Le Tour de France

[attilahun]

I meant to say that, from my point of view, it is impossible to recover from that kind of illness and afer that to win Le Tour without using some kind of steroids.
I m sorry for all of Lance's fans but for me he is a cheater.
About the last winner of Le Tour who was clean i think it was Eddie Merckx. I hope so.

[April madness]

I meant to say that, from my point of view, it is impossible to recover from that kind of illness and afer that to win Le Tour without using some kind of steroids.
I m sorry for all of Lance's fans but for me he is a cheater.
About the last winner of Le Tour who was clean i think it was Eddie Merckx. I hope so.

well, probably. but to make such a conclusion we need to know Lance's history of illness, his ability to recover, a lot about medicine especially the way chemotherapy affects the organism and to which extent the human body can recover to the level before the illness... I mean, you can be right, and you have all rights to believe he's a cheater, but I'd better see it proved by scientifical methods, if possible

and I wouldn't say I'm Lance's fan, just watched the tour and his performance because it was interesting (and before that was just following our latvian cyclists who competed in the Tour). But I don't see how the sport can clean itself from the doping, I think it's gone too far.

[Wim]

Hey Wim,

..........and only just read your thread, and what a race it's been so far, full of surprises, and an amazing stage 1 win for the aussie, Robbie McEwen, especially when he thought he had broken his wrist after his crash.

And yesterday too with the 1 + 2 wins from Gert Steegman and Tom Boonen for stage 2, and no doubt great celebrations where you are....

And think the overall standings now after stage 2 have Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland leading, with Andreas Kloden of Germany 2nd, and nice to see as well David Millar, UK at 3, and Bradley Wiggins, UK at 5. [And interesting to see how these may change as the various stages progress. ]

And wonder who will win stage 3?.........Lol......xx

hi Blondie

yes believe me, as I wrote some arlier this morning the celebrations were great. It 's nice for a city like Gent and the crowd was so excited as cycling is very popular here and we had our hero s in the past and still now we have some too but no E. Merckx of course. Today I expect/hope the blue train of Quick Step Innergetic (Tom boonen) to take control again at the end but Mc Ewen being dangerous again...

[attilahun]

well, probably. but to make such a conclusion we need to know Lance's history of illness, his ability to recover, a lot about medicine especially the way chemotherapy affects the organism and to which extent the human body can recover to the level before the illness... I mean, you can be right, and you have all rights to believe he's a cheater, but I'd better see it proved by scientifical methods, if possible

and I wouldn't say I'm Lance's fan, just watched the tour and his performance because it was interesting (and before that was just following our latvian cyclists who competed in the Tour). But I don't see how the sport can clean itself from the doping, I think it's gone too far.

You are right about that. The testing laboratories are developing slower than the substances used, and by the time they find a way to detect some substance, the cyclists are allready using another one.

[Wim]

I meant to say that, from my point of view, it is impossible to recover from that kind of illness and afer that to win Le Tour without using some kind of steroids.
I m sorry for all of Lance's fans but for me he is a cheater.
About the last winner of Le Tour who was clean i think it was Eddie Merckx. I hope so.

Fact is that Armstrong must have been tested a thousand times during his Tour de France years and hard evidence was never found as he was never disqualified. So this is in favour.

But some years ago on vacation in France I saw him ride in the Tour one the fastest -if not the fastest - climbs on Alpe d'Huez. I won't forget the way he looked : he was not sweating , I hardly saw him breathe...I looked at the other riders and they were dying on their bicycle. I couldn't believe myself a human being could be so much stronger than the others. I must say since then I doubt he is clean but again no hard evidence ...
Eddy Merckx is definetely the best ever, winning everything -a class higher than Armstrong. Starting his season in March ending it on October. More attacking than Armstrong anyway. Too calculated this Lance for me to really like him...

[dantuck_7]

But some years ago on vacation in France I saw him ride in the Tour one the fastest -if not the fastest - climbs on Alpe d'Huez. I won't forget the way he looked : he was not sweating , I hardly saw him breathe...I looked at the other riders and they were dying on their bicycle. I couldn't believe myself a human being could be so much stronger than the others. I must say since then I doubt he is clean but again no hard evidence ...

As you have said he has been tested thousands of times - never failed a drugs test. L'Equippe used to run an article on him every year, he would always take them to court and they have on all occasions had to retract their article.

[Caroline]

And Wim, don't forget that many of those who sweat have been tested positive but not Lance Amstrong.

Still, it is a clear fact that Lance's story of miracle recovery and incredible sereies of winnings have attracted the public's attention and interests hence brought up large breeds of fans all over the world on this event. The sport makes him a star, and the star just makes this sport even more popular. These two years many people drop the Tour only because no more dominant or heroic character is left in it, but only mountains of ugly doping stories ...

[Wim]

As you have said he has been tested thousands of times - never failed a drugs test. L'Equippe used to run an article on him every year, he would always take them to court and they have on all occasions had to retract their article.

yeah Dantuck that French chauvinism from l' Equippe brought them nowhere.

What a Hitchcock thriller today ! An amazing Fabian Cancellara snatches the victory. Boonen 4th, consolidating his green shirt if he persists in his green shirt I will go to Paris celebrating this on the last day of the Tour

[berolina]

I used to watch TdF for years, but got bored when Lance Armstrong started to win...so boring...nowadays I don't like to watch anymore. IMHO they all do doping, it's just a question of how cleverly you do it. The stupid ones get caught...

[Blondie]

yeah Dantuck that French chauvinism from l' Equippe brought them nowhere.

What a Hitchcock thriller today ! An amazing Fabian Cancellara snatches the victory. Boonen 4th, consolidating his green shirt if he persists in his green shirt I will go to Paris celebrating this on the last day of the Tour

Hey Wim,

..........and a really great stage 3 yesterday, and incredible that Fabian Cancellara won, and to finish as well with a sprint on the cobblestones. Tom was chasing hard though, and a great finish at 4th. And it will be interesting to see who wins stage 4 - Villers-Cotterets to Joigny.

And I think the overall standings after stage 3 still have Fabian as the leader, and Andreas Kloden 2nd, and David Millar 3rd.

Lol......xx

[Wim]

Hey Wim,

..........and a really great stage 3 yesterday, and incredible that Fabian Cancellara won, and to finish as well with a sprint on the cobblestones. Tom was chasing hard though, and a great finish at 4th. And it will be interesting to see who wins stage 4 - Villers-Cotterets to Joigny.

And I think the overall standings after stage 3 still have Fabian as the leader, and Andreas Kloden 2nd, and David Millar 3rd.

Lol......xx

Hoi Blondie

Indeed what Cancellara showed yesterday was outstanding ! I think he will remain in the yellow for some days as he must be in very good shape.
Tom was rather alone in the final after the fall of Steegmans. Credit Agricole did the work for Hushovd but he didn't end in the top 10 ! Till now I didn't see McEwen"s Predictor Lotto team do much work.
Ironically today on their way to Joigny the peloton will see Paris but still more than 2.900 km remaining before they get there ...
And today it' s time to do some biking myself. In fact I will do some mountain biking with very well trained friends of mine. I already know I will be half dead after that ...

[Wim]

Just saw the last 2 km of the stage of today on tele. I can't believe this could go wrong for Quick Step Innergetic and Tom Boonen, having the best lead-out train in the Tour. 4 men in that train: with Steegmans and Boonen on position 3 and 4. Just 1 km before the finish Steegmans leaves a gap with the number 2, I think it was Dejongh. This seemed to be the fatal mistake as other riders filled in that gap, leaving Steegmans and Boonen on their own and too far behind.
Anyway in a few days we will know more as the Tour will be in the Alps by then.

[Blondie]

Just saw the last 2 km of the stage of today on tele. I can't believe this could go wrong for Quick Step Innergetic and Tom Boonen, having the best lead-out train in the Tour. 4 men in that train: with Steegmans and Boonen on position 3 and 4. Just 1 km before the finish Steegmans leaves a gap with the number 2, I think it was Dejongh. This seemed to be the fatal mistake as other riders filled in that gap, leaving Steegmans and Boonen on their own and too far behind.
Anyway in a few days we will know more as the Tour will be in the Alps by then.

Hey Wim,

............incredible really, and a stage 4 win for Thor Hushovd, although not sure if Fabian Cancellara still holds yellow. And interesting one today Chablis to Autun.............

And good luck to Tom and Gert, plus David and Bradley...

Lol..........xx

[atthebookies]

I like a good chablis anytime of the day!

[Wim]

Hey Wim,

............incredible really, and a stage 4 win for Thor Hushovd, although not sure if Fabian Cancellara still holds yellow. And interesting one today Chablis to Autun.............

And good luck to Tom and Gert, plus David and Bradley...

Lol..........xx

Hi Tour mate Blondie,

yeah a lot to do this morning here in the Belgian newspapers about the 'derailing' of the blue lead-out train Quick Step Innergetic of Tom Boonen. Steegmans failing in the acceleration 1 km before the finish and losing touch with the 2 team mates before him. Boonen positioned after Steegmans lost every chance of winning the stage therefore. He just reacted like mad afterwards on Steegmans. And today no sprint expected...