linnega

Guess the rumours were far less accurate than in previous years. No Ventoux, no Andorra, no short TT stages. All 6 mountain stages look like they could do serious damage. I like the last mountain stage in the Pyrenees with the finish up the Aubisque. Worth camping up there for the night (or three) to watch the pro's over the last 5km of switchbacks at 9-10%.

Couple of points: Ullrich won't be cleared, but his case may be suspended pending further evidence. The UCI does not have a Code of Ethics. This is a code that is agreed by the teams and their riders in the ProTour. Ullrich won't be able to sue T-Mobile as they have a requirement that a cyclist suspected of doping needs to demonstrate their innocence (Ullrich could not and did not try), and they have an ethics policy that requires honesty. Ullrich stated he had no knowledge/involvement with Fuentes when they had evidence that he was. This is a breach of their code of conduct and is grounds for summary dismissal. It seems the DNA process may be implemented. The teams have agreed in principle and so far all efforts made by the teams have been carried out.

The route changes are not huge surprises. The TT are going to be shorter, the first two days are in the UK, the next 3 in Flanders. The mountain stages do not include Alpe d'huez but do include the Colle del Finestrere (the dirt track from the Giro) and Mont Ventoux. One of the stages in the Pyrenees finishes in Andorra which always means a bloody steep final summit. Apparently there are only two Pyrenean stages so there must be something in the Cantal.

Amazing how the topic can degenerate with you lot around. I spent R15k watching the TDF for 5 days and doing the Etape the week before, plus some time with family in the south of France. Much better deal than riding with a bunch of pros for a weekend.

If its a double lane that means that you should have more space. Cyclists in the left lane and other vehicles can pass on the right.

And you should remember that England has one of the worst records in terms of cycle safety in the civilised world, so the UK should be the minimum standard we aspire to.

What on earth is Lombardi doing acting as an agent. He has consistently said that when he retires from cycling he wants to focus on his shoe shop in Madrid.

The reason is simply because the rules is you get off your bike to use the water tables. By having people on both sides, they are asking for trouble particularly in the later starting batches.

Sorry to hear about the crash SP. Hopefully a speedy recovery and back on the bike soon. Epoh - nice ride you had. Came in with your bunch (some 18min behind on actual time). You looked pretty comfortable - couldn't see you at the finish though, had to catch my lift.

If only pro were allowed here, I'd certainly be out on my ear. I can't even keep up with the average vets. Gumpole - you are probably right, he may well be holding out for more than he is really worth. I only took exception to the comment that he isn't worth a contract. To me that's just plain stupid - and can only really come out of a personal dislike of the man. Not being in any way a Hunter fan (rather indifferent in fact), I think I can be fairly objective when assessing his worth, and he is probably worth the same as Alexandre Moos, for example. Not the same category of rider (he is a climber) but he was a valuable team player on Phonak. If Hunter didn't have value, he would not have been selected to ride on the Phonak TDF team. Not everyone was given that opportunity.

Two stage wins in the Tour du Suisse 2005 gets you big kudo's. This year has been about different objectives so it would be unfair, and unlikely that team managers are that shortsighted, to judge by wins in 2006.

It would be a big risk for him, as it is unlikely that any non-Protour team he rides for will be invited to the Tour de France, and if ASO are able to exert pressure on RCS and Unipublic then Barloworld will be left with a big salaried rider and no wildcards.

I agree with most of you. The authors need to call a spade a spade. They are after Armstrong (and fairly as Bikemax has said) and the reason they continue is because there is interest and they will continue to earn revenue from the thousands that will buy the book and read the newspaper. As for how long it will continue depends on the public - the more they want, the more they will get, especially if they pay for it.

Saw that this morning. Great news for him. Navigators are well paid riders (relatative to European Pro/Continental teams overapid) and have a well organised setup. They do a fair number of good races around the world, so it will be interesting to see how many Lill has on his program.

I imagine he has a few offers on the table. He was noticeable doing the donkey work in most of the flat stages for Landis in his stage race wins and most DS's will remember his wins in Qatar, Switzerland, Netherlands, Tour of the Med etc. Probably the only hold up is himself trying to negotiate a few more Euros.

I was about to say WTF is a hand pump. Couple bombs, couple tubes (and an adapter valve for the nearest garage is I'm absolutely desperate - actually first choice if I am close enough)

This post definitely proves the saying the "there's no such thing as a stupid question...just stupid answers!". Spidy - I also had no idea what the thingy was. So I read the writing on it, googled it and ended up on the Schwalbe website. Seems a useless gadget to me - doesn't your track pump tell you what your tyre pressure is? Shamus - perhaps next time you guys can get Bicycling to include a little instruction leaflet as I am sure 90% of readers thought what's this plastic thingy before tossing it with the magazine sleave.

Ullrich name was mentioned because he specifically showed three zero EPO results (which is not possible) in the Tour de Suisse which other riders did not. linnega2006-10-13 12:57:38

Floyds presentation is, as suspected, all smoke and mirrors. Half is based on "sloppy" lab work which is only relevant if Landis is actually denying the samples are his. He has officially stated he does not deny the samples are his. The other half is based on the rules about all 4 tests having to show out of range results to be valid and then a long story about how this is not the case. The USADA rules and WADA code in fact only require one test to show out of range. Perhaps Floyd would have done well to engage a real expert and not a GP that has cycling links like Arnie Baker.

The Col d'Aubisque from last years Etape rises 1150m in 16.5km, only 7% average gradient but the last 8km are all over 9%. Have a look at the difference between the Etape and the Jock "hills":

Why not? Jokes aside - the "turney thing" is useful - even on the road.

The midrange SRAM group is called Rival. With road groupsets these days you can get much the same performance out of 105, Ultegra, DuraAce, Veloce, Centaur, Chorus and Record. The additional value of buying above 105 in Shimano and Veloce in Campag is mostly aesthetic. I haven't ridden the SRAM road groups yet, but if they are anything like their MTB groups they will be better than the competition at the comparative pricepoints.

You can order them straight of the CycleSport/CyclingWeekly website. 5 quid including postage (to anywhere) for 10 bands.