Tour de France thread

On Epo> the death of these cyclist was partly due to the illegality of the whole thing. They bought the epo from middle man that were no real docters so nobody really new what they were doing. If it would have been allowed, docters could supervise the whole thing and then it would be much safer (eg see how it was organised with the Festiva team :)

This doesn't mean I'm in favour of allowing doping to be used by these men. The problem is that the interest are getting bigger with the year and the cyclist have so much pressure, especially in the tour de france, that they collapse and fall back on the use of doping.

The other problem is that the more advanced the teams are, or the riders (read: the more money they have) the easier it is for them to get acces to th best new drugs out there. There is no question about it that theer is at this moment a new sort of doping that is as of yet not traceable (as was the case with Epo a few years ago). So I think that what we have seen now is only the tip of the iceberg. I'm also not sure, and I'm probably not making myself popular by saying this, that Armstrong has been completly doping free.

Just a sidenote from the ever present drug thing. NPR did a report about the "lack of Lance" thing affecting tourism from the USA. The tour companies they talked to that bring people over to see le tour are reporting at least 50% drop in buisness. One wonders if OLN will come out of this well.

Update: Valverde is also out for victory, not due to doping, but falling down
And our Belgium hero has finally gotten the yellow jersey: go, Tom, go (he'll be driving through Belgium tomorrow with the jersey)

Someone mentioned Mayo but I'm pretty sure he is out on the list as well.

well, early on still, but with Jan and Basso out, and now Valverde out as well (crash today), looks good for the Americans: George, Landis, Z and Levi can all be considered legit for the podium....can an all American podium happen? I say...maybe :) I think Landis is laying low, waiting to pounce once they reach the first real climbs...and his TT'ing is top form too right now, so I like Floyd early on as my GC winner in Paris. Go Floyd!

Anyone know if there is a website with live streaming audio out there? OLN did it up until last year but not this year. Reading live updates just isn't the same.

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Originally Posted by boarddad

Anyone know if there is a website with live streaming audio out there? OLN did it up until last year but not this year. Reading live updates just isn't the same.

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I believe cycling.tv has live commentary but do not have the rights to show video.

I don't think anyone can truthfully say that Lance's diet is anywhere close to any other animal on the planet. I also believe that if you have enough loot, and $20 some million a year is probably enough, you get drugs specifically tailored to your body. And that is just the money he makes off the deal. I doubt it will ever come out as such, but I think it would be remiss to say he's totally clean even if he says so.

But wow, this is totally shaping up to be a whacky tour and with the unity knowledge of how to win the Disco team has aquired, I'd be putting my money there.

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Originally Posted by L7

Someone mentioned Mayo but I'm pretty sure he is out on the list as well.

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He's in.

I am actually enjoying the tour so far. I only got into road cycling and ther tour during the 1999 tour and every tour I have seen has been all about Armstrong. I am excited to see how things shape up.

Hincapie for the win.

i think it's shaping up for one of the best to tours to watch in a loooong time -except for mcewen on these flat stages, it's going to be a guess as to what goes down.

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Originally Posted by mrryde

He's in.

I am actually enjoying the tour so far. I only got into road cycling and ther tour during the 1999 tour and every tour I have seen has been all about Armstrong. I am excited to see how things shape up.

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He's definitley in, and apparently is in shape. He'll be one of the guys to watch in the mountains but can't TT.

I've been hooked on cycling since I was little, watched my first tour de france live when I was 6 and have seen them pass at least +20 time. Watched them on the final climb to Courchevel last year which was the basis of Lance's last victory. It' always mucho fun to watch them ride on the mountaisn as you have more time to recognise the riders and see the last ones suffer ;)

i hope zabel will win one or two spints … !!

btw. a friend of mine, who is a rather good biker and trains with pros from time to time and races as well, told me, that there are plenty of top bikers who have their alarm clocks at a maximum of 3 hours to sleep, to get on a hometrainer for 15 minutes to get the blood pumping again, and then again, sleep for 3 hours. they are really scared to die, its an effect of epo, not of the kind of way its taken, even medically supervised they have to get up every 3 hours. wouldnt be my lifestyle …

With all do respect but: Bullshit

Epo usage has been widly spread between bikers in the past but as long as your hematocrit (don't know if this correct English) value in the blood is below 50, the chance of you dying is very slim, not to say nill. In the past some bikers took the chance of going over that value because back then there weren't test to identify of someone taking Epo. Whenever you go over this value of 50, the real danger of Epo starts and your blood gets ticker. But I very much doubt that professional athletes wake up every 3 hours to get their blood running again, I think this is an urban legend

I don't know that I beleive this is happening thoughout the pros but I can believe that is has happened with some. A few years back about 5 young riders (25 and under) died in their sleep at spring training camps. I can easily believe it was when they were really pumping the EPO exactly to boost the hemocrit and the ability to transport blood thereby increasing the capacity to train. If word went out that waking every 3 hours and training kept the blood from thickening too much I'm sure some believed it and did it. Some of these guys want it real bad and will do anything.

So if anyone is going to care about the tour at all this year tomorrow is the day. L'alpe Duze. Any predictions?

I would really like to see someone from DSC stay strong to the finish. I could see Azvedo dragging Popovych up the hill, If i recall correctly Popov climbed pretty well last year.

Over all I think Levi Leipheimer gets the stage...

Anyone else care this year?

So if anyone is going to care about the tour at all this year tomorrow is the day. L'alpe Duze. Any predictions?

I would really like to see someone from DSC stay strong to the finish. I could see Azvedo dragging Popovych up the hill, If i recall correctly Popov climbed pretty well last year.

Over all I think Levi Leipheimer gets the stage...

Anyone else care this year?

So if anyone is going to care about the tour at all this year tomorrow is the day. L'alpe Duze. Any predictions?

I would really like to see someone from DSC stay strong to the finish. I could see Azvedo dragging Popovych up the hill, If i recall correctly Popov climbed pretty well last year.

Over all I think Levi Leipheimer gets the stage...

Anyone else care this year?

Fuck. Sorry, my bad. Should have sussed there would be a spoiler in sprocket rockets.

Shorey,

I suggest deleting this post and putting it in the correct thread. There is a new thread each day in sprocket rockets to discuss the days stage. no spoilers should be put in this thread.

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Originally Posted by SafteySquad

I suggest deleting this post and putting it in the correct thread. There is a new thread each day in sprocket rockets to discuss the days stage. no spoilers should be put in this thread.

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Seriously, do it fast. Edit: SafetySquid, you'll have to delete yours too.

Seriously, guys, delete your posts. People get all fired up about this. Ask Trackhead.

ya sorry about that, I didn't even realize what I was doing with the quote and such. I fixed it though, so shorey can still get the picture.

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Originally Posted by Cornholio

Seriously, guys, delete your posts. People get all fired up about this. Ask Trackhead.

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Ahh, but I'm a better, more attentive person because of it.;)

As would be Shorey.

*Harummmmph.*

edit: Just f'n KILLIN' it with the page tops lately.