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The Cycling Thread

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
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Rain suddenly come in hard. This could ruin it for Roglic, Dumoulin and Froome. Oliveira must fancy his chances now. Nerve-wracking!
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,558
Wow, Dumoulin! What a performance.

Only Tony Martin left. Roglic silver and Froome bronze.
 

noggen

Well-Known Member
Aug 21, 2009
1,627
3,323
21686501_890903551068335_5154909408895912925_n.jpg

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nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
Chantal Blaak wins the women's road race. With Van Vleuten and Dumoulin winning the ITTs it could be a clean sweep for the Dutch!
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,558
Sagan is the perfect one day cyclist. I wouldn't be surprised if he won at least another five World Champs before he retires.

Absolutely heartbreaking for Kristoff though.

And a bummer for the TV viewers as the helicopter lost signal with a few K to go so all mobile cameras on the bikes cut out. Thank feck the stationary cameras all worked perfectly for the last K.
 

aussiespursguy

Well-Known Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,437
6,677
Sagan is the perfect one day cyclist. I wouldn't be surprised if he won at least another five World Champs before he retires.

Absolutely heartbreaking for Kristoff though.

And a bummer for the TV viewers as the helicopter lost signal with a few K to go so all mobile cameras on the bikes cut out. Thank feck the stationary cameras all worked perfectly for the last K.
Certainly added to the excitement waiting for them to appear for the last 1km!
Certainly feel for Kristoff. He had it won with 50m to go. He was just up against the best long course rider of a number of generations.

Big shout out to Bling Matthews. He must be wondering what he has to do to beat Sagan as well. A bronze to add to Silver behind Sagan 2 years ago. Matthews is the same age (well 9 months younger) and must be cursing being the same age as Sagan. He could end up having a few more placings behind him and being remembered as the "nearly" man.
 

nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
Sagan is just incredible. He won't win it in Innsbruck with 5,000m of climbing mind you! Nice to see Swifty up in 5th.
 

talkshowhost86

Mod-Moose
Staff
Oct 2, 2004
48,104
47,059
So...looks like ol' Froomey may not win SPOTY after all.

It might simply be time to stop professional cycling.
 

brendanb50

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2005
4,483
3,890
So...looks like ol' Froomey may not win SPOTY after all.

It might simply be time to stop professional cycling.

Unfortunately the reality of the situation is that (pre/post Armstrong) it's never stopped. The doping in all sports is way ahead of the testing and is even ignored to an extent by the governing bodies for fear of complete reputational damage.

I refer to Armstrong because his situation was seen as a watershed moment for doping and cycling but ultimately it served no purpose whatsoever in the cleaning up of the sport.

Cycling is the poster sport for organised, team sponsored doping and it's way too ingrained to change now, so i'm almost with you in suggesting drastic action - although mine would be - dope all you want, dope yourselves up to the eyeballs and race, see who's best then.

Sorry if this reads as a doping rant, i know some may refer to Froome as an accidental asthma med OD but it really isn't. Look at the levels of performance vs. proven dopers, look at the quantity of medical TUEs in the sport (for top level professional athletes), wait and watch what happens now - because there will probably be an exposure of someone/some team in due course. Cycling has two default modes - one is complete omerta, nobody talks in spite of what they all know and the other is throwing the bad egg/eggs under the bus like they're the only ones who have been at it.
 
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nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
Part of me would like there to be a legit explanation for this test - I'm not a massive fan of Chris Froome but he seems quite an intelligent person. The level of suspicion around him, even from his first Tour win was ridiculous, having piss thrown at him, being compared to Armstrong by French pundits who ignored Thibault Pinot's identical numbers on a training ride on Ventoux, accusations thrown at him which are never leveled at the likes of Quintana or Dumoulin when he almost won the Vuelta as 'just a time trialist'.

He knows anything he does is going to be pounced on, he knows as race leader he's going to be tested every day, he'd be monumentally stupid to try anything, even to go overboard with an inhaler and try and pass it off. In that sense I hope there is nothing untowards going on, but it's not looking good.

Tony Martin's right, there are double standards in cycling. Why wasn't Froome immediately suspended from the Vuleta for producing a test that has seen other riders suspended? But then even Martin doesn't go as far as he should - Astana were still given a license for the 2015 season despite five riders failing tests. You have riders like Greg Van Avermaet who failed a test because he was so doped up to his eyeballs on cortisone that even his own federation wanted him banned. But he's marketable, so it was all swept under the carpet and he was allowed to carry on riding. I doubt any of the wins he's had over the last couple of years have been legit.
 

nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
The Classics are back! Great finish to Milan San Remo. Nibbles timed his attack perfectly. Absolutely horrible looking crash for Cav though. I'd be amazed if he hasn't broken something.
 

aussiespursguy

Well-Known Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,437
6,677
The Classics are back! Great finish to Milan San Remo. Nibbles timed his attack perfectly. Absolutely horrible looking crash for Cav though. I'd be amazed if he hasn't broken something.
Completely forgot it was on! Great stuff from young Caleb Ewan. May be his breakout season i think.
 

nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
I love the romance and history of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. My favourite races of the season. Hopefully Flanders is a quick race tomorrow and won't clash too much with our game.

Wonder if anyone will try a 60km solo push like Gilbert last year... :woot:
 

nightgoat

Well-Known Member
Sep 12, 2005
24,604
21,898
Ouch. Mitch Docker ended up in some barbed wire. Some people just have shit luck.

Apparently Luke Rowe's been disqualified for riding on the pavement when he had to go around to avoid a load of spectators who were stood all over the road. Sometimes the commissaires really are clueless.
 
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