Simoni talking it up - can he win the Giro ?

thunder

tommy D might be held back for the Tour.

ATM Hesjedal is in the bubble, Sutton and Maaskant got those places. Surprised to see no Sutton at Giro, Vaughters must like him for the Tour.

Bro Deal

Maybe...then again TD might be battling it out with Hamilton at Qinghai Lake.

Tommy D. should have joined CSC. They could put him through one of their survival camps and toughen him up.

__________________
"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

thunder

and doping programs

kennf

Vendevelde is going well this year, but won't be able to hang with the elite climbers. And he may want to keep some reserves for France.

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"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things"

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thunder

Vaughters likes VDV for a top 10, @leTour

whiteboytrash

Good to see Simoni keeping good company on a recon mission to Plan de Corones..... farking DiLuca ! and whats Solar doing there ?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/newsphot...llery-may01news

classic1

He's there to make everyone else look more stylish on the bike and handsome.

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Collingwood - 2008 AFL Premiers

classic1 is on the bandwagon early this year

kennf

He may actually be skinner than Mayo, or the Chicken.

__________________
"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things"

-- Some dude

earth_dweller

So Simoni takes issue with Basso but as no problems with DiLuca... yeah right

Wayne666

I'll say it again, Simoni's problem with Basso had very little to do with doping per se. The notion that any of those guys coming up thru Italian cycling and getting to the he top of the sport, were or probably are clean, is pure fantasy.

Eldrack

Now that all the stages and their profiles are available it's interesting to note just how many stages have short uphill finishes. Just a few kilometers, nothing too steep, but enough I think to have the sprinters out the back and favouring people like Di Luca, Ricco I reckon. Everyones going to have to be clued in on those stages that they are in the top 20 or so otherwise a split in the pack could loose them valuable seconds. Then of course there are bonus seconds on the line as well.

Mind you stage 15 is such a **** that it might wipe all the reasoning off the map. 4736 meters of climbing in one stage that is less than a hundred miles long. Ouch.

helmutRoole2

That's so true. The thing is, when Simoni whines after a loss, he's whining about not having a top shelf doping program and does so as if it's by choice, or at least that's how it's interpreted. When he calls Basso an alien, he's saying he got beat by a superior doping program, not, "I'm clean and got beat by a doper." But he can't say the prior or the later, so people are left to interpret, wrongly, that he's clean and of course he's not going to say otherwise.

Athletes say things, the media gloms on to bits and pieces, over analyzes it and suddenly you've got this notion that Simnoi is clean when in fact he spoke in haste and probably wishes he hadn't. If I recall correctly, his alien comment came right after he lost a stage. He was angry and didn't think it through.

I think doping has declined in the past year, but the notion that anyone is clean and vying for a GT podium is still absurd.

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ilpirata

I agree with you Wayne. A totally clean rider would be at too much disadvantage to win the giro against blood advantaged riders. Nor do I think DiLuca won last year because he was super doped while the rest were on regular dope. He certainly did not dominate. Let's give the guy a break. Last year's giro appeared to me to have stage winning performances that were not "obviously" advantaged versus the rest of the field (that is when compared to the previous year or two).

Wayne666

I think it's been declining gradually over the last few years. I think especially the efficacy of EPO doping has been drastically reduced, first with the introduction of the test and then the last couple of years with far, far more effective timing of tests. What this means is that if you make the commitment to blood doping you could really get an advantage and this explains how Guttierez was able to finish 2nd while Basso was soft-pedaling everyone off his wheel in the mountains.

I think nowadays it is probably possible to for a clean rider to compete well with a regular doper because you simply can't prepare all that effectively anymore. However, any good rider blood doping will have a large and distinct advantage over other riders.