Archive for the 'Tour de France' Category

Contador wins Tour de France

Published at July 29, 2007 in Cycling and Tour de France. 0 Comments

Alberto Contador Wins Tour de France

As predicted the Spaniard, Alberto Contador, won the Yellow jersey of the Tour de France. Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer finished respectively 2nd & 3rd. Before the final stage into Paris there whisperings by the media and fans alike that Evans, 23 seconds behind Contador, would attempt to make a final attack on the yellow jersey. But the rumors were just that: rumors. Steeped in race tradition there would be no attack; rather riders giving high-fives and posing for pictures. For showmanship the sprinters would battle it out in the final kilometers, and the race leaders would finish safely in the peloton.

Many unfamiliar to the sport will question why there was no race to the end, and that Evans and Leipheimer should have battled Contador for the yellow jersey. Such notion should be dismissed for two reasons:

  1. Cycling is a team sport; Evans would be hard pressed to attack the strongest team in cycling–Discovery.
  2. Tradition is important for any major sporting event, it brings competition into perspective (it’s just competition).

Contador is only 24 years old, and a tour rookie, it looks like he will have his chance to dominate the sport like Lance Armstrong. He will also have his distractors, who won’t accept his victory, and in their eyes the Dane, Michael Rassmusen, was robbed of the yellow jersey at the last moment.

This might be true, and here in lies the problem: the UCI, the Tour, teams, and the athletes have to come together and create a cohesive federation that levels the playing field against cheaters, but upholds a standard of due process for every rider and team.

Maybe this will happen before next years tour.

Tour de France: All Leipheimer & Contador

Published at July 28, 2007 in Cycling and Tour de France. 0 Comments

Contador in Yellow.

Despite the off-the-road drama of the Tour, stage 19, was the most exciting stage of the 3 week event. Discovery came in and did what they do best: WIN! Contador maintained his lead over Ausie Cadel Evans by 23 seconds; enough to keep the yellow jersey and (probably) win his first Tour de France.

But the day belonged to American Levi Leipheimer of the Discovery team. Third in GC standings, behind Cantador and Evans, Leipheimer blew the time trial off its hinges. Evans, who finished second, was 51 seconds behind; Leipheimer put himself 6 seconds behind Evans, and 30 seconds behind Cantador in the GC. This will probably go down as the ride of his life!

Not to distract from Leipheimer’s tremendous accomplishment, but isn’t it interesting that 30 seconds is the difference between him and the Yellow jersey. If he could have improved any 5 of the 18 stages by 6 seconds he could be wearing yellow.

How do you mentally make up the seconds? These guys push themselves to the wall and over, so to imagine that seconds can be improved is pretty difficult. Obsession, it’s the only thing I think drives these guys through this much pain, which explains a lot for the cheaters.

Tour de France | What a Mess!

Published at July 26, 2007 in Cycling and Tour de France. 0 Comments

Ras

The drama off the road is more intense than the drama on the road at the Tour de France. What the hell is going on? Is it the riders? Is it the UCI? WADA? Tour leader Michael Rassmusen was “sacked” by his team for lying about his whereabouts during last month, thus, missing unscheduled drug tests.

Eurosport.com is reporting that Ras was sent packing because “someone” says they saw the star cyclist training in Italy, and not Mexico, where he had registered w/ the UCI. If this is the reason he was sacked and forced to quit the Tour just days before he was about to win, then, the UCI is the problem! Like the case against Landis, there is no due process for the athlete when anyone can accuse you of wrong doing.

I think the bicycle manufactures should start their own cycling federation, and screw the UCI. These companies like Trek, Specialized, Felt etc all have skin in this game; they are the natural candidates to create either a riders union or a new federation.

Maybe to protect the Tours branding they should cancel next years race. Thoughts?

If Ras did lie then good riddance!

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Vinokourov tests positive, withdraws from Tour de France

Published at July 24, 2007 in Cycling and Tour de France. 0 Comments

Eurosport.com is reporting that, pre-race favorite and winner of stages 13 & 15 of this years race, Alexander Vinokourov has tested positive for doping. His A sample found two different types of red blood cells, which assumes the athlete has had blood transfusion. The test wast taken just prior to his stage 13 time trial win. Vino has withdrawn from the Tour.

Despite the positive sample A test I believe judgment needs to be withheld until the process has been completed. I hope Dick Pound and Pat McQuaid will bite their tongues, and avoid the media debacle they created around Floyd Landis. I believe there is little due process for athletes in the middle of doping scandals, so it is important to be objective and fair before casting judgment. I hope for the sport of cycling and for the Tour de France this is a mistake. If it turns out to be true I hope the athletes will get their damn priorities straight.

Is Everyone Doping?

Published at July 9, 2007 in Book Maven, Cycling and Tour de France. 2 Comments

I hear this all the time from “arm chair” athletes, “glory days” co-workers, and “mediocre” pros: “everyone is doping!”

I usually just shrug my shoulders and agree because I don’t know and honestly couldn’t give any proof or facts one way or the other.

But since becoming an avid enthusiast of cycling, it has made me think more about the subject. Among the media and general public, cycling, has a tainted image. Especially with all the circulation of Lance Armstrong’s use of performance enhancers during his 7 Tour de France wins, Operation Puerto, and Floyd Landis have only compounded the issue.

I have to admit up front I judged Landis to be a cheater the first time I saw him on tv trying to defend himself, but after reading this book I was able to put a side some of the thing personal and character issues keeping me from making a somewhat objective judgment. Like the fact he is not very articulate, and struggles to explain the technical elements of his case.

Most importantly, if he’s innocent why hasn’t he just cleared his name up front, or proven that the French were out to get him. From my broad knowledge of the law and justice in the country it shouldn’t be difficult to clear himself of these charges.

Aren’t drug test pretty clear? Positive or negative. Litmus test like.

If you have had similar thoughts then you need to read this book. Landis opens your eyes to who he is as a person with all his faults and failures, and then constructs the unfair and nefarious process an athlete–himself– goes through when accused of doping. And very convincing, Landis, dismantles and destroys the case against him.

Two points of interest:

  1. In drug testing, like all science, the method is more important than the outcome. If the method or process is flawed then the results don’t matter. Because the French lab does not have transparency, and Landis and his team have pointed out some very gross errors you have to believe the results are erroneous, or at the very least without credibility.
  2. The system is broken. I cannot believe a system, or organization like WADA/USADA (anti-doping agencies), that writes the laws/rules, prosecutes athletes, and chooses the judges can objectively and fairly bring anyone to justices. Even the most villainous of athletes (ummm Barry Bonds) has the right to be fairly treated, and given a process with checks and balances to determine his guilt or innocence.

Both of these points are important because you are dealing with athletes lives.

Lastly, why hasn’t Landis just bailed out quietly? Other athletes caught in the whirlwinds of doping scandals have done so, why not him? Why is he spending all of his money to fight this? I believe that speaks highly of his personal character.

Anyone who says “everyone is doping” can only justify why they are not good enough to be great.