Critérium du Dauphiné 2016

[Maniax]

Man, how was that show of strength of Sky when Landa, Henao and Pols caught up with the Contador breakaway group, and immediately went past everyone and took charge in front.  That broke a few fighting spirits.  The Dauphine was finished right there.  It was brilliant.

[NotSoBigBen]

Mihai Cazacu ‏@faustocoppi60  50m50 minutes ago
Romain Bardet: "Modern cycling bores me. Fortunately, there still are riders like Alberto Contador. He inspires me." (L'Equipe) #Dauphine

[gtr1]

Mihai Cazacu ‏@faustocoppi60  50m50 minutes ago

Romain Bardet: "Modern cycling bores me. Fortunately, there still are riders like Alberto Contador. He inspires me." (L'Equipe) #Dauphine

Absolutely agree. Wheelsucker Porte too scared to attack his training buddy :-(

[Mntboy]

Forget Landa finding his Astana form

 

 

Oh the poop is hitting the fan

 

 

Check this,

 

https://twitter.com/cyclingtips/status/742186946840035328

This is going to get very interesting I think especially if it can be proven that a certain high ranking member of the UCI knew and agreed to this i.e. Cookson. Even if he is not involved it doesn't look good does it.

 

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[Mntboy]

Forget Landa finding his Astana form

 

 

Oh the poop is hitting the fan

 

 

Check this,

 

https://twitter.com/cyclingtips/status/742186946840035328

This is a response from Typhoon on Cycling News:

 

France Television programme Stade 2 has alleged that the UCI worked to disrupt a police investigation into mechanical doping during last year’s Tour de France. According to the programme, which was broadcast on Sunday, police spoke with the UCI last July to discuss reports that a 'Hungarian’ had been trying to sell

motors during the 2015 Tour.

 

The Hungarian in question is believed to be engineer Stefano Varjas, who was working for Typhoon bicycles at the time. The e-bike manufacturer has been working with the UCI on

their motor detection at races. The

programme showed screengrabs of emails between Mark Barfield, the UCI’s technical manager, and Harry Gibbings, the CEO of Typhoon

bicycles, in July of last year. Stade 2 claims that Barfield’s email was a tip-off about the investigation, which allowed Varjas to leave the Tour before being questioned by the police.

 

“Hi, Do you have a phone number I

can all you on straight away,” the

message from Barfield to Gibbings

read. “I’m sitting with French police who believe an engineer ‘Hungarian’ is visiting TDF today to sell a bike and visit teams, could this be your guy???” Cyclingnews spoke to Gibbings, who confirmed the email conversation but

says that there was no collusion

between his company and the UCI

and that they were not trying to

disrupt the investigation. “They

didn’t disrupt it. That’s the thing that I find most incredible about this. We’re partners with the UCI, and we’re trying to develop a system to stop cheating,” Gibbings told Cyclingnews. “As partners, they knew that we had a

Hungarian involved with us, and I

suspect that they wanted to check me out and say: ‘Hang on, you’re

partners with us, and now we hear

about this Hungarian guy, is he your guy?’ There was nothing confidential. They were just asking ‘Is this your guy selling these? You told us you wouldn’t sell motors to riders, and now we hear that there is a Hungarian guy going around trying to sell motors to teams.’ All I could do was ask him, and he said no so I went back to them and told them that he had said no.”

Gibbings told Cyclingnews that there was no follow up from the French police but that he had questioned Varjas on several occasions regarding the matter and that Varjas flatly denied being at the Tour de France. However, when he submitted receipts

for expense purposes several months later, they proved that he was in fact in France, though he still denied being at the race.

“When he submitted his receipts to

the company, we saw that he had

been in France. So I contacted him

again, but he said ‘I was in France,

but he wasn’t at the Tour de France,’” said Gibbings. “He kept on denying it, and I couldn’t prove it.”

Varjas left the company in December, with former Formula 1 mechanic Gary Anderson coming on board. Gibbings cited disruptive behaviour as one of the reasons behind his departure. He also claimed that it emerged Varjas

had agreed and taken deposits for

the sales of the motors used in

Typhoon’s bikes. However, the

manufacturer declined to supply

these. Cyclingnews has not been able to confirm these allegations with Varjas. Gibbings says that he is now working with the UCI and the police. “I sent his contact details to the UCI, and I’m going to try and get in contact with the police that they were talking to,” explained Gibbings. “I can’t prove that it was Stefano at the Tour de France last year because he

denied it to me but I can give them

the evidence that I have proving that he was in France at the time. I can just give the police the information that we have and the police, I hope and I expect that they would have full closure on what we do.”

 

So it seems I was jumping the gun a bit but very interesting nonetheless. Far from over either!

 

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[Bonus]

Waiting for the first Grand Tour rider to be busted with a motor in his bike. That's a bust that no one could possibly slip out of.

 

I guess the answer would be to swap bikes due to say, a puncture, towards the end of a stage . . .

 

;-)

[tombeej]

This subject deserves its own thread. It's just too big.

 

I'll get it started.