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[Rob A.]

...

[NanaM]

Well...it has been an exciting Tour this year... and no doping allegations...yet!!!... ...though it's always in the back of one's mind...

Yeah... Contador broke the record time for climbing Verbier mountain pass on a bike : 8,5 km at 7.5% inclination in 20min55s. According to Antoine Vayer, former Festina team trainer, his estimated VO2 max was 99.5 ml/mn/kg to produce this effort. That is higher than the all-time record held by norvegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie - 96 ml/kg/min (measured off season). OK records are meant to be broken, as well as eyebrows be raised

I guess they just found another EPO-like dope that can't be yet detected. As long as the Tour de France and the stages are not significantly shorter than previous editions and the general pace is the same as when we know for sure they were doped, it's hard to believe they are not still doped.

[MagicJ]

I only watch the tour so i'm not really up with what's been going on behind the scenes, sure there's drugs involved with some but i just like to look at the race through rose tinted glasses as a spectacle of man and machine vs the road, mountains and elements. I loved Rasmussen and enjoyed watching him race, unfortunately he got found out but as a casual observer i just accepted it and got on with the race. Even if Contador is suspect you can't deny he has talent he looks so comfortable riding when dancing on his pedals, the drugs might help his endurance but i love to watch his explosions up the mountains.

Right i'm getting ready to watch the race, now where did i put those glasses....

[NanaM]

Even if Contador is suspect you can't deny he has talent he looks so comfortable riding when dancing on his pedals, the drugs might help his endurance but i love to watch his explosions up the mountains.

The drugs might also help him with his explosions in the middle of a long mountainous stage Pushing on a pedal for hours in the mountains is more about physical condition than talent, in my opinion. You can have talent to dance on pedals but if you lack the horsepower it's bogus. Everybody also admired how Jan Ulrich exploded up the mountains without even having to dance on his pedals (whereas everybody else had to), until...

I agree that it's nice to watch, the sceneries and the race. It's a pity that it is still IMHO tainted with heavy suspicion on doping.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

I agree that it's nice to watch, the sceneries and the race. It's a pity that it is still IMHO tainted with heavy suspicion on doping.

Sadly most sports are...perhaps not snooker or darts...get over it and accept it. And with out the drugs you won't see that monster record breaking that sports fans want.

[MagicJ]

I agree that it's nice to watch, the sceneries and the race. It's a pity that it is still IMHO tainted with heavy suspicion on doping.

Sadly most sports are...perhaps not snooker or darts...get over it and accept it. And with out the drugs you won't see that monster record breaking that sports fans want.

Why did they stop them drinking in darts and snooker, that was part of the fun!

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Why did they stop them drinking in darts and snooker, that was part of the fun!

I think they wanted to make it appeal to the women more. There's an untapped market there.

[NanaM]

Sadly most sports are...perhaps not snooker or darts...get over it and accept it.

Yup, I'm aware it's not only in cycling. Although in the recent years there has been several doping scandals in this sport, probably more than in most others. They claim to have cleaned it up but one can still observe similar performances (or even better ones) as before the clean-up. Which keeps me wondering.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Well....I don't believe that they can clean it up really, it's just that people use different 'masks' or they use the stuff at a different time etc etc...the drug usage is always one step ahead of the tests.

they'll never clean sport up properly, and I don't think they really want to...they need the excitement, record breaking, unknowns suddenly winning from nowhere and that all relies on drugs....no drugs...no exciting sports (or not the way the audience want them) and with that, less sponsors and big money, less viewers etc etc So I think the cleaning up is just for show.

That's just my take on it though. I wish it wasn't like that but sadly I think it is.

[MagicJ]

It took Usain Bolt 20years to catch up with Ben Johnson

[Rob A.]

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[Rob A.]

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[Bubba Elvis XIV]

I actually had no idea how long the race was...

(wiki)

"The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that covers around 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi) throughout France and bordering countries. The race lasts 23 days and attracts cyclists from around the world".

Brutal.

[silk]

Well... the Tour is over for another year....and it was an interesting one...

After having watched the tour for 3 weeks, I'm having withdrawal symptoms... Oh well, there are DVD's to watch of the previous years' tours...

Lance Armstrong made a nice comeback. He will be the leader of the Radio Shack Team next year (a team sans Contador of course ), and I think he will have a good chance to win the yellow. It will be interesting to see who will be on that team.

Bubba, it is a gruelling tour; some say it is the most gruelling sport event in the world. The 3500 km include some steep mountain climbs which they ride up at speeds of 25km/hour. Today in Paris they were going at a speed of 80 km/hour at times

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

steep mountain climbs which they ride up at speeds of 25km/hour.

That's me on flats...

I think it's very silly to compare sports and say this is harder/tougher/requires higher levels of fitness than that etc etc. but I would say the Tour is one of the toughest things out there.