So – who do you believe least – Alexandre Vinokourov or Lindsay Lohan? After all, each claims to suffer from some persecution; and, to Vino’, at least, the official response is “well, duh”. While I still wouldn’t mind seeing B-samples before I see headlines, the results of Stage 15’s test sure don’t look good for…
Author: cosmo
Tour de France '07 – No Rest Day for Dopers
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, with all the savagery and suddenness of a Great White, word of another positive test. Can I call it, or what? Kinda gives new meaning to Bobby Julich’s nickname for the about-to-be-disgraced Kazakh, doesn’t it? Throughout my outrage at the suspensions last…
Tour de France '07 – Back From the Dead Again
Entertaining though it may be, I am highly suspicious of Vino’s roller coaster riding. Granted, I’ve never raced a Grand Tour, so I can’t say firsthand how the body reacts, but this up-again, down-again seems physiologically improbable, at least through natural means. A brief look back at some notably inconsistent rides would seem to support…
Tour de France '07 – Contador and The Chicken Fly The Coop
Well, now – Stage 14 (thanks for the typo catch, Chris) was the mountain shakeout I think everyone had wanted to see back in the Alps. Unfortunately, Rasmussen and Contador (chillin’ with Manolo a mere 6 months before that whole Puerto thing…) aren’t exactly poster children for clean cycling, you know? Certainly the French DS’s…
Tour de France '07 – Vino's Revival, Valverde's Collapse
You wanna know why I don’t write race previews? I think this little Evans vs. Kloden piece is a good example. Biggest bit of pre-competition vaporware since Dan vs. Dave. Yes, both Evans and Kloden maintained their positions, but the real stories of the day – Vino rebounding and Rasmussen maintaining – had nothing to…
Tour de France '07 – The Rasmussen Doping Saga To Date
So, nothing against Tom Boonen, but his second win of the Tour was probably the least significant development in the cycling world today. I suppose the best place to begin relating the latest developments is last night, when the Danish Cycling Federation officially dumped Michael Rasmussen (who just happens to be leading the biggest race…
2007 Working Man's Stage Race – Race Report
So I’m gonna try to be upbeat, because this was a pretty fun event, but I didn’t get my workout in today and that makes me grumpy. Working Man’s “stage race” is a three day event, held over consecutive evenings on the New Hampshire/Massachusetts border. I think a more clever name would be “Criterium Regionál”…
Tour de France '07 – Hunter Starts RSA Account, Moreau Lost in the Mistral
Man, how I love the mainstream press: flat day = boring day, right guys? I suppose it’s ok that they apply the same logic (car starts = car is fine) to auto maintenance, but I really draw the line at fact checking. This BBC story states incorrectly that Patrick Sinkewitz tested positive during the ’07…
Tour de France '07 – A Scripted Riding Rest Day
Stage 10 – long and hilly enough to dissuade tired sprinters and teams, easy enough that the GC men can coast. So a rest day in all but name; punctuated, as these stages tend to be, by a French victory, and overshadowed, as these stages also tend to be, by a doping story. This had…
Tour de France '07 – Soler Solos, Vino' Sours
See? What’d I tell you – never trust a Directeur Sportif. Vino’s healed up my foot. If by “healed up”, you mean about to collapse to the tune of three and a half minutes behind a wild-card breakaway. Even the support of a dedicated Borat impersonator couldn’t get Vino’ over the top with the leaders….