Sorry state of cycling............stop the season now?!
Hi guys. Posting this again on the race forum following a kind invitation.
Cycling is an absolute mess right now. I made several posts on the old procycling forum about how we wouldn't go any lower, op puerto would break new ground and we would rid ourselves of the cheats. It would appear we aren't even scracthing the surface of that particular boil! First we have the open secret, fantastically reported in Procycling, that Spanish and Italian teams had complete disdain for the new league being set up by Northern European teams. The end result of my reading this was my complete disregard for the Vuelta this year, the first major race I have not avidly followed for some 20 years. Now the Worlds................what a shambles!!!!!!!!! Bettini is up to his eyes and cannot now do anything to make himself look a clean and model cyclist to any real fan with a half a brain. Valverde has been cleared to ride thanks to the support of a cycling federation with the morals and scruples of a cannibalistic parent. Zabel is riding despite his admission to drugs, Di Luca is ommitted, yet another GT champion tarnished.
I am not a man who has felt the need to give credence to doom and gloom fans who say they will turn their back on cycling, but right now the whole sorry sport has to stop! Websites and magazines still carry glossy pics and features on Contador, Di Luca, Bettini, Valverde, and the show roles on because the pros know it always will, and they can get away with whatever they like. Cancel the worlds, show the rotten pros and spanish and italian teams that it all ends now, here, and that we are serious about not putting up with this any longer! If ASO has an ounce of strength they will ommitt the spanish and italian teams from their events, including the tour, who do not adhere to the northern european teams charter. If the Italian and spanish teams love doping and find it acceptable, let them run their own little protour with events for Dope cheats and junkies.
Procycling this month asked for our rider of the year. I wouldnt choose a single one of them!!! Menchov i believe rode a heroic tour and vuelta clean, Freire I hope has achieved clean this season. But i can't bring myself to vote for any of them. You want my riders of the year. Cavendish...............young and clean! Thomas...........finishing the tour at 21 clean! Thor Hushovd, managing to win a tour stage clean!
Sorry for the rant. Just wish someone at UCI would read this and take stock too.
Cycling is an absolute mess right now. I made several posts on the old procycling forum about how we wouldn't go any lower, op puerto would break new ground and we would rid ourselves of the cheats. It would appear we aren't even scracthing the surface of that particular boil! First we have the open secret, fantastically reported in Procycling, that Spanish and Italian teams had complete disdain for the new league being set up by Northern European teams. The end result of my reading this was my complete disregard for the Vuelta this year, the first major race I have not avidly followed for some 20 years. Now the Worlds................what a shambles!!!!!!!!! Bettini is up to his eyes and cannot now do anything to make himself look a clean and model cyclist to any real fan with a half a brain. Valverde has been cleared to ride thanks to the support of a cycling federation with the morals and scruples of a cannibalistic parent. Zabel is riding despite his admission to drugs, Di Luca is ommitted, yet another GT champion tarnished.
I am not a man who has felt the need to give credence to doom and gloom fans who say they will turn their back on cycling, but right now the whole sorry sport has to stop! Websites and magazines still carry glossy pics and features on Contador, Di Luca, Bettini, Valverde, and the show roles on because the pros know it always will, and they can get away with whatever they like. Cancel the worlds, show the rotten pros and spanish and italian teams that it all ends now, here, and that we are serious about not putting up with this any longer! If ASO has an ounce of strength they will ommitt the spanish and italian teams from their events, including the tour, who do not adhere to the northern european teams charter. If the Italian and spanish teams love doping and find it acceptable, let them run their own little protour with events for Dope cheats and junkies.
Procycling this month asked for our rider of the year. I wouldnt choose a single one of them!!! Menchov i believe rode a heroic tour and vuelta clean, Freire I hope has achieved clean this season. But i can't bring myself to vote for any of them. You want my riders of the year. Cavendish...............young and clean! Thomas...........finishing the tour at 21 clean! Thor Hushovd, managing to win a tour stage clean!
Sorry for the rant. Just wish someone at UCI would read this and take stock too.
Robert Millar for knighthood
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Comments
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You're making the same mistake. Yes, pro cycling is in a mess but plenty of "little guys" have a chance of winning the Worlds too, even if it's small. So to stop the sport because of the action of a generation of liars is wrong.
The UCI seem too busy rejigging the Pro Tour. Talk about rearranging deckchairs as the Titanic sinks, it's picking new races for its failed scheme. Meanwhile the sport is sinking under the weight of recriminations and to continue the Titanic metaphors, Puerto was only the tip of the iceberg, plenty of riders have been using other "doctors".
Instead, the UCI needs leadership and someone should be setting out the path to a cleaner and more open sport for the 2008 season, instead of picking the jollies they plan to go on, sorry Pro Tour races abroad. We need a charismatic leader who is passionate about clean sport, not some berk who's presided over scandal after scandal and done little to reform things.0 -
alanmcn1 wrote:Hi guys. Posting this again on the race forum following a kind invitation.
Cycling is an absolute mess right now. I made several posts on the old procycling forum about how we wouldn't go any lower, op puerto would break new ground and we would rid ourselves of the cheats. It would appear we aren't even scracthing the surface of that particular boil! First we have the open secret, fantastically reported in Procycling, that Spanish and Italian teams had complete disdain for the new league being set up by Northern European teams. The end result of my reading this was my complete disregard for the Vuelta this year, the first major race I have not avidly followed for some 20 years. Now the Worlds................what a shambles!!!!!!!!! Bettini is up to his eyes and cannot now do anything to make himself look a clean and model cyclist to any real fan with a half a brain. Valverde has been cleared to ride thanks to the support of a cycling federation with the morals and scruples of a cannibalistic parent. Zabel is riding despite his admission to drugs, Di Luca is ommitted, yet another GT champion tarnished.
I am not a man who has felt the need to give credence to doom and gloom fans who say they will turn their back on cycling, but right now the whole sorry sport has to stop! Websites and magazines still carry glossy pics and features on Contador, Di Luca, Bettini, Valverde, and the show roles on because the pros know it always will, and they can get away with whatever they like. Cancel the worlds, show the rotten pros and spanish and italian teams that it all ends now, here, and that we are serious about not putting up with this any longer! If ASO has an ounce of strength they will ommitt the spanish and italian teams from their events, including the tour, who do not adhere to the northern european teams charter. If the Italian and spanish teams love doping and find it acceptable, let them run their own little protour with events for Dope cheats and junkies.
Procycling this month asked for our rider of the year. I wouldnt choose a single one of them!!! Menchov i believe rode a heroic tour and vuelta clean, Freire I hope has achieved clean this season. But i can't bring myself to vote for any of them. You want my riders of the year. Cavendish...............young and clean! Thomas...........finishing the tour at 21 clean! Thor Hushovd, managing to win a tour stage clean!
Sorry for the rant. Just wish someone at UCI would read this and take stock too.
How do you know any of that is true? Or is it only Spaniards and Italians that cheat?
My advice: stop taking it so seriously. Just chill out and watch the Worlds on Sunday.0 -
Stop taking it all so seriously????????????/ Thats absurd. This is supposed to be a sporting contest, it should be taken seriously. The facts are the Spanish and italian teams and the Spanish federation are refusing to do anything about the problem. Why shoudl they when they are so succesful under the current climate.
Your attitude only serves to encourage and strengthen the position of the dope cheats!Robert Millar for knighthood0 -
alanmcn1 wrote:Stop taking it all so seriously????????????/ Thats absurd. This is supposed to be a sporting contest, it should be taken seriously. The facts are the Spanish and italian teams and the Spanish federation are refusing to do anything about the problem. Why shoudl they when they are so succesful under the current climate.
Your attitude only serves to encourage and strengthen the position of the dope cheats!
Or maybe the Spanish and Italian federations prefer to conduct their disciplinary proceedings on the basis of evidence and fairness rather than gossip and hearsay.
Some German TV show says some guy heard that Bettini gave Sinkewitz some dopage even though Sinkewitz denies it? BURN HIM!
The level of hysteria around doping at the moment is quite frankly laughable. How can you take that seriously? I dislike dopers as much as the next guy, but I don't take it as a personal affront if some guy I've never met decides to cheat in a race I've only ever seen on TV.0 -
alanmcn1 wrote:Stop taking it all so seriously????????????/ Thats absurd. This is supposed to be a sporting contest, it should be taken seriously. The facts are the Spanish and italian teams and the Spanish federation are refusing to do anything about the problem. Why shoudl they when they are so succesful under the current climate.
But you thought Mechov was clean despite him climbing in the Vuelta with his mouth closed.
The Spanish fed can't use the Puerto evidence - Ok, maybe they could pressure the ministry but if the rumours of bigger, more powerful sports making sure the evidence is not available their hands are tied.
BTW - You know Robert Millar failed a doping test, non?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Stunned, absolutely stunned!!!!!!!!!! It's obviously not just federations and rich kid hotshots who are burying their heads in the sand.
With regards to Menchov....................read this months Procycling titbit on his power ratio on the arcalis compared to "der kaiser" 4 years ago.
RE Millar...............maybe he did. I just read a whole thread on how disgusted people are at Eddy Merckx treatment in Germany, didnt he get ommitted form a tour de france for failing a dope test?Robert Millar for knighthood0 -
Arent they?
read some of the posts! Don't take it so seriously and enjoy the worlds?
Spanish fed can't use Puerto evidence (but Italy and Germany can?)
The level of hysteria around doping is laughable?????????????Robert Millar for knighthood0 -
alanmcn1 wrote:Arent they?
read some of the posts! Don't take it so seriously and enjoy the worlds?
Spanish fed can't use Puerto evidence (but Italy and Germany can?)
The level of hysteria around doping is laughable?????????????
The Spanish fed can't use the evidence. That is a fact. Germany have a criminal case against Ullrich and that's why they got access. It's similar in Italy. There is no criminal case pending in Spain.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
alanmcn1 wrote:Arent they?
read some of the posts! Don't take it so seriously and enjoy the worlds?
Spanish fed can't use Puerto evidence (but Italy and Germany can?)
The level of hysteria around doping is laughable?????????????
To clarify: You obviously enjoy the sport of cycling, otherwise you wouldn't be here. I do too. But why get worked up about something completely out of your control?
I view it like a soap opera. There are good guys and bad guys (boo, hiss etc), and you watch it and get involved. You cheer when your favourite riders attacks, you groan when there's a crash. But then you turn the TV or the computer off and you go back to your own life, where you have your own issues and problems. I have enough of those in my own life and don't need to spend time worrying whether Paolo Bettini is a drug dealer.
Yes, cycling has a huge problem (see, no head in sand here) and doping is probably contributing to the slow, lingering death of the sport. But in reality, that ain't my problem. There are people being paid to worry about that and I ain't one of 'em.
I'll watch the Worlds on Sunday because I still like to watch cycling, and I'll still continue to follow the soap opera that is pro cycling. What I won't do is get all worked up and post online rants about a subject that is completely out of my control.0 -
It's a realy good point but i don't think it is out of our control. What is the sport without a fan base? Football would last 2 minutes if the fans turned their back. A million and one different things have failed to clean up cycling, maybe we need to be the ones taking a stand and forcing the issue.
I pay alot of money to follow cycling in Europe. My last two trips to the tour have left me fuming at feeling I'd wasted money on a sham. I know alot of other people in Paris felt like me, and if we all made our feelings clear it would soon make a difference. I hope the piss poor crowds at the vuelta this year have mad Unipublic thinkRobert Millar for knighthood0 -
Get a grip man.
You dont know who's doping - neither do I. Why would your trips to the Tour be a sham ?
Ok - maybe the order would be rejigged slightly if everyone was clean, but I dont think it would be massively different. Admire the spectacle and the athleticism of the riders.
Dope doesnt turn donkeys into thoroughbreds.
I'll prob watch the Worlds if I'm around, but its not gonna take the place of my bike ride. Its always better to be on a bike than watch a bike race.0 -
SpeechlessRobert Millar for knighthood0
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Well stopping the season won't do anything but leave a lot of riders with no jobs next year.
Have you run out of exclamation marks ?0 -
A clear case of "Stop The Worlds, I wan't to get off"0
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alanmcn1 wrote:Hi guys. Posting this again on the race forum following a kind invitation.
Cycling is an absolute mess right now. I made several posts on the old procycling forum about how we wouldn't go any lower, op puerto would break new ground and we would rid ourselves of the cheats. It would appear we aren't even scracthing the surface of that particular boil! First we have the open secret, fantastically reported in Procycling, that Spanish and Italian teams had complete disdain for the new league being set up by Northern European teams. The end result of my reading this was my complete disregard for the Vuelta this year, the first major race I have not avidly followed for some 20 years. Now the Worlds................what a shambles!!!!!!!!! Bettini is up to his eyes and cannot now do anything to make himself look a clean and model cyclist to any real fan with a half a brain. Valverde has been cleared to ride thanks to the support of a cycling federation with the morals and scruples of a cannibalistic parent. Zabel is riding despite his admission to drugs, Di Luca is ommitted, yet another GT champion tarnished.
I am not a man who has felt the need to give credence to doom and gloom fans who say they will turn their back on cycling, but right now the whole sorry sport has to stop! Websites and magazines still carry glossy pics and features on Contador, Di Luca, Bettini, Valverde, and the show roles on because the pros know it always will, and they can get away with whatever they like. Cancel the worlds, show the rotten pros and spanish and italian teams that it all ends now, here, and that we are serious about not putting up with this any longer! If ASO has an ounce of strength they will ommitt the spanish and italian teams from their events, including the tour, who do not adhere to the northern european teams charter. If the Italian and spanish teams love doping and find it acceptable, let them run their own little protour with events for Dope cheats and junkies.
Procycling this month asked for our rider of the year. I wouldnt choose a single one of them!!! Menchov i believe rode a heroic tour and vuelta clean, Freire I hope has achieved clean this season. But i can't bring myself to vote for any of them. You want my riders of the year. Cavendish...............young and clean! Thomas...........finishing the tour at 21 clean! Thor Hushovd, managing to win a tour stage clean!
Sorry for the rant. Just wish someone at UCI would read this and take stock too.
Once again I ask. Just who is /are this / these "we" / "wes" you keep talking about?
I think you're on your own out there, not to mention you are just plain out there. I think you
should participate more in cycling as opposed to just following it. You know, get out and
ride as they say. Or at least make a better effort to stay on your medications.
Dennis Noward
Toledo, Ohio0 -
alanmcn1 wrote:Speechless
You're either a convincing troll or very naive.
Robert Millar would be the same guy who was at Le Groupment when they treated Obree so horribly for not contributing to a doping slush fund.
Save the knighthood for Obree.It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
Have no real enthusiasm left for this shower we give recognition to as top professional cyclists-they are the pits and deserve complete suspicion and every last result questioned. Cycling is the most tested, is it because it's got the biggest problem or just cause the media hate cycling? festina 98 showed what a joke it was and Operation puerto is in in your face reminder your heros don't give a damn about you the fans. I missed all of the vuelta as it's unreal to me now....no idea what you are looking at what that lot really think of us, the fans0
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We have had this argument before - is doping OK (its adds to the frisson of the spectacle) or should we get indignant and demand thats it's stopped. I guess it depends on whether you race or aspire to race where accepting such standards means that the guy next to you on the line might have an unfair advantage. It's not meant as some smug observation (since I do race and therefore abhor cheats), just an observation. After all, you can just turn the TV off (which is maybe why so many club racers aren't really that interested in watching professional racing
) 0
