Menchov - the new Merckx? *spoiler*
Has anyone else noticed that Denis Menchov now leads on GC, on points, the mountains classification and, funnily enough, the combined classification?
The last rider I can think of who did this in a GT was Merckx in the 1969 Tour. (Freddy Maertens may have done so the year he won the Vuelta though).
So is Menchov the new cannibal or is this a reflection of the fact that no-one really cares about the Vuelta bar the podium and stage wins?
The last rider I can think of who did this in a GT was Merckx in the 1969 Tour. (Freddy Maertens may have done so the year he won the Vuelta though).
So is Menchov the new cannibal or is this a reflection of the fact that no-one really cares about the Vuelta bar the podium and stage wins?
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Comments
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The same Menchov that spent much of the Vuelta climbing with his mouth closed?'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0
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The very same. Rabobank are a bit of an anomaly aren't they? Most other northern European teams, i.e. the Danish and German ones, have had to take steps to allay sponsors fears about doping. Yet Rabobank haven't insisted on this despite the huge amount of negative publicity they got from the Rasmussen affair during the Tour.
It must be down to that Dutch relaxed attitude to drugs.
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Slightly OT but related to todays TT:
I hadn't realised Sanchez could time trial as well as to take so much time off the rest of the field. What's that you say?, he can't? :roll:0 -
Noodley wrote:Slightly OT but related to todays TT:
I hadn't realised Sanchez could time trial as well as to take so much time off the rest of the field. What's that you say?, he can't? :roll:
If I had a quid for every time a non-fancied Spanish rider pulled off an astonishing final Vuelta TT I'd have... ooh, about enought for a new tyre :?___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
Noodley wrote:Slightly OT but related to todays TT:
I hadn't realised Sanchez could time trial as well as to take so much time off the rest of the field. What's that you say?, he can't? :roll:
Hi there.
Sammy did almost exactly the same in the final time trial last year - coming 2nd. As they say, a TT at the end of a 3 week tour is a far different prospect to a TT on it's own, or at the beginning of a tour.
Last year however, Sanchez was sandwiched between Valverde and Vinokourov... which might point to the reason why TTs at the end of 3 week tours are different prospects...
Can I coin the nickname ?
Cheers, Andy
ps Don't look Dirty Sanchez up on wikipedia.
pps Don't say you weren't warned...0 -
Sanchez will probably win in Stuttgart next weekend.0
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andyp wrote:The very same. Rabobank are a bit of an anomaly aren't they? Most other northern European teams, i.e. the Danish and German ones, have had to take steps to allay sponsors fears about doping. Yet Rabobank haven't insisted on this despite the huge amount of negative publicity they got from the Rasmussen affair during the Tour.
It must be down to that Dutch relaxed attitude to drugs.
Er, they did, pretty sharpish as well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6917086.stm
And to be honest I can't remember who the last Rabobank rider to actually test positive was, can you?0 -
Noodley wrote:leguape wrote:And to be honest I can't remember who the last Rabobank rider to actually test positive was, can you?
Rory Sutherland?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2006/ ... therland06
Two years ago, and for a substance he (almost certainly) didn't take knowingly and didn't provide him with (much of) a benefit? That's a pretty good record.0 -
A very good record. I had to search the dark recesses of my brain (there are many of them) to come up with Sutherland's name.
I notice prendas (absolute swines that they are for always tempting me with their wares) have Rabobank kit for sale in theit October advert, including the dutch "national" kit.0 -
It's very easy to make comments like those attributed to Thomas van Rijckevorsel but has anyone seen any evidence of a comprehensive, independently run anti-doping program for the Rabobank team? I know I haven't. Cycling has a credibility problem and those sponsors who've stuck with the sport have an excellent opportunity for some excellent PR. Rabobank have missed that.leguape wrote:
Er, they did, pretty sharpish as well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6917086.stm
And to be honest I can't remember who the last Rabobank rider to actually test positive was, can you?
Your last comment isn't exactly evidence is it? Who was the last USPS/Discovery rider to test positive but I doubt you'd find many people who think they are a team fuelled by bread and water alone.0 -
andyp wrote:
It's very easy to make comments like those attributed to Thomas van Rijckevorsel but has anyone seen any evidence of a comprehensive, independently run anti-doping program for the Rabobank team? I know I haven't. Cycling has a credibility problem and those sponsors who've stuck with the sport have an excellent opportunity for some excellent PR. Rabobank have missed that.leguape wrote:
Er, they did, pretty sharpish as well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6917086.stm
And to be honest I can't remember who the last Rabobank rider to actually test positive was, can you?
Your last comment isn't exactly evidence is it? Who was the last USPS/Discovery rider to test positive but I doubt you'd find many people who think they are a team fuelled by bread and water alone.
Hang on, T-Mobile said they had a comprehensive programme and clean attitude then Sinkewitz tested positive and they had to get rid of Gonchar. They also said they might pull out of the sport and a big hoo-ha about staying in when they were contractually nailed on to do so. That's just plain dishonest in my book, not "excellent PR".
I don't think a team which prior to the current round of blood letting hadn't been regarded as hooky should feel the need to join in with the mea culpas. Nor should one which has had, and continues to have, the depth of involvement with the sport that Rabobank does.
That's how you do effective PR: you don't start shooting off your coroporate mouth about a problem that doesn't exist, because the moment you do, then someone is going to start asking why you feel the need to if you don't have a problem. Who are the teams who have made a big noise about their "comprehensive, independently run anti-doping program"? CSC and T-Mobile. Both were undergoing sponsor contract negotiations at the time and had just taken huge hits on the loss of the breadwinners Basso and Ullrich respectively. That's called damage limitation, not excellent PR.0 -
getting back to the OT briefly, wasn't it a sprinters' (green) jersey that merckx won, rather than a combo jersey?0
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leguape wrote:Hang on, T-Mobile said they had a comprehensive programme and clean attitude then Sinkewitz tested positive and they had to get rid of Gonchar. They also said they might pull out of the sport and a big hoo-ha about staying in when they were contractually nailed on to do so. That's just plain dishonest in my book, not "excellent PR".
T-Mobile's contract has got a get out clause, AFAIK, which means they can pull out in the case of a scandal.
Anyway, anything that comes out of that teams mouth is nonsense and shouldn't be trusted.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
LangerDan wrote:The same Menchov that spent much of the Vuelta climbing with his mouth closed?
There are a number of riders who have shown no, or little discomfort when climbing.
Basso in last years Giro was awesome and never once did he grimace, even when he blasted Gobbo of his back wheel to Aprica !! LA over the years, I never saw him in pain either, just rallying his troops for another dig to dispense with another rival. :roll: :roll:
Hang on minute........... :oops: :oops:0
