Kloden speaks!

caffetrieste said:

Check this out...

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"I have one tip... You believe for yourself you are a good rider... then you work hard... then you are a good rider"

Gee thanks Andreas.

Crankyfeet said:

"I have one tip... You believe for yourself you are a good rider... then you work hard... then you are a good rider"

Gee thanks Andreas.

Hm, not even pretend advice? like a high cadence, weighing your food, training on Xmas day? Come on, throw us a bone here.

If body language is anything, he did not seem very convinced of his advice as he was averting his gaze and trying not to laugh.

Cobblestones said:

Hm, not even pretend advice? like a high cadence, weighing your food, training on Xmas day? Come on, throw us a bone here.

😄😄😄

Bjørn P.Dal said:

😄😄😄

Funny how shifty all those Astana team members look - not a one can talk about 'hard work and sacrifice' with a straight face

Kloden doesn't say much, but apparently Sinkewitz does. It seems that Sinkewitz told German police that Kloden did indeed receive a blood transfusion in Freiburg the evening after Ulrich was thrown out of the 2006 TdF. Link in German. Kessler was in it, too.

Cobblestones said:

Kloden doesn't say much, but apparently Sinkewitz does. It seems that Sinkewitz told German police that Kloden did indeed receive a blood transfusion in Freiburg the evening after Ulrich was thrown out of the 2006 TdF. Link in German. Kessler was in it, too.

And there goes one of the three riders over the last decade who have been consistently competitive at the TdF and not been popped for doping. Klodenn can join Armstrong, Ullrich, Mancebo, Beloki, Vino, Pantani, etc., etc. We are down to Evans and Leipheimer now.

Bro Deal said:

We are down to Evans and Leipheimer now.

I lack the faith when it comes to Leipheimer. Not after the second ITT in the 2007 TdF. Evans? If anything turns up about Evans, I'll probably sit down and cry. Evans is and has been for a while my last best hope for a clean(er) cycling. I know it's irrational, and it's hard to cheer on Evans when he's all over the road on a climb, but if this last illusion should be shattered, it's going to be a really sad day for me.

Cobblestones said:

I lack the faith when it comes to Leipheimer. Not after the second ITT in the 2007 TdF. Evans? If anything turns up about Evans, I'll probably sit down and cry. Evans is and has been for a while my last best hope for a clean(er) cycling. I know it's irrational, and it's hard to cheer on Evans when he's all over the road on a climb, but if this last illusion should be shattered, it's going to be a really sad day for me.

Obviously Leipheimer is doped to the eyeballs. Before joining Postal he was an average, not so successful domestic pro. Eighteen months later he placed fourth in the Vuelta. Bruyneel has some powerful dope.

Over the last fifteen years everyone who has placed in the TdF's top ten without the aid of a long successful break was juicing. Evans cannot be any different.

I wonder if Eddie Merckx hypothetically came along and rode clean now at the age of 30, how he would fare?

Bro Deal said:

Over the last fifteen years everyone who has placed in the TdF's top ten without the aid of a long successful break was juicing. Evans cannot be any different.

Don't crush my hope yet. At least Evans looked properly exhausted after some of the stages last year. It might not mean much, but it felt right to me.

Cobblestones said:

Don't crush my hope yet. At least Evans looked properly exhausted after some of the stages last year. It might not mean much, but it felt right to me.

From the Bruyneel school, I see!

Crankyfeet said:

I wonder if Eddie Merckx hypothetically came along and rode clean now at the age of 30, how he would fare?

Depends. With the cigarettes and no training from October -January, he would be middle of the pack. Otherwise, he would do well.

Two questions:

Did Bruyneel really see this coming, or was he just hedging his bets with Kloden (i.e. treating him like a stepchild).

Second, if there is an investigatino formally launched against Kloden, how does this affect the ASO-UCI war?

kennf said:

Two questions:

Did Bruyneel really see this coming, or was he just hedging his bets with Kloden (i.e. treating him like a stepchild).

Second, if there is an investigatino formally launched against Kloden, how does this affect the ASO-UCI war?

Regarding the 1st, I cannot imagine that Bruyneel would have been that ignorant to think that Kloden would not have some dirt just waiting to be dug up. Perhaps he is so full of himself and his ability to skirt getting caught that he honestly believed Kloden would be protected. He miscalculated this way with Basso.

Regarding the 2nd question, I would think it would only serve to strengthen ASO's case. It's damned unfortunate that the UCI bungled so badly by allowing Astana to survive after the doping positives from 2007. The ASO should not have the power that they do but the UCI just keeps looking more incompetent to me.

regarding the rat... coerced testimony is compromised testimony. period.

it is clear there is an agenda and that is to continue to go after riders on the hit list.

Bro Deal said:

Obviously Leipheimer is doped to the eyeballs. Before joining Postal he was an average, not so successful domestic pro. Eighteen months later he placed fourth in the Vuelta. Bruyneel has some powerful dope.

Over the last fifteen years everyone who has placed in the TdF's top ten without the aid of a long successful break was juicing. Evans cannot be any different.

I reckon he is juicing. But.

If you subtract

Basso
Armstrong
Ullrich
Vinokourov
Heras
Beloki
Hamilton
Landis
Mancebo
Rumsas

(Beloki)
Valverde (when on top program)

you almost have a top 10 that has been removed from the Tour. All of those riders are still of age to be in the top 10 in the Tour. All have been banned, or in Armstrong's case, retired before any potential sanction.

Raimondas Rumsas is my example of what dope can do.

Rumsas, no doubt a phenomenally talented rider, BUT, probably no more so that the average pro. I mean, I would take Casar and Moncoutie over him if all were clean.

So, Rumsas, without all the advanatages Armstrong has in money, recources, training, dope, doctor, team etc, rides to within 5 minutes of him on GC. I mean, wtf?

Also, check Rumsas' timetrials. They are also indicative. He only lost about 1 minute over both tts combined.

My point is, Rumsas had a great dope program. But I still think it would have been inferior to Armstrong's dope program.

That is what dope can do.

kennf said:

Two questions:

Did Bruyneel really see this coming, or was he just hedging his bets with Kloden (i.e. treating him like a stepchild).

Everyone in cycling world knows that Klöden like top 10 last year, top 20 2 years ago, top 30 3 years ago were on blood doping or EPO program.
For riders with less ranking, the odds are just decreasing : sustained output power keeps the key factor!

kennf said:

Did Bruyneel really see this coming, or was he just hedging his bets with Kloden (i.e. treating him like a stepchild).

The impression I got was that Bruyneel was treating Kloeden as a stepchild. He cannot fire Kloeden right away due to his contract; hence he made some vague statements that he believed Kloeden to be clean etc. That way, if any dirt came up, he has the chance to fire Kloeden under the pretext of "lies and betrayal".