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"Cycling 2012"
trigirl 2844 desperate attention whore postings
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05-07-12, 11:51 AM (EST)
 
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"Cycling 2012" |
First of the Grand Tours... the Giro d'Italia. Predictions? Comments?
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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05-08-12, 08:35 AM (EST)
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2. "RE: Stage 3" |
Saying that Roberto Ferrari "didn't hold his line" is being very kind. It looked like he went deliberately into Cavendish. Think Kyle Busch in NASCAR and you have the right image.That said, this is the Giro that no one seems to want. Many people thought Frank Schleck would target this race, but he ended up riding only as a last-minute sub. I kinda thought a second-level team like Katusha might target it for Joaquin Rodriguez, and they seem to have done so, but more days like yesterday will make the race a toss-up. The fact that the Tour of California is held during the race, and so many of the ProTour bike makers are North American (Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Felt, Cervelo, etc.), means that most sponsors don't like teams that put too much focus on the Giro and not enough focus on California. Even the Swiss bikes (Scott, BMC) sponsor non-European teams.
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byoffer 15808 desperate attention whore postings
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05-14-12, 03:49 PM (EST)
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4. "RE: Cycling 2012" |
I'll bet he would happily trade a Giro in the hand for two Tours in the bush.
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PepeLePew13 24731 desperate attention whore postings
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05-14-12, 03:59 PM (EST)
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5. "RE: Cycling 2012" |
I'm thinking that Ryder Hesjedal is a perfect fit for Molaholic's name thread... he's got a name that matches his occupation!
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byoffer 15808 desperate attention whore postings
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05-15-12, 11:59 AM (EST)
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6. "RE: Cycling 2012" |
Sadly Ryder gotted passed for the pink today, but still sitting in second. Still 11 more stages to go.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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05-16-12, 06:01 PM (EST)
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7. "RE: Cycling 2012" |
As I speculated above, Katusha appears to have targeted this weak Giro for Joaquin Rodriguez.The Giro field is weak because too many teams have top riders in California right now. That also includes Ryder Hesjedal's Garmin team, which may be competing with BMC for the title of strongest US-based team this year (even though BMC is officially Swiss) but isn't so strong that it can field two full-strength squads in both Italy and California. Only the teams with no US link (including Russia-based Katusha) have full-strength squads in the Giro. That's wny no North American rider really has a chance in the Giro this year. There are only four Americans and four Canadians in the Giro because of the competition from California. BMC ran Tyler Phinney in the Giro to get him some Grand Tour experience under low pressure. One of the fascinating things in California so far, BTW, is that, while the merged RadioShack-Nissan-Trek (aka Leopard Trek) team has been a disappointment, the U-23 Bontrager-Livestrong team that is associated with it looks like a powerhouse in the making. More on California to come.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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05-26-12, 00:24 AM (EST)
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11. "RE: Cycling 2012" |
Today was a phenomenal stage for Ryder Hesjedal. I fully expected Ivan Basso and the other Italians to gain time on him today. Instead, Garmin ran a really good strategy on the climbs to keep Hesjedal from getting isolated on any climb before the last one. As expected, Hesjedal joined an elite grouping on the last stage, and they all threw punches at one another, with Hesjedal's job being to grab onto any wheel trying to get away, under the theory that he was the one that everyone else wanted to put into difficulties. He did this brilliantly, and no one was able to get away from him. Finally, Hesjedal went and was able to put time into everyone except stage winner Kreutzer.Right now, it seems almost certain that Hesjedal will overtake Joachim Rodriguez in the last-stage time trial and win the Giro. Bur they still have to ride the mountains one last time before that. Interestingly, in California, Garmin ran a top-flight team but only managed to get second and third, because Robert Gesink of Rabobank was just too strong (andd David Zabriskie isn't a good enough climber to hang on up Mt. Baldy). Leipheimer looked great for someone only a month who had a leg fracture five weeks earlier, but there just wasn't enough time for Levi to get his time trial speed back. But the imprerssive thing is that Garmin had so much of its talent in California while Hesjedal was managing to hang on in Italy.
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trigirl 2844 desperate attention whore postings
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05-26-12, 02:25 PM (EST)
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12. "Stage 20" |
I could hardly watch. Such a freaking good bike race!My initial thoughts.... Not having Contador is actually great! Feel like on any given day, it is anyone's race. Much more parity among the top GC contenders. The Giro organizers must be pretty pleased how it worked out. Except for the fact that we may have a Canadian and now Belgian on the podium. Perhaps Scarponi can make Italy proud. Team Sky were the big losers today. Nobody would help Ryder when he realized that DeGent was not fading. Uran and Henao realized too little too late and in the process lost the points jersey for Mark Cavendish. But the imprerssive thing is that Garmin had so much of its talent in California while Hesjedal was managing to hang on in Italy.
If they pull this off with Stetina, VandeVelde and Hesjedal it will be unbelievable. Kick Vaughters out of the car for the tour. VandeVelde was a machine today! I am kind of nervous about the time trial. I remember when Cadel Evans was guaranteed the tour in 2008 (maybe) on the last time trial day and then Contador pulled off a miracle ride.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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05-28-12, 11:52 AM (EST)
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16. "Giro summary" |
LAST EDITED ON 05-28-12 AT 12:00 PM (EST)There's a lot of thought that Contador's 2008 great time-trial (where Contador even beat Fabian Cancellara, at the time when Cancellara was far and away the best time-trialist in the world) was yet another example of "better living through chemistry." Cancellara, for one, was certain about it. Right after that was when we first started to hear about "micro-dosing". VandeVelde's stage 20 was one of the best support runs in a Grand Tour that I have ever seen. For years, VandeVelde has been remembered for almost costing Lance Armstrong the 2001 Tour due to a crash in the team time trial. Now, he'll be remembered instead for singlehandedly pulling Ryder Hesjedal through stage 20 of the Giro, making up for the team's overall weakness all by himself. I'm amazed he had anything left for the time trial on Sunday. It was obvious in Stage 20 that all the other teams had decided to force Hesjedal to chase so that they could (hopefully) gain time on him. This proved to be incredibly poor strategy on Team Sky's part, considering that Cavendish was trying to become the fourth (I think) person to win the points jersey at all three Grand Tours and the decision to not chase permitted Joaquim Rodriguez to steal the jersey. Frankly, it reminded me of how poor strategy by Team Sky caused both Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins to lose the 2011 Vuelta to Juan Jose Cobo. You have to wonder how long this will go on before Sky gets someone who understands race tactics to run the team. On to other things. Both of Taylor Phinney's parents are Olympic medalists, so I doubt that missing the Olympics would be a big thing for him (considering that the U.S. is only allowed to send one person in the ITT this year anyway). Instead, he completed his first Grand Tour -- and even though he almost won the last-place award (he was 155th out of 157, over 5 hours behind -- and less than 15 minutes out of last), completing your first Grand Tour at Phinney's age is a tremendous accomplishment. Two of his former U-23 Team RadioShack mates, Jesse Sergent (139) and Ben Hermans (73) also completed the Giro. They can all only get better. Hesjedal, for example, was a young rider on US Postal/Discovery Channel in 2004-05, riding in support of Paolo Savoldelli's 2005 Giro win, and he has now achieved something that none of us (except perhaps Johann Bruyneel) envisioned for him back then. At the same time, Garmin placed second and third in the Tour of California with Dave Zabriskie and Tom Danielson. Jonathan Vaughters has a lot to be proud of this week. Of course, I doubt Zabriskie is particularly happy about finishing second at California for the FOURTH time without winning, but that can't be helped -- no one in the field was beating Robert Gesink this year (although, had Levi Leipheimer had a few more weeks to heal after his broken leg . . . but he didn't).
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PepeLePew13 24731 desperate attention whore postings
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05-27-12, 06:42 PM (EST)
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14. "RE: Final Stage - Time Trial" |
Congrats to Ryder Hesjadal for becoming the first Canuckian to win!
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trigirl 2844 desperate attention whore postings
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05-29-12, 10:27 AM (EST)
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18. "Radioshack" |
So Ayak...our guru...what is going on with Radioshack? They were non-existent at the Giro and Frank came off as a big cry baby as far as I am concerned. Blaming Alex Rasmussen for his crash. Whatever. Are they going to be on form for the Tour?
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-15-12, 09:39 AM (EST)
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21. "RE: Radioshack" |
So far, with the exceptions of Jens Voigt and Fabian Cancellara, the Leopard Trek people have not blended well with Johan Bruyneel. But Bruyneel made it clear that he wasn't going to put any effort into the Giro ahead of time. Frank wouldn't even have ridden had everyone else stayed healthy. But they should be in form for the Tour.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-25-12, 10:28 PM (EST)
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26. "RE: Radioshack" |
The worm turns. Andy Schleck is out for the Tour. Apparently RadioShack and Nissan are very unhappy with the circus that the team has become as well . . . and are even more unhappy with the team's move offshore, which has diminished its effectiveness as a U.S. advertising platform, especially after two US teams (BMC and Garmin) won Grand Tour races and Rabobank won the Tour of California. Trek is unhappy that they seem to have been left behind in the bicycle derby by Specialized, Cervelo and BMC. Meanwhile, the Schlecks and Bruyneel don't seem to get along at all.Early rumors are that, now that Andy Schleck will miss the Tour de France, the team will not survive this season. It's unclear what will happen after that. Everyone expects that the Leopard part of the team will continue under Luxembourg billionaire owner Flavio Becca, who could sponsor the entire team himself if he so chose (but will probably bring Mercedes Benz back in). The Schlecks and Cancellara, along with most of the veterans, will stay with him. Whether Trek stays involved is uncertain, because Becca blames them for this FUBAR. There are rumors that the expanded presence of the Bontrager-Livestrong U23 team on the Americas Continental circuit this year will lead Bruyneel to move that team to Pro Continental level next year (perhaps by adding some of the old RadioShack riders now on RSNT, such as Jesse Sergent (23), Ben King (23), George Bennett (22) and Nelson Oliveira (23)) with Nissan and whatever other sponsors he can get supporting the move -- and with the goal to move the team to ProTour level the year after that (when all Bruyneel's fights with USADA should be over).
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-26-12, 05:46 PM (EST)
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29. "RE: Radioshack" |
Hmmm. The new rumor is that the Schlecks will leave Becca completely and the team may fold. The Schlecks and Cancellara are rumored to be looking to set up a German team with Kim Andersen, who ran Leopard Trek last year, as director and with the Schlecks offering longtime Bruyneel lietenant Dirk Demol the #2 position.
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PepeLePew13 24731 desperate attention whore postings
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06-14-12, 05:24 PM (EST)
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20. "RE: Lance... again" |
Yeah. Two stage wins in his career at the TdeF pre-cancer, won it just 18 months or so after starting up serious training again fatter going into remission. I don't doubt he's a great rider but that timeline while recovering from something that he initially didn't have good prospects for recovery from? Dunno.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-20-12, 09:31 AM (EST)
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22. "RE: Lance... again" |
>Now the USADA is finding some heavy info. The "heavy info" consists of statements from Stephen Swart and Frankie Andreu, who say they took EPO along with Lance on the old Motorola team in 1995, banned-from-cycling-for-life convicted doper Tyler Hamilton, who claims that he doped with Armstrong while on US Postal, and banned-from-cycling-for-life convicted doper and convicted perjurer Floyd Landis, who claims the same. Swart and Andreu have been making the same claims for a decade. Andreu's claim has always been the most troublesome for Armstrong, mainly because everyone believes it -- but it took place so long ago that it wouldn't be news without the newer claims. By the way, Armstrong's defense against the Andreu claims was always that Andreu was motivated by his wife, who blames Armstrong for Andreu being "retired" by US Postal after the 2000 season. That claim gets some credibility because Andreu's wife really does hate Armstrong, but that isn't enough to explain away the whole controversy -- instead, it explains why Andreu would want to go public. The only thing that made the new USADA claim newsworthy was its claim that Armstrong's test results in 2009 and 2010 were "entirely consistent" with blood manipulation, including EPO or blood transfusions --- but what did not make its way into the papers was that the USADA was forced to admit that no tests of Armstrong had come up positive for anything; apparently, the claim that it's consistent with blood manipulation was based upon the idea that you don't have to have a positive test for anything to be guilty of manipulation. If that is the case, that claim was just included to make headlines (which it did). Armstrong was certainly unpleasant and nasty to the people who worked for him during his period of stardom, and we've seen that some of the people he fired have made statements against him. But those statements are hard to take credibly, because they've been public for as long as the Andreu and Swart claims. Nevertheless, there is one person who could testify who would sink Armstrong's entire defense if he testified to doping: George Hincapie. There are others who would weaken Armstrong's defense, as well. But it seems clear that if the U.S. had any such evidence, it would have leaked.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-22-12, 03:14 PM (EST)
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24. "RE: Lance... again" |
There are two groups that run triathlons: the International Triathlon Union, which is an Olympic member entity, and the private World Triathlon Corporation, which owns the "Ironman" trademark. The WTC, because it is not a member entity of WADA, adopted a policy that anyone under an active doping investigation is suspended from WTC events.The fascination with Lance is because the U.S., as a rule, knows nothing about cycling, and Lance has become a brand that transcends cycling. Thus, there is no context within the U.S. to evaluate him. Worldwide, everyone knows that everyone doped with EPO during the 1990s, including Lance. Miguel Indurain definitely doped -- even tested positive for doping -- and he won five straight Tours de France. But who cares? As I've said, I personally have no doubt that Armstrong used EPO in 1999 and that he used blood transfusions after that. But so did everyone else, and Lance still won. And the USADA clearly has no physical evidence of that anyway, because international rules demand that they turn over evidence of positive doping tests at once, and they've never turned anything over.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-23-12, 03:09 PM (EST)
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25. "Lack of context" |
Speaking of lack of context, consider these stories. Four top American riders, all older and all riding in the Tour de France -- Levi Leipheimer of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, George Hincapie of BMC, and Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie of Garmin-Barracuda -- withdrew from Olympic consideration. Why? Well, here's what the reporters claimed:Withdrawal of Armstrong Lieutenants Puts Focus on What They Know
Analysis: Could Lance Armstrong's possible downfall be linked to Garmin cyclists?
Lance’s friends opt out for U.S. The implication is that their withdrawl from the Olympics -- which holds the men'd time trial less than a week after the Tour de France ends -- is related to the fact that these four riders once rode for U.S. Postal, although only George Hincapie from this group was a prominent member of Postal. But there is a much more logical reason for them to withdraw. See, two weeks after the Tour de France (Aug. 7-12), we have the: http://tourofutah.com/the-race/2012-tour Leipheimer is the two-time defending champion at Utah, and all of the top American teams, including Garmin and BMC, will be there, just like last year, when it was first added to the Americas Tour. And then, just one more week after that (Aug. 20-26) comes the second: http://www.usaprocyclingchallenge.com/news/usa-pro-cycling-challenge-announces-12-host-cities-2012-race Leipheimer is also the defending champion in that, and every top cycling team in the world will ride there. The ICU raised it from a rating of 2.1 on the American's Tour to a 2.HC, and there has been a push from some sponsors to add the US Pro Cycling Challenge as the first U.S.-based stage race on the World Tour, despite the fact that it competes with the Vuelta a Espana. (This would depend entirely on raising sufficient sponsorship money to pay for the travel expenses of all the World Tour teams, BTW; there is no opposition at the ICU to adding either the Utah or Colorado races to the World Tour, because the Vuelta is considered the "minor" race of the Grand Tours.) But the sportswriters don't know that. So everything has to be about Lance.
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trigirl 2844 desperate attention whore postings
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06-26-12, 10:33 AM (EST)
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27. "Crap Journalism" |
It's no secret that CVdV is my secret crush, so I am really disappointed in the this type of journalism. So many people I know that don't follow the cycling world just assume it all to be true. Give me a break!Vande Velde and Zabriskie may not have ever talked to USADA. ...Vande Velde hasn't been accused of anything in his career more than ingesting too many Clif Bars. then other article.... Hincapie, Leipheimer, Vande Velde and Zabriskie are said to have described to the antidoping agency their involvement in the suspected doping scheme, which itself could bring a two-year ban if their doping fell within the limits of the World Anti-Doping Code’s eight-year statute of limitations. Now, having ranted about that.... I am surprised that Zabriskie would not go to the Olympics. Unless he just assumes that Phinney has go the TT locked up.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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06-30-12, 08:00 PM (EST)
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33. "RE: Wiggins' Year " |
LAST EDITED ON 06-30-12 AT 08:01 PM (EST)The truth is, the race was laid out with Wiggins in mind, just as the race was laid out with Armstrong in mind in 2002-03. Back then, the promoters wanted Armstrong to win 5 and tie the record. Now, the promoters want the first British winner, and the fact that he's on a British team makes it even better. But I still wonder about the allocation of responsibilities between Wiggins and Froome. I know Froome was sick until early May, but for my money he's the best rider on Sky for a three-week tour. Sky and BMC have the best teams in the tour, as both benefitted from the breakup of HTC-Highroad. But this is a really hard race. We saw Bruyneel's teams break Wiggins when the Brits thought he was certain to be on the podium, and I wouldn't be surprised if BMC uses the same strategy against him this year: attack on the climbs, and shadow hom at the same time so that, if he responds, he'll pull your people along . . . and if he doesn't respond, your guys are gaining time. It's harder to do that now because of Froome. But it should still be possible. And, by forcing big efforts from Wiggins in the mountains, you take away his energy for the time trials.
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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06-30-12, 09:38 PM (EST)
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34. "RE: Wiggins' Year " |
Did you see or read about Wiggins' performance in the Dauphiné Libéré though. Evans, Nibali and a few others attacked him and took a minute on a slippery downhill. Then the Sky team brought him back to within 20 seconds, something that isn't really special even if they looked quite strong and disciplined in doing so. What was special though; after that action Wiggins alone closed the gap and said hello to Evans before the finish line.
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byoffer 15808 desperate attention whore postings
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07-03-12, 03:00 PM (EST)
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35. "RE: Wiggins' Year " |
I am not sure it is an advantage to a team to have a rider going for the yellow and another going for stages. Sounds like if Sky goes for the yellow, then Cavendish will be a lone wolf giong for stages. A very very fast lone wolf, but judging by his reaction after stage 2 (which he won) a lone wolf that realizes he shouldn't expect a lot of team support for the individual sprints as his team will be more focused on protecting Wiggins (and maybe Froome).
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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07-04-12, 09:45 AM (EST)
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37. "RE: Wiggins' Year " |
I'm not saying it's an advantage. I'm saying the team is loaded. Cavendish does realize what is the team's priority and he has his own priority: The Olympics.
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byoffer 15808 desperate attention whore postings
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07-05-12, 10:56 PM (EST)
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41. "RE: Cycling 2012" |
The finish of that was amazing. While I was cheering for the breakaway (why not?) to see Greipel incredibly avoid the collision with Farrar (he was right behind the guy and had to swerve around him with both feet off the pedals!) and then absolutely fly by the leaders to win the stage. That speed was awesome.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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07-09-12, 05:55 PM (EST)
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47. "RE: Stage 6 " |
The number of crashes is ALWAYS high in the first week of the Tour. The stages are flat and run through old towns, everyone has lots of energy, and everyone still thinks his team has a chance.But now, we've run through both high mountains and long time trials. The only teams left in serious team contention are Sky and RadioShack-Nissan-Trek. Those teams, BMC (Cadel Evans, Tejay van Garderen), Liquigas (Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali) and Katusha (Denis Menchov) are the only ones that really need to ride together as a team from now on. For example, defending team champion Garmin-Sharp has already been eliminated from both team and individual contention. All that's left for Garmin are some gambles for individual glory. Now, the goal for most riders is just to survive the Tour. Crashes will be far less frequent . . . but will still happen. For example, in 2009, while sitting in 4th place overall, Levi Leipheimer broke his wrist in a Stage 12 crash.
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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07-07-12, 06:37 PM (EST)
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45. "RE: Stage 7" |
Don't neglect the star power factor though. Sponsors give money to get visibility and a win by Wiggins is much better for that. Of course, if Wiggins falters, gets injured or whatever, then Froome becomes a good option but he hasn't earned his spot on top yet.
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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07-15-12, 10:29 PM (EST)
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53. "RE: Does Wiggo have the stamina?" |
Who needs stamina when you're riding a train?!
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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07-21-12, 10:14 PM (EST)
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64. "Sky gets 1-2" |
Wiggo and Froome finished 1-2 at the Stage 19 time trial, clinching the 2012 TdF victory for Wiggo.It also should spell the end of the current alignment for Team Sky. As I posted last year even, Froome is just a stronger rider than Wiggins. As we also noted last year, the bike manufacturers are driving the ProTour right now. The top bike manufacturers are Trek, Specialized, Cervelo, BMC, Cannondale, and Pinarello. Pinarello is thrilled with Team Sky's dominance. But Sky won't be able to afford all of Wiggins, Froome, Porte and Cavendish. While there are rumors that Sky would prefer to lose Cavendish, the truth is that Cavendish has a three-year contract that pays him double what he made at HTC-Highroad, and this was only Year 1. No one will pick him up for what he makes. So the person who the team can't afford will most likely be Chris Froome. Froome signed a five-year contract at the end of last year, but supposedly the contract had "windows" that he could use to leave, if he chose. After this Tour, which confirmed what many of us believed after last year's Vuelta, Froome is the hottest commodity on the market. Cannondale is probably OK with Peter Sagan as its lead rider. Sagan reminds me of a young Armstrong, down to the cockiness, and he's already won more stages than Lance did during his first 3 Tours. BMC has to be overjoyed with the performance of Tejay van Garderen, even if it's disappointed with Cadel Evans. I don't picture any major shift at either team. Plus, while Cervelo had a total bust at the TdF, it at least it won the Giro with Ryder Hejesdal. Specialized, though, has to be furious. It sponsors four teams (Omega Pharma-QuickStep, Lampre, Astana and Saxo Bank), and yet its best performance at the TdF will be a 9th place for Astana's Jani Brajkovic (a former RadioShack rider). Obviously it hopes to recover in the Tour of Utah and the U.S. Cycling Challenge (where Leipheimer is defending champion), but it will still be looking for a top rider for next year. Even Ridley (fourth place) and Colnago (8th place) outperformed Specialized. Specialized and Froome seem like a match made in heaven. And then there is Trek. Yes, Trek likes the fact that its team is winning the team category. But Trek can't be happy about the drug tests with Frank Schleck, the turmoil surrounding Andy Schleck, or the ongoing battles about Leopard Trek owner Flavia Becca. It also can't afford to ignore the fallout if either Lance Armstrong or Johann Bruyneel were to be convicted by USADA for doping -- even if those convictions get overturned later. But Trek's strategy is far from clear. Will it be able to keep Andy Schleck? Does it want to? Will it try to organize a new U.S. team from the Trek-Livestrong U23 team? Who knows?
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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07-22-12, 02:29 PM (EST)
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65. "RE: Sky gets 1-2" |
LAST EDITED ON 07-22-12 AT 02:31 PM (EST)The early stories indicate that I was probably a little wrong in my speculation. I thought Cannondale would be fine with Peter Sagan as lead rider because it was letting Vincenzo Nibali (who was third in the TdF) leave at the end of the year. But apparently Cannondale is looking for a new GC rider, so it would probably be the best fit for Froome, considering that the team's director used to run Barloworld (where Froome made his jump to the top level of UCI riding). There's also a theory that the people behind GreenEdge would want to add Froome, since Sky poached Richie Porte, who was their real target. As an English-speaking team, Froome would certainly be comfortable with them, even though they did nothing in this year's tour. Of the Specialized teams, it appears Contador will return to Saxo Bank, although we have no idea how good he'll be without his little pick-me-ups. Leipheimer's deal with Omega Pharma-QuickStep was only for one year, but the team is still so geared to Tom Boonen that it might not be appealing. Plus, apparently Froome's renewal contract (which was only three years, not five) pays him almost as much base salary as Bradley Wiggins, so he'll be expensive to sign, and OPQS has always had a reputation of being cheap. The main evidence of Froome's departure from Sky? A "Tweet feud" between Wiggo's wife and Froome's gf, which the Brits are calling a "WAG WAR". (WAG="Wives and Girlfriends" in Britspeak)
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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07-23-12, 08:05 PM (EST)
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67. "RE: Sky gets 1-2" |
As for overall riding, we do know for sure that Wiggins is head and shoulders above Froome on the Time Trials.Bushwa. Although Wiggins finished first in both time trials, Froome finished second in both, and Froome beat Wiggins in last year's time trial in the Vuelta. Right now, the two of them, Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin are the best time-trial riders in the world, and I'd hate to pick a winner between them. If I had to guess, I'd guess that Wiggins and Martin probably have a slight edge on a pancake-flat course (like both of the Tour's time trials this year), while Cancellara and Froome probably have a slight edge on a hillier course. However, if Froome had had Wiggins' edge and gotten to start last in both ITTs, there is no way to tell whether Wiggins would have won either, let alone both.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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07-25-12, 01:31 PM (EST)
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71. "RE: Sky gets 1-2" |
Personally, I expect Tony Martin to win the Olympic road race time trial. We'll see.
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trigirl 2844 desperate attention whore postings
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07-25-12, 02:46 PM (EST)
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72. "Olympics" |
Favourites:TT:
Tony Martin
Fabian Cancellara
Bradley Wiggins
Taylor Phinney I would have agreed with you Ayak about Tony Martin, but I wonder if his TDF injury will be a problem. I am always a fan of Fabian, so will pick him. Road Race:
Mark Cavendish He is the only one I have heard anyone talk about. Are they so sure it will end in a sprint? I think it will be interesting if there is any national-team strategy in play. Someone like Cadel has something to prove and if he had the help of some teammates who knows.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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07-31-12, 07:51 PM (EST)
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76. "Time Trial" |
LAST EDITED ON 07-31-12 AT 08:05 PM (EST)Tomorrow morning, North America time. final startlists Women
12:30:00 24 FERNANDES SILVA Clemilda (Brazil)
12:31:30 23 SUNDSTEDT Pia (Finland)
12:33:00 22 de VOCHT Liesbet (Belgium)
12:34:30 21 MOOLMAN Ashleigh (South Africa)
12:36:00 20 CORDON Audrey (France)
12:37:30 19 ANTOSHINA Tatiana (Russia)
12:39:00 18 TCHALYKH Elena (Azerbaijan)
12:40:30 17 GUDERZO Tatiana (Italy)
12:42:00 16 RAMSDEN Denise (Canada)
12:43:30 15 ZABELINSKAYA Olga (Russia)
12:45:00 14 FAHLIN Emilia (Sweden)
12:46:30 13 WORRACK Trixi (Germany)
12:48:00 12 CANTELE Noemi (Italy)
12:49:30 11 GILLOW Shara (Australia)
12:51:00 10 van DIJK Ellen (The Netherlands)
12:52:30 9 ARMITSTEAD Elizabeth (Great Britain)
12:54:00 8 JOHANSSON Emma (Sweden)
12:55:30 7 NEBEN Amber (United States)
12:57:00 6 POOLEY Emma (Great Britain)
12:58:30 5 HUGHES Clara (Canada)
13:00:00 4 VILLUMSEN Linda Melanie (New Zealand)
13:01:30 3 VOS Marianne (The Netherlands)
13:03:00 2 ARNDT Judith (Germany)
13:04:30 1 ARMSTRONG Kristin (United States) Men
14:15:00 37 LAHSAINI Mouhcine (Morocco)
14:16:30 36 GIL MARTINEZ Tomas Aurelio (Venezuela)
14:18:00 35 HAGHI Alireza (Iran)
14:19:30 34 AKDILEK Ahmet (Turkey)
14:21:00 33 NAZARET Magno Prado (Brazil)
14:22:30 32 BEPPU Fumiyuki (Japan)
14:24:00 31 BAZAYEV Assan (Kazakhstan)
14:25:30 30 McCANN David (Ireland)
14:27:00 29 BAK Lars Ytting (Denmark)
14:28:30 28 ALBASINI Michael (Switzerland)
14:30:00 27 DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres (Colombia)
14:31:30 26 BOOM Lars (The Netherlands)
14:33:00 25 BAUER Jack (New Zealand)
14:34:30 24 BRAJKOVIC Janez (Slovenia)
14:36:00 23 BODNAR Maciej (Poland)
14:37:30 22 GILBERT Philippe (Belgium)
14:39:00 21 VINOKUROV Alexandr (Kazakhstan)
14:40:30 20 HESJEDAL Ryder (Canada)
14:42:00 19 CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan (Spain)
14:43:30 18 FUGLSANG Jakob (Denmark)
14:45:00 17 OLIVEIRA Nelson Filipe S. Simoes (Portugal)
14:46:30 16 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald (Norway)
14:48:00 15 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas (Lithuania)
14:49:30 14 MENCHOV Denis (Russia)
14:51:00 13 WESTRA Lieuwe (The Netherlands)
14:52:30 12 KIRYIENKA Vasil (Belarus)
14:54:00 11 LARSSON Gustav (Sweden)
14:55:30 10 ROGERS Michael (Australia)
14:57:00 9 GRABSCH Bert (Germany)
14:58:30 8 CHAVANEL Sylvain (France)
15:00:00 7 FROOME Christopher (Great Britain)
15:01:30 6 PINOTTI Marco (Italy)
15:03:00 5 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon (Spain)
15:04:30 4 PHINNEY Taylor (United States)
15:06:00 3 MARTIN Tony (Germany)
15:07:30 2 WIGGINS Bradley (Great Britain)
15:09:00 1 CANCELLARA Fabian (Switzerland)
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byoffer 15808 desperate attention whore postings
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08-01-12, 04:27 PM (EST)
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77. "Results" |
Women:
1. Armstrong
2. Arndt
3. Zabelinskaya Arnstrong defends her title from Beijing. Wait a minute, isn't that Lance in a skirt? Sadly Clara Hughes misses out on a chance for a 7th Olympic medal by about 30 seconds. I still say she is a greater Olympian than Michael Phelps! Mens:
1. Wiggins
2. Martin
3. Froome Wiggo shows his TT strength (at least on the flats).
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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08-01-12, 05:28 PM (EST)
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78. "RE: Results" |
LAST EDITED ON 08-01-12 AT 05:31 PM (EST)Fantastic ride by Wiggins. He decisively beat Tony Martin in a course absolutely made for a flat-terrain time trialler like Martin. And he did it with all of the pressure of the entire British Isles on him. Lance, for one, couldn't do it; he was third in the 2000 Olympics behind his teammate Ekimov and Ullrich. The Team Sky stars showed that, despite the worry of the host country, all of their effort for Cavendish in the road race didn't hurt their time trials. Froome showed the Kenyans why it was a mistake not to let him ride in 2008! And Wiggins was simply the best. For all of the anguish displayed by NBC's lead announcer (not Paul Sherwin) about the effects of Cancellara's crash Saturday on his TT, this is the top three I expected on this course, except that I expected Martin to win. But Wiggo proved that he's the best flat-course time trial rider in the world right now. Period. Like byoffer, I was sad that Clara Hughes wasn't able to medal in the TT again, to match her Atlanta bronze. And I thought Emma Pooley had a chance, too. But it's hard to argue with the women's medalists, either. P.S. I still think Eric Heiden was the best Olympian ever. To dominate every speed-skating event, from the 500m spints to the 10k? How can you have that combination of speed and endurance? But Ms. Hughes, as the only person to win multiple medals at both the Winer and Summer games, certainly deserves consideration.
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byoffer 15808 desperate attention whore postings
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08-01-12, 10:04 PM (EST)
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80. "RE: Results" |
Yes, I will agree with role model. She does a lot of work outside of her sports for helping youth around the world through Right to Play, and also for mental illness.How to define greatest Olympian? Most medals? Hard to use that, since many Olympians only get a shot at one medal per games. But if so then Phelps and Latynina would be the easy contenders for the title. What about longest duration (ie most games) with medals? The British rower Steve Redgrave doesn't have the headlines outside of England, but gold in 5 straight games is impressive. Similarly Al Oerter won gold in 4 straight games (with only one chance each games). I suspect there are others with such streaks in more obscure sports (or less prominent countries). What about historical significance? Jesse Owens had a spectacular Olympics (made even more significant in historical terms because of Hitler). Another measure might be multiple sports. Not many have been able to do this, but some have. Clara Hughes is the champion of this class, I have to think. Bottom line? With no guidelines to measure, this is harder to determine than the GOAT of tennis!!
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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08-01-12, 11:05 PM (EST)
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81. "RE: Results" |
I'd say winning gold in more than 1 Olympiad and in more than 1 discipline. For example, I'd rate Carl Lewis higher on that imaginary list than Usain Bolt even if Bolt wins in London because Lewis won in the long jump in addition to the sprints. That's why, for me, winning two decathlons has to be considered special. But I'd still go back to Phelps with wins in the butterfly, the medley and in freestyle.
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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08-02-12, 10:43 PM (EST)
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84. "RE: Results" |
Wiggins' answer about being the most decorated Brit was priceless. He said "I only count the 4 Gold medals, no one remembers 2nd and 3rd place".
...Froome, the bronze medalist, was standing right next to him at the time!
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PepeLePew13 24731 desperate attention whore postings
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08-02-12, 07:48 AM (EST)
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83. "RE: Results" |
LAST EDITED ON 08-02-12 AT 09:36 AM (EST)
>Like byoffer, I was sad that
>Clara Hughes wasn't able to
>medal in the TT again,
>to match her Atlanta bronze.
It turns out that Clara broke a vertebrae in her back two months ago - she didn't let on how bad it was until after the race yesterday, saying "I didn't want to talk about it." Finishing fifth after trying to train for six weeks with a broken back at the age of 39? Wow.
> But Ms. Hughes, as
>the only person to win
>multiple medals at both the
>Winer and Summer games, certainly
>deserves consideration.
I'm not usually one for hero worship or fanboydom, but Clara Hughes is one of the most genuine people you'll ever encounter - I've met her twice - and a true hero for her outspokenness of her depression to show it's nothing to be ashamed of and for her philanthropy (she donated $10K to Right To Play from her own pocket upon winning her 2006 gold medal after being inspired by Joey Cheek donating his gold medal money, even though Canada didn't give out bonuses for winning medals at the time), and was also named to the Order of Canada.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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08-06-12, 12:44 PM (EST)
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86. "Tour of Utah" |
Starts tomorrow. Six days. Six ProTeams competing: Omega Pharma-QuickStep (Leipheimer), RadioShack-Nissan-Trek (Horner, King, Voigt), BMC (no top racers), Garman-Sharp-Barracuda (Zabriskie, VandeVelde, Danielsen, Farrar), Liquigas-Cannondale (Duggan), and Rabobank (no top riders).Also competing are former podium placers Jeff Louder (UnitedHealthCare) and Ian Boswell (Bontrager-Livestrong-Trek).
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trigirl 2844 desperate attention whore postings
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08-13-12, 07:04 PM (EST)
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88. "Vuelta" |
Looks like Sky is going to let Chris Froome have his moment this year. Any other contenders out there? Contador?
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michel 10812 desperate attention whore postings
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08-24-12, 05:02 PM (EST)
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92. "RE: Lance in the news, again" |
The cyclists that followed Lance were just as guilty as he was. Erasing history doesn't change it. I'd keep his name in the record books but put a nice big quote next to it saying that, despite his lies and hypocrisy, Lance used drugs to finish first. Remember him for the cheater that he was but not reward other cheaters.
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AyaK 10083 desperate attention whore postings
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09-03-12, 11:11 AM (EST)
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97. "RE: The fall of Lance" |
There's little to say. It's been clear for years that Lance used EPO in 1999 and blood transfusions in the years after that with Dr. Ferrari. And it's also been clear that Betsy and Frankie Andreu were telling the truth about what Lance told the doctors in 1997, especially because Frankie stuck to it at great personal cost. But I still doubt whether the USADA had the evidence to prove that Lance used blood transfusions within the relevant period, which is the last seven years. Tyler Hamilton's current story, that Lance talked to him about using transfusions in 2000, makes sense, whereas Floyd Landis' stories were nonsense. But all of that is outside the WADA statute of limitations. Starshine is right that USADA does not have the power to strip Armstrong's TdF titles, despite its claims that it had done so. Only UCI does, and it has not. Again, the status of what will happen is unclear. And this isn't over yet -- it won't be over until the Johan Bruyneel arbitration. I'm going to withhold comment until then.
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