OT -- Tour de France

CRIMINY!!!

Huge blood-doping scandal on the pre-stage first day of the Tour. 9
riders are out, including the men who were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place
finishers last year, and the Spanish team is gutted with 5 members
dismissed from the race.

Ivan Basso is OUT!!! *cry* I *so* thought he might win this year. He
was the only rider who could keep pace with Lance in the mountains last
year and he's just coming into his cycling prime. Who knew he was
doping? *cry*

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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I'm so disgusted with all the stuff going on with the UCI and all that. On
sooo many levels. I won't air it here. I think we're just going to keep
riding our bikes in our local races and say to heck with the rest of it.

--
Jenn/Jalynne
quilting, beads, scrapbooking, cross stitch and other 'crafti' obsessions
http:/pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jalynne29/my_photos
Live! http://kinneykreations.com

"blackrosequilts" wrote in message
...
CRIMINY!!!

Huge blood-doping scandal on the pre-stage first day of the Tour. 9
riders are out, including the men who were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place
finishers last year, and the Spanish team is gutted with 5 members
dismissed from the race.

Ivan Basso is OUT!!! *cry* I *so* thought he might win this year. He
was the only rider who could keep pace with Lance in the mountains last
year and he's just coming into his cycling prime. Who knew he was doping?
*cry*

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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I'm rooting for Floyd Landis (I think that is his name) -- but whoever wins -- I hope the press
doesn't discredit the value of the win because so many were disqualified.

Who knows how long they have been using performance enhancing drugs. Supposedly not if they
underwent testing in previous years... but it sure makes you wonder!

Kate in MI


"blackrosequilts" wrote in message
...
CRIMINY!!!

Huge blood-doping scandal on the pre-stage first day of the Tour. 9 riders are out, including the
men who were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers last year, and the Spanish team is gutted with 5
members dismissed from the race.

Ivan Basso is OUT!!! *cry* I *so* thought he might win this year. He was the only rider who
could keep pace with Lance in the mountains last year and he's just coming into his cycling prime.
Who knew he was doping? *cry*

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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Kate G. wrote:

I'm rooting for Floyd Landis (I think that is his name) -- but whoever wins -- I hope the press
doesn't discredit the value of the win because so many were disqualified.

We'll have to see how it goes. These early stages, the GC contenders
are gonna lie low to conserve their strength for the mountains. Though
George Hincapie made a slick move getting the 2 second sprint bonus.

How horrible for Thor Hushovd! At least race officials went ahead and
banned those stupid hand things from the arrival zone. Those boys are
going in excess of 40 mph when they sprint for the finish so even a
blunt edge can open a huge gash, as today's accident proved. The Sports
Illustrated website is reporting that Hushovd needed stitches but he
will be racing Monday. Thank goodness. It would have been horrifying
to have his race ended by a green cardboard hand.

Who knows how long they have been using performance enhancing drugs. Supposedly not if they
underwent testing in previous years... but it sure makes you wonder!

Oh ya. Fortunately none of the American riders were implicated in the
Liberty Seguras scandal. Team Discovery is riding full strength.

Scary thing is the investigation is still proceeding and I heard that as
many as 20 more riders could be dismissed. Of course all the riders
already dismissed are protesting their innocence. Maybe some of them
are. There's no way for the average cycling fan to know.

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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well all it takes is 1 or 2 poppy seed bagels to make it look like you have
been taking drugs so who knows what they may have innocently taken and is
looking like a positive - brand X vitamins maybe?

--
Jessamy
In The Netherlands
Take out: so much quilting to reply.
Time to accept, time to grow, time to take things slow
www.geocities.com/jess_ayad
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jes...pson/my_photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We'll have to see how it goes. These early stages, the GC contenders
are gonna lie low to conserve their strength for the mountains. Though
George Hincapie made a slick move getting the 2 second sprint bonus.

How horrible for Thor Hushovd! At least race officials went ahead and
banned those stupid hand things from the arrival zone. Those boys are
going in excess of 40 mph when they sprint for the finish so even a
blunt edge can open a huge gash, as today's accident proved. The Sports
Illustrated website is reporting that Hushovd needed stitches but he
will be racing Monday. Thank goodness. It would have been horrifying
to have his race ended by a green cardboard hand.

Who knows how long they have been using performance enhancing drugs.
Supposedly not if they
underwent testing in previous years... but it sure makes you wonder!

Oh ya. Fortunately none of the American riders were implicated in the
Liberty Seguras scandal. Team Discovery is riding full strength.

Scary thing is the investigation is still proceeding and I heard that as
many as 20 more riders could be dismissed. Of course all the riders
already dismissed are protesting their innocence. Maybe some of them
are. There's no way for the average cycling fan to know.

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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Jessamy wrote:
well all it takes is 1 or 2 poppy seed bagels to make it look like you have
been taking drugs so who knows what they may have innocently taken and is
looking like a positive - brand X vitamins maybe?


It wasn't a matter of false positives. This is a sting operation on a
known doping doctor in Spain and a finding of lists of patients and
cyclists that he supplied with blood doping products. The evidence was
strong enough to cause the dismissal of 9 riders the day before the Tour
began. It's a really big scandal in the cycling world.

It throws the Tour wide open. Not a single man riding has ever won the
TdF before, and I suspect the battle in the mountains and time trials
will be fierce. George Hincapie has a real chance and a strong team
behind him. I have doubts about Floyd Landis, his team isn't as strong
as Team Discovery and he cracked in the mountains last year; his wins
this year have been races not nearly as brutal as the TdF. Bobby Julich
has a real chance too but he's 35, which is kind of old for it.
T-Mobile has been decapitated and Ullrich might be too old to recover
his career even if he's cleared. Levi Leipheimer -- dunno, he's usually
a GC contender, but like Landis his team isn't as strong as Discovery
and I've heard little coverage about him. Possible he's not really on
the radar this year, but who knows. Poor Vinokourov -- his team got
gutted so he couldn't even start. He might not be enough of a team
player to ever win the tour though. He's got a little too much fire in
the belly.

But still, it's anybody's guess who'll win. I'd have placed real money
on Basso but he's out in the scandal. He had the biggest win in the
Gyro in 42 years, it was huge.

Yay for Thor Hushovd, he's riding and a few minutes ago he took his two
seconds back on a sprint bonus. He and Hincapie have the same time
again, but Hushovd's prologue win will mean he'll have the yellow jersey
if the stage win bonuses don't change the standings. Har.

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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blackrosequilts wrote:

Yay for Thor Hushovd, he's riding and a few minutes ago he took his two
seconds back on a sprint bonus. He and Hincapie have the same time
again, but Hushovd's prologue win will mean he'll have the yellow jersey
if the stage win bonuses don't change the standings. Har.

Addendum: Hushovd just snagged another 2 seconds. He should end the
day in yellow.

Note that while seconds count in these early stages, the sprinters who
win them now will be falling behind and barely surviving in the
mountains. Hushovd isn't a GC contender by any stretch of the imagination.

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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aha - just goes to show that I don't watch much TV at all - I thought it was
another trumped up false positive

taking dope is not sportsman like in my book.

--
Jessamy
In The Netherlands
Take out: so much quilting to reply.
Time to accept, time to grow, time to take things slow
www.geocities.com/jess_ayad
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jes...pson/my_photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't a matter of false positives. This is a sting operation on a
known doping doctor in Spain and a finding of lists of patients and
cyclists that he supplied with blood doping products. The evidence was
strong enough to cause the dismissal of 9 riders the day before the Tour
began. It's a really big scandal in the cycling world.

It throws the Tour wide open. Not a single man riding has ever won the
TdF before, and I suspect the battle in the mountains and time trials
will be fierce. George Hincapie has a real chance and a strong team
behind him. I have doubts about Floyd Landis, his team isn't as strong
as Team Discovery and he cracked in the mountains last year; his wins
this year have been races not nearly as brutal as the TdF. Bobby Julich
has a real chance too but he's 35, which is kind of old for it.
T-Mobile has been decapitated and Ullrich might be too old to recover
his career even if he's cleared. Levi Leipheimer -- dunno, he's usually
a GC contender, but like Landis his team isn't as strong as Discovery
and I've heard little coverage about him. Possible he's not really on
the radar this year, but who knows. Poor Vinokourov -- his team got
gutted so he couldn't even start. He might not be enough of a team
player to ever win the tour though. He's got a little too much fire in
the belly.

But still, it's anybody's guess who'll win. I'd have placed real money
on Basso but he's out in the scandal. He had the biggest win in the
Gyro in 42 years, it was huge.

Yay for Thor Hushovd, he's riding and a few minutes ago he took his two
seconds back on a sprint bonus. He and Hincapie have the same time
again, but Hushovd's prologue win will mean he'll have the yellow jersey
if the stage win bonuses don't change the standings. Har.

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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If you want to get really depressed about the state of competitive sports,
read "Game of Shadows". The press has hyped it as a Barry Bonds expose', and
Barry figures quite prominently in it, but it's mainly about how widespread
and lucrative doping is in sports today. Great read, but I also sigh a lot
as I'm reading it.

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps
http://www.kayneyquilting.com ,
remove the obvious to reply


"blackrosequilts" wrote in message
...
Jessamy wrote:
well all it takes is 1 or 2 poppy seed bagels to make it look like you
have
been taking drugs so who knows what they may have innocently taken and is
looking like a positive - brand X vitamins maybe?


It wasn't a matter of false positives. This is a sting operation on a
known doping doctor in Spain and a finding of lists of patients and
cyclists that he supplied with blood doping products. The evidence was
strong enough to cause the dismissal of 9 riders the day before the Tour
began. It's a really big scandal in the cycling world.

It throws the Tour wide open. Not a single man riding has ever won the
TdF before, and I suspect the battle in the mountains and time trials will
be fierce. George Hincapie has a real chance and a strong team behind
him. I have doubts about Floyd Landis, his team isn't as strong as Team
Discovery and he cracked in the mountains last year; his wins this year
have been races not nearly as brutal as the TdF. Bobby Julich has a real
chance too but he's 35, which is kind of old for it. T-Mobile has been
decapitated and Ullrich might be too old to recover his career even if
he's cleared. Levi Leipheimer -- dunno, he's usually a GC contender, but
like Landis his team isn't as strong as Discovery and I've heard little
coverage about him. Possible he's not really on the radar this year, but
who knows. Poor Vinokourov -- his team got gutted so he couldn't even
start. He might not be enough of a team player to ever win the tour
though. He's got a little too much fire in the belly.

But still, it's anybody's guess who'll win. I'd have placed real money on
Basso but he's out in the scandal. He had the biggest win in the Gyro in
42 years, it was huge.

Yay for Thor Hushovd, he's riding and a few minutes ago he took his two
seconds back on a sprint bonus. He and Hincapie have the same time again,
but Hushovd's prologue win will mean he'll have the yellow jersey if the
stage win bonuses don't change the standings. Har.

--

blackrosequilts
My train of thought left the station without me.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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