The Official Tour de France Thread

[h2oville rocket]

And to a palpable sigh of dismay from the members of this board, the Tour ends. No last day surprises and I now have to figure out what to do to fill in the four or five hours a day I spent watching this. Cavendish was absolutely dominating- that last sprint was a thing of beauty-perfect timing, perfect execution and otherworldly power.

Well, next year may be one of the all-time greats. Congrats to Contador and I hope he enjoys it because Schleck will be tough to beat next year.

[Tech83]

And to a palpable sigh of dismay from the members of this board, the Tour ends.

I own a bicycle..... it needs a chain.

[h2oville rocket]

And to a palpable sigh of dismay from the members of this board, the Tour ends.

I own a bicycle..... it needs a chain.

Just read an article about an American woman who got a her first bike because she was out of shape and wanted to quit smoking. She was 24 and joined a club so she wouldn't have to ride alone. The guys she rode with encouraged her to try a race- two years later she was riding professionally for Lotto (one of the world's best womens' teams) in Belgium. Get that chain, Tech-forget the Gibson.

[Tech83]

Nicholas was switching out my chain.... then he broke either the chain or his chain tool.... and never finished the job. Guess I need to take it to the shop and get a new chain.

[h2oville rocket]

Nicholas was switching out my chain.... then he broke either the chain or his chain tool.... and never finished the job. Guess I need to take it to the shop and get a new chain.

Guy at the Art Museum metal shop was making some very cool boxes out of steel with Bike chain handles and chain links joining the sides of the boxes instead of welding. Beautiful work. Now you have a use for a new chain (late start career as a domestique in Belgium) and one for the old chain(late stage career as metalsmith and recycler). I can't keep GIVING this stuff away Tech....

[Tech83]

I serving up melons for you .... if you can't hit them out of the park?

[Ydfalcon]

Well, now Contador has tested positive for trace amounts of celenbutrol, in a sample taken during this year's Tour.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/al ... oid-092910

He's claiming it came from contaminated food, but either way, it's not going to help the sport's image.

Also, strangely enough, he apparently recently left Astana to ride with Saxo Bank next year. I'm not sure how a Contador/Schleck/Schleck team would work. Contador/Armstrong certainly didn't, and despite Alberto & Andy's "friendship," I'd have to think there'd be a similar internal power struggle there.

[footballguy51]

I strongly dislike Contador. By him moving to Saxo Bank, he is basically destroying the tour for all 3 riders. Who is the team to support? Should they back them all until somebody screws-up? This is actually opening the door for another team to rise above Saxo Bank.

[Flipper]

I think it's entirely possible...even likely...that this is a case of contamination. Clen stays in your system for 3-5 days. If he's talking it to improve his performance, there likely would have been a much higher concentration of the drug in his system as the effects are pretty transient.

[VDub26Falcon]

Yeah, contamination...cyclists NEVER get caught doping. A Tour winner would NEVER test positive for a banned substance. It just doesn't happen in the sport.

[Flipper]

Sure...why bother looking at the pharmacology of the drug...the levels it would take to be effective as performance enhancr vs the trace levels he posted.....let's ignore the use of clen in livestock and the documented instances of food contamination. Let's assume the guy is guilty cuz he rides a bike

[Ydfalcon]

Yeah, contamination...cyclists NEVER get caught doping. A Tour winner would NEVER test positive for a banned substance. It just doesn't happen in the sport.

And that's exactly what I meant in saying that it doesn't help the image of the sport. No matter what happens with this information, if he gets suspended, stripped of the title, or if nothing at all happens, it only further damages cycling's reputation as being full of dopers.

[h2oville rocket]

The trace amounts are a little confounding although their presence after three days in meat would seem problematic as well- not sure when he was last tested before the positive but Landis reached whatever threshold was set when he tested plus during his "win". I've just sorta accepted that this sport wil always be tainted- kinda like baseball, football, track and a whole lot of others. Still love it.

[Flipper]

But Landis tested positive for testosterone, right?...clen doesn't have nearly the half life of an oil based anabolic. Since the animal tissue wasn't biologically active after it was slaughtered...would the timeline of the consumption vs kill date matter? ( I really don't know)

I'm an old gym rat...I'm fascinated by the pharmacology of sport....I normally am the first to cry "bullshit" when an athlete claims a positive is the result of contamination of food or supplements. But in this case, the drug in question along with the amounts he tested positive for scream "false positive"..

[h2oville rocket]

But Landis tested positive for testosterone, right?...clen doesn't have nearly the half life of an oil based anabolic. Since the animal tissue wasn't biologically active after it was slaughtered...would the timeline of the consumption vs kill date matter? ( I really don't know)

I'm an old gym rat...I'm fascinated by the pharmacology of sport....I normally am the first to cry "bullshit" when an athlete claims a positive is the result of contamination of food or supplements. But in this case, the drug in question along with the amounts he tested positive for scream "false positive"..

Yeah, I'm not that into the pharmacy thing- I just shoot whatevers handy at the gym into a vein, if I can find one. Still not sure how much testosterone or steroids help riders if taken DURING the Tour- EPO makes some sense as does blood doping. I suppose when you're burning muscle off the way these guys do you might want some help replacing the little you got. Anyway he's supsended for the little bit they found so somebody is not happy.