Dan Martin

dave_1

Should he be allowed or entered for the Tour de France 2009? I think yes, and pulled out after 12 days??

Kléber

Quite possibly since the Pyrenees come quite early. But he could be a hindrance to Garmin in their target TTT stage. Still, better not to put all their eggs in the basket of the TTT, so I'd get him in there.

That said, maybe just get him ready for the Dauphiné this year?

dave_1

Kléber wrote:

Quite possibly since the Pyrenees come quite early. But he could be a hindrance to Garmin in their target TTT stage. Still, better not to put all their eggs in the basket of the TTT, so I'd get him in there.

That said, maybe just get him ready for the Dauphiné this year?

either hald the TDF or full Vuelta? I read on another forum his dad saying after Route Di Sud last year that his son was defo not rushing into grand tours in 08, but after catalonia, surely time?

pottssteve

He's doing well in Catalonia.

teagar

Too young for the Tour!

I recon the same applied to Any Schleck to be honest. Should have waited another year, let him be team leader, and let him explode onto the scene Hinault style... Now he's a marked man!

Same goes for Gesink.

Don't want them to burn out too soon. Look at Baden Cooke. Won green when he was 24 and burnt out.


It will all come in due time.

Have a little patience...

dave_1

From the DS of Slipstream..twitter quote today

TeamSlipstream... Just wondering if Dan Martin might be a contender for the white jersey in the Tour this year? I can dream - and dreaming is free! JV
about 9 hours ago from TwitterBerry

sing_for_absolution

Congratulations to him on his overall win today. Totally deserves it.

millar time

Congratulations to him on his overall win today. Totally deserves it.

I thought he came second overall?? Still a great performance from him though. I wouldn't enter him for the tour. I'd have him do the dauphine, hopefully go well there, maybe a stage win and high GC placing then give him a rest with the intention of building up to a push for the young rider competition in the Vuelta.

afx237vi

millar time wrote:

Congratulations to him on his overall win today. Totally deserves it.

I thought he came second overall?? Still a great performance from him though. I wouldn't enter him for the tour. I'd have him do the dauphine, hopefully go well there, maybe a stage win and high GC placing then give him a rest with the intention of building up to a push for the young rider competition in the Vuelta.

To a person who shouldn't have been allowed to enter in the first place. Dan Martin was the first of the riders actually eligible to race under the UCI's own unenforced rules.

millar time

Thats true.

andyp

afx237vi wrote:

To a person who shouldn't have been allowed to enter in the first place. Dan Martin was the first of the riders actually eligible to race under the UCI's own unenforced rules.

To be fair to the UCI, and I'm often not, the ProTour code of conduct, which would preclude Valv.Piti from riding, was a voluntary agreement that the teams agreed to. So Caisse d'Espargne should have withdrawn him from the race, not the UCI.

afx237vi

Fair point. But if the UCI had any balls in the first place they'd make proper rules in the first place to stop this sort of stuff happening.

Have they even commented on the CONI ruling yet? Oh and Theo Bos, has he been banned yet? Wait, the bio passport results, any news yet? WTF does the UCI actually do?

iainf72

afx237vi wrote:

Have they even commented on the CONI ruling yet? Oh and Theo Bos, has he been banned yet? Wait, the bio passport results, any news yet? WTF does the UCI actually do?

Thank you for your interest in cycling. At the UCI we like to generate presentations after paying external consultants a lot of money. Like every other corporate entity.

Try thisone for size

afx237vi

iainf72 wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Have they even commented on the CONI ruling yet? Oh and Theo Bos, has he been banned yet? Wait, the bio passport results, any news yet? WTF does the UCI actually do?

Thank you for your interest in cycling. At the UCI we like to generate presentations after paying external consultants a lot of money. Like every other corporate entity.

Try thisone for size

Well, that just says it all. That's what the UCI does.

iainf72

afx237vi wrote:

Well, that just says it all. That's what the UCI does.

You did ask.

BTW, the cable on your mouse in 0.0032mm too wide. And you replace it or I'll have you banned from the forum.

PS - Does anyone know if my polyester blazer really does pose a fire hazard if I'm near nylon?

afx237vi

iainf72 wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Well, that just says it all. That's what the UCI does.

You did ask.

BTW, the cable on your mouse in 0.0032mm too wide. And you replace it or I'll have you banned from the forum.

PS - Does anyone know if my polyester blazer really does pose a fire hazard if I'm near nylon?

In that case I'll just start my own forum and only invite the 20 best posters and make them contribute even if they don't want to! The rest of you can sod off

Kléber

afx237vi wrote:

Fair point. But if the UCI had any balls in the first place they'd make proper rules in the first place to stop this sort of stuff happening.

No, they do have a "no start rule" whereby a rider under investigation for a doping offence should not start a race. I posted the wording on here last week but can't find the post again and am too lazy this morning to trawl the UCI website for it.

It's primarily meant to apply to riders who've got a positive A-sample and waiting for news on the B-sample but the wording is such that Valverde could easily be suspended under the rules pending a UCI meeting.

Maybe Valverde has the right to race. But there should be debate, if the sport's authorities could rule one way or another we - fans but also riders and teams - enjoy a more predictable sport where the rules are upheld, not treated as optional things.

Right now, all I see is a big mess. Valverde is one of the sports biggest names and by some measures Italy is the nation with the most professional riders. Therefore you'd expect a ruling by CONI to carry some weight and to at least result in a statement from the UCI. But they're silent in Aigle.

I don't know how Dan Martin feels, coming second to Valverde is a strong ride for him and this should be a big satisfaction but he can look at his mantelpiece and spot the room for the Catalan silverware.

GroupOfOne MkII

Good ride by Jakob Fuglsang to 6th (or 5th depending on your viewpoint on the above) overall. He's looking quite impressive this season.

avoidingmyphd

can anyone explain why CONI's ruling is suddently "italy only" (and was pre-announced as such by non-italian institutions and media) yet the WADA code requires reciprocity?

oh, and that presentation is priceless. if it wasn't on the uci's own website, I would have thought it was a hoax.

Kléber

Barring an accident, he's going to do the Tour. He's down for the Dauphiné and the team will see how he does during this week and then he'll build up for July.

richard wants a baum

I suppose the only consulation is that he is not going to effect the GC contenders only the poor buggers looking for early week 1 stage wins ( in the Tour that is). Yes congratulations to Dan on his overall win.