Doping stress seems to have taken the shine o'utta the sport; not that it had much following anyways!


The legendary Lance Armstrong is still battling doping allegations from different quarters expecially the French media.

then fellow american Floyd Landers tested positive for banned substances after winning the sports most prestigious race "the tour de France" and he's still got a case pending in CAS.

1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis is one of four riders from the Telekom team to admit to having used banned blood booster EPO.

Italian cyclist Alessandro Petacchi failed a dope test earlier at the Gira d' Italia but has been cleared of any blame. btu he missed the tour de france as a consequence.

now Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping after winning Saturday's time-trial stage of the Tour de France and he's asked for a B sample to be taken to try clear his name.

what is going on with cycling

Check out http://www.thepaceline.com/freeforallitem.aspx?=3312 for free downloadable documents from Lance Armstrong's lawyers regarding various aspects of his career.

I simply don't understand what's going on in the sport.

So many ppl have been caught and yet these idiots keep cheating.

A thought that has crossed my mind recently is that perhaps they should be no drug laws. Let everyone be at it.

That way at least we will know we are watching real competition-
Between the Drug Companies.

and as if shyte ain't hit the roof 'nuff yet. . . .

Cristian Moreni, who was Italian champion in 2004, tested positive for testosterone following last Thursday's 11th stage. is team cofidis has pulled out of the tour de france and Moreni himself has admitted his guilt.

Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen has been sacked by his Rabobank team and withdrawn from the Tour de France.
The Dane, 33, has been at the centre of controversy since it was revealed he missed out-of-competition drugs tests on two occasions.
Rabobank, who learned he lied to them about his whereabouts in June, pledged to continue the race without him.
Rasmussen looked odds-on to win the Tour after taking Wednesday's stage and increasing his lead over second-placed rider Alberto Contador.

Cycling is not a sport, its an excuse to do drugs and escape arrest and prosecution. More than half of them are doing it. Even the great Lance Armstrong had his issues though never proven.

A major overhauling is needed but till then will stick to soccer.

somze:

Cycling is not a sport, its an excuse to do drugs and escape arrest and prosecution.

All professional sports have issues with doping, it's only that cycling is the most controlled sport in the world and therefore more people are caught. There's a perception problem though, because historically cycling has always been associated with doping. Currently, even though riders are still being caught, there is far less doping in cycling than e.g. in athletics or even football. When considering drug problems (not doping), there are far more problems in football (e.g. Maradonna)

somze:

More than half of them are doing it. Even the great Lance Armstrong had his issues though never proven.

Correction almost 90% were doing it (especially in multi-stage races) in the 90's. I would be surprised if there were even 10% of racers who are still using doping. Each cycling professional gets controlled anything between 5 and 50 times per year. Even my younger brother who is now cycling in the 'espoirs' category (non professional) has already been controlled 16 times starting when he was 16.

somze:

A major overhauling is needed but till then will stick to soccer.

That major overhaul is happening right now. The last bad apples are being thrown out of the basket. Let's just hope it doesn't kill the sport. The problem is that the international cycling federation is in conflict with the ASO (organiser of the Tour de France). Astana should never have received a license from the UCI (there are mixed messages coming from UCI president McQuaid regarding the UCI's anti-doping policy).

nferyn

Thanks for the lesson dude

somze:

nferyn

Thanks for the lesson dude

I had to defend my sport

Cycling is a pretty difficult sport. . . .
requires loads of energy expecially guys who go on different courses - even the normal Cycling that takes place indoors is very hectic too; talkless of when you exposed to varying terrains over very long distances and at the mercy of climatic unpredictibilty.

thats why its such a wonder that Lance Armstrong could come out of his sick bed after extensive treatment for cancer and win the toughest race on the Cycling tour, 7 consecutive times! Astounding feat!!!

Yeh i really like the guy, he's in my list of all best Sports peeps

RuuDie:

Cycling is a pretty difficult sport. . . .
requires loads of energy expecially guys who go on different courses -

It is very intensive and you need to have a very high pain treshold. Racing means withstanding levels of pain for several hours that would make the average Joe faint. For example Tyler Hamilton finished the Tour de France in 2001 having riden the whole 3 weeks with a broken colarbone or Frank Vandenbroucke finishing seventh in the world championship with two broken wrists.
Another tidbit: during the mountain stages in the TDF a rider cannot naturally have a sufficient intake of nurtients to replenish the energy used during the day (the energy consumption can be up to 10.000 Calories, try imagining that as food standing on plates in front of you)

RuuDie:

even the normal Cycling that takes place indoors is very hectic too;

Normal cycling? I know I usually train on my trainer (bike attached to magnetic resitance unit) indoors, but that's more because my schedule doesn't allow me to go riding outdoors. I'm really an odd duck out here

RuuDie:

talkless of when you exposed to varying terrains over very long distances and at the mercy of climatic unpredictibilty.

The climate doesn't really have that much of an impact. The terrain and distance determine your energetic needs (unless there's a lot of wind).

RuuDie:

thats why its such a wonder that Lance Armstrong could come out of his sick bed after extensive treatment for cancer and win the toughest race on the Cycling tour, 7 consecutive times! Astounding feat!!!

Actually it isn't as strange as it looks.
1. He was an amazing athlete with an incredible aerobic capacity:
from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Fitness-Cardio-Secret-That-Propels-Lance-Armstrong&id=53623

1. Lungs - 2 times the capacity of the average person
2. Muscle - Accumulates less lactic acid and is more efficient at removing it.
3. Heart - Is about 1/3 larger with a resting heart rate of 32 beats per minute, and peaks around 200 beats per minute.
4. Body Fat - 4-5 percent before the Tour starts, while an average person has 15-20 percent.
5. Food Consumption - Needs 6500 calories per day, and upwards of 10,000 per day when biking in the mountains during his 120 mile race.

2. He reintroduced the concept of riding at a higher frequency pedalling (around 100-110 revolutions of the pedals per minute), which taxes his aerobic capacity more and his anaerobic capacity less, resulting in a lower rate of lactic acid build-up in the muscles and less micro-fissures of muscle tissue
3. His cancer made him lose all the bulk of his muscle mass, which was too high to be successful in multi-stage races like the TDF. He remodelled himself to become a stage racer
4. the ordeal he went through gave him the focus and will to tolerate pain more than any other racer of his era

Anyway, there are very few sports that are as taxing for the body as cycling, that partly explains why doping was so prevalent in cycling, it really makes a significant difference. E.g. using EPO wouldn't turn an average footballer into a star player, cycling is much at the edge of what human physiology can withstand that the impact of using doping is very real.

Nferyn and his elaborated lessons again

Thanks again dude

nferyn:

Actually it isn't as strange as it looks.
1. He was an amazing athlete with an incredible aerobic capacity:
from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Fitness-Cardio-Secret-That-Propels-Lance-Armstrong&id=536232. He reintroduced the concept of riding at a higher frequency pedalling (around 100-110 revolutions of the pedals per minute), which taxes his aerobic capacity more and his anaerobic capacity less, resulting in a lower rate of lactic acid build-up in the muscles and less micro-fissures of muscle tissue
3. His cancer made him lose all the bulk of his muscle mass, which was too high to be successful in multi-stage races like the TDF. He remodelled himself to become a stage racer
4. the ordeal he went through gave him the focus and will to tolerate pain more than any other racer of his era

Try telling this to L'Equip and some elements in the French media. . . . .

Cycling - A sports Jinxed? How about "Threadmill Runner Fails HGH Test" That will really expose the use of performance enhancing drugs in all sports.

Men if una believe say Armstrong no cheat, then Naija don dey raise naive individuals.

I just dey wait when the guy go pai like Flo Jo
(Quite morbid I know. If u don't like it, take me to Judge Judy)

somze:

Nferyn and his elaborated lessons again

Thanks again dude

Well it's good to talk about other stuff from time to time as well. I just hope to find some cycling enthusiasts here too.

RuuDie:

Try telling this to L'Equip and some elements in the French media. . . . .

The French are subject to a strange kind of suspension of disbelief when it comes to their national icons. They still revere Virenque who was a far worse doping offender than Armstrong will ever be.

BlackMamba:

Cycling - A sports Jinxed? How about "Threadmill Runner Fails HGH Test" That will really expose the use of performance enhancing drugs in all sports.

American Pro sports are worst of all. They don't even allow doping tests in their sports. Anyway, athletics are also pretty bad when it comes to doping, they only don't get as much exposure as cycling gets.

doyin13:

Men if una believe say Armstrong no cheat, then Naija don dey raise naive individuals.

The most naive people here are the Americans, they assume doping in cycling is only a European phenomenon, but then again, almost all of their top cyclist have been involved (caught or not) in doping one way or another (with the possible exception of Greg Lemond)

doyin13:

I just dey wait when the guy go pai like Flo Jo
(Quite morbid I know. If u don't like it, take me to Judge Judy)

Never going to happen. If he took doping it was probably EPO or one of the drugs with a similar result (such as Aranesp) and only during preparation (to increase the effect of training super compensation). He was smart enough not to get caught and his medical preparation was impeccable. I'm personally an agnostic when it comes to Armstrong's alleged doping abuse.
Whatever they may write about Epo, from a medical perspective it is better to ride a race like the TDF with Epo than without Epo. At the end of the Tour, the hematocrit values of the racers are so low, you could mistake them for those of anemic 80 year olds.

Spain's Alberto Contador steered clear of trouble on the cobbled streets of the Champs-Elysees to seal overall victory in the 2007 Tour de France.

The Discovery Channel rider maintained his 23-second lead over Australian Cadel Evans, with American team-mate Levi Leipheimer taking third place.

Italy's Daniele Bennati took victory on the final stage into Paris.

The race was marred by several positive doping tests as well as the sacking of race leader Michael Rasmussen.
The Dane seemed destined for victory after dominating in the mountains but was sent home by his Rabobank team for lying about his whereabouts in the build-up to the race.

Pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov was dumped out of the Tour after testing positive for blood doping following two stage wins in three days while Cristian Moreni and Patrik Sinkewitz also failed drugs tests.

The 24-year-old Contador is the youngest winner since Jan Ullrich in 1997 and the first Spanish victor since Miguel Indurain in 1995.

His margin of victory was also the narrowest since Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon by eight seconds in 1989.

"There were hard times," said Contador, who was riding in only his seond Tour de France after finishing 31st in 2005.

"Saturday's time trial was very hard. I had to fight but it was worth it, it's marvellous."

Belgian Tom Boonen won the green jersey for the most consistent finisher, while Colombian Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez won the polka dot jersey as the king of the mountains.

Contador's triumph is all the more remarkable given he spent 10 days in a coma in 2002 after suffering swelling to the brain following a crash in the Tour of Asturias.

"It really marked me for life," said Contador, reflecting on the illness. "But it allows me to better savour this moment."

Seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong was in Paris to see Contador triumph, and he said: "I think we've seen the future of Spanish cycling and perhaps international cycling."

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was on the winner's podium as Contador was presented with the yellow jersey.

Geraint Thomas, the youngest rider in the race, placed 140th on his Tour debut.

Over a million people lined the streets of London when the Tour de France started there three weeks ago.

Final overall standings

1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel 91hr 26 sec
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto +23 sec
3 Levi Leipheimer (US) Discovery Channel +31
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC +7:08
5 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel +8:17
6 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne +11:37
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile +12:18
8 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel +12:25
9 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel +14:14
10 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne +14:25

won't be surprised if Contador comes under media spotlight for doping allegations in weeks to come. . . .

@ RuuDie

What exactly is your background in cycling? Just an enthusiast or have you raced as well?

nah. . . just an enthusiast!
u seem to have raced c'uz u know a l'il bit of the ins and outs - i follow the sport but not deeply c'uz it ain't so popular this side of the globe!

RuuDie:

nah. . . just an enthusiast!
u seem to have raced c'uz u know a l'il bit of the ins and outs - i follow the sport but not deeply c'uz it ain't so popular this side of the globe!

I did race, but only for a year. I just wasn't good enough. My younger brother has been racing for about 5 years now, he's much better than I was.
Do you only follow the sport or do you ride yourself? If you ride you can really appreciate the sport better as it can seem boring if you don't understand the tactics. Even though it looks as though it's an individual sport it's far more of a team sport than it looks like at first sight.
Also if you have raced yourself, you can 'read' the race far better than if you haven't (e.g. you know when an attack has a chance of succeeding)

Nah. . . only bit of cycling i've done is on d streets

but i do understand most of what u're saying c'uz i watch more cycling than d average naijarian here (or so i feel); read a bit about the sport 'n all. . . i just don't memorise names, teams 'n stuffs c'uz, well nobody 'round to trade d knowledge with, so i just watch 'n take note of crazy developments

Mayo tested positive for EPO.

I think a few years ago he was leading the tour until Armstrong took over as usual.

By the way where is Ullrich?

One would think with Armstrong away from the scene, he would be supreme contender.

Funny. . . when Lance was around, i never took much note of the other contenders and most often, attention was almost always on the Tour D' France!

and still on the Tour D' Farce. . . .

Mayo joins Tour's list of shame

Spain's Iban Mayo has been suspended by the Saunier Duval team after failing a drugs test during the Tour de France.

The mountain specialist tested positive for the banned blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) on 24 July, which was the Tour's final rest day.

Mayo, 29, is a team-mate of Britain's David Millar, an outspoken critic of cycling's drug culture since serving a two-year ban, also for using EPO.

This year's Tour was rocked by a series of drug-related revelations.

In a statement, Mayo's employers said: "The Saunier Duval team were notified by the International Cycling Union (UCI) that Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO following a test on 24 July."

The statement added that they had decided to suspend him immediately and would sack him if the B sample also tested positive test.

In June, Mayo was reported to have tested positive for excessive testosterone after a stage win in the Giro d'Italia.
He was cleared by the UCI but president Pat McQuaid said the Spaniard had been singled out by testers as a potential future offender.

"People need to understand, the riders need to understand that that the UCI operates in a different way than in the past," said McQuaid.

"Thanks to the blood tests, we target riders - Iban Mayo was one of the UCI targets.

"The riders have to understand that we use intelligence to target some of them."

Sinkewitz rejects option B

Meanwhile, Germany's Patrik Sinkewitz, who was suspended by his T Mobile team after testing positive for high levels of testosterone in a pre-Tour test, has decided not to have his B sample tested.
Although the test was carried out in early June, the positive result was not made public until 18 July, three days after he was forced to pull out of the Tour after colliding with a spectator.

Alexandre Vinokourov has been sacked by the Astana team following his positive test for blood doping during the Tour de France.

The Kazakh, who was Astana's lead rider and the pre-race favourite, failed a doping test after winning a time trial stage on Saturday, 21 July.
Astana said in a statement they had received confirmation that Vinokourov's B-sample had tested "non-negative".
"Consequently, he has been sacked with immediate effect," it added.

Vinokourov, who denies blood doping, left the race on 24 July and, as a result of his positive test, Astana were invited by Tour organisers to pull out.

The winner of last year's Tour of Spain, the 33-year-old placed third in Le Tour in 2003 and was strongly tipped for success in this year's event.

If found guilty he faces a two-year ban and, according to the International Cycling Union's anti-doping charter, will have to pay a fine equal to a year's salary.

Spaniard Alberto Contador of the Discovery Channel team won this year's Tour which was marred by doping scandals.

Italian Cristian Moreni tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone and his Cofidis team also left the race.

Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his Rabobank team when leading the race for lying about his training whereabouts, an allegation the Dane denies.

He had previously received two recorded warnings from the UCI for failing to provide the sport's governing body with his personal schedule.

Last year's Tour champion Floyd Landis is awaiting the ruling of a US arbitration panel after testing positive for testosterone during the 2006 race.
He denies using performance-enhancing substances.

doyin13:

Mayo tested positive for EPO.

I think a few years ago he was leading the tour until Armstrong took over as usual.

He's never been a contender for the GC in the Tour, he was an good climber but nothing more than that and he's always been rather suspect when it comes to doping. It's already the second time this year: after testosteron now Epo. He's like a walking medicine cabinet

As a good Belgian, I'm more into one day races anyway. Luckily we have Boonen who took the green jersey and will probably go for his second world championship later this year after the Vuelta

doyin13:

By the way where is Ullrich?

He retired after being involved in the Fuentes case.

doyin13:

One would think with Armstrong away from the scene, he would be supreme contender.

He would have been yes. He was actually more talented than Armstrong. His test results were really off the scale: closer to Merckx than to Armstrong really. He could easily have competed without doping, but he was not focused enough to take care of himself all year round.

Fall-out of Le Tour De Farce

Astana have suspended their activities for one month after sacking lead rider Alexandre Vinokourov for failing a Tour de France blood doping test.

The Swiss-based, Kazakhstan-backed team said in a statement: "Following recent events, we have decided to stop our activities until the end of August.

"This period of time will be the opportunity for deep questioning."