Are there any French riders caught up in this or is it just the pesky foreigner who have been winning so much? Man do I have a jaded view of the French and their outragous accents!
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
Are there any French riders caught up in this or is it just the pesky foreigner who have been winning so much? Man do I have a jaded view of the French and their outragous accents!
Here's the list of the suspendees:
Looks like there is only one that might be French. Maybe ODB is on to something. The list so far (31 riders)
Astaná-Würth: Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, David Etxebarria, Joseba Beloki, Angel Vicioso, Isidro Nozal, Unai Osa, Jörg Jaksche
CSC: Ivan Basso
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears: Constantino Zaballa
Saunier Duval: Carlos Zarate
AG2R: Francisco Mancebo
T-Mobile: Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla
Phonak: Jose Enrique Gutierrez, Jose Ignacio Gutierrez
Comunidad Valenciana: Vicente Ballester, David Bernabeu, David Blanco Rodriguez, Jose Adrian Bonillla, Juan Gomis Lopez, Eladio Jimenez, David Latasa, Javier Pascual, Ruben Plaza, J.Luis M. Jimenez
Unibet.Com: Carlos Garcia Quesada
Retired/suspended riders: Roberto Heras, Angel Casero, Santiago Perez, Tyler Hamilton
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They'd have to take another 97 riders out of the tour for zee Francais riders to have a real shot.
At least the World Cup will be on through the 9th....
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Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
It's a cycling blog that has been following this pretty closely. So far, 31-riders are out. Including Roberto Heras and Francisco Mancebo (placed fourth last year), who just simply retired. (okay, just caught that someone else posted this info - but I'm stunned. Flabergasted.)
Crazy!
I'm still watching the Tour (as I do every year), the Americans are probably going to be the strongest this year - that's really crazy to be able to actually say that.
Are there any French riders caught up in this or is it just the pesky foreigner who have been winning so much? Man do I have a jaded view of the French and their outragous accents!
I don't think you can blame this one on the French. It looks to me like Operación Puerto was a Spanish investigation, originally targetting Spanish cyclists and teams. That it ended up casting an even wider net isn't surprising, given the prevalance of doping in the cycling world.
It's just too bad that it didn't catch them all - I'm sure that the French are just as guilty.
The only postive news out of all of this is that LA doesn't seem to have been implicated in any way. But I'm sure the French will find a way.
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I can't believe this. This is so huge, SO HUGE. I can't believe they're pulling this the day before the start. As a selfish American, it's great for our riders (DZ, Floyd, Levi, George), but for the sport - it's sick.
Innocent until proven guilty eh? Guess not over there. I'm going to tune in and cheer my ass off, but I just cannot believe the top 3 are out. If they did dope, good, good ridance. If not, I would sue the shit out of everyone I could, and run Dick Pound over with a bulldozer (he's got to have something to do with this...).
It would be such a shame for someone like Jan to end his career on this note. Ugh. I'm pissed.
E
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"It's what you've got inside that matters. The details and technological things will take you only so far. You still have to pedal the bike. Some people are always looking for the magic secret. There's no secret. Just bust your ass." -Dave Zabriskie
It seems that the teams are withdrawing their riders, rather than having them "barred" as I originally read. T-Mobile instantly withdrew Jan, and CSC did the same with Basso. Interesting.
E
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"It's what you've got inside that matters. The details and technological things will take you only so far. You still have to pedal the bike. Some people are always looking for the magic secret. There's no secret. Just bust your ass." -Dave Zabriskie
I can't believe this. This is so huge, SO HUGE. I can't believe they're pulling this the day before the start. As a selfish American, it's great for our riders (DZ, Floyd, Levi, George), but for the sport - it's sick.
Innocent until proven guilty eh? Guess not over there. I'm going to tune in and cheer my ass off, but I just cannot believe the top 3 are out. If they did dope, good, good ridance. If not, I would sue the shit out of everyone I could, and run Dick Pound over with a bulldozer (he's got to have something to do with this...).
It would be such a shame for someone like Jan to end his career on this note. Ugh. I'm pissed.
E
Don't forget these American riders: Bobby Julich and David Zegriskie (sp).
That's what I'm saying Patricia - very stoked for our American boys. It looks like Zabriske and Julich will head the CSC team, then you have Levi, Floyd, and Georgie as leaders, plus Valverde as a supporter who could snag some jerseys. It's gunna be fun, just not as great without the Kaiser and Basso!
E
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"It's what you've got inside that matters. The details and technological things will take you only so far. You still have to pedal the bike. Some people are always looking for the magic secret. There's no secret. Just bust your ass." -Dave Zabriskie
Is it true Discovery doesn't have an appointed leader this year? I heard whomever rides strongest, be it Popovych or Hincapie will assume the mantle.
With Eki back in it this year, man, they've got as strong a team as anyone.
Whatever the case this is gonna cast a big shadow over the race. Whomever wins will be followed by the "yeah but Jan/Basso/Beloki wasn't there.
sad sad sad
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Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Is it true Discovery doesn't have an appointed leader this year? I heard whomever rides strongest, be it Popovych or Hincapie will assume the mantle.
With Eki back in it this year, man, they've got as strong a team as anyone.
Whatever the case this is gonna cast a big shadow over the race. Whomever wins will be followed by the "yeah but Jan/Basso/Beloki wasn't there.
sad sad sad
Am watching the "Pre-Tour" on OLN right now and they just spoke to Bruyneel who said something very close to that. Overall, there are about four riders on Discovery who will do very well, and a couple who could be possible winners. Bruyneel is, like the master strategist he is, keeping the options open - as they said on the show, I'm sure by stage 7, he'll know who on his team will be the leader.
I'm sooooooo in awe of Bruyneel. Seriously. This guy is a genius.
They also just mentioned that a total of nine riders are out; including Basso and Ullrich. And the favorites of the Americans to win are Hincapie and Landis. If Levi finishes also in the top three - could there be THREE Americans on the podium?
Whatever would the French do? :p
Realistically, it's a WIDE open field and ANYONE can win this one - so I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
That's what I'm saying Patricia - very stoked for our American boys. It looks like Zabriske and Julich will head the CSC team, then you have Levi, Floyd, and Georgie as leaders, plus Valverde as a supporter who could snag some jerseys. It's gunna be fun, just not as great without the Kaiser and Basso!
E
You know, I just don't think Ullrich had it in him to win it. Heh, guess I just really, really wanted Basso to win.
As for our A-boys - yup, totally stoked about this. To think, before Lemond won his first, Americans weren't considered a threat in cycling. Oh, how I love how things have turned out.
I don't care if the winner is an American. I know Jan would have won, I saw a pic of him in the prerace tests and he was so lean and fit looking...he was out for blood, obviously. Basso could have been a solid second.
Heras has been suspended for at least a month, with his whole team broken up for many weeks...It's sad, but it's cycling. I think this will be the greatest tour to watch in history...The big names are out and its a wide open field. I can't wait!!
When I first saw this today my immediate reaction was "fuck, it's all done. I'm not even going to watch this year, it's just a waste of time."
After watching the pre-show tonight I'm stoked. This might be the best Tour in years now. If Ivan and Jan are guilty then fuck them. If they're clean (which I hope and think they are) I hope they get to pound stakes up the ass of the Tour, UCI and team officials who screwed them over. And save an especially large diameter stake for Dick Pound, who I personally think is as big an asshole as Dick Cheney, but much dumber.
My wife walked into the living room tonight and saw Phil Liggett on the screen and said "SHIT! It's July! You're divorced for the next three weeks."
Cool. I can watch Le Tour uninterrupted.
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Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
That was weird as hell with Landis this morning. I just read from Phil Liggett that they decided to change his rear at the last minute cause it looked "shaky".
No big screen, but I have a fridge full of beer out in the garage. Come on over. And since I've been "divorced" for the next three weeks, bring a few Brazilian soccer babes with you, ok?
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
Things get worse because a team needs a minimum of riders to participate and the teams agreed not to change selections. Vinokourov won't be riding because his team hasn't got enough participants.
The combination of the Spanish investigation, decisions by the Tour-management and agreements between the teams and sponsors gives rise to a very strange Tour this year.
Ullrich or Basso won't win the Tour this year.
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