A very Special Texan in France...

Win this last one, Lance, and then retire. But please replace all the Shitmano with Campy for the last stage.

I used to ride about 70k a week with a club as a kid. It’s a great sport, but to succeed at that level you need to dope. Cycling needs to clean up its act. How many dead ex-stars (and non stars) will it take until the governing bodies take serious measures to stop the usage of EPO?

I look at that race and cant take it seriously.

No doubt Armstrong is an exceptional talent, and were the sport free of dope, he would be right up at the top, but anyone riding in that field deserves to be looked upon with suspicion. It’s sad, but real.

They used to say Chris Boardman was clean, and there were a few more like him, but never made it, because to hit the alps at 35kmph takes more than superhuman stamina.

An interesting book, very readable, and informative by former Irish rider Paul Kimmage , who now writes in various papers.

Sport + Money = trouble. From Leeds utd and MUTV to the tour de France & Irish rugby. The only sports I can take seriously are amateur.

I agree with Clockwork, the cyclists are more doped up than the Oakland Raiders.

Originally posted by Clockwork C The only sports I can take seriously are amateur.

I'm with you there.

I'm pretty sure they are sniffing Lance's panties and digging though his trash. Tieing the record was amazing. Breaking it will be outstanding.

The only thing I've really liked about Lance is how genuinely excited the workers get at the Trek bicycle factories in the US (Lance uses a Trek), but other than that I don't give a flying fook.

Originally posted by twist I'm pretty sure they are sniffing Lance's panties and digging though his trash. Tieing the record was amazing. Breaking it will be outstanding.

“They” are indeed. Last month, a book by David Walsh (Sunday Times) Pierre Ballester (L’Equipe) was published in france, in French only going through the evidence. “LA confidential” is the title.

Lance was caught doping in 1999 – excessive red blood cells – and was let off on a technicality (he claimed it was due to a sore arse cream).

Armstrongs USPS personal assistant claims to have regularly cleaned up trackmarks with makeup before races.

To win the tour one almost certainly needs to dope. This is historically true. In the 20s it was “speedballs”, later on it was steroids in certain muscles, then in the late 80s, the game was raised by an Italian Doctor, who started giving EPO to cyclists. This stuff heightens the amount of red blood cells in your veins, helping you up mountains at top speeds. Mountain speeds have drastically increased in the past decade – way exceeding time advances accounted for by new bike and training technology.

Other ways of achieving high red cells include high altitude training. Living on top of a U2 spy plane couldn’t explain levels in pantanis Blood a year before he killed himself.

One famous Doctor who has been found doping cyclists is Dr. Michele Ferrari - Lance has been paying him visits regularly over the past number of years. This doctor is dodgy with a capital D. think sinister Dr Nick. Greg LeMond has publically admitted suspicion over the Ferrari - Armstrong relationship.

After cycling, former EPOers tend to hit cocaine in a pretty big way.

The relationship between Drugs and LeTour is symbiotic. Every year, every town council in France applies for the race to swing by their way (for obvious reasons), every year , it gets longer and faster (fastest ever average speed last year), and so the pressure to perform peters down to cyclists, who rely on the sport for a living, and are therefore more likely to dope than other endurance athletes - part time Olympic student rowers – Weekend and Night time Marathon runners holding down a job, etc.

The French Minister of sport refused to travel in the race directors car this year – hopefully there is some governmental impetus to change the nature of the tour, and cycling in general, but this needs to be done internationally.

Speaking of drugfests, anyone care about the Olympics??

The summer games bore me but I enjoy the winter games.

If the athletes were winning competitions on the basis of athletic ability, rather than by cheating, I could respect the competition.

As long as the athletes are cheating, why don't they just hide in waiting near the finish line, and then sprint to "victory"? Or ride in a sagwagon until they get near the finish line? Where does it end? With holographic images of the "victor" beamed in to the finish line? Genetic engineering? Cyborgs? Robots? Why would anybody give a fuck about "the accomplishment" if a cheater "beat" the record?

Originally posted by bLuE oRdEr If the athletes were winning competitions on the basis of athletic ability, rather than by cheating, I could respect the competition.As long as the athletes are cheating, why don't they just hide in waiting near the finish line, and then sprint to "victory"? Or ride in a sagwagon until they get near the finish line? Where does it end? With holographic images of the "victor" beamed in to the finish line? Genetic engineering? Cyborgs? Robots? Why would anybody give a fuck about "the accomplishment" if a cheater "beat" the record?

With all the attention on drugs in the past few Tours and general French shittiness I think they would have discovered doping by now.

The real question is unanswered. He should be disqualified for using STI instead of Ergo.

Originally posted by twist With all the attention on drugs in the past few Tours and general French shittiness I think they would have discovered doping by now.The real question is unanswered. He should be disqualified for using STI instead of Ergo.

The french are pretty lax on doping- it was the swiss boarder police (of all people) who shut down festina, and brought dope to the fore in 1998.

Armstrong dopes. He is not alone. The race deserves no support. Its a pity.