Lucky Luke.

Too right, what a ****-stirring liability, have the good sense to keep those remarks to yourself. Making *** for Chris and making herself look like an attention seeking bozo at the same time.

I really liked your post right up until the last sentence. When exactly did we dispense with the dopers?

123 on the GC podium cross the line together

doh Jens is gone

Voeckler is a legend. Him and Sagan are both on my personal TDF podium. Maybe Jens can get 3rd again.

I think you might be on to something, I've often thought that LA might bulk up a bit and turn to pro wrestling as a place where the fans are still able to suspend belief regarding his athletic achievements. Tri is out for him now so WWF is surely the next logical stop.

I reckon BMC need to hack into the Sky radio channel and put on their best Yates impression. Neck a bottle of vodka to get the slurring right and order Froome to either put the hammer down like his life depends upon it or pull off and hand in his kit.

looks hot as hell out there, please for the love of bicycles let somebody put the hammer to Wiggins on the steepest ramp available.

thank god for the ignore function

yep I agree it's pretty odd for Franck to test positive a. at this point in his career and b. at a tour he has stated openly he does not intend to contest. Unless he was planning on going for a stage win in the pyrenees and needed to mask some kind of recovery agent like testosterone. The risk vs. reward seems very disproportionate though and we have to assume he would know that this substance is highly detectable. The substance itself is useful for dropping weight in a hurry and is apparently used by athletes that need to get under a given weight limit in a hurry. You could in theory take in a lot of liquids from the point of taking the stuff in order to offset the diuretic effect. Looks very fishy to me for the reasons in my first post. I'd assume there'd be no need for Bruyneel to cough up his missing wages now.

I hope Schleck follows through on that, could be interesting. I suspect the UCI or even Bruyneel will convince him to take the ban and let it be.

It's exactly the same lab - Châtenay-Malabry - that tested Floyd's '06 samples and found testosterone. Floyd has since blabbed ad nauseum about his doping activities but still maintains those findings were wrong.

Because it's a masking agent and on the banned list? Most likely used to mask steroids, maybe testosterone for recovery. Having said that it looks like a stitch-up to me, reasons mentioned in my earlier post. Also the UCI / Bruyneel know that Franck will never sell the team down the river whilst his brother still rides for it.

Easy, I don't think they found anything on that occasion. The hefty payments to gynae / dope dealer fuentes were pretty difficult to explain though.

Lots of co-incidences here: Bruyneel has the USADA case against him, Fat Pat and Verbruggen will see this as a risk given the dirt he has on them. Schleck moaned publicly about not being paid and is demanding back pay - makes cycling look bad, also announced he will not contest the tour - adding to the general fan perception of Schleck non-performance Lab looks to be the same one that bust Landis RSNT full of the Armstrong old-garde, many of whom look to have broken the Omerta based on the earlier Dutch article Bruyneel late on his payments to Mr McQuaid as well perhaps? Either way he obviously doesn't have the clout he used to have, given his record of 8 very likely filthy tour wins with only one positive for a very lowly rider (Li FuYu)

Fresh air, healthy exercise and a fantastic means of transport. Also after 5 hours on the bike you can justifiably chow down like it's the pie-eating Olympics. Also nobody can call you an alcoholic if you train 15 hours a week and have a resting heart rate of 30.

You need both, experience in the field and people skills. Both essential. Same as with anything else.

Hey the chicken had some locally-approved gear in his shoebox, not CERA http://velonews.competitor.com/2007/07/news/ex-cyclist-levels-doping-charges-at-rasmussen_12851

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Gesink has really not done much at the Tour since CERA was taken off the menu? I had high hopes for him in 2010 but 10th was all he could manage. I don't even want to think about banking on Schlecklette busting out a stellar performance. Contador v. Froome I'm definitely keen to watch and hopefully Van Gaarderen and Rolland can join in the scrap.

By the way, much like EPO in the 90's there's currently no test for AICAR. Not to mention apparently 100 new variants of the former substance. http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/11395/Doping-AICAR-Telmisartan-and-the-need-for-vigilance.aspx#ixzz20sSh1Y7q

sorry, you are correct, record is only a British one - most yellow jerseys for a Brit during one tour. Lets wait for the mountains and the final TT. I sincerely hope the guys are clean. They will have pulled off something truly astounding if they are.

I'd love to believe this is a clean tour but once again the alarm bells are ringing - super loud and clear. I don't doubt everyone is poked, and I don't doubt everybody has worked super hard to get where they are. Sky had a 5 year plan to win the tour and it looks like they will come in bang on deadline for the sponsors. Nice newspaper seller just before the UK olympics. Guys in the media business must be super chuffed. Incredible how they have defended the yellow jersey for longer than any other team in history. On the front day after day, with each team-member riding better than they ever have before. Hard work and new training methods are really paying off for them. Geert must be kicking himself that he let the Rabo guys dope when they could have just bought tighter skin suits and got a swimming coach.

It would be nice if things were black and white but so much is dictated by the culture of the sport. Cipo for example. One of the greats of the sport. Worked with both Ferrari and Luigi Cecchini. Cycling great, but highly unlikely to have been a clean one. Same deal with Merckx. Both still highly regarded. Merckx tested positive 3 times. The Chicken - never tested positive.

At least Rasmussen was fun to watch. Not only did he clean up in the mountains and in the TT's, but he knew how to go downhill like a bullet. I reckon the UCI didn't like him though. His name is in the toilet and he never made it back to the pro tour. But in reality LA has tested positive more times than he did (zero).

the same way Geert Leinders has never contested that he presided over doping at Rabobank. Only difference being Geert is still in the business and doing better than ever. Things didn't work out in '07 with the Chicken but it's definitely looking like this will be the tour where it all comes together for him. Good thing he's an expert with saddle sores. Apparently that's what won him his latest job - according to his current employer anyways.