2008 Tour de France

[cameraman]

It starts in the morning.

I'm still watching...

[opinionated ow]

Come on Cadel!

[coolhand]

damn, i forgot about it.

I will still watch it too. Different faces but the same interesting sport.



Whoa, no prologue?

[cameraman]

How stupid can someone be? Getting busted for EPO use? They can test for it and you have to know that they will test for it. But the dumb **** used it anyway:shakehead

Riccardo Ricco banned from the Tour. (http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/80269/riccardo-ricc%F2-tests-positive-saunier-duval-team-withdraws)

Sneeky... Roche helped develop a test for Mircera, it seems everyone thought that it was undetectable.
Not so much it seems

[opinionated ow]

For the third day, Cadel Evans leads overall by 1s!

[emjaya]

Great tour so far. :thumbup:

[cameraman]

Barloworld is ending their sponsorship of professional cycling as soon as the Tour ends.:shakehead

[oddlycalm]

Sorry to see the race go away from Cadel, but he didn't seem to be the same after that awful crash early in the Alps. Until then CSC was dominating but he was always there. Hell of an effort without much team suport. :thumbup: Must have been heart breaking getting 2nd again though.

This was the hardest tour I've seen. The Alpine stages were higher and harder and the early stages through the Massif Central didn't leave much for the flatland men.

Vande Velde looked strong all three weeks and I hope he is back with a strong team next year.

I'm hoping this year is the end for doping. The police taking the riders away and the zero tolerance policy make trying it nuts. Columbia and Garmin Chipotle are on the right track with sophisticated 3rd party monitoring. Not only does that insure the riders are clean but it gives independent verification in the event of a bogus positive from a corrupt lab. It seems to protect the team, riders and sponsors.

oc

[emjaya]

Sorry to see the race go away from Cadel, but he didn't seem to be the same after that awful crash early in the Alps. Until then CSC was dominating but he was always there. Hell of an effort without much team suport. :thumbup: Must have been heart breaking getting 2nd again though.

This was the hardest tour I've seen. The Alpine stages were higher and harder and the early stages through the Massif Central didn't leave much for the flatland men.

Vande Velde looked strong all three weeks and I hope he is back with a strong team next year.

I'm hoping this year is the end for doping. The police taking the riders away and the zero tolerance policy make trying it nuts. Columbia and Garmin Chipotle are on the right track with sophisticated 3rd party monitoring. Not only does that insure the riders are clean but it gives independent verification in the event of a bogus positive from a corrupt lab. It seems to protect the team, riders and sponsors.

oc

Cadel said on Oz Tv the crash took a lot out of him. The second week was especially hard. Next year. :)

Good tour, I really enjoyed it this year even if Cadel didn't win. :thumbup:

[opinionated ow]

Cadel said on Oz Tv the crash took a lot out of him. The second week was especially hard. Next year. :)

Good tour, I really enjoyed it this year even if Cadel didn't win. :thumbup:

Yes, first time I followed it, but well worth it!

[dando]

Lance coming back? :eek: :thumbup:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3576014

-Kevin

[cameraman]

With Astana? I take it they will be unbanned for 2009:saywhat:

[oddlycalm]

With Astana? I take it they will be unbanned for 2009:saywhat:
Lance and Johan know a guy who has an "in" with the Tour organizers.

oc

http://www.boratmakeglorioustributeactto.com/borat_08_thumbnail.jpg

[Ankf00]

coming back w/ Team Dope...

[IlliniRacer]

coming back w/ Team Dope...

I was really hoping he would have come back with Slipstream. After I finally finished laughing at myself, I realized there isn't a chance in the world he could ride with them.

[Wheel-Nut]

There is no one in the peleton that can hang with him. #8 should be a wrap.

[cameraman]

His support team will be heavily dope tested this time around.
It won't be the same race.

[oddlycalm]

His support team will be heavily dope tested this time around.
It won't be the same race.
One thing that Columbia Sliptream and Garmin Chipotle are doing that makes a lot of business sense to me is detailed monitoring of their teams by a 3rd party organization. It not only protects the team and sponsor from doping surprises in the middle of an event but it gives them independent evidence in the event there is a bogus lab result.

Interesting that LA feels that the level of competition is such that he can come back from couple years in retirement and win at age 37.

oc

[Ankf00]

he finished 2nd in the Leadville 100 mtb race this summer.

fyi: garmin chipotle == slipstream :)

[oddlycalm]

fyi: garmin chipotle == slipstream :)

All those American teams look the same....:gomer: Highroad, Slipstream, whatever, who the hell cares when you compare them to Astana and the glory of Kazakstan. :D

oc

[Don Quixote]

available at the onion store:

http://store.theonion.com/images/get/139

[Ankf00]

Astana says "wtf?"

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-armstrong-comeback&prov=ap&type=lgns

[dando]

Astana says "wtf?"

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-armstrong-comeback&prov=ap&type=lgns

Me thinks there's more to it than appears...

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3577703

Perhaps Borat is behind this. :gomer:

-Kevin

[dando]

It's official....heeeee's baaaack. :thumbup:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/09/armstrong.returns/index.html

-Kevin

[dando]

An now FLandis cometh back...

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3580067

:saywhat:

-Kevin

[cameraman]

:saywhat::irked::shakehead

[emjaya]

Schumacher tests positive for EPO

No, not the chin. :gomer:


GERMAN cyclist Stefan Schumacher, has tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), according to L'Equipe website.

Link (http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24458568-23218,00.html)

[emjaya]

And another one fails the new test.


AUSTRIA'S Bernhard Kohl, the best climber at this year's Tour de France and third overall, has tested positive for third-generation drug EPO Cera, France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) said.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24493543-23218,00.html

[cameraman]

Great, they are going back through and redoing all the tests collected over the summer. Looks like they will be dragging it out over the entire fall:shakehead