linnega

Frenchmen are accused of doping periodically. The obvious one is Virenque. Also Jalabert featured in a court case not so long ago. Seem to remember ex World's winner Laurent Brochard also having some brush with investigators. I imagine their names come up less often because they dope less, which is partly why French cyclists have struggled to keep the pace. It seems unlikely that despite a large pool of riders and a number of talented youngsters that the French would got from dominating the Tour in the 80s to not featuring in the 90s. It simply doesn't make sense.

Well done to Kim Kirchen for winning yesterday's stage. Awesome ride by the Luxembourger. Astana did the right thing to withdraw. Kloeden left T-mobile because he couldn't agree to the ethical code and measures being put in place there - not that it stopped Sinkewitz. At least the anti-drug campaign is going to get a fair wad of cash. I imagine Vino's salary is less than small.

It is actually your effective top tube length that matters most - obviously irrelevant to the straight top tube of the Trek, but definitely relevant to the top tubes of the Raleigh's and Giant's of this world. If you are able to find comfort without moving the stem past reasonable limits, having too many spacers, the seatpost past its safety line or the saddle beyond the rail limits then you have a bike that fits you. More often than not some adjustment is needed from the calculated fit as everyone is very different. My road bike fits almost spot in the middle of the range with everything ie 3cm or so of additional useable seatpost, not too many spacers, a 10cm stem and the saddle rails right in the middle. However, my MTB which I feel even more comfortable on has the seatpost right on its limit, the seatpost rails on their limit and the extra spacers were only removed by fitting a riser bar. Both are comfortable and for me a great fit.

With seriously decent climbers up the road starting the first HC climb. Astana and Caisse d'Epargne seem to be in the pounds seats. Rasmussen will be vulnerable today to a few big attacks.

As long as the Sharks are winning we can talk about rugby.

Excellent time trial. Rasmussen, Evans, Contador and Leipheimer all much better than expected. Vino moves back within striking distance. Mayo and Valverde were very disappointing, with the other climbers performing adequately. Don't think Boonen missed the cut.

RH needs to commit earlier - not go out earlier but commit to a side. He was going to dive right then changed his mind and went up the right. That is the only reason he lost that one sprint to Hushovd earlier this week where the hesitation lost him a few metres on Hushovd that he had to make up. linnega2007-07-20 14:14:54

Rasmussen has signed the anti-doping agreement although he did fuss about it. See: http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTI1NDg I think the Danish federation is trying to make a point. He was tested on June 29 - 1 day after his missed test for June 28. Can't say I like Rasmussen's attitude in general or his stance on doping. The riders whine about being treated like children, but the fact is they can't be trusted and behave like children so the treatment is necessary. Once the riders demonstrate they can behave themselves they might get a bit more leeway.

The tests that he missed were obviously in addition to the normal UCI tests otherwise he would be sanctioned by the UCI. Seemed to me like he informed the UCI of his whereabouts but not the Danish federation and the Danes are taking offense. Would be nice to have a bit of clarity on the sitaution but the news I have read seems sketchy.

My RaceFace cranks have been a bit disappointing. Nothing serious but I always have a creek emanating from the BB area. Happened on both the GT and the Anthem and it doesn't seem to matter if I install or the LBS. Otherwise they look cool, clean easilay and are light. I didn't like the XT cranks I had - got rid of them first. Truvativ is interesting being within the SRAM group now. I've never ridden them, but had no problems with SRAM, Avid or Rockshox.

Put bike in a bike bag and lug it around. Ride early mornings from your hotels. Do a bit of research as to local clubs and club rides and gatecrash some of them.

Excellent result for Soler and for Barloworld. Great to see a young rider attack from far out, catch the breakaway's and immediately set about taking them apart with constant accelerations. As for the critics of TBL, none of what was said previously is invalidated. TBL were not getting enough exposure early on, but have clearly shown that they have mountain riders that needed to be saved for the real stages rather than ride in pointless breakaways just to get themselves on TV. Well planned by Corti and hopefully he continues to do the same great job.

Firstly, at junior levels cycling is not a team sport. A quick watch of the U16's highlights that pretty quickly. If you are only riding in a club team then this applies even more. BTW cross country is not a team sport at any level. That all said, it is about time that school sport was dropped altogether. There should be a requirement to participate in club sport to get a passing grade up to say grade 9. That would free up some of the money that is wasted by schools on sport and better develop the club level infrastructure. It would also shift the focus of many teachers back to their jobs rather than to coaching and refereeing sports which some see as the most important role they play in the development of these youngsters.

Excellent attitude. If it was meant to be a lane it would have been designated as one.

Effort looked minimal. Soler is a pretty good climber and tomorrow is perfect for a long breakaway. I don't think the peloton will see him as a threat, so he may be able to get in an early break. If he waits to the end obviously he will struggle when the big boys play.

Admin would be the guy who owns this site and makes the rules on content. I did mention it last week about the news article posting - not only is it a copyright infringement, it is tedious as I (and many others I'm sure) browse the news every day so we don't need to see the same articles reported on the Hub verbatim with no comment from the poster.

The Raleigh RM8.0 should be going for a little less than the retail of R13k as new models are introduced. Otherwise the RM6.0 is good value.

Cardenas is there to have a go at stages. If he wasn't feeling god, he would have taken it easy. I imagine that Corti has told his men not to look at the GC although Soler may have a go tomorrow for yellow. T-mobile are unlikely to commit to keeping yellow on Gerdemann's shoulders.

For the first week, this has been one of the more interesting weeks of racing. The finishes have been especially good to watch. We have had breakaways caught in the last kilometer, Cancellara winning a "sprint", some very good sprinting by Hunter and Feillu, not to mention Steegmans overcooking it and taking the win ahead of his captain. Today will be interesting. Leipheimer looks tranquil, but Sastre, Popovych and Evans have stretched their legs a little and looked good (Sastre after falling, Popo late in stage 5, and Evans has been able to move up through the peloton on his own in a few of the sprint stages). The crashes have been less spectacular than normal for the first week but I can't complain about that. I hope that Vino is abe to compete this weekend. He is usually weak in the first few mountain stages, but comes back very strong. If he can just hang on he will be a threat overall. I am interested to see how Schleck does. He has lost a bit of weight and will no doubt be spurred on by his brother's second place finish in the Giro. I am hoping to see riders like him, Evans, Sastre, Valverde go for broke early in the Tour and test the others' legs. Today's stage is actually perfect for a long range attack. The big climb is not too difficult and a fair distance from the finish.

Otherwise just hit the net and buy a few tools online. linnega2007-07-14 02:17:05

Hunter hesitated and then chose the wrong wheel. He needed to get onto Boonen's wheel but went left instead and lost too much ground at around 100m.

Get a 9-speed chain. Much cheaper and more durable.

Finishing is not necessarily part of the plan for Degano anyway. He was there to provide support in the sprints for Robbie during the first week. He was very conspicious in two stages where Robbie was in the top 5 so job well done.

I missed the first discussion on this topic but from all accounts it wasn't properly discussed anyway. I agree that the primary need for children in our country is mobility. However, that shouldn't be the only focus of cycling charities. Getting kids involved in sport is a great way to turn their focus to something more productive than drugs and alcohol. Simply providing mobility is like providing housing with no running water or energy. Sure the running water and energy can only be given when the house has been built but a house without basic amenities is no picnic. I think Velokhaya/Life Cycling Academy is complementary to other charities that are focussed on mobility. Velokhaya is part of the Olympics 2016 initiatives and thus their focus needs to be on the sporting aspect. Personally, I think the creation of a path to success for youngsters allows them to dream big and move beyond their difficult current circumstances. These are great hope builders and hope will drive these kids out of poverty.

Superman, could you rather just post your opinion on the stories run on other websites and if necessary post a link. We don't really need to read the news we have already read elsewhere.