[ire]

so what's everyones overall impressions with this years race. i really haven't been keeping up with it. the doping has really turned me away from watching. the only thing i watched was the recap that NBC did on sunday. i was really surprised at all the crashes, maybe being off the dope made most twitchy? the one thing i do feel good about was the final results. i feel that Cadel earned it. but looking at the final GC i also feel that it was probably one of the cleaner races held in some time. my only wonder is Voeckler. he's been in yellow before but has never really finished that high. i'd like to think he's finally becoming something he's seemed to flash in past races but....

so i'll leave it at that.

I still contend that 80% of them are dirty. I can believe Cav is clean by the way he gets dropped by the peleton Maybe a few others as well. The race was damn exciting throughout and I'll buy it to watch on the trainer. I was happy to see Contador defeated, and even happier that it was Evans who won.

 

[Westy]

I still contend that 80% of them are dirty. I can believe Cav is clean by the way he gets dropped by the peleton Maybe a few others as well. The race was damn exciting throughout and I'll buy it to watch on the trainer. I was happy to see Contador defeated, and even happier that it was Evans who won.

You think Cav is clean but can regularly destroy other dopers on the finish? He gets dropped because he is a different kind of rider. What makes him a better sprinter makes him a ****tier climber. If 80% of riders are cheating, the 20% that are clean are not making regular trips to the podium.

 

[Cant Climb]

I always thought Cav climbed pretty well for a top sprinter.....

 

[SuspectDevice]

You think Cav is clean but can regularly destroy other dopers on the finish? He gets dropped because he is a different kind of rider. What makes him a better sprinter makes him a ****tier climber. If 80% of riders are cheating, the 20% that are clean are not making regular trips to the podium.

Cavendish stays out of the wind until a few hundred meters from the line.
Yes, you need a high maximal oxygen consumption to be near the front of the race, but the dude is only racing for 10k at most and his extra 20% isn't coming from EPO. It's coming from the 3 guys breaking wind in front of him and it's mostly from his brilliant tactical mind and technical proficiency.

Field sprinters don't need drugs(not the type that enhance oxygen consumption at least).

 

[Cant Climb]

it's mostly from his brilliant tactical mind and technical proficiency.

Not sure he is brilliant. The construction of that team is brilliant though....makes him basically unbeatable.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Not sure he is brilliant. The construction of that team is brilliant though....makes him basically unbeatable.

Tactics=Tactics. You can say the same thing about every succesfull field sprinter ever.

 

[ire]

I always thought Cav climbed pretty well for a top sprinter.....

Actually no. He is a lot like Cippo in that respect. Sprinters that can climb: Thor, Petacchi, Freire, and Haussler.

 

[ire]

Field sprinters don't need drugs(not the type that enhance oxygen consumption at least).

I don't think they would use EPO to enhance their sprint performance, but to survive the other non-sprint stages at grand tours. If they can get to the sprint stages with less fatigue they stand a better chance of winning. Zabel had a half a** confession to using EPO when Riis came out.

 

[IH8Rice]

Actually no. He is a lot like Cippo in that respect. Sprinters that can climb: Thor, Petacchi, Freire, and Haussler.

yep. even he said that he is a horrible climber. it showed when he almost got dropped by the groupetto

 

[douglas]

I always thought Cav climbed pretty well for a top sprinter.....

Is Cavendish a cheater? by Adam Williams
in Sports (submitted 2011-07-17)

Mark Cavendish appears to have the sprinters green jersey in the bag at the 2011 Tour de France. Fresh from his fourth stage win, Cavendish now holds a 37 point lead over Jose Rojas, and a 71 point break over Philippe Gilbert. Cavendish claims that he still has a lot of work to do to capture the title, with his closest rivals still a chance of overtaking him on points, yet there may also be a threat of him losing the crown via disqualification if recent accusations prove true.
Yesterday Rojas, the main challenger for the green jersey, made the stunning claim that Cavendish has been holding onto cars on climbs. Third placed Philippe Gilbert was seen talking to the race director Jean-Francois Pescheux, and Rojas stated that both of them complained about Cavendish and his habit of "hanging on to cars on the climbs."
Rojas also said "We want a clean sport, not only in the fight against doping, but also about other things. We asked for a television camera to follow Cavendish in the race." Pexcheux has denied the conversation was about Cavendish, and the Tour de France organisers have dismissed the accusations. With the tour already being marred by the participation of potential drug cheat Alberto Contador, additional cheating claims are the last thing Tour organisers want to hear, or want to admit to.
These are not the first wild claims by Rojas during this years Tour. Back in stage 5, Rojas complained that he was punched by Alessandro Petacchi with just over one kilometre to go before the finish line, which prevented him from breathing properly and winning the race to the stage finish. Sensationally, Rojas was later stripped of points for forcing another rider into the path of Cavendish and blocking him.
Yet on the other side of the coin, this is also not the first time that Mark Cavendish has been accused of cheating in a race by holding onto the backs of cars. Just last month in the Giro d�Italia, Cavendish was accused by two different riders of employing the same tactic. Of particular interest was the timing of those claims. With Cavendish arriving just 25 seconds inside the stage point cut-off time, he narrowly escaped being cut from the race. In this do-or-die scenario, towing would have been a solution to stay alive, by helping to keep his legs in team cycling shorts fresh.
Francisco Ventoso was the first of the two riders to make the claim, when he said "He should only be happy that he's still in the race, he should have been disqualified for being attached to the car for a long time during the climb on Etna." This was quickly confirmed by Murilo Fischer on Twitter with "Incredible, he says he wants to win a stage at any cost and he does 10km holding onto a car."
In response to both of these allegations, Cavendish has employed the guilty-party line of not directly denying the accusations. He responded to the latest claim by Rojas with a rant that he is always being watched, rather than just saying no he didn't do it. Based on past history, when the accused uses these kinds of responses, they are almost always guilty of the offense. It may just be that Cavendish is a cheat.

 

[IH8Rice]

Is Cavendish a cheater? by Adam Williams
in Sports (submitted 2011-07-17)

With Cavendish arriving just 25 seconds inside the stage point cut-off time, he narrowly escaped being cut from the race. In this do-or-die scenario, towing would have been a solution to stay alive, by helping to keep his legs in team cycling shorts fresh.

this was Farrar's complaint after the stage as well.

 

[kidwoo]

the 3 guys breaking wind in front of him

I'd have such a hard time concentrating with 3 guys doing that at the same time.

 

[Silver]

Field sprinters don't need drugs(not the type that enhance oxygen consumption at least).

Victor Conte thought that EPO was an essential drug for track and field sprinters...

 

[OGRipper]

this was Farrar's complaint after the stage as well.

And then he later said he should have kept his mouth shut. Mainly because there was no proof, only shock and frustration that Cav made it back and beat him. Again.

I'm not a huge Cav fan, and maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time believing that Cav could get away with being pulled for 10K. Like lots of others, maybe he holds the bottle a little long, or gets in a car's draft for a little bit. But straight up getting towed? Doubtful. He'd have a better chance using one of those Cancellara motors.

 

[Silver]

And then he later said he should have kept his mouth shut. Mainly because there was no proof, only shock and frustration that Cav made it back and beat him. Again.

I'm not a huge Cav fan, and maybe I'm wrong, but I have a hard time believing that Cav could get away with being pulled for 10K. Like lots of others, maybe he holds the bottle a little long, or gets in a car's draft for a little bit. But straight up getting towed? Doubtful. He'd have a better chance using one of those Cancellara motors.

Barring incredible corruption with the race organizers and the UCI (Nah, never could happen at a grand tour) I have trouble believing that you can hang onto a car for 10k and no one has any cell phone video, or any other video.

Youtube or time splits or it didn't happen.

 

[Cant Climb]

Cav is a decent climber for a top rate sprinter. 50% of the peloton struggles in those sick multi-climb stages in the tour. Seems he can finish any grand tour he chooses to finish.......that is all he needs to do. Lot of guys are near death in those back-to-back-to-back climbing stages.....

Would like to see Greipal? get an organized team around him. Sick of Versus blabbering about Julian Dean and Farrar (and Levi) every year. To be fair though Eurosport goes on and on about Mark Renshaw.......and Wiggins of course.