linnega

It is always nice to have the choice to write under a pseudonym. There is no reason why people should be compelled to reveal their real-world identity on a public forum. You should be able to judge a person by the persona they have in the online community, then, for a change, it will be about what people say and what they stand for rather than who they know. Also great that the identity that people had on this community spawned a real world cycling club with what I understand is a great vibe.

Cruxie, I think your comments hit the nail on the head. The actual team that gets selected is by and large a matter of opinion, but the selectors need to be independent and knowledgeable. Difficult in this small industry - but at least forums like this give everyone an opportunity to vent their disgust or disapproval. Given the selectors apparent lack of independence, they really need to make their selection criteria public and explain how their decision was reached. It is not acceptable to make a decision that smacks of favouritism without putting the criteria and decision-making out in the public domain - preferably vetted by someone independent. Basic principle of good governance - if you can't demonstrate good decision making on the end result alone, you either need to document and disclose the decision or demonstrate the the process was adequate. I know Latrinus is trying very hard to bring some decent governance practices into what has been a "old boys" club (whether at PPA, SACF or the current combined beast CSA), and selection processes would be a great place to start.

A Canondale doesn't even have the fancy paintjob.

...which is about 4% gradient. Long but not that steep.

I think they do manufacture themselves. Bikes are pretty pricey and made in Quebec as far as I know. Procycling has reviewed them periodically and generally has great things to say about ride quality. Not so overwhlemed with the aesthetics.

Discovery announced in February that they would not continue but that did not mean the end of the team. You will (should) recall that the previous sponsor of this team was USPS. However, Tailwind Sports have decided to wind up operations. That means there will be a ProTour license available this year which was not the case until today. Any bets on Team Cannondale / Barloworld registering in the USA for the 2008 season Good move by Tailwind (and Armstrong for that matter - maybe he's not as dumb as he looks). The media machine can only hide so much these days and given the smoke around the team, it was only a matter of time before something indisputable came to light.

Why would you be changing the rear mech? The wear on the chain should be far less on an IDT than out in the veld where there are all sorts of pressures (like rocks, ruts and drops). You also change gear far less on an IDT. The only accelerated wear areas are the tyre, your ass and legs.

I was devastated to hear the news this morning. Rest in peace, Ryan. My sincere condolensces to the Cox family and loved ones - may God be with and may his plan be revealed to you to give you peace.

Also worth noting that Rasmussen is required to appear give his location to Danish authorities as he made himself available for Danish national team selection. Hunter is also required to be where he says he will be should Drug Free Sport in SA decide to test him (at their expense, at the location where he reports to the UCI he will be). The Danes travelled to where Rasmussen was meant to be to perform the tests but found him unavailable hence the two warnings. WADA, under the auspices of the UCI, did the same twice on different dates. The 4 missed tests do not constitute a positive test at this stage as the UCI and Danish federation run separate tally's but only a fool would fail to see this is just a technical loophole. And one that the UCI is planning to remedy in the rules for 2008.

Of course the best placed Frenchman was also kicked off the Tour - had nothing to do with his own indiscretions though. Kinda poors cold water on the winner manipulation theory. Fact is Rabobank fired Rasmussen. If he has a case he will contest that legally. My guess is he won't.

Take it from someone that has just bought a Canon 30D it is worth it to do your homework. The camera needs to be something you feel comfortable with, so te settings need to be intuitive to you and the camera has to feel right. The 350D and 400D feel much lighter than the 30D, and I really preferred the solid feel. In low light the shake of my hands was slightly less with the 30d than with the others. Have a look at some of the following websites: www.bobatkins.com (a bit of nutcase but an interesting read) www.photozone.de (for excellent lense reviews) www.dpreview.com (for excellent camera reviews) For buying have a look at the following local sites: www.orms.co.za www.sacamera.co.za www.bidorbuy.co.za Remember that the lenses make the shot and as has been pointed out there are a number of lenses for different applications. After much research I settled on the following: Tamron Di II 18-250mm - everyday lens Canon EF 50mm MkII - portraits and excellent quality close range shots Both these lenses are cheap(ish) and represent great value for money but there is a compromise on quality compared to professional glass. That said the images I get on my Tamron lense are not that different in quality to those my brother gets with his Canon 70-200mm top quality lens. You can get a 30D or a 400D online through eBay with a Tamron 18-250 lens. I do also have the 18-55 kit lens. It is perfectly useable but the difference between it and the Tamron is noticeable at all focal lengths. Overall I would say the kit lens wasn't worth the R500 I paid for it. The 50mm lens is awesome and more than worth the R400 I paid for it on eBay. At some point I will look to get an L glass lense and at least look like a pro with my white cased lens but for now I'll have to settle for the lenses I have.

Lovely quote isn't it. Rider tests positive but we have only heard one side of the story. Surely the known fact that the rider tested positive is sufficient evidence in anyone's mind?

Afraid no law in the world will prevent the running of a story where an eye-witness gives the media an account (ie there were police at the Barloworld hotel). The media cannot be held accountable provided the story came from what appears to be a credible witness. Doesn't seem to have affected the team or Soler so no real harm done.

For taking dodgy sick days, your employer would be entitled to dismiss you. In fact, if you fill in a leave form and sign that you were sick, you have defrauded your company out of a day's pay and could be charged. All theoretical of course because we tend to create grey areas when it suits us. As long as it is commonly accepted practice its okay. Doesn't take away from the fact that lieing to your employer is gross misconduct for which immediate dismissal (even with our draconian labour laws) is a possible outcome.

Anybody trying something tomorrow will be treated worse than a leper by the rest of the peloton. Everyone knows the race for yellow ended today and tomorrow is time for Contador to celebrate. Discovery will expect Evans to respect that just as Evans will expect Leipheimer to accept 3rd place.

Allowing the riders to take whatever they want is probably the dumbest solution ever suggested. It demeans the spectacle of the sport and would not have a fan following. More importantly it means that any rider wanting to be successful in his chosen career is forced to risk his health in a sport where most people participate to improve their health. Legalising drugs would result in a very quick death to the sport followed shortly by numerous riders keeling over.

We'll see soon. But looks bad. Hope Barloworld follow the correct precedent and withdraw the team. Will probably mean the end of the sponsorship.

Simply, yes. The polka dot has more prestige than the white jersey.

Don't think Lance would waste the effort on Levi. Contador is a better time triallist - effort is better spent there.

Shame - I gave Hunter credit for being a bit more intelligent than that. Seems he is one of those who should rather keep his mouth shut than confirm he is an idiot. The reason it is always the French lab during the Tour is because the Tour is in France. Same reason that the Vuelta tests are always in Spain and the Giro tests are somewhere else (Switzerland). Anyway - Chatenay-Malabry has not had more questions asked of it if you consider they do more tests than the other labs and consequently produce more positive results. Every time an cheat is caught he/she claims the process was ineffective. Off the top of my head I can only think of Inigo Landuluse test that was set aside for procedural error. The testing there was done by the Madrid lab. However, Heras also questioned the Madrid labs protocol and his case was thrown out by CAS. In all other cases I can think of there has not been any real evidnece of procedural error that influenced the result. Perhaps USADA and/or CAS will decide otherwise with Landis but from what I have seen Landis should lose both his initial disciplinary hearing and the subsequent CAS appeal as Hamilton did. That reminds me Hamilton did get off on a technicality because of the frozen blood sample which meant his B sample was not available. As for the leaks - I'm afraid we are not dealing with a military installation. The leaks are more due to the fact that l'Equipe takes their role as public protector against the scourge of doping seriously and has spent money planting moles within the lab in France. No doubt if they put the same amount of effort into other labs they would get as many tasty titbits. It seems that Gazetto is able to get leaked info out of Madrid as well so it is not limited by any means to the French. When it comes down to it. Leaks or no leaks, and minor procedural errors or not, if the athletes have been cheating and are caught they deserve what they get. Hunter's tone suggests that the results are in question. They are not. Landis,Vino,Moreni etc are guilty. As for why Vino did it. Simple - he f**ked up and ended up with the wrong blood. Same as Hamilton and Santi Perez. Mystery solved.

I don't really see what the issue is with the leaks. Sure its an infringement of rights, but that has little to do with whether the test was positive or not. The failure of USADA lab to release the results of a rider last year meant that a number of riders were cheated out of their prize-money as the guy continued to ride until all was finalised and he was sanctioned. At the moment, I don't think the cyclists have enough credibility to demand rights to privacy.

yes - but it seems testing is less frequent and that seems to relate to fewer positive tests. A few cases have come out in recent years.