So rolling this forward to the Olympics where I believe that some of these same cyclist will be competing, will they still be on drugs? Or as Sky have no clout with the IOC do you think that it will it be clean (ignoring the longer term effects of these drugs)?
Not wishing to libel anyone all I can say is that they haven't failed a test. Remember all the times that Armstrong threatened and still threatens to sue people when the whole world knows he's a massive cheat. Bunch of dopers the lot of them imho. Even I would have tested positive back in Italy in the eighties using Salbutamol and Vicks! All the doping gossip you will ever need: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20
you know theres a massive problem when youve got a forum like that dedicated to cheating. 90% are cheats, look at Scheck who was caught but was nowhere near the top despite being close to winning it previously, all of a sudden a brand new team hires a bunch of medical people connected to doping and blitz this cheat. It doesnt take a genius to work out, especially as I cant even remember the last clean winner of the TDF.
I'm not sure wiggins is a doper. He's massively vocal against, famously so. If he is subsequently positively tested its a mighty fall. My belief is that he's clean He was a whining ex track prima Donna who thought he would piss the tour. Then he realised how tough it is and has really knuckled down to prove he could do it but it needed a really strong team. He's looked falliable on the tour and had been carried by his team especially froome and Bosen Haagen & cav. That makes me think he's clean and not an 'Armstrong superhuman'
I agree with all of this. I for one will be cheering a great achievement by a British sportsman if he pulls it off!!
No one codemned doping more than Armstrong. "I've had cancer I have, wouldn't take such a risk with my life" and so on. Proper dopers like Anquetil, Freddy Maertens, Merckx never made a big deal out of things. Anquetil in particular was 100% honest in admitting how big a doper he was despite being a total twà t of a human being.
Armstrong wasnt Superhuman, he was a cheat too. 4 ex team members just confirmed it weeks ago if anyone was ever in any doubt. Hes also bleats on about being anti doping too, even threatening to sue people.
Flyer I agree that everyone will deny doping but I do believe wiggins is clean. Can't see sky backing this and seeing a complete disaster unfold through doping. I just think they've assembled a crack team a bit like a man city approach to steamroller the opposition
I don't know much about TDF and this sport, but just from this thread I know that Wiggins can't be about to deliver the 'greatest sporting achievement by a Briton' because the whole sport seems devalued by this doping crap and from what the experts on here are saying its the team's achievement as much as his. Seems that if they had decided to support Froome he would have won as well. Just because he's going to be the first Briton to win it doesn't make it the 'greatest ever achievement' by a long chalk. The more I think about it the more I feel this has to go to a sport where competitors put their life on the line, which would lead me to motorsport, and Jackie Stewart, not just for his wins but for the impact he had on the whole sport by forcing through safety improvements. Still a whiny git though.
Does make you wonder about your heroes though doesn't it? I was a massive fan of vanderaerden as a lad and later on cipollini, abdoujaporov and indurain who I highly regard. I tried to model my (distinctly average) racing career on vanderaerden I was lucky enough to see cipollini race the classics and he was a cool guy I'd hate to think that they were dopers
Allegedly Indurain for certain was one of the biggest dopers of all time. As for the legendry Djamolidine Abdoujaparov quite possibly but who cares. His crash in the Champs-Ãlysées at over 70 kmh without a helmet was something I won't forget. He got up and finished the stage on his bike! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBtCaLYFKjo
I used to like Cipolini purely because I worked with a guy who looked like him and I called him Mario. I think a sprinter might get away with not being a doper although Im very suspicious of Cav this year. You cant win the TDF without cheating. Wiggins winning is not a great achievement because Froome would have won if he was allowed to race. Its no different to Schumacher not allowing team mates to race him and having them pull over so he could win.
Don't think indurain failed a test though? However EPO was rife around '92 - '98 so who really knows? Flyer I agree on SuperMario he was a cool guy
I know Indurain had lungs 33% larger than normal so at least theres a plausible excuse for him but the only clean guys are at the back of the field unless you are a freak of nature like Indurain. He did fail a drugs test but was allowed to race because it was apparently for asthma. Lots of samples in the 80s were destroyed which I find a bit suspicious.
One of the greatest sportsmen I've witnessed has to be Lennox Lewis but he doesn't really have one achievement that sticks out our his career. Redgrave did do a phenomenal long term achievement.
It was looking so good for our Bradders, but then some idiot has to write the following on today's BBC news website... "Only a crash in Sunday's final stage would prevent Wiggins from winning."
Sky's team will totally dictate the stage tomorrow, he'll be tucked in just off the front and in no danger. Traditionally no-one launches any attacks on the final stage and it should be a procession to set up Cavendish for a win on the Champs Elysees...
Back on topic: Redgrave for me, 5 golds over different olympics with different team members, we'll never see anything like that again. Ever. Honourable mention to Roger Bannister's first 4 minute mile, the holy grail of athletics at the time, achieved by a meticulously prepared amateur. Off topic: I firmly believe Wiggins is clean and I think it is scandalous to even discuss it.
