[butters]

Pretty damning piece on the Guardian website

[dave]

what amazes me is how its gone on for this long without him getting busted before - not that the writing hasn't been on the wall for years, but you know what I mean.

[saltbeef]

what Dave said.

surely the onus is on the anti-doping agencies and the various federations to police things properly. the contador affair is another prime example. backdating his ban so essentially only having 6 months off. nonsense.

i still think lance has done a lot of good things - look at livestrong.

on another note about cheating. what about unrepentant drug cheat Valverde! the gall of the man! "sky should show respect when the leader falls!" you fell off after they had sped up, and where was your respect for your fellow competitors when you denied them the chance to stand on the podium when you were doped up! unbelievable.
anyway as cofe says a sad day for cycling.

Venga Froome Dog!

[lukeh]

I only started following road races a few years ago, so missed Armstrong's career, and the racing of his era. Came across this article though which paints him in a pretty damning light - chasing down a rider purely because he testified against one of his doctors, then upon returning to the peloton making a 'lips zipped' gesture. Surely that is an admission in itself?

http://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/armstrong-hunts-down-rider

All in all I just wish the various governing/anti doping bodies would fast track doping cases. Having them drag on and on does nothing for the sport.

[DaveC]

This quote from the Guardian blog is really quite astonishing and clearly indicates that at least some in the press are not concerned about litigation: "We may never finally know what deals were done to hush up the alleged positive tests Armstrong gave, though we have our suspicions. "

[cofe]

It's not that amazing it's gone on so long. He's never failed a drug test, and the only people who've spoked out publicly have failed them (e.g. Landis), effectively erasing their credibility. I'd be surprised if this is the end of it.

[dave]

Aye, and Michael Jackson never failed a paedo test.

How much smoke do we need before the presence of a fire is beyond reasonable doubt?

[Jaspersharpe]

More here...

http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/24/lance-armstrong-wada?cat=sport&type=article

It all looks completely damning but isn't it pretty clear now that the majority of riders at that time were at it? The fact that they are more likely to declare a non result than attempt to find a clean winner for those titles certainly points to that being the case.

If this is so and most of the top boys were doping when Armstrong won his titles then wasn't he technically still the best?

[205Chris]

It all looks completely damning but isn't it pretty clear now that the majority of riders at that time were at it? The fact that they are more likely to declare a non result than attempt to find a clean winner for those titles certainly points to that being the case.

If this is so and most of the top boys were doping when Armstrong won his titles then wasn't he technically still the best?

It does seem like the USADA have something of a vendetta against Armstrong though. I think it's fairly clear that most riders at the time were hepped up on goofballs. If you strip Armstrong of his titles and declare a non result where do you stop? No one's called out any other winners from the the pre-Armstrong era and I find it hard to believe they were all clean. I've just finished reading David Millar's biography and it seems like riders were positively encouraged to dope by their teams. Riders would dope out of season or miss certain races to avoid testing positive.

I'll be interested to see if the USADA ever release the evidence they have.

For anyone intrigued by the whole doping affair then Breaking the Chain is well worth a read.

[205Chris]

USADA didn't waste any time then: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/19369375

Dark day indeed

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

 

USADA didn't waste any time then: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/19369375

Dark day indeed

I thought only the UCI had the authority to strip them?

[205Chris]

USADA didn't waste any time then: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/19369375

Dark day indeed

I thought only the UCI had the authority to strip them?

You're right, but from the Telegraph:

Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, left no doubt that was the next step, saying the UCI, the sport's governing body, was "bound to recognise our decision and impose it" as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code.

"They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code," he said.

On Friday, the International Cycling Union said not so fast. The UCI, which had backed Armstrong's legal challenge to USADA's authority, cited the same World Anti-Doping Code in saying that it wanted the USADA to explain why Armstrong should lose his titles.

More here

[Stabbsy]

So, here's a bit of (not entirely scientific) research from this lunchtime. If you take all the TDF results from 1996 onwards and get rid of those who have been caught doping (I've included Armstrong and Ullrich in this list), here's your list of TDF winners :-

1996      Luttenberger
1997      Olano
1998      Julich
1999      Escartin
2000      Beloki
2001      Beloki
2002      Beloki
2003      Zubeldia
2004      Kloden
2005      Leipheimer
2006      Pereiro
2007      Evans
2008      Sastre
2009      Schleck (A)
2010      Schleck (A)
2011      Evans
2012      Wiggins

Of those; Olano, Escartin and Kloden have all been linked with positive tests or "questionable" doctors. Beloki and Pereiro had links with scandals but (I think) were cleared. Also, Leipheimer tested positive for something as an amateur.

In 1996, 2000 and 2005, only 1 of the top 6 was "clean". In recent years, the proportion of clean riders has increased. Hopefully, this isn't just that we haven't had long enough to discover the truth.

[cofe]

A tweet from the Tour back in July, the day they went over the Tourmalet, Aubisque etc.

Wiggins & co today climbed at 1680m/h for 24:28 (~6W/kg). VAM issues aside,compare to historical Tour performances:

[mark s]

have been told i can use an uncles bike when i want to.lovely all carbon look kg381 frame and camp groupset.
ive done nothing cardio based for a few years now,had a quick 20 minutes on it today.i was ok riding.when i got off i though my saliva had been swopped for treacle.
shall try and do a bit but dont wont to end up with a cyclist build.so think im going have to keep the calorie count super high on riding days.

[Nibile]

No wonder it felt hard, with a bike that weighs 381 kg...

[205Chris]

Another Brit wins a stage of a grand tour.

Stephen Cummings in La Vuelta today.

[fatkid2000]

Shame Chris Froome is losing touch with the red jersey - think his season of supporting Wiggo is catching up with him. His time will come though.

[slackline]

Blink and you'll miss it....

[Falling Down]

That's great.

[Percy B]

Cut and pasted from the judgement in the Floyd Landis v The UCI court case - paragraph ii is comedy gold!


EASTERN VAUD DISTRICT COURT
Case postale 496 Rue du Simplon 22 1800 Vevey 1
2012/051
JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT
entered by the
CHAIR OF THE CIVIL COURT
JO11.016233
on 26 September 2012
in the case
Union Cycliste Internationale, MCQUAID Patrick and VERBRUGGEN Henricus versus LANDIS Floyd Cease and desist order
OPERATIVE PROVISIONS
*****
Chair: Mrs Catherine PIGUET Clerk: L. Huser
The Chair of the Court,
ruling immediately in a closed hearing:
I. upholds in large part the petition of 29 April 2011 lodged by the Union Cycliste Internationale, Patrick McQuaid and Henricus Verbruggen against Floyd Landis;
II. forbids Floyd Landis to state that the Union Cycliste Internationale, Patrick (Pat) McQuaid and/or Henricus (Hein) Verbruggen have concealed cases of doping, received money for doing so, have accepted money from Lance Armstrong to conceal a doping case, have protected certain racing cyclists, concealed cases of doping, have engaged in manipulation, particularly of tests and races, have hesitated and delayed publishing the results of a positive test on Alberto Contador, have accepted bribes, are corrupt, are terrorists, have no regard for the rules, load the dice, are fools, do not have a genuine desire to restore discipline to cycling, are full of shit, are clowns, their words are worthless, are liars, are no different to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, or to make any similar other allegations of that kind;

[neilpearsons]

Couple of photos of Foundry manager (and former rock climber...) Neil Bentley on the Monsal Hill climb yesterday. He finished 3rd Vet.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4267019967712&set=a.1686181608366.92498.1652433230&type=1&theater

[neilpearsons]

A slightly better photo here http://www.flickr.com/photos/veloshooter/8071106664/#in/set-72157631731208123/

[cofe]

[Palomides]

Things that mildly annoy me in the morning #236:

Putting two layers on over bibshorts, then 10 minutes later realising that I need a poo.