Froome Voooom

[Bateleur1]

That's quite a bit, speaking for myself of course

 

Quite a bit of fat .... mmmmm ... I have an image of a marsh mellow being pushed into a savings pig.

[Wyatt Earp]

Ok so hang on, you believe he was doped to the hilt? along with Hinault, Fignon, et al.

 

Le Mond had mush suspision around him back in the day, whether he is or not, I just think he carries on like a hypocrite and if he never threw so many tantrums and got so worked up for losing the spotlight, I would have never even bothered about him.

 

But my comment was in the context where FanD says Froome shered the podium with Indurain, I just happened to mention that Le Mond was there too.

So no difference really.

[CAAD4]

 

 

It all starts with a careless whisper.

 

As long as he's not saying that he wants your sex.....

[fandacious]

Ok so hang on, you believe he was doped to the hilt? along with Hinault, Fignon, et al.

 

it would be hard to believe he wasnt...

[Tumbleweed]

As long as he's not saying that he wants your sex.....

 

You gotta have faith…

[Eldron]

Personally I think the secret is to divorce the emotion and suspiscion.

 

Given the last 100 (10 specifically) years of le tour you'd be foolish to believe that the peleton is now spick'n'span or that Froome's performance does not raise some red flags.

 

But to let the suspiscions and red flags ruin your Tour experience is just silly. We simply cannot know if Froome and co are clean so why let it contaminate a great experience?

[DIPSLICK]

Personally I think the secret is to divorce the emotion and suspiscion.

 

Given the last 100 (10 specifically) years of le tour you'd be foolish to believe that the peleton is now spick'n'span or that Froome's performance does not raise some red flags.

 

But to let the suspiscions and red flags ruin your Tour experience is just silly. We simply cannot know if Froome and co are clean so why let it contaminate a great experience?

AS I SAID BEFORE

[Chro Mo]

is it being televised live?

Doubt it! Thanks be for streaming video!!!

[Eldron]

AS I SAID BEFORE

 

Modders today, Weissbier and some riding. You in?

[DIPSLICK]

Modders today, Weissbier and some riding. You in?

AHH NO CAN DO SOME OF US WORK FOR OUR SCRAPS :blush:

[Eldron]

Pity...

 

I'll have a weiss for you

[DIPSLICK]

Pity...

 

I'll have a weiss for you

and if u ride hard enough a preggo

[Shebeen]

Ok, I will deal with what I see as the issues one by one.

 

1. True or not, the story seems an obvious PR exercise to me, which is hard to deny given the timing.

 

29 August, Froomey takes the lead at the '11 Vuelta, and cycling pundits are shocked to see Wiggo's domestique, whose contract is likely not going to be renewed at Sky, winning this grand tour.

 

The next day, surprise surprise, August 30 2011, is the day Sky PR breaks the story - the first time anybody in the public domain hears about the bilharzia - on the 29th, a google date range search shows absolutely no mention of it on the internet - only a lot of people asking 'is Chris Froome too good to be true??'.

 

chris froome bilharzia - the day before the Vuelta lead

chris froome bilharzia - the day after the Vuelta lead

 

The day after, we are inundated with stories and media coverage of this miraculous story, of a guy with a debilitating disease, who overcomes the odds to rise to grand tour glory. Sound familiar at all?

 

2. The timing & origin of the diagnosis

 

This story has been inconsistent. Some reports say a Sky blood screening picked it up, but Chris seems to say a Kenyan blood screening for the bio-passport was how he found out. Most reports say early December 2010.

 

Late November 2010 - the 27th to be exact - is the day Chris rode for Daikin at the double century and they smashed the course record. I talked one of the Daikin guys that day and he looked ill, saying Chris sat on the front for most of the ride. They beat 2nd place Cape Town Market by 11 minutes.

 

I've tried to piece this story together. Chris had come from Kenya earlier in the month where he'd been on his mtb doing a multi-day charity ride. It seems more likely to me - if he did get the disease - that he picked up Bilharzia in Kenya and it would take the disease at least 4-6 weeks to materialise.

 

For there then to be a blood screening in Kenya in early December where Bilharzia was diagnosed, he would have to then travel back to Kenya from SA (apparently one of his brothers got married?) and be compelled to go for a UCI bio-passport screening.

 

I'm not 100% sure how the bio-passport logistics work when in out of the way places. If anyone can tell me how the UCI would arrange a blood screening in Kenya for the bio-passport I'd be interested to know. I'd assume they wouldn't leave it up to the rider to pick a doctor and submit the results to them.

 

Regardless of the accuracy of the Bilharzia story, if Chris only got Bilharzia late 2010, that still doesn't explain him struggling pre-late 2010, being DQ-ed from the Giro that year for hanging on to a car etc.

 

All that said, I have to say he seems pretty likable, but this is pro cycling and the history of the sport compels me to challenge fairly outlandish stories that arise at very opportunistic moments.

jislaaikit dude, you've gone to a lot of trouble here.

 

Chances are he had bilharzia in his system since he was a little kid swimming in rivers. It can remain dormant for years without being detected. Know someone who started peeing blood all of a sudden, had been living out of bilharzia area for years.

 

but let's look at it this way, assume the bilharzia story is true/legit. Would there be any point in Sky broadcasting it? It's a secret weapon, and they only brought it out once his spot on a grand tour podium brought the obvious queries.

[GoLefty!!]

aibo, everyone trying to be a druggie buster now....

Maybe they should turn their attention to real crime

[VicanZA]

lets just all accept that they are using and enjoy the show.... no like i run out and bought a trek thanks to Lance...did u?

['Dale]

 

 

In the last week.

 

Yeah.

They can't go too low with body fat percentage.

Health and performance risk.