Cycling Betting & Discussion.

[tikay]

The Bike is back. THE bike. Sponsors perk.

It arrived this morning at Sky HQ. Not a bad motor, either.

It is not on display yet, but I gather the F1 car will be removed (they have TWO F1 cars in Reception) & replaced by Froome's conveyance.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[BigAdz]

Is it The Emperors New Bike?

[tikay]

Is it The Emperors New Bike?

Very good.

Invisible to all but the faithful.

[Tonji]

Tikay, have you asked if Froome or any of the Sky pedlars play poker?

[tikay]

Tikay, have you asked if Froome or any of the Sky pedlars play poker?

No, but I gather the Leeds office have something along those lines lined up.

[Tonji]

Tikay, have you asked if Froome or any of the Sky pedlars play poker?

No, but I gather the Leeds office have something along those lines lined up.

Excellent 

[Tonji]

After three weeks of the toughest bike race, Froome doesn't have a holiday. From tonight he'll ride a series of criteriums across Holland and Belgium. bugger that!

Click to see full-size image.

He wins...but everyone knew he would, its expected. They are exhibition races, the top performers in the Tour traditionally spend a few weeks earning extra $. Froome reportedly picked up 50000 euros last night.

[Doobs]

Guess we've known this for a long time...

Tour de France - Tests show Pantani and Ullrich used EPO during 1998 Tour
1998 winner Tour de France winner Marco Pantani and runner-up Jan Ullrich both used EPO during the race, a report released by the French Senate has revealed.

The report released the results of samples collected during the race that were then retested in 2004.

A test to detect the presence of EPO was introduced in 2000. Four years later, France's anti-doping agency decided to retest urine samples from the 1998 and 1999 Tours using the new technology.

Eighteen riders were found to have tested positive for EPO while a further 12 were said to have suspicious samples.

Contrary to earlier reports, American Bobby Julich, who finished third in the race, was not on the positive list but was listed as suspicious.

Green jersey winner Erik Zabel was another who tested positive while French cycling legend Laurent Jalabert, who twice won both the points classification and the mountain classification on the Tour, was also on the positives list.

Jalabert withdrew with his team from the 1998 Tour after protesting that all riders were being labelled as cheats following the Festina doping scandal when large quantities of doping products were found by police.

As expected, Britain's Chris Boardman, who wore the yellow jersey at the start of the race and is a strong anti-doping spokesperson, is not on either list.

...

The riders named were:

Positive:

Andrea Tafi, Erik Zabel, Bo Hamburger, Laurent Jalabert, Marcos Serrano, Jens Heppner, Jeroen Blijlevens, Nicola Minali, Mario Cipollini, Fabio Sacchi, Eddy Mazzoleni, Jacky Durand, Abraham Olano, Laurent Desbiens, Marco Pantani, Manuel Beltran, Jan Ullrich (twice), Kevin Livingston

Suspicious:

Ermanno Brignoli, Alain Turicchia, Pascal Chanteur, Frederic Moncassin, Bobby Julich, Roland Meier, Giuseppe Calcaterra, Stefano Zanini, Eddy Mazzoleni, Stephane Barthe, Stuart O'Grady, Axel Merckx

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/tour-de-france-top-three-1998-tour-doped-085706465.html?vp=1

[Tonji]

Decent review of the Tour.

[Tonji]

Cheers Tonji for the awesome coverage, as per usual. Not been able to contribute as still not go tbroadband since moving.

Where do see the challenge from Quintana in the next couple of years? He seemed to come of age as the tour went on. If he continues to improve he could be the next GC dominant force imo

Cheers vegas.

Good question. Thoughts later.

Pre tour I had my doubts on Quintana, not ability, but to finish a GT strongly. Proved very wrong there then 

Once Valverde lost 10 mins in the crosswinds, his team asked him to step up & go for GC. Even they were surprised by his composure & confidence. I've since read about his confidence & steely determination in articles by Matt Rendall, an expert on Columbian cycling. Even at 23 he has to be considered a favourite for next year.

Froome has got at least another two or three years as top dog on this years performance. But aside from Quintana.

I think with the cleaner peloton, young riders can achieve top finishes in the GTs. Before the average age of a GT winner was in late 20s early 30s.

I thought Kwiatkowski was outstanding, faded in the last week, but considering he was even expected to help Cav in the leadouts, 11th was a top result.

I've always admired Talansky, top ten was excellent in his first tour, & got stronger in the final week. Another couple of years he'll be a top 3 contender.

Next year Richie Porte should lead Sky in the Giro or Vuelta, he certainly got the all round talent, but I've some doubts on his ambition. We'll see.

Despite a poor showing from Van Garderen, I still think he can do a top 3. Although he may need to move from BMC, a team in shambles at the moment.

Nibabli will be in the TdF next year afaik, depending on the parcour, a real threat.

Rigoberto Uran gets his chance in the Vuelta. All ways strong & solid in GTs. I think he is moving to OPQS next year to lead in the Tour, Cav not so sure about this!

Others with a promising future that have caught the eye are Majka & Kiserlovski (both will be at the Vuelta), Costa, Spilak & Betancur.

Sky's next GT leader in waiting is Peter Kennaugh, certainly has the talent & is in the best team to learn the trade.

[Tonji]

http://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/one-day-classics/clasica-san-sebastian/winner

Click to see full-size image.

Can't confirm that the profile is correct as the organisers are slow to update the website.

Also many of the teams will only be confirmed last minute with TdF fall out & build up to the Vuelta.

I've had a small bet on Samuel Sanchez, he showed signs of looking sharp in winning a stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

[Tonji]

http://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/one-day-classics/clasica-san-sebastian/winner

Click to see full-size image.

Can't confirm that the profile is correct as the organisers are slow to update the website.

Also many of the teams will only be confirmed last minute with TdF fall out & build up to the Vuelta.

I've had a small bet on Samuel Sanchez, he showed signs of looking sharp in winning a stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Better value probably is (& just added) is Greg Van Avermaet, two stage winner & overall winner at this weeks Tour de Wallonie. He should be extra sharp, fresh & focused, not having ridden the Tour & not expected to ride the Vuelta.

[Tonji]

Click to see full-size image.

http://tourdepologne.pl/en/

A warm up stage race for the Vuelta.

Teams are smaller for this race with six riders in each.

Big names involved include Wiggins & Nibali, but don't expect either to feature too much. It's generally all about the secondary leaders. So Henao for Sky, 3rd last year & Kangert for Astana.

I'll be backing Spilak for Katusha.

[Tonji]

Peter Sagan confirmed to ride in the RideLondon-Surrey Classic, Aug 4th. BBC will be doing live coverage.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/539662/ridelondon-surrey-classic-to-be-shown-live-on-bbc-tv.html

[MahoganyVic]

12hour tour 2007 dvd arrived yesterdday

Cav looks about 12!