onetrackmind

Remind us how good you are again?

You make an excellent point.

The Tour has nothing to do with the Epic - I don't see the point of your question?

I think people are confusing it with the Hansie story.

Wow, I spend a day away from my computer and all hell breaks loose. Having read all thirteen pages of this fred, it is clear who has read the article, and who is making up what thye think it might say. The story is filled with nasty theory-ruiners caled facts. And is told from all sides. It does not make anybody out to be whiners or whingers, it doesn't make any accusations (if anybody should be nailed here, it is the UCI for not having the balls to act on a high-profile transgression), it just sets out the truth. Personally, I think Burry and Christoff got lucky. Who was going to protest and look like a chop? Burry knowingly, openly broke the rules (the decision that conditions were dangerous were made after the leaders have finished, from what I have been told ) and was not punished. Should his transgression have cost him the Epic win? Probably not (although, had he gone hypothermic because he didn't plan properly, maybe it should). Should he have been allowed to keep the stage win - nobody mentions it here, but it is the Bulls team, I think they finished second on the day, who really got shafted here - I don't think so. Should he and Christoff have sat up and not contested it, or even dropped back to ride with David and Kevin, almost like in F1 when you give back the place if you took it by cutting a chicane - definitely. It would appear neither Burry nor Christoff think too clearly about the right way of doing things - jumping fences to ride parts of the Epic route illegally (should Christoff actually have been riding the Epic, having broken that rule?), and going off on twitter about an alleged protest about a shirt (an earlier poster needs to get his facts straight on that one), whithout finding out the truth first (I wonder if Burry ever apologised to Kevin or David for that one?). It all leaves a sour taste in the mouth, and Vermaak and the UCI should have done something about it at the time, even if that something was difficult or unpopular. The rules, especially for the pros, must be absolute.

I don't remember anything about it at the time, would be interesting to see the comments.

Got mine this mornng - still stinks a bit, but I think I am getting used to that. Love the feeling that the Tread guys are like our riding buddies writing for us. I don't get that with the other local magazines. The one story I did notice, I am surprised there has been nothing on the hub about it(maybe I missed it... ): how Burry got away with a bit of a sneaky one! What a silly thing to do at that level, he and Christoff were so lucky, any one of the other teams could have protested it. Kudos to George and Evans for not doing so, when they could have/should have.

And the pink piggies still managed to lose!

Multiple internet reports vs one internet report - I will go with the multiples.

And because he says it is so, we must just beleive. I suspect that the reputable cycling news sites that have reported on this would have either roemoved the story, or made a retraction, or both if there was a shred of truth to his claims. He was bust, he just makes it worse by arrogantly saying the rest of the world got it wrong. This is not about his abilities, his position in SA or world cycling - just about telling the truth

How exactly did I insult Robbie? Was it by pointing out that he got caught cheating? Was it by saying I was disappointed in him? Help me out, a little, I don't understand why you need to attack me on this. I bet I can go further, without insulting any body. How about this: First, Hunter cheats - I won't be so rude as to call him Robbie, I don't know him personally. When you next chat to him, maybe you can arrange an introdution? Then, he tells the whole world it is all nonsense, and we must all beleive him that they got it wrong, in spite of the fact, FACTS, that make it quite clear he was nailed fair and square. Even his own DS seems to accept he was DQed - whether it was fairly, or not, is secondary. The FACT remains he was DQed. First I must respect a man representing my country, who is caught cheating at an international event, and then I must respect him for lying about it, just because he has won more SA titles than I have? Really?

But wait, there's more: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/532941/giro-jury-disqualifies-sprinters-for-holding-onto-team-cars.html

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/05/news/giro-notebook-stage-20-ryder-purito-head-to-head-in-tt-cav-loses-points-jersey-hunter-others-kicked-out_221257 Hunter, Guardini, Velasco, Rollin kicked out of Giro Dominique Rollin (FDJ-BigMat), Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda), Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Thursday’s stage-winner Andrea Guardini (Farnese-Selle Italia) were all kicked out of the Giro by the race jury for what appeared to be taking pulls from team cars early in the race. Though the race jury didn’t identify the infraction – they cited a UCI rule that states a rider “who commits a serious fault” can be removed – it appears that riders were spotted holding on too long to “sticky water bottles.” Velasco, Rollin and Hunter had all crashed this week, with Rollin getting hit by a Vacansoleil team car on Wednesday and Hunter sliding into a barrier Friday. Guardini, meanwhile, was struggling through the mountains, finishing last Wednesday and Friday. “I do not want to comment until I know all the facts,” said Garmin sport director Charlie Wegelius. “Robbie Hunter shouldn’t have gotten back on his bike (Friday) in all reasonableness. He smashed a wooden pole, but he stayed in the race today because he was so dedicated to the team and to Ryder.”

Even the UCI disagrees with Hunter's version: http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MjExMg&LangId=1 But then, wadda they know.

PS - for the record, I would rather they be proven to be wrong.

Well... on the balance of what is available to us now: He is listed by Cyclingnews.com, in their full results as DQ.And they make sure to mention the disqualification of the four... http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-20/results He is listed in the withdrawals page of Gazetta as DQ: http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2012/classifiche/it/t_20_class_RETIRED.shtml?lang=en How likely is it that the most respected cycling site in the world, and the official news partenr of the Giro got it wrong?

As witnessed by Rojas (aka Green Jersey Rival), and nobody else? That time? I suspect Robbie actually did hang on to a car. They don't DQ for no reason. They sent Guardini home too, unlikely to do that to one of their own unless it was very clear.

Thanks, coffee all over my keyboard now.

Ballpark frame price?

Caught cheating while wearing the national champ kit. Quite disappointing, winning SA's seemed to mean a lot to Hunter, now he has made his name gat again.

Could be an interesting trip back to the Orica-GreenEDGE hotel.

Found it: http://vancycle.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/004.jpg?w=470&h=352

Which mag - maybe we can see if they are trying to buy the Hub? <what wooden spoon?>

The irony cancels out the stirring.

Please note: This post was made an hour before kick-off.