like he can still understand the lure:

"I regret that I had to take EPO to be able to get to that point, but I enjoyed being there."

Another great line from DeSimone in the article, referring to Riis being asteriskized (yes i meant it) in the records:

But when you paper over Riis' name, you default to the other two men on the podium, Ullrich and Virenque.

Rather than keep you from reading this great article by overquoting, let me say, take a look. It's a nice piece of writing that sees the connections but tries to balance and encourages us to keep the good rather than throw everything out altogether.

Meanwhile, spooky connections on podiums and at the tops of mountains.

I Agree: Send Tour de France Rider Samples to Independent Labs

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

Some good thoughts. Thanks for the eloquent reply. It sounds like the idea of using a different lab, or several, is a great one. In one report, a lab in Lausanne had "taught" the French lab to do the blood test that caught Vino. A source said that this was a new test that the riders did not know the French lab could do. Here's the article and a quote mentioning Lausanne's lab:

"Up to this year, only the Lausanne laboratory was conducting tests for homologous blood-doping," McQuaid said, referring to a test center in Switzerland. "But the Lausanne lab taught the French one how to detect,[sic] it and therefore they were able to test Vinokourov's sample."

My thought was that perhaps the Lausanne should do the testing!

Having said this, I suspect the riders a lot more than the lab, and the more connections there are between Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, Floyd Landis, Alexandre Vinokourov, Roberto Heras Hernández, Alberto Contador Velasco, Discovery Channel Cycling, Liberty Seguros, and many others, the creepier it gets for me. When Ivan Basso is on the podium, then out of the tour, then on Discovery, then out again, it's not so good. When that podium is shared by Jan Ullrich (Swiss court rejects Ullrich appeal, Ullrich: I'll talk when people listen) that doesn't really seem better. Lance's former "lieutenants" have often turned up non-negative it seems, and it is starting to look like a pattern. Yes it could be a pattern of lies, but I think the athletes have more to gain from cheating than the labs or certainly the TdF.

Lots of what I'm saying is from conversations with timv, who can help draw more lines between the dots I am sure, but as for me, I have to say I saw the whole jealous French labs theory as difficult to believe from the start. The TdF is a huge financial and publicity engine, all the more so if people from other countries do well. The tour does not even stay in France, showcasing other countries and cities by starting and holding important stages outside of France.

Certainly the lab in question could make mistakes, and I don't think the leaking of information is at all good. But the testing has brought admissions, and clearly, most riders thought the odds were good they would not be caught. Now those odds seem to be changing.

As for Rasmussen, the team joins the TdF, not the rider, or Vino would have continued without Liberty Seguros last year. If Rabobank wanted to fire him for any reason and give up the huge, long-lasting, positive publicity the yellow jersey and perhaps a win would have garnered, that's their choice. Let Rasmussen bring suit for damages if he likes, but I've always worked where the boss could stop paying any time they wanted and workers were expected not to show up after that, no matter what project they were in the middle of completing. I believe Rabobank knows more than they have said, and I agree that basing it all on one person's identification of Rasmussen's whereabouts would be thin. But so is cycling under the auspices of Mexico then Monaco and admitting to having never been tested by them in over two years.

I thought Floyd's comeback was credible. I had said the day before that it was not beyond impossible, if he got major time in the mountains and at the time trial. On the day of the ride, he probably could have been stopped. I was amazed that no team stuck to him as he took off, and they acted indifferently toward him. At the finish, I was disturbed a bit by how aggressive and angry Floyd seemed, but it didn't click for me that it might have been related in any way to doping. But I did notice. I still don't know if taking some synthetic testosterone could influence aggressiveness in that way, but it seems believable to me. And I don't know if he was acting more aggressive than usual, but it seemed that way to me. Regardless, I was ready to hear his claims and looking forward to reading about the details, then his manager made a mess of it during the hearings and I doubt that Floyd would not know what a trusted aide was doing, but he'd maintain plausible deniability.

Could it be that we are starting to know when there's been some doping of one kind or another? Maybe so; maybe no. But for my money, Alberto was right there with Rasmussen, and his initials were in the Operación Puerto doctor's handwriting. He was on Liberty Seguros then Discovery. How many of these guys have been on those two teams and have ended up failing "botched" tests and were "unfairly" implicated in Operación Puerto? Why would Discovery, with it's previously pristine reputation, ever hire a Liberty Seguros rider, or any rider formerly implicated in Operación Puerto or associated with visiting Eufemiano Fuentes? There are other teams who could give them their chance to make a comeback. I believe timv told me of some more connections, and there's a Discovery/Liberty Seguros link it seems to me.

I know Lance surely loved Basso and believed he was the future winner of the tour. I seem to recall his statement to that effect, perhaps on the podium with Ullrich there? I don't know. Maybe that's a movie I made up in my head. But I have to say Discovery Channel picking up Basso was a shocker.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Alberto fails a test, and as timv and I were discussing, I think he mentioned it, Levi destroyed the rest of the field in the last time trial, just like Vino had in the second one. Before this, we had (or at least I had) thought that Levi Leipheimer and Cadel Evans looked clean. They looked credibly human, not incredibly godlike, without the spank at will power of Rasmussen, Alberto, Lance, Floyd. So as sad as it makes me, I won't be surprised if Levi fails a test. And I don't know him, except of course I'm sure he remembers meeting me at the Tour de Georgia when he was there with Gerolsteiner (just kidding; I mean, I was there; I did meet him, insignificantly for him I am certain).

If they pass the tests, I'll vaguely wonder, but I'll be glad. As with other sports, the game's over when the rules say so, even if the ref makes a bad call, even if you can look back and wonder what if, or claim if only, or say so and so cheated, meaning the refs, the judges, the lab, or anyone else.

Yes. Let's find a way to get quick results that remain anonymous (could this be exactly what happened with Rabobank? I have thought so, because their lawyers were with Rasmussen in the press conferences one day, and he was out the next, as I recall). Let's also call all results provisional until the testing is in, so official results don't include the cheaters, or those robbed by a "bad call," or whatever you want to call it.

Yes knowing the official winner or record holder will be more complicated, and we won't have Pop-Tart instant results if we want them to be closer to real, but that's OK with me. I'd still gladly take a spot in the Tour de France if offered, no matter how many tests or workouts they required. I'd even tell them where I was going every day in my spiffy Lycra suit and clickety-click shoes.

Testing Process is Flawed & Suspect

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

Am I the only one that questions the ingrity of the testing process and particularly the French lab. The cycling federation is a mess too, but let's disregard it for the moment.

Consider that the samples are barcoded and supposedly anonymous, yet the leaked test results are coming from the lab according to the reporting French paper. The lab supposedly does not know the sample donor other than by a barcode. How is it possible for the lab to leak that rider X tested positive when the rider identity is supposedly retained elsewhere? Protocol was definitely violated (IMO). In US labs where I have worked under both EU and US regulations, results under these conditions are not accepted. With so many French upset that their countrymen are not winning and the breakdown of protocol, the possibility of tampering and/or results skewed by personal bias is a possibility.

I would love to see the entire set of samples sent to an independent lab for the same battery of tests for confirmation of the lab result. I am sure plenty of cheaters remain regardless, but I am very unhappy with the current guilty until proven innocent approach when the entire testing process is suspect. Hell, the leader was booted on suspicion of doping w/ no positive test, the say-so of one person who might have seen him in the wrong place, and when he missed an allowable number of tests per federation rules. What if the team was wrong? It may have been his only chance to win...ever (and I don't even like the guy).

David Millar to Slipstream; Iban Mayo Fails Rest Day EPO Test

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

David Millar has indicated he'll switch to the Slipstream team next year and that this team is likely to be in the TdF. If I recall correctly, this team made a splash in the Tour of California by announcing an extensive program of testing. The article includes some information on this, and it's a good intro to this team's ideals. Being a slow guy myself, I liked this...

Slipstream, says Millar, "differs from other teams in that the baseline is purely ethical. Doug Ellis wants a cycling team but he wants one that doesn't win at all costs. He feels he can only be proud of it if he has no doubts about it. He needs guarantees, even for a rider like me. He needs hard copy to prove I am clean."

Meanwhile, the same team, Saunier Duval, found out that Iban Mayo's A sample failed for EPO on a Rest Day 2 test, so he is off the team for now and for good if the B test confirms.

Spanish rider Mayo tests positive - CNN -

CNN	Spanish rider Mayo tests positive CNN - 18 minutes ago It is not the first time Mayo has been implicated in a doping story as last month he was suspected of having failed a test in the Giro d'Italia. ...

[Giro d'Italia & More]

Saunier Duval Suspend Mayo After Positive Test in Tour de France - The Epoch Times Ireland -

Metro Toronto

Saunier Duval Suspend Mayo After Positive Test in Tour de France
The Epoch Times Ireland, Ireland - 26 minutes ago
Spain's Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval/Spa) rides towards the finish line of the 19th stage of the 94th Tour de France cycling race. (Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images) ...
Tour de France - Mayo positive for EPO Yahoo! Eurosport
Contador arrives home a hero Melbourne Herald Sun
Spanish rider Mayo tests positive CNN International
ABC News - RTE.ie
all 64 news articles

[Tour de France & More]

Millar changes gear to sign for anti-doping team Slipstream - Guardian Unlimited -

SI.com

Millar changes gear to sign for anti-doping team Slipstream
Guardian Unlimited, UK - 59 minutes ago
"We picked each others' brains and it became clear that we wanted to do the same thing, which is to create the first of the next generation of cycling teams ...
Contador the winner of an unsightly Tour Boston Globe
Doping scandals dim Contador's win Miami Herald
CHANGE OF ATTITUDE NEEDED TO BREAK THE DOPING CYCLE Sportinglife.com
The Herald - BBC Sport
all 31 news articles

[Cycling]

Vino Offers the Martha Stewart Defense

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

I think there was something along the lines of what you suggest going on, although perhaps less being scared of what would happen to them and their families, and more just knowing how much the government of Kazakhstan and many of the nation's largest businesses had invested in building that team as a vehicle for Vinokourov, along with a few other Kazakh cyclists including Andrey Kashechkin and Maxim Iglinsky.

Odd as it might sound, it's been seriously reported that the negative publicity for Kazakhstan coming from Borat and his movie had more than a little to do with the decision by the nation's Interior Ministry to sponsor the team. And also, sadly, they often talked about the epidemic levels of alcoholism and drug abuse among the nation's youth and how they wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle and success through fitness and hard work. Oopsies. Good intentions and the road to hell and all that...

I see in the latest ESPN report on the story that Vino had this to say:

"Given all the attention paid to doping offenses, you would have to be crazy to do what I have been accused of, and I am not crazy," Vinokourov said.

This sounds more or less like the argument that Martha Stewart and her co-defendants offered in their insider-trading trial: that they were too smart to have done something so stupid.

It didn't fly then either.

Results Aren't Final Until the Drug Tests Come Back

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

Interesting stuff, Blake. I didn't see it mentioned in that article, but it seems relevant to point out that Vinokourov was also a member of the Liberty Seguros team, and that his Astana team was actually assembled from the remnants of Liberty Seguros in the wake of Operation Puerto. That was the reason why Vino couldn't race in the Tour in 2006: Too many of his teammates were banned because of their possible association with Dr. Fuentes while riding for Liberty Seguros.

Vino's B Sample also 'Non-Negative'

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

And Astana fired him of course. After all those hearts he won with his gruesome, stitched-up knees...

How did it come to this? Is it a case of 'Everybody else is doing it, so why can't I'? Are these guys terrified of what will happen to them in their homeland if they don't win the Tour de France? Has their particular homeland's government threatened their families if they fail? Are there so many politically powerful coaches, managers and event organizers, that these cyclists' heads are spinning in confusion at what or whom to believe? Aaarrgghh. Anyway, bon courage to the Tour de France, for continuing to leave no rider unturned. I am looking forward to a bonk-ridden and sluggish TdF next year.

Uneasy Wait for Test Results in Tour de France

In reply to David Millar: Say It Ain't So, Vino (Alexandre Vinokourov); plus Michael Rasmussen, Floyd, Lance:

I went searching for how long it might take before we would know about the drug tests for all stages of the Tour de France. This article, Contador shines but doping casts cloud over Paris, reminds us:

Landis's test result came through on the Thursday following the race - which is one reason why, yesterday, nobody was getting too carried away, or taking anything for granted. With the laboratories taking the weekend off, the last of the drugs tests results from this year's race are not likely until Friday, or even into the following week.

I remembered Contador was on the Liberty Seguros team that was banned in 2005, so I took up a search including that team name. I found this spooky article, which makes me very uneasy in my celebrations of the young man's feat. The team was implicated in the Operation Puerto mess, and personal notes in Dr. Fuentes' hand mention a person, AC, in vague terms but it is still pretty spooky and unsettling to me. Here's part of the article, Now the man they hoped would save the Tour faces a new inquiry into doping allegations:

...It describes what is alleged to be individual doping plans for Liberty Seguros riders in 2005,when Contador was a member of the team. For example, under the initials RH, understood to refer to the disgraced Spanish cyclist, Roberto Heras, numbers appear under the headings I-2, I-3 and TGN. The latter is claimed to be a reference to a banned growth hormone, while it is believed that I-2 and I-3 refer to banned insulin growth factor.

The initials of what appear to be all members of the Liberty Seguros team are listed, including one identified as 'AC'. The programme for AC is listed,in Spanish, as 'nothing or the same as JJ'. And JJ's plans for 2005 were to 'always have I-2'....

So I will wait until Friday to feel too good about any of these performances, and always wonder if they got under the radar somehow. But if they pass the TdF's tests, I'll be OK with that for now, and look to the future. It was a grand tour and very exciting to watch, even more where riders were reaching their limits than when they expanded them.

Maybe Helpful Proxy Info for Tour de France Viewing

In reply to Tour de France 2007 Streaming Video Free TV & Heart Rate Monitoring:

I haven't gotten into this myself since I get cable, but I just happened on some information about international proxy servers that might be useful at:

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2007/07/streaming-video-how-to-bypass-country.html

Streaming video: How to bypass country restrictions
By Fritz

Steephill.TV provides an excellent list of links to live streaming video of the Tour de France. Unfortunately, most of them have country restrictions due to their licensing agreements with the Tour organizer. There is a way to bypass these restrictions. I haven't done this in a long time, but here's the theory. If you get this to work, please comment with your experience or link to your own how to.

The post goes on to give suggestions for finding public proxy servers in other countries, gives instructions for configuring Firefox, IE, and Safari to use a web proxy, and suggests the Charon service to test the proxy and make sure that you appear to be coming from where you want to appear to be coming from. I don't have time to tinker with it this week, but thought that I'd pass the link along for anyone who's so inclined.

Tour de France 2007 and the Struggle to Watch via Internet

In reply to Tour de France 2007 Streaming Video Free TV & Heart Rate Monitoring:

Hi. Here's an update as of Monday afternoon. Over the weekend I had trouble using the Against Channel feed (it's not really the against channel, it has a v then an s then a dot). They've asked some folk to remove that feed link it seems. Sad.

As I write this I am listening to (and can look over to my laptop to see) yet another Stage 8 replay. I wonder why, with so many great Stages in the can (the digital one), why don't they replay all the stages back to back on rest day? I'm watching this, not on the feed, but on the TVU Player from tvunetworks.com. The replays have been working great.

I had trouble Sunday morning getting that same channel on the TVU player, so I'm guessing the masses must have been slamming the servers. It would work sometimes, but not so well. I knew there would be replays but I kept trying of course, boneheaded as I am.

However, there were two other channels the showed up on TVU that worked pretty well:

Danish Delight 51733: This was a bit grainy and the commentary was not English of course, but it was nice to have this.
Le Tour de France TV!: This was an English language broadcast but I think the provider missed a cable or something, so it was a silent movie in color.
Telecapri 10027: No TdF when I was there, but along with GolTV this has some nice soccer coverage. To the point, however, there was a documentary in Italian of some sort with lots of nice photos of the old days of cycling. What can I say? I was trying to get my velofix.
France24 10094: No I didn't understand them, either, but to get my francofix to go with my velofix, I had this news on awhile and asked eebee what they were saying. With some Café Bestelo espresso, it was nice for the atmosphere.

Happy hunting. Don't forget to look at:

http://cyclingfans.com: a great list of latest links for viewing and hearing;
http://www.steephill.tv/2007/tour-de-france/ lots of cool stuff including annotated photos that are super-sweet;
http://www.garnierstreamingmedia.com/asx/streamerswitch.asp?stream=27 good luck with this video streaming link...I never got it to work but some did.

Hope this helps and that you enjoy the Tour de France and get out there and skate or bike from the inspiration.

Skaters Make CBS Tour de France; May Be on Cable Tonight

In reply to Inline Skaters Get Great Tour de France TV Coverage and Comments:

Hi to all... The intrepid inline skaters that showed up in Tour de France coverage earlier this week also made it very briefly in the CBS one hour fluffy summary this weekend. It's a shame they had to include any bike racing in that coverage! It felt like I saw the common-taters 3 minutes for every 1 I saw cyclists cycling.

Also, one more chance at least may await for you to see these skaters getting their vid on as today's rest day means the Against Channel will be providing a recap of the tour so far at 8pm EDT. Check out my updated article on watching this online if you don't have access to a television (or one where they'll let you watch cycling, ha, as most sports bar TVs are already busy showing other sports, like Texas Hold'em Poker). Good luck finding these skaters. It's not much but it's the best exposure our sport has had in awhile in my view.

Free TV Strategies for Tour de France 2007

In reply to Tour de France 2007 Streaming Video Free TV & Heart Rate Monitoring:

Just a few extra comments here.

The mms link is the first one I try.
Then I try tvunetworks.com. I have been using the player for over a year and I trust it, and so does my anti-badthings software. Look for channels that may or may not be named like the one that carries it on television (which shall remain nameless here but it means against or some such).
Then I try the Serbian links.
Then I try the .nl link but the video seems blocked now. It was lame anyway.
Don't forget sportsnet.cc and cyclingfans.com

Good luck and happy viewing. I hope the advertisers get real and understand they're getting free impressions by offering a live feed in the USA as is available in other countries. Many sites in Europe are blocking USA visitors from seeing video, most likely because of exclusivity agreements. A proxy might work but I don't know of a fast one that's free. Anyone know a fast free proxy that would make us look French to the French feed? Most of the time I can get the live or replay in English so far using the above methods. Please let us know if it's working or if you have any more tips!

Vuelta Stage 2 Plus Some Links

In reply to Vuelta a España:

During the TdF I enjoyed Chris Horner's video diaries for VeloNews, and I remembered this when I noted his name in the left sidebar Vuelta section.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2006/diaries/chris_h/?id=chris_h062

It's brief but sounds like his voice (to my brain ear) so I think he wrote it, and I like his approach. He's right about Robbie, modest about himself, and I liked that he called the guy that led almost all day "One guy," because the guy didn't lead all day! I also like that he said...

"That’s the nice thing about bike racing; there’s always another race."

I like that one better than the popular cliché, "That's racing!" I find that one is usually after rules have been broken and ignored!

It sounds like Bettini's win in Stage 2 was a mild surprise, but Hushovd leads overall despite not getting the sprint. I think Petacchi had a tough time of it perhaps.

Stage 3 looks like a long ride at just over 130 miles in the company of some of the world's best.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/sports/060827/s082724.html

Please share any links and other info so we can all learn a bit more.