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Jamsque posted:Doping news! Yaaaaaaaaaay! More doping news! Rumours are that Michael Rasmussen is going to admit doping today. Since Armstrong's confession there has also been a lot of news about Dutch riders:
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| # ? Jan 31, 2013 10:03 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 22:46 |
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HOW CAN HE ADMIT HE WAS CAUGHT RED HANDED!  My god my brain nearly exploded. edit: So that time I was leading the Tour and lied about my whereabouts? Yeah, I was doping. Good thing I got kicked out of the sport for two years hey? Actually, to be fair, it's good that it's all out in the open, better than baseball where people still don't think being stronger can help you hit a ball further.
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| # ? Jan 31, 2013 10:58 |
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Rasmussen used everything under the sun, but isn't going to name any other names for now. How fascinating.
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| # ? Jan 31, 2013 13:14 |
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There is a lot to baseball but thanks for reducing it to an almost irrelevant strongman~ Baseball & cycling are almost completely different skillsets. There's also the fact that not everyone responds to drugs in the same manner, some people are super receptive to them and others see almost no measurable gains, even in cycling.
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| # ? Jan 31, 2013 13:59 |
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I feel like every off-season I think there is no way there can be as much drama in cycling as there was the year before, and every off-season I am all the way wrong.
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| # ? Jan 31, 2013 18:24 |
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Yes, hetiskoers.nl put up their "countdown to omloop het nieuwsblad" timer now i can sit and wait for it to reach zero!
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| # ? Feb 5, 2013 11:03 |
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The finish sprint of today's Qatar stage 3 was pretty wild! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlxqXsIhAZ8
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| # ? Feb 5, 2013 21:37 |
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Pro tip: buy 2 monitors so you can watch Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico at the same time.
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| # ? Feb 7, 2013 01:03 |
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Cavendish has now won more stage races than Andy Schleck (via INRNG)
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 14:51 |
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accipter posted:Cavendish has now won more stage races than Andy Schleck (via INRNG) I love it. Andy has not finished a stage race since April of last year, and his team manager just called him out publicly for his poor work ethic.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 18:02 |
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I used to be a fan of his but recently the impression is Andy is just there to get paid, why people keep paying him I don't know. He's not ridden with any conviction since that long range attack in the TDF 2 years ago.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 18:45 |
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Pocket posted:I used to be a fan of his but recently the impression is Andy is just there to get paid, why people keep paying him I don't know. He's not ridden with any conviction since that long range attack in the TDF 2 years ago. Same here. I really like the idea of him and his brother riding together, but they have just been really lame in the last couple of seasons. It was just the opposite with Gilbert. I wasn't of fan of him when he rode for Lotto and had bleached hair, but I have grown to like him.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 22:48 |
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Pocket posted:I used to be a fan of his but recently the impression is Andy is just there to get paid, why people keep paying him I don't know. He's not ridden with any conviction since that long range attack in the TDF 2 years ago. I think he's riding clean, or storing up bags for the Tour. Should go back to Saxo Bank.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 22:51 |
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Pocket posted:I used to be a fan of his but recently the impression is Andy is just there to get paid, why people keep paying him I don't know. He's not ridden with any conviction since that long range attack in the TDF 2 years ago. I was an instant fan when he exploded onto the scene with that 2nd place at the giro and he was by far my favourite rider but he has seriously sucked poo poo since that incredible attack.
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| # ? Feb 8, 2013 23:53 |
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please respond posted:I think he's riding clean, or storing up bags for the Tour. Should go back to Saxo Bank. He matched/beat a dirty AC up the Col du Tourmalet, then two days later went on to turn out a very respectable ITT losing only 31 seconds to Contador. No doubt in my mind Andy was playing the same game as AC. I also noticed stage 19 the final ITT of the 2010 TDF, Wiggins came in 3min33s down on the stage winner Cancellara and 3min 10-something on 2nd place Tony Martin. The course was flat as pancake so it did suit the two power houses, Fabs was not his best and Tony was injured, though a near 4mins reversal on just those two highlights how much Wiggins improved in ITT in the short space of two years.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 01:34 |
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Wiggins rode the Giro that year and ended up struggling the entire Tour. Less about any improvement in his TT ability and more about recovery, to be honest
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 01:40 |
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Can't wait for some racing, so we're not sitting around shooting off conspiracy theories about riders again. And by racing in mean higher than 2.HC.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 03:44 |
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LordPants posted:Can't wait for some racing, so we're not sitting around shooting off conspiracy theories about riders again. They aren't quite conspiracy theories when they are always true though.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 03:46 |
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please respond posted:They aren't quite conspiracy theories when they are always true though. That wasn't a shot at you or anything, just lamenting I wanted racing. We also need a thread change to - CYCLING!!! - Cleanest Sport in Australia!  Considering how good Wiggins was in 2011, I'd consider his problems in 2010 to be the fact he did the Giro, and that he didn't have a very good team with him.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 08:39 |
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So Garmin had all their bikes stolen in the Mediterranean tour last night. They got offered bikes of other teams but instead opted to go home, says something about that tour. Also yesterdays stage was cancelled because local municipalities weren't convinced of the organisation. Great fun in France!
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 12:21 |
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I knew this was a big problem with teams parking their cars and vans at the rear of their bike trucks to prevent the doors being opened easily. If I remember correctly some crooked fucks stole a live broadcast truck at night, during a race a few years back. I can't seem to filter google well enough to get any hits though, does anyone else remember this?
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 13:27 |
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You'd think that race officials providing security for the equipment overnight would be mandatory.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2013 17:07 |
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 19:08 |
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Those glasses are nearly as bad as the Assos line of eyewear.
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 21:57 |
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White sidi's, socks and bar tape. A true euro.
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| # ? Feb 12, 2013 22:09 |
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Pocket posted:Those glasses are nearly as bad as the Assos line of eyewear. I'd wear them if someone paid me as much as they're paying Sagan... but I agree.
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| # ? Feb 13, 2013 02:25 |
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Yikes I don't like when they make national champ jerseys look like the team kit, this is bad.
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| # ? Feb 13, 2013 04:46 |
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From Matt Brammeier's Twitter feed. Caption: "FFS...."
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| # ? Feb 13, 2013 17:25 |
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If nothing else comes out of this season besides more Sagan salutes, I'd be ok with that.
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| # ? Feb 14, 2013 04:40 |
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Hey Y'all - CYCLING!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Y_4d4jd8Y
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| # ? Feb 15, 2013 10:01 |
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I am hoping to see the same early-season short stage race dominance from Froome that we saw from Wiggins last year. In other news, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has decreed that Katusha SHALL go to the ball, so Purito Rodriguez doesn't have to change squad and we now have 19 teams in the Pro Tour. The UCI now has to try to either kick a team out, which will inevitably lead to another CAS case, or try to persuade race organisers that they have to take 19 teams instead of 18 before choosing wild cards. Race organisers already hate the UCI so they will surely fight that very, very hard.
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| # ? Feb 15, 2013 18:51 |
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What's with Contador and Froome going for it this early in the year? I am not sure if I want to see a rider peak for a whole season again.
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| # ? Feb 15, 2013 20:30 |
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UCI World Tour points baby. That poo poo is cash money. edit; looks like Omen is a 2.HC race, not WT. Still think a bunch of points are up for grabs though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_ra...ons#Road_racing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_Oman http://inrng.com/calendar/ Ugh. It's all very confusing. But anyway, a team needs UCI points to get renewed for next year. dema fucked around with this message at Feb 15, 2013 around 20:51 |
| # ? Feb 15, 2013 20:38 |
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I want to see more young Garmin riders doing stuff. It's time for Talansky to win some big races, I wonder what he is targeting. Dude is a huge talent.
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| # ? Feb 15, 2013 20:45 |
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I stopped following last fall (and sorry if I missed it if it was in the OP or another post), but who are the favorites this season? Is it just shaping up to be Cav/Sagan own-zone or is there a strong young guy coming up? It's really a shame about Boonen, I hope he recovers. He's always been my favorite. Also, Marianne Vos is a loving god. The last race I got to catch was the women's cross championship and goddamn.
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| # ? Feb 16, 2013 02:29 |
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please respond posted:What's with Contador and Froome going for it this early in the year? I am not sure if I want to see a rider peak for a whole season again. They're there because the Qatar / Oman tours throw a lot of money at the riders to turn up (and finish) the event. So it is actually cash money. edit: for clarification, they have enough money that they get the ASO to run the event (Guys who run the TDF and all the major French races + Vuelta). The other thing is because it isn't a very prestigious 2.HC event, they would seriously be head and shoulders better than everyone else. Froome popping at the top of that ride may just be because he's not fully fit. It's just a training ride against better opposition, that they get paid handsomely for that is helping them get ready for Nice. In other news, no Gilbert at Het Volk. Hopefully Thor is fit. LordPants fucked around with this message at Feb 16, 2013 around 03:16 |
| # ? Feb 16, 2013 03:13 |
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dema posted:Ugh. It's all very confusing. But anyway, a team needs UCI points to get renewed for next year. Unless they changed it recently, word Tour teams and riders only score points on world tour events, so no point to grab before next WT events which are Nice or Tirano-Adriatico. In other news there were some talk to bring back National team for TDF (Also team of 8 and no radio). It was asked by several french teams and the owner of L'équipe (Wich is owned ASO) it was refused this time but they will try again next year. In french : http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-...tionales/348533 There is also some rumours about Andy Schleck wanting to stop his career this year/soon.
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| # ? Feb 16, 2013 11:08 |
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There are like 3 different points systems: World Tour rankings, Continental Circuit rankings and the UCI's own in-house rankings. First determines who gets prize money among WT teams; second is the same but for Pro Continental/Continental teams instead; third determines who gets a World Tour license for the following season. The third is not public, as far as I know, and includes points gained across all level of competition from WT to 2.2, though obviously the more important events are worth more. If they just counted WT points for who was eligible for a WT license then the teams getting automatic berths into every single WT event would have an enormous advantage and wouldn't ever lose their license.
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| # ? Feb 16, 2013 21:07 |
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Relegation/promotion are handled like in Football (soccer), teams in World tour with the less WT points are relegated, teams in conti with the most continental points get promoted. It can get tricky because unlike football they are doing it after transfer. This is why you get good domestiques unable to find a team since they can't bring points to their new team and why you get new team starting in WT. It also get the advantage of having a fixed number of teams promoted/relegated, in your system, the number of teams promoted vary every years. Anyway, wining tour down under and tour of Beijing get you the same number of points as wining tour de France, probably why only a few pay attention to the ranking.
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| # ? Feb 17, 2013 10:21 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 22:46 |
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No, licenses are granted based on points accumulated across a whole heap of different levels, they're just weighted depending on what they are:quote:The sporting criteria have been changed, and will be based on the values of riders signed for the coming year. These values will come from each rider's results over the previous two seasons. The UCI's statement said, “The values will be calculated on the basis of the UCI World Ranking, Continental Rankings, U23 Ranking, podium places in Grand Tours and victories in the most important events (World Calendar, HC Class, Classes 1 and 2, Continental Championships, National Championships and World Championships)." http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci...ensing-criteria It's not just the bottom two WT vs top 2 Continental rankings or anything like that. There would be 0 changes in a season if the bottom WT team had riders with more points than the top pro conti team. There's a huge explanation of all the rules here.
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| # ? Feb 17, 2013 11:27 |
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