Erik Zabel announces his retirement

andyp
andyp Posts: 10,114
edited September 2008 in Pro race
Erik Zabel announced that he will retire at the end of the season at a press conference in Varese this morning;

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... sep26news3

He'll be missed, an unassuming rider who has a long and illustrious palmares.

Comments

  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,712
    ... and a shady past.


    (sorry I wanted to be the first to say!)
    http://fendrieneu.home.blog
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    Beers of Belgium Cycling Club UK
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    andyp wrote:
    Erik Zabel announced that he will retire at the end of the season at a press conference in Varese this morning;

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... sep26news3

    He'll be missed, an unassuming rider who has a long and illustrious palmares.


    Who will miss a self confessed doper ?

    cheers
    MG
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,114
    I'm curious as to why you actually follow cycling seeing as it seems to bring out nothing but pessimism in you MG?
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    andyp wrote:
    I'm curious as to why you actually follow cycling seeing as it seems to bring out nothing but pessimism in you MG?

    The same question could be asked of you, you seem to believe in very few of the riders. I couldnt enjoy cycling if i had a viewpoint like yours.


    cheers
    MG
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,114
    Moray Gub wrote:
    The same question could be asked of you, you seem to believe in very few of the riders. I couldnt enjoy cycling if i had a viewpoint like yours.
    I think recent history woud strongly suggest that placing any kind of belief in the cleanliness of riders will lead to disappointment. So I watch it with a sceptical eye just now, hoping that a minority of teams are leading the way forwards to a cleaner sport.

    For me it's about hope, a hope for a cleaner future where doping is the exception rather than the norm. A future where if a rider speaks out against doping then he isn't ostracised for it.
  • secretsqirrel
    secretsqirrel Posts: 1,761
    I will miss him.

    When he confessed it dawned on me that the guys who dope in cycling are not necessarity evil scheming cheats, but that there may be some very compelling reasons why a seemingly decent, reasonable guy, like Zabel would feel the need to dope.

    I am left wondering, what the sport has done to him, and not what he has done to the sport.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,114
    Nicely put SecretSquirrel.

    I remember thinking that he seemed unusually decent and humble for a world class sportsman after seeing "Hell on Wheels".
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,816
    It is difficult not to sound hypocritical, whichever side of the Zabel fence you stand on.
    On the one hand, you can say you are glad an old doper has passed. Fair comment and his confession was damage limitation, only. A partial truth.

    Better than nothing, though, better than those who continue to deny?
    No, not if those who do, continue to divide opinion. Especially if opinion is divided by indivduals who have failed tests, been suspended and served a ban.

    At the end of the day, Zabel was a "name", however he got to be one. His biggest asset to me, was the fact he could be relied upon to be racing from the start of the season, to the end. Three GT's again, this year.

    A pity there aren't a few more big names around, who weren't so "specialised" in their racing program. Perhaps then, races such as the Midi Libre, Classique dAlps or Aragon wouldn't have sunk, without a trace.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    andyp wrote:
    Nicely put SecretSquirrel.

    I remember thinking that he seemed unusually decent and humble for a world class sportsman after seeing "Hell on Wheels".

    Yea he looked a decent bloke in that video but just goes to show you a riders personality aint no bearing on whether he dopes or not. What also strikes me here is the differing views people take on a rider who has doped or allegedly doped based on his personality . Most folk find Millar,Di Luca and say Basso as kinda cold fish with somewhat unendearing personalities yet Eric is that loveable guy from hell on wheels.


    cheers
    MG
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • Patrick1.0
    Patrick1.0 Posts: 290
    Doping is doping. As much as I respect somebody for being humble and honest about doing it, I don't think they should be in the sport. That includes Lance if and it's a big if, it ever turns out that he is or was doping.


    I think we all want people at the top level that we can look up to and think: "they're not doping, they're just exceptionally gifted and hard-working." Look at the 100ms at this years Olympics - Usain Bolt smashed the world record with his shoe laces untied. When you see the guy run and how he behaves you don't think: "doper" you think about how ridiculously talented and laid back he is. Maybe we'll get somebody like that to return some credibility to cycling. Not necessarily riding with their straps undone though!
  • secretsqirrel
    secretsqirrel Posts: 1,761
    Patrick1.0 wrote:
    Doping is doping. As much as I respect somebody for being humble and honest about doing it, I don't think they should be in the sport. That includes Lance if and it's a big if, it ever turns out that he is or was doping.


    I think we all want people at the top level that we can look up to and think: "they're not doping, they're just exceptionally gifted and hard-working." Look at the 100ms at this years Olympics - Usain Bolt smashed the world record with his shoe laces untied. When you see the guy run and how he behaves you don't think: "doper" you think about how ridiculously talented and laid back he is. Maybe we'll get somebody like that to return some credibility to cycling. Not necessarily riding with their straps undone though!

    Actually I thought about Ricardo Ricco at that point, not sure why :?
  • Milram-fan
    Milram-fan Posts: 33
    A true legend. For a guy at Erik's stage of his career to be still consistently competing for the top places in sprints in big races, like he has this year, shows how dedicated an athlete he has been. Pity he wont ride Paris-Tours, a win there would have been a great way to sign off...
  • Patrick1.0
    Patrick1.0 Posts: 290
    SecretSqirrel wrote:
    Patrick1.0 wrote:
    Doping is doping. As much as I respect somebody for being humble and honest about doing it, I don't think they should be in the sport. That includes Lance if and it's a big if, it ever turns out that he is or was doping.


    I think we all want people at the top level that we can look up to and think: "they're not doping, they're just exceptionally gifted and hard-working." Look at the 100ms at this years Olympics - Usain Bolt smashed the world record with his shoe laces untied. When you see the guy run and how he behaves you don't think: "doper" you think about how ridiculously talented and laid back he is. Maybe we'll get somebody like that to return some credibility to cycling. Not necessarily riding with their straps undone though!

    Actually I thought about Ricardo Ricco at that point, not sure why :?

    You don't watch athletics then or know anything about Usain Bolt.

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