[Other Sport] Cycling geeks

[Pogue Mahone]

I don't think anyone did that well today. I only scored 21 in total today! Must be more careful about who I transfer in...

Just watched the highlights as I can't watch live. 90 points, and I rise 6 places to the top, so I'm quite happy! Tight up there though, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Grivko was fantastic today, and my other transfer was Porte.

Time to say goodbye to Haussler and Viviani, Geoffrey will survive the cull.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I know [MENTION=19321]Pogue Mahone[/MENTION] has also signed up for this. I've got 2 friends also signed up. Would be good to have a bit of an NSC meet up in the morning. Perhaps PM mobile no.s so we can text on the day. I'm thinking try to keep a largish group together for the duration until the Beacon climb, then it's every man for himself to the top!

Sounds like a plan. I'm signed up with 4 other fellas, and we're intending to register for a start time of about 8. A larger peleton would be great.

I'm not sure about this 'every man to himself' up the beacon - I may have to go on the attack early...going up hills fast is not my strong point!

 

[teaboy]

Just watched the highlights as I can't watch live. 90 points, and I rise 6 places to the top, so I'm quite happy! Tight up there though, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Grivko was fantastic today, and my other transfer was Porte.

Time to say goodbye to Haussler and Viviani, Geoffrey will survive the cull.

I had noticed that rise.

I *think* I actually have some climbers in for tomorrow, but then I thought I did today too, so only time will tell...

 

[Marxo]

Very disappointing news about Michael Boogerd, the former Dutch pro admitting to doping for a decade. Seemed a real nice bloke too (seen many interviews on Dutch TV).

 

[teaboy]

Very disappointing news about Michael Boogerd, the former Dutch pro admitting to doping for a decade. Seemed a real nice bloke too (seen many interviews on Dutch TV).

Former Dutch pro cyclist Michael Boogerd admits doping for a decade | Sport | guardian.co.uk

"I'm sorry I kept the [doping] culture alive," he said. "I'm sorry I never put up my hand and publicly said: 'This can't go on. It's not good.' And I'm sorry I wasn't riding in another era.

"I flew to Vienna for blood transfusions. I stored my own blood for later use."

Boogerd did not identify anybody who helped him dope. "I'm not naming people," he said. "It was my responsibility, my choice."

By not naming others he continues to keep the culture alive.

 

[Marxo]

Former Dutch pro cyclist Michael Boogerd admits doping for a decade | Sport | guardian.co.uk



By not naming others he continues to keep the culture alive.

Too true.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Former Dutch pro cyclist Michael Boogerd admits doping for a decade | Sport | guardian.co.uk



By not naming others he continues to keep the culture alive.

Yep. Is he still trying to sue that bloke he bought a race off?!

 

[Stat Brother]

This made me chuckle

[tweet]309044881857335296[/tweet]

 

[Woodchip]

Forgot my subs as I was out for dinner. Damn it!!!!

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

An article on cycling news today, I have not heard or read why the Judge does not want Fuentes to name all the 253 blood bag owners, I can only assume litigation reasons


Yogurts, missing blood bags and code names

As Operacion Puerto enters its sixth week, here are some of the more memorable quotes to date from Spain’s biggest ever anti-doping trial...

1.Unai Osa (racing in the Giro) and Fuentes, phone conversation: Unai Osa: “Is ‘Little Hands’ going to bring me a yoghurt? Fuentes: “I don’t know if the milk went off at the dairy but the yoghurts have gone bad....it’s a yoghurt that lasts a long time and which you don’t have to put in the fridge. You can eat it one day and the next and the day after your stomach is full.” Osa: “A little yoghurt right now would be great.”

2. Fuentes, phone conversation from May 2006, when he suspected - but did not know - that his phone was being tapped. “First I want to say hello to everybody who’s listening in. This is an audio taping test that two friends are testing to see if somebody picks up on this story and then somebody wants to play some kind of joke on us. This is a joke. But, just as a joke, the yoghurt has to be diluted in half a litre of serum.”

3. Serrano: "I didn't know where Doctor Fuentes was, but I needed a doctor who knew Italian...I'm sure that the only reason Clara [his wife] sent an sms to Fuentes was to have him as a translator." Marcos Serrano's explanation why he contacted Fuentes via his wife from an Italian hospital during the 2006 Giro d'Italia, when he fell ill.

4. José Antonio Escuredo, Olympic silver medallist in 2004 and Spanish national trainer, explaining his phone conversations with Fuentes: “I asked him for advice and for melatonin, a sleeping pill, that isn’t available in Spain. I was going to Japan and I needed it [for the jetlag], but it’s not a doping product.”

5. Journalist: “Can I ask you something, Mr. Fuentes?” Fuentes: “Can I ask you something? Where can I get a taxi?” Fuentes on the first day of the trial showing he knows how to keep his cool when confronted with a vast press pack.

6. Journalist: “What do the symbols RSOC refer to?” Fuentes: “No idea. Maybe a nice type of wine.” Fuentes dodges the question of whether - as is widely thought - the letters RSOC in one of his doping programs refer to one of Spain’s top football teams.

7. Jörg Jaksche when asked to clarify his performance in the 2006 Tour de Suisse. "I said it wasn’t a race, more of a club championships. He asked me to clarify what I meant. So I said ‘yes, it was a club championship. The winner of the race was Jan Ullrich, a client of Fuentes, second was Koldo Gil, a client of Fuentes, third was me, fourth was Vicioso, another Fuentes client, sixth was Fränk Schleck’. Everyone in the court, even the judge was laughing. It was ridiculous.”

8. Fuentes, phone conversation to ‘laboratory co-director’ Merino Batres concerning Ivan Basso in the 2006 Giro: “I’ve got to sort this out, because at the end of the day, I’m the one who’s responsible. ‘Birillo’ [Ivan Basso] is waiting... and what should I say to ‘Birillo’? That there’s no food. Things are getting out of hand and he’s in a place where it’s impossible to take him sandwiches. We’d been planning for months to take him a sandwich this weekend. If there’s no sausage, I’ll give him chorizo or cheese. We had promised him a couple of ice lollies [blood bags].”

9. Fuentes, on the third day of the trial, to the presiding judge: “If you ask me, I will identify all the codes of all the bags of my clients.” Judge’s response: “No, I will not ask you. In that instance the right of the defence not to answer prevails, and I’m not gong to ask you to do it.” Arguably what could have been (but wasn’t) the crunch moment of the trial so far: Fuentes says he knows exactly whom the 223 bags of blood - of which 51 have not been located - belong to. The judge says it will not be necessary to reveal that.

10. "The worst reaction I had was in 2004 when I had a re-infusion during the 2004 Tour de France and as far as I could tell all of the blood wasn't stored properly," Hamilton said. "The reason why I knew that 30 or 40 minutes later when I went to the bathroom, my urine was black." Tyler Hamilton reveals to the Madrid court how he fell ill after a re-infusion

 

[Stat Brother]

When was the last time you saw a helicopter shot of a French start or finish town, and thought:-

'that looks sh*te, I ain't going there.'?

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Some strange folk in Denmark

Woman stalked by serial bicycle-seat wanker

 

[Woodchip]

Some strange folk in Denmark

Woman stalked by serial bicycle-seat wanker

The police have not heard from anyone who has seen the man ‘applying his hand brake’ to the woman’s bicycle seat and they haven’t looked at the liquid to ascertain if indeed it was semen. They do not, however, question the validity of the woman’s report.


Some quality lines in that report.

 

[Pantani]

When was the last time you saw a helicopter shot of a French start or finish town, and thought:-

'that looks sh*te, I ain't going there.'?

About 30 seconds ago. Saint-Vallier did not look too great.

 

[1066familyman]

Well, turning out to be an entertaining Paris - Nice fantasy wise. As expected from the startlist, there's so many contenders that it makes for tricky and varied selections. It's nip and tuck all the way with 6 of us all within about 30pts of each other, which makes for a great game I reckon.

Unfortunately alongside the Eurosport cock up which means I haven't been able to watch highlights, I've also been battling computer viruses so I've not been able to give this race the amount of attention I'd like. That's no excuses though because I've still got in who I've wanted each day but the picks just haven't given me the points returns so far. Today was a classic Tommy V / Sir Thomas of Gendt conundrum. I went for de Gendt today over TV for various reasons and sods law I picked the wrong one.

Each day throws up curious questions too. Today's question must be - wtf happened to Quintana!? Makes for some selection doubts now when previously he was always a shoe in for tomorrow onwards. Back to that old drawing board now I think.

 

[Pantani]

A lovely day of racing that, just watched the extended highlights. Top work from Eurosport having yet another power failure, happens to them quite a lot for some strange reason.

Talansky looks strong, I feel the overall is between him, TJvG, Porte and a couple of outsiders Ulissi and Chavanel. I'm a bit annoyed I have to work tomorrow as it looks like a cracker in store.

 

[Stat Brother]

About 30 seconds ago. Saint-Vallier did not look too great.

Why what happened?

They couldn't have trashed it already, it looked like a lovely town, on the river.

 

[Stat Brother]

Well, turning out to be an entertaining Paris - Nice fantasy wise. As expected from the startlist, there's so many contenders that it makes for tricky and varied selections. It's nip and tuck all the way with 6 of us all within about 30pts of each other, which makes for a great game I reckon.

Unfortunately alongside the Eurosport cock up which means I haven't been able to watch highlights, I've also been battling computer viruses so I've not been able to give this race the amount of attention I'd like. That's no excuses though because I've still got in who I've wanted each day but the picks just haven't given me the points returns so far. Today was a classic Tommy V / Sir Thomas of Gendt conundrum. I went for de Gendt today over TV for various reasons and sods law I picked the wrong one.

Each day throws up curious questions too. Today's question must be - wtf happened to Quintana!? Makes for some selection doubts now when previously he was always a shoe in for tomorrow onwards. Back to that old drawing board now I think.

I seem to be doubling my points, daily.

Expect 160 tomorrow, then top of ALL leader boards, the day after.

 

[Pantani]

Well, turning out to be an entertaining Paris - Nice fantasy wise. As expected from the startlist, there's so many contenders that it makes for tricky and varied selections. It's nip and tuck all the way with 6 of us all within about 30pts of each other, which makes for a great game I reckon.

Unfortunately alongside the Eurosport cock up which means I haven't been able to watch highlights, I've also been battling computer viruses so I've not been able to give this race the amount of attention I'd like. That's no excuses though because I've still got in who I've wanted each day but the picks just haven't given me the points returns so far. Today was a classic Tommy V / Sir Thomas of Gendt conundrum. I went for de Gendt today over TV for various reasons and sods law I picked the wrong one.

Each day throws up curious questions too. Today's question must be - wtf happened to Quintana!? Makes for some selection doubts now when previously he was always a shoe in for tomorrow onwards. Back to that old drawing board now I think.

I was tossing up between the two, then decided to play it safe and go for all the GC boys plus Keizer in the hope he would try and keep the polka dots. As it turns out Tommy V did not score that highly (26 points) my Mrs picked him though. Quintana had some sort of mechanical, it would seem, either that or he blew up spectacular, he was leading up the penultimate climb.

 

[1066familyman]

I seem to be doubling my points, daily.

Expect 160 tomorrow, then top of ALL leader boards, the day after.

From a base of about 12 points it'll take more than just a week long stage race for you to top anything fatboy Still, the whites sock look great with those sandals regardless