Hoooooraaayyyy!!

thecyclist said:

Valverde wins and takes the yellow jersey. I wonder what happens if he takes the yellow jersey in the TDF? ASO should throw him out then unless they want to look like hypocrites. They know as well as everyone else that he is Valv. (Piti) but maybe he is a better fit (than MR) for the "beautiful winner" they are looking for.

By the way Leipheimer only second today. It shows that ASO took the right decision when they chose to not invite Astana.

check out Levi's nose, specifically the nostrils.

if you wipe off the actual nose, and just take the nostril area, it looks like a T.

The cartilage has just continued to grow, and created some wacky T instersection.

And thecyclist, we know you are a fan of Valv(piti) but Evans can either put his status on the line, and say "this guy is doping" or he has to STFU, cos he is doing the same thing,

thunder said:

check out Levi's nose, specifically the nostrils.

if you wipe off the actual nose, and just take the nostril area, it looks like a T.

The cartilage has just continued to grow, and created some wacky T instersection.

And thecyclist, we know you are a fan of Valv(piti) but Evans can either put his status on the line, and say "this guy is doping" or he has to STFU, cos he is doing the same thing,

Isn't Cadel injured? I wonder if he's going to pull a Contadore and claim he couldn't train, etc... then show up and podium. Wonder if people will think the same of him as they did of Contadore?

fscyclist said:

Isn't Cadel injured? I wonder if he's going to pull a Contadore and claim he couldn't train, etc... then show up and podium. Wonder if people will think the same of him as they did of Contadore?

No... Australians don't lie.

Crankyfeet said:

No... Australians don't lie.

Kinda odd then for a continent colonized by criminals.

fscyclist said:

Isn't Cadel injured? I wonder if he's going to pull a Contadore and claim he couldn't train, etc... then show up and podium. Wonder if people will think the same of him as they did of Contadore?

FS Cadel finished 2 secs behind Levi in the tt. So no, cant be injured.

Took it easy, or a few days off with potential tendonitis flaring.

fscyclist said:

Kinda odd then for a continent colonized by criminals.

Oh we all steal... we just don't lie or cheat... :p

Actually I need to qualify that... we don't lie to each other.... honesty amongst thieves... 😄

thunder said:

FS Cadel finished 2 secs behind Levi in the tt. So no, cant be injured.

Took it easy, or a few days off with potential tendonitis flaring.

He's got the spotlight on him because of being the TdF odds-on favorite. My guess... speculating on Oz sports culture... and his hiring of a bodyguard... and his reluctance to want his team to be expected to lead the peloton... is that he is much happier being low-key... a dark horse... with people not expecting great things from him.

Publicizing a minor injury before an event is an age old method of dimming the spotlight and diverting attention and expectation.

Just ruminating.

Crankyfeet said:

He's got the spotlight on him because of being the TdF odds-on favorite. My guess... speculating on Oz sports culture... and his hiring of a courier... and his reluctance to attack... is that he is much happier being a whiny wheel sucker... a loser... with people not expecting anything from him.

Publicizing a minor injury before an event is an age old method of dimming the spotlight and diverting attention and expectation.

Just ruminating.

Fixed that for you.

Did Valverde dope in the past? Obviously.

Is he still doping? I don't know. I don't think he did in the last Tour De France. And I don't think he did this spring either.

Crankyfeet said:

Publicizing a minor injury before an event is an age old method of dimming the spotlight and diverting attention and expectation.

All that jibberish is just psychological warfare intended for the other riders. Just like Alberto was on the beach relaxing, yeah right. When's the last time you saw a professional cyclist sitting on his ass getting fat while not riding his bike in the middle of the season? (Ullrich doesn't count!)

If a dude misses a day on the bike, it's like "Oh [censored], my training has sucked!! I haven't had any time to train, my wife has been popping out kids left and right, I've been traveling all over the world for the holidays, I got the sniffles for 18 weeks in a row, yadda, yadda, yadda...."

Valverde looks to be back in his old form and most likely on the stuff again now that the bright light isn't shining so hot on him. Evans 2 seconds behind Levi, all say Levi is doped, so does than mean Cadel is doped? I gues the answer is no if your one of his fans.

Bikeridindude said:

All that jibberish is just psychological warfare intended for the other riders. Just like Alberto was on the beach relaxing, yeah right. When's the last time you saw a professional cyclist sitting on his ass getting fat while not riding his bike in the middle of the season? (Ullrich doesn't count!)

If a dude misses a day on the bike, it's like "Oh [censored], my training has sucked!! I haven't had any time to train, my wife has been popping out kids left and right, I've been traveling all over the world for the holidays, I got the sniffles for 18 weeks in a row, yadda, yadda, yadda...."

😎

thecyclist said:

Valverde wins and takes the yellow jersey. I wonder what happens if he takes the yellow jersey in the TDF? ASO should throw him out then unless they want to look like hypocrites. They know as well as everyone else that he is Valv. (Piti) but maybe he is a better fit (than MR) for the "beautiful winner" they are looking for.

By the way Leipheimer only second today. It shows that ASO took the right decision when they chose to not invite Astana.

If ASO bans every rider who doped I could be win TDF...

When Astana was banned some people are saying that it was not fair. What would be done by those kind of people if ASO bans the mans on the Puerto list like Valv'piti or AC!
Who are the most hypocrit?

azdroptop said:

Evans 2 seconds behind Levi, all say Levi is doped, so does than mean Cadel is doped? I gues the answer is no if your one of his fans.

Not necessarily, Cadel could simply be a better rider than Levi.
A weaker rider could dope to match & be competitive with the naturally stronger rider.
But you have to be suspicious if a lot of riders showing a similar ability got busted and the one rider was apparently not. (eg:Ullrich, Vino, Heras, Hamilton, Landis, Basso etc. all busted and one not, ie: Armstrong.)
That scenario has not occurred with Cadel.

I've never rated Levi in a grand tour, he has never really shown the goods except last year with Disco. That performance I think definitely suss.

fscyclist said:

Isn't Cadel injured? I wonder if he's going to pull a Contadore and claim he couldn't train, etc... then show up and podium. Wonder if people will think the same of him as they did of Contadore?

I don't know about others, but if he pulled off something similar to what AC pulled in Giro, I would have the same impression of him as of AC - maybe a little bit better due to not having a Hog say additional bs.

TheDarkLord said:

I don't know about others, but if he pulled off something similar to what AC pulled in Giro, I would have the same impression of him as of AC - maybe a little bit better due to not having a Hog say additional bs.

He only said he had a bit of tendonitus a month before the TdF... that interupted his training temporarily...

Crankyfeet said:

He only said he had a bit of tendonitus a month before the TdF... that interupted his training temporarily...

I was referring to the question posed by fsc; not really referring to the current situation...

poulidor said:

If ASO bans every rider who doped I could be win TDF...

So it's ok that they pick and choose who to throw out so that they can get the winner they want? Then it's more of a popularity contest than a sports event. And we are not talking about riders who already served their suspensions like Millar.

poulidor said:

When Astana was banned some people are saying that it was not fair. What would be done by those kind of people if ASO bans the mans on the Puerto list like Valv'piti or AC!
Who are the most hypocrit?

I don't get your point here.

ASO are hypocrites if Valverde get's the yellow jersey (and is in a position where it looks like he could win) and they don't get rid of him like they did with Rasmussen. There is and was more dirt on Piti than there was on Rasmussen.

thecyclist said:

ASO are hypocrites if Valverde get's the yellow jersey (and is in a position where he looks like he could win) and they don't get rid of him like they did with Rasmussen. There is and was more dirt on Piti than there was on Rasmussen.

It depends on how much dirt there is on Piti now as opposed to several years back. In the case of Chicken, there was "fresh dirt" since he clearly violated the condition of no missed test within a month of the race (or something to that effect). You cannot simply go and throw out people who are close to winning just because you don't like them or they had dirt associated with them several years back.

It's 45 days. The UCI didn't use that rule, they said it was too harsh and that they would get rid of it at their next meeting. But what are the chances that he was the only rider to violate this rule? For all we know the whole top 10 could be guilty of this.

There is plenty of dirt on Valverde and I don't agree that his case is somehow outdated. He could have confessed back then, but chose not to, so whatever consequences it will have in the future it's his own fault.

Also if he is now able to win the TDF, it's hard to believe he is not doing the same thing as back then.

By the way the shoebox thing was also several years old, yet I still believe it added fuel to the whole thing. Fans were booing etc. so ASO had to get rid of him.