Le Tour 2012

Originally posted by redrose49er:
Just over two weeks to go to the start of the 2012 edition of the Tour de France. I'm set to be in the Alps to watch stages10 and 11. Without Contador the race could well be wide open, Andy Schleck also out. Many feel the whole thing could be between Wiggins (UK) and Evans (Aus). A perfect result for me would be Wiggins to take overall and Cavendish to take the Green jersey, followed by Olympic Gold a week later. One can live in hope.....

http://www.letour.fr/us/index.html

I'm looking forward to it a lot. I love Tour De France. Such a beautiful country. The best bike race in the world too IMO. What a dramatic finish in Paris. There is no greater setting for a finish.

Wait what? Andy Schleck and Alberto Cantador are both out? What are they each out for respectively? If that's the case it's WIDE OPEN who can win. Do you have any information on why they are out?

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I'm looking forward to it a lot. I love Tour De France. Such a beautiful country. The best bike race in the world too IMO. What a dramatic finish in Paris. There is no greater setting for a finish.

Wait what? Andy Schleck and Alberto Cantador are both out? What are they each out for respectively? If that's the case it's WIDE OPEN who can win. Do you have any information on why they are out?

Contador is banned, Schleck is injured

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-sanction-contador-with-two-year-ban-in-clenbuterol-case
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schleck-confirms-he-will-miss-tour-de-france

Originally posted by redrose49er:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I'm looking forward to it a lot. I love Tour De France. Such a beautiful country. The best bike race in the world too IMO. What a dramatic finish in Paris. There is no greater setting for a finish.

Wait what? Andy Schleck and Alberto Cantador are both out? What are they each out for respectively? If that's the case it's WIDE OPEN who can win. Do you have any information on why they are out?

Contador is banned, Schleck is injured

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-sanction-contador-with-two-year-ban-in-clenbuterol-case
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schleck-confirms-he-will-miss-tour-de-france

No way! Contador got banned for doping. I didn't know that. Wow. Did they take away his past victories? Or they assumed he didn't do it those years?

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
No way! Contador got banned for doping. I didn't know that. Wow. Did they take away his past victories? Or they assumed he didn't do it those years?

I think they removed his victories from the date of the positve test, cost him a Giro d'Italia and a TdF, ironically Andy Schleck was awarded the 2010 TdF as a result. He can return for the Vuelta a Espana later this year.

Originally posted by redrose49er:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
No way! Contador got banned for doping. I didn't know that. Wow. Did they take away his past victories? Or they assumed he didn't do it those years?

I think they removed his victories from the date of the positve test, cost him a Giro d'Italia and a TdF, ironically Andy Schleck was awarded the 2010 TdF as a result. He can return for the Vuelta a Espana later this year.

Wow.... So you are saying Andy Schleck technically now has a Tour De France win? At least 1 of them in 2010?

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Wow.... So you are saying Andy Schleck technically now has a Tour De France win? At least 1 of them in 2010?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-presented-with-2010-tour-de-france-yellow-jersey

Originally posted by redrose49er:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Wow.... So you are saying Andy Schleck technically now has a Tour De France win? At least 1 of them in 2010?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-presented-with-2010-tour-de-france-yellow-jersey

Well he always wanted one of those. So now he has one. But he admitted it didn't feel like a real victory and standing on the podium. I still think he can do it the real way. Maybe in 2013.

Would be more interesting if they let everyone juice up on EPO and see who won.

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Would be more interesting if they let everyone juice up on EPO and see who won.

Like most US sports then?????

Originally posted by redrose49er:

Originally posted by Leathaface:
Would be more interesting if they let everyone juice up on EPO and see who won.

Like most US sports then?????

I think the TdF is dirtier and more scandal ridden than any US sport currently.

Originally posted by Leathaface:
I think the TdF is dirtier and more scandal ridden than any US sport currently.

And I think you are wrong. Yes, road cycling has had some dark years with PEDs and many riders have been caught and rightly banned. However, a new culture has evolved, driven by teams such as US based HTC-Highroad and Garmin, UK based SKY and new Australian team GreenEdge. These athletes submit biological passports over and above the requirements of the governing bodies. Current World Champion Mark Cavendish (former HTC, now Sky) claims to be the most tested athlete on earth, having endured over 60 doping tests last year. It is simply too easy to say cyclists are dopers, in the past maybe, presently perhaps a few but the vast majority not.

This article is a few years old but perhaps still rings true?
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070731

Originally posted by redrose49er:

Originally posted by Leathaface:
I think the TdF is dirtier and more scandal ridden than any US sport currently.

And I think you are wrong. Yes, road cycling has had some dark years with PEDs and many riders have been caught and rightly banned. However, a new culture has evolved, driven by teams such as US based HTC-Highroad and Garmin, UK based SKY and new Australian team GreenEdge. These athletes submit biological passports over and above the requirements of the governing bodies. Current World Champion Mark Cavendish (former HTC, now Sky) claims to be the most tested athlete on earth, having endured over 60 doping tests last year. It is simply too easy to say cyclists are dopers, in the past maybe, presently perhaps a few but the vast majority not.

This article is a few years old but perhaps still rings true?
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070731

They test a lot hundreds of riders and they mostly test negative. There are a few bad apples. Those guys are mostly in great shape and train incredibly hard.

Cyclingnews.com lists their 5 leading podium contenders as Evans, Wiggins, Nibali, Frank Schleck and Gesink. I would throw Samuel Sanchez in that mix.

Damn I used to watch this religiously when Lance was riding