ToC

Crankyfeet said:

Yes...take a look at his 2006 TdF TT's for Gerolsteiner. He finished like 3-4 minutes behind Cadel on each one.

its the recovery dope.

Outside competition LL always had a good dope program.

Disco just makes the recovery dope and they make it GOOOOD!

thunder said:

its the recovery dope.

Outside competition LL always had a good dope program.

Disco just makes the recovery dope and they make it GOOOOD!

recovery dope = bags filled with your own centrifuged blood + some "seasoning" I presume... 😄

BTW - I assume you weren't calling me a dope in that first sentence?... 😄

And Cavendish shows again that he's still relatively inexperienced - wins the sprint but then loses it by getting a time-penalty for hanging on to a team car to get back to the peloton after a crash (I was wondering why Cipo was apparently yelling at him after the stage...) 🙄

Looks like Cipo also received a 20-second penalty from the stats of the stage.

thunder said:

ofcourse Astana are not clean

Not the only Cadel is clean thing again!? All are doped but him. 🙂

azdroptop said:

Not the only Cadel is clean thing again!? All are doped but him. 🙂

nope.

you will read my opinions about cadel and I am quite unequivocal. Ask Scottri, who reckons he is clean.

I understood Thunder to be saying that he thought Evans was getting some help, just not as comprehensive as some of his competition (ie. blood doping). So cleaner, if not clean. Sorry if that misrepresents what you've said, Thunder.

One thing that stands in Evans' favour was the way he was completely ostracised at Telekom. But then, that might just be a language thing, or maybe they just didn't like him... None of us knows, do we?

Drongo said:

I understood Thunder to be saying that he thought Evans was getting some help, just not as comprehensive as some of his competition (ie. blood doping). So cleaner, if not clean. Sorry if that misrepresents what you've said, Thunder.

One thing that stands in Evans' favour was the way he was completely ostracised at Telekom. But then, that might just be a language thing, or maybe they just didn't like him... None of us knows, do we?

I think Cyclingheroes said that in the 2004 Vuelta, when the entire team got "food poisoning" only Zabel and Evans did not.

I read this meant they did not get transfusions.

But I think Evans is boosting his blood, at a minimum. But maybe not rest-day blood transfusions. Perhaps a transfusion prior to the start.

I dont think Lotto are clean by a long streak. Look at the 2005 Giro when Ardilla and Van Huffel climbed like Pantani in the final week and their altitude tents were taken, but the thing was, they had a hundred or so syringes or more. God knows why they needed so many syringes.

Great win by Hincapie. He's been aggressive this whole stage race. Perhaps the move to a new team has done him good.

thunder said:

I think Cyclingheroes said that in the 2004 Vuelta, when the entire team got "food poisoning" only Zabel and Evans did not.

I read this meant they did not get transfusions.

But I think Evans is boosting his blood, at a minimum. But maybe not rest-day blood transfusions. Perhaps a transfusion prior to the start.

I dont think Lotto are clean by a long streak. Look at the 2005 Giro when Ardilla and Van Huffel climbed like Pantani in the final week and their altitude tents were taken, but the thing was, they had a hundred or so syringes or more. God knows why they needed so many syringes.

Basically correct about the Vuelta. This is the CN report for Stage 5: link. Evans, Zabel and Tomas Konecny were okay. Botero, Hiekmann and Wesemann abandoned with 'food poisoning'; Vino, Klier and Schreck were all in the hurt box but finished the stage well back (Klier dropped out the next day).

As I recall, Evans was ordinary on the GC that year, but Zabel won the points jersey, so maybe that became the team's focus.

edit: Agree re: Lotto; there's certainly no reason to think they're spotless. As Runitout has said, even if Evans were clean, he would still benefit from having doped team-mates. His public statements do nothing to dispel the notion that he's quite content with the status quo.

Yeah. George is a much better rider when he is aggressive. He can't wait around for the sprint. He has to make things happen.

So, Hincapie does it again! Sit on someone's wheel, let others do the work, and get a win. Sound familiar? Think about it. Is '01 Gent-Wevelgem Hincapie's only non-asterisk win? I'm still [censored] about the '05 Tour stage to Pla d'Adet. Yeah, I understand not working with Pereiro since he was high in the GC, but then to jump him for the win? Any self-respecting athlete knows how incredibly lame that was. '06 US champs? Needed a little help from new teammate Levi, right? His first US win? Nobody was there. Classic underachiever. With this said, I really hope he wins Flanders or Roubaix before he retires to his gated community.

benson said:

So, Hincapie does it again! Sit on someone's wheel, let others do the work, and get a win. Sound familiar? Think about it. Is '01 Gent-Wevelgem Hincapie's only non-asterisk win? I'm still [censored] about the '05 Tour stage to Pla d'Adet. Yeah, I understand not working with Pereiro since he was high in the GC, but then to jump him for the win? Any self-respecting athlete knows how incredibly lame that was. '06 US champs? Needed a little help from new teammate Levi, right? His first US win? Nobody was there. Classic underachiever. With this said, I really hope he wins Flanders or Roubaix before he retires to his gated community.

Well, I think that's a little rough on George. Seems to me he was working as hard as anyone in the break, and he single-handedly bridged the gap up to Zirbel.

kennf said:

Well, I think that's a little rough on George. Seems to me he was working as hard as anyone in the break, and he single-handedly bridged the gap up to Zirbel.

Creed was the one trying to sit on the back...

jhuskey said:

Hey CH, how is everthing going? Oh, the race! I will pick Leipheimer overall.

Of course you have a tremendous grasp of the obvious.
Yes I do!

kennf said:

Well, I think that's a little rough on George. Seems to me he was working as hard as anyone in the break, and he single-handedly bridged the gap up to Zirbel.

True.

benson said:

True.

Yea man, I was going to jump on you about that because he closed the gap to Zirbel. The rest of the guys there weren't working as much because they knew that carrying him to the finish would mean they were fighting it out for 2nd. All of those guys knew that if they were with him in the end, they were toast...and that is what happened.

While watching it, I was saying, "Now watch George just grab a wheel to the end." But, I ended up being surprised by his performance. He was covering many of the moves and did bridge to Zirbel. Good for George.

benson said:

So, Hincapie does it again! Sit on someone's wheel, let others do the work, and get a win. Sound familiar? Think about it. Is '01 Gent-Wevelgem Hincapie's only non-asterisk win? I'm still [censored] about the '05 Tour stage to Pla d'Adet. Yeah, I understand not working with Pereiro since he was high in the GC, but then to jump him for the win? Any self-respecting athlete knows how incredibly lame that was. '06 US champs? Needed a little help from new teammate Levi, right? His first US win? Nobody was there. Classic underachiever. With this said, I really hope he wins Flanders or Roubaix before he retires to his gated community.

Seriously??? I agree with you on a lot of these points. But in the final ToC stage I was somewhat shocked by GH's performance. I didn't think he had it in him! I thought he rode agressively and smart (did I just say that?) in that stage.

Tyler busted.

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/64/fullj.50d4a2b8c2022204e175b969da58587a/50d4a2b8c2022204e175b969da58587a-getty-78570867dp008_amgen_tour_of.jpg