Tour No Longer Significant

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance that
it might be considered good let alone great.

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

Yea, but we're talking 'Continental' cat1 and not just your
run of the mill 'North American' cat1.

"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance
that it might be considered good let alone great.

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

Tom: You've been around for a while, and are well-read enough to know that
the TdF has not always been the format it is today. Regional & National
teams were the norm until not all that long ago. The organizers may not be
as scared of that format as we think. Nevertheless, I've proposed elsewhere
that UCI support for a major event in July, here in the US, could bring them
back to the table. I think it highly unlikely the ASO could get a foothold
here in the US.

Well, let me correct myself on that. The organizers of the Tour of
California would probably like nothing better than to sell their event for a
tidy profit to the highest bidder. However, I can only imagine the public
relations disaster they'd have if they were to exclude a team like
present-day Astana from a US event!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance that
it might be considered good let alone great.

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

dumbass,

the race is the attraction, not the gathering of riders. the UCI
doesn't realize this either, because it thought if basso and ullrich
did the tour of poland people would care about it.

last year's winner should've been rasmussen anyways, and the 2006
podium should've looked like this :

1. basso
2. ullrich
3. vinokourov

and no one's typing out distraught e-mails to cyclingnews that those
guys won't be there.

for 99% of fans the riders are interchangable. so whether leipheimer
or horner do the tour only matters to a handful of chumps in
california who shook their hand once in a bike shop.

email hidden said:

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance that
it might be considered good let alone great.

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

dumbass,

the race is the attraction, not the gathering of riders. the UCI
doesn't realize this either, because it thought if basso and ullrich
did the tour of poland people would care about it.

Exactly, the most exciting Tours are those where you have no MASSIVE
favorite, like 1983, 1987, 1991, 1996 or 2003 (well LA was there but
he was not his usual superhuman self...).

The tour makes the heroes, you'll always have a guy taking the lead in
the climbs.

Keith said:

The tour makes the heroes, you'll always have a guy taking the lead in the
climbs.

Hincapie.

Donald Munro said:

Keith said:

The tour makes the heroes, you'll always have a guy taking the lead in the
climbs.

Hincapie.

This year George must ride for Kim Kirchen in July, and he
must ride for Roger Hammond in the Paris-Roubaix.

He's just not a real winner over on the Continent.

"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance
that it might be considered good let alone great.

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

The parallel between basso/ullrich and contador is blatant. Contador's
number is about to come up. The olympics are around the corner and the
adults are about to visit the kid's table and put an end to the racket. ASO
knows this and, now, so do you.

"TM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance
that it might be considered good let alone great.

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

The parallel between basso/ullrich and contador is blatant. Contador's
number is about to come up. The olympics are around the corner and the
adults are about to visit the kid's table and put an end to the racket.
ASO knows this and, now, so do you.

Psst - want to put money on them finding anything against Contador that
wasn't manufactured? He gave them his blood samples and DNA didn't he?

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

"TM" <[email hidden]> wrote in messagenews:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance
that it might be considered good let alone great.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

Quoted message said:

The parallel between basso/ullrich and contador is blatant. Contador's
number is about to come up. The olympics are around the corner and the
adults are about to visit the kid's table and put an end to the racket.
ASO knows this and, now, so do you.

Psst - want to put money on them finding anything against Contador that
wasn't manufactured? He gave them his blood samples and DNA didn't he?

yeah i want to put money on it [censored]. pony up.

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

"TM" <[email hidden]> wrote in messagenews:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Tom Kunich" <cyclintom@yahoo. com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in the world from any race
you're pretending is the best in the world you've destroyed any chance
that it might be considered good let alone great.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It appears that the Tour de France will become the world's most expensive
Cat 1 stage race.

Quoted message said:

The parallel between basso/ullrich and contador is blatant. Contador's
number is about to come up. The olympics are around the corner and the
adults are about to visit the kid's table and put an end to the racket.
ASO knows this and, now, so do you.

Psst - want to put money on them finding anything against Contador that
wasn't manufactured? He gave them his blood samples and DNA didn't he?

dumbass,

decide on some criteria. i am prepared to bet $500 that contador is
implicated with fuentes and $1000 that contador admits to working with
fuentes.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

decide on some criteria. i am prepared to bet $500 that contador is
implicated with fuentes and $1000 that contador admits to working with
fuentes.

Sure, if it's a face to face exchange of money.

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

decide on some criteria. i am prepared to bet $500 that contador is
implicated with fuentes and $1000 that contador admits to working with
fuentes.

Sure, if it's a face to face exchange of money.

dumbass,

stop waffling.

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted post said:

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

decide on some criteria. i am prepared to bet $500 that contador is
implicated with fuentes and $1000 that contador admits to working with
fuentes.

Sure, if it's a face to face exchange of money.

dumbass,

stop waffling.

So you're more confident of him eventually admitting that of him
actually being guilty. Isn't that a bit odd?

jyh.

Tom Kunich says

Quoted message said:

You know, when you leave out the best riders in
the world from any race you're pretending is the best
in the world you've destroyed any chance that it might
be considered good let alone great.

Tom, I sense a tone of frustration in your words.
I'm an admittedly naive and simple person regarding the way of the
world. I think my POV regarding _anything_ is meaningless in the big
scheme of Life.

So here goes!

The criteria for "best rider" has changed and possibly for the better.
I think the silent majority of us will _not_ miss the Tour de Dopers one
bit. The only people who will suffer, are those who profited from the
false idols they created. Time will tell, if society shuns athleticism
in favor of "the best" (regardless the human cost) so be it.

Best Regards -Mike Baldwin

"jean-yves hervé" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So you're more confident of him eventually admitting that of him
actually being guilty. Isn't that a bit odd?

Remember who you're writing to Jean-Yves - a person on a bicycle racing
group that rides a bicycle once a year.

"Michael Baldwin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The criteria for "best rider" has changed and possibly for the better.
I think the silent majority of us will _not_ miss the Tour de Dopers one
bit. The only people who will suffer, are those who profited from the
false idols they created. Time will tell, if society shuns athleticism
in favor of "the best" (regardless the human cost) so be it.

Mike, the problem is that neither you nor I can tell who was guilty and who
wasn't. Do you propose that it isn't important to persecute the wrong people
as long as we look like we're mad as hell and aren't going to take it any
longer?

jean-yves hervé said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted post said:

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

news:[email hidden]....

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> decide on some criteria. i am prepared to bet $500 that contador is
> implicated with fuentes and $1000 that contador admits to working with
> fuentes.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sure, if it's a face to face exchange of money.

Quoted message said:

dumbass,

Quoted message said:

stop waffling.

So you're more confident of him eventually admitting that of him
actually being guilty. Isn't that a bit odd?

jyh.

I think the probability of him actually admitting involvement is a
lower probability event than circumstantial evidence of involvement -
which is not the same thing as proven guilt (since in cycing
apparently no one is EVER guilty on evidence alone).

For the purposes of a bet we can decide what those terms are.

Tom Kunich wrote

Quoted message said:

Mike, the problem is that neither you nor I can
tell who was guilty and who wasn't. Do you propose
that it isn't important to persecute the wrong people as
long as we look like we're mad as hell and
aren't going to take it any longer?

Not at all Tom. From here on out, every sport profession will now be
scrutinized for the next 8 to 12 years. I think that's about how long
it will take for athletes to prove to the world that their performance
is based on natural talent and hard work.
Is that fair for the clean, current day athletes? Certainly not.
But hopefully, young aspiring athletes will learn from the mistakes of
their predecessors. No victory, title, record or paycheck is more
valuable then the long term integrity of the sport. I realize that's a
quaint concept for many. But is it really that difficult to stand-up for
what's right?

Best Regards - Mike Baldwin

"Michael Baldwin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tom Kunich wrote

Quoted message said:

Mike, the problem is that neither you nor I can
tell who was guilty and who wasn't. Do you propose
that it isn't important to persecute the wrong people as
long as we look like we're mad as hell and
aren't going to take it any longer?

Not at all Tom. From here on out, every sport profession will now be
scrutinized for the next 8 to 12 years. I think that's about how long
it will take for athletes to prove to the world that their performance
is based on natural talent and hard work.
Is that fair for the clean, current day athletes? Certainly not.
But hopefully, young aspiring athletes will learn from the mistakes of
their predecessors. No victory, title, record or paycheck is more
valuable then the long term integrity of the sport. I realize that's a
quaint concept for many. But is it really that difficult to stand-up for
what's right?

Best Regards - Mike Baldwin

Casino betting, DNA passports, daily blood & urine tests, and the families
held hostage should clean up the sport in a hurry. First doping offense,
kill one of the kids. Second offense, kill the wife and mother. Third
offense, make him live with the mother-in-law...

Bruce