Does he stay or does he go?
There are rumors floating about that once Astana secures its new sponsorship Contador will be cast adrift, probably for a Spanish team. Is it crazy to let the world’s best stage racer go? Or does Bruyneel think he won’t be the same rider without his magic touch (notice how lousy Popo was on Lotto)?
What would you do? Does Berto get voted off?
What are you referring to? I would imagining that everyone on Astana gets a magic touch in the arm…?
SPANIARD
OUTTIE!!
Hilarious. I bet you were one of those guys who thought T-Mobile was the only clean team in the peloton in the late 90’s early 00’s after seeing guys transfer there and start sucking (Cadel Evans, Santiago Botero, etc.).
From what sinkewitz was quoted saying on cyclingnews, not everyone was invited to participate in the doping programs.
You don’t need a clinic of clever DS to dope any more – just get a few buddies and split the cost of a centrafuge – pay some nurse practitioner to put the blood back in while you’re getting a massage or reading the paper… I was thinking of setting up one on the Upper West Side so riders could come up to Park do a few laps and get 2 pints of red cells
Lance: worst domestique ever? How much does Levi wish that Horner was still in the race instead?
Alberto wishing for pink slip now.
HOrner had a better shot at the GC. No heart. He is a poor mans Cadel Evans…
Levi = Poor Man’s Cadel — well played sir
Not everyone was invited to dope? That is hard to believe. And even if so, Botero came from Kelme and Cadel Evans came Mapei- Two teams that did have wide spread doping- It would be hard to believe that all of the sudden became clean.
If the new team happens, Contador would go. He should go. He would be a fool not to. Unless they can somehow offer him an insane amount of money. Even, then he would be a fool not to go.
It’s clear the way “Faded Astana” is riding as a team. It’s Lance way or no way.
Contador to Kingpin
Bottle popped.
Contador will be owned by Lance regardless of what team he rides for.
How is Lance the worst domestique? He is towing Levi’s tired shell around- unless you expect Lance to push LL up the mountains? LL said Lance saved him “minutes” on Sunday. Sounds like Lance is doing a good job.
I think Monday’s stage said it all. Levi sucks, Lance easily bridged to Menchov, Diluca and Basso as if only to show them that he could. He then dropped back after the attack to pace the midget to the finish. Lance is about 85% at the Giro and still hanging with the top dogs for the most part. As much as I hate him, he will be the leader of Astana and will win the Tour.
His only rivals will be Menchov and Basso and Basso does not seem to have it riding clean.
Good points but I dont think Basso is going to the Tour.
It sickens me, but after watching the past couple of days I think Lance has a real shot of winning an 8th.
Thats why he is racing in the Giro and you are posting on NYVC. He has also won the TofC, TofGila and has done well at other races…
Caisse could use Contador. Valverde is no good to stage races with big cols. now, with banks in all sorts of anemia problems, perhaps Bruyneel can set up a private equity shop, just in time to close before Le Tour.
Come on. Levi sucks in the sense that he is not one of the top 4-5 stage racers in the world. It is probably foolish to expect him to win a grand tour, just as it is foolish to expect Hincapie to ever win a monument. But the guy is one of the top 5-10 stage racers in the world. Jeez.
Levi sucks! Yes he sucks in that he wont ever beat the top guys in a 3 week tour. Why, he has no heart. He just follows wheels until he cant. Tour of Cali, Gila, those are not the same animals. Basically one day of climbing and a TT. He is a super talent on the bike but compared to Lance, Basso, he sucks. Believe me,I would rather see Levi win the Tour of Giro than Lance.
Did not know Levi’s fan club was on NYVC.
guy wins tour of gila, ergo, should do great in giro d’ italeeeyah! umm, yeah, sure.
Lance rode very fast today because he wanted to return that FUHGGGGLY bike
Lance has shown in the Giro that he can still finish top 10 in a 3 week race. I dislike him, but he can pedal. This being relatively outta shape, coming back from injury, etc…
There are probably 2 scenarios if Contador rides for Lance’s team at the Tour:
1. Giro like. Lance doesn’t/can’t really contest. More than half the team rides for Lance anyway (he’s the boss, he still gets you camera time, 5 minutes behind is not as hard as the front). Contador has to basically ride alone.
2. Tour like. Lance can contest, podium or win. Everyone but Contador rides for him.
That’s it.
TT Vegan as team time trial anchor on Astana. You read it here first.
Can any one answer this question: What happened to Dave Z? Seriously.
“What happened to Dave Z?”
During the Tour of Cali some bastard robbed his house and almost all his possessions.
Some, maybe most or all of it, has been recovered and arrests have been made.
I’m no pro, but I’m pretty sure my training would be severely disrupted by something like that.
Should read: During the following months, some, maybe most or all of it, has been recovered and arrests have been made.
Lance popped today while trying to chase Pellizotti. The man known for his poker face when climbing during his past Tour wins was definitely showing some pain and signs of wear and tear from that climb and the stages. I believe he is showing very good form (for his age) but I can’t see him winning a Grand Tour ever again. However, a stage win is a more likely possibility.
I am surprised that Contador didn’t seek out other opportunities when Lance announced his comeback. It was obvious that Astana would become a team centered around Lance and his ambitions. The best thing that could happen to Contador would be for Astana to cut him loose. History has shown that two Tour contenders on the same team is nothing but trouble (Hinault and Lemond in the 1986 Tour).
There’s a rumor going around for Contador going to Caisse. Also, according to Juliet Macur on twitter:
An Austrian news agency, APA, is reporting that police have made contact with Menchov’s team as part of an ongoing doping investigation.
Yep, there it is:
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/rabobank-riders-questioned-in-doping-probe-21773
Dave Z riding clean = no chance riding with DiLucca et al
Denis the Menace…
“Hey there Mr. Wilson! Can I use your blood spinner and nebulizer today?”
Diluca and Menchov positive at Giro
Pelizotti or Basso win with Levi and Sastre in the top 5
Doesn’t Levi look like Popeye?
“Doesn’t Levi look like Popeye?”
No, he looks like a son and a husband.
That seems to be the big rumor but unless the fire “Piti” Valverde or Al C takes a huge pay cut they dont have the money and the French government is not going to be gung ho about watching the money they gave to the Bank to be used to pay for a suspect grand tour racer.
He doesn’t suck, his racing style just isn’t that exciting. He took third in his last TDF, that’s not bad. Certainly doesn’t suck. HE’s just not exciting AT ALL to watch. Smart racer, no doubt. But he never takes any chances, therefore will never be a fan favorite.
levi made a pretty impressive attack in the ToC
Astana has potentially three TDF contenders. Levi can probably only hope for a podium, but that still counts as a contender. Something’s got to give.
Michael Rogers told me he had even thought of quitting cycling on the second to last ascent. “Had there been a small lake I would have abandoned the race for a swim.†He wasn’t joking.
what does “P&P” mean in race results? Is it like “DNF”?
Pulled and Placed. Nice way of kicking you off the course for beeing too slow.
Currently 4 people registered for NY State Crit Championships on Sunday in Saratoga Springs
Love ya Dieter, but crit championships belong in NYC with all the 4-corner crazies.
4 people in the P 1/2/3 that is
Levi just ain’t exciting. His strategy in stage races is to hang/not lose time on climbs and take time/win the GC in the time trials. That style of racing is never going to be as fun to watch as those who can take the time on the climbs.
If you care about the state crit championship, then come on up to ‘Toga and race it! Sure there are lots of enthusiastic crit racers in NY, but everyone else on the East coast is used to having to drive to their races, you guys can too for a weekend, it won’t kill you. Seriously, a good turnout of out-of-towners would be welcome. It’s a haul, but it’s a really cool town.
“but everyone else on the East coast is used to having to drive to their races, you guys can too for a weekend, it won’t kill you.”
You must know that most new yorkers don’t own a car.
Now is when all the race talk stops and the doping talk begins. Results from the first week of testing come in and are promptly leaked. Euro papers trot out old stories and American reporters put them out. Bla bla bla. Time to get on the mountain bike and have some fun in the woods. Who needs all this bullshit and baloney?
That’s what Simoni does
http://static.bikeradar.com/MTB/news/article/gilberto-simoni-may-race-mountain-bike-worlds-15935
Rasmussen first insisted he was training in Mexico, but later admitted that he was on training camps in the Alps and Pyrenees with the full knowledge of Rabobank management.
Instead of training in Mexico as he previously stated, Rasmussen admitted he was in Italy between June 4-19. He also confirmed that he met Italian TV journalist Davide Cassani, an admission that helped auger his hasty removal from the Tour last July.
From June 20-23, he traveled to the Alps and was in the Pyrenees from June 25 with Rabobank teammate Denis Menchov and a team soigneur. He also said he met personally with team sport director Erik Breukink on June 7 in Bergamo, Italy.
i think he would have dropped levi in the big hills
hope to see him in the tour
I don’t think that’s what he said. You’re hanging on the fact that some were unwanted in the doping ring and the cyclingnews.com article talks about one guy.
You are unwilling to believe that guys on a team with an organized doping program were doped even though a bunch of them tested positive. Instead, you probably want to believe that a team that has never tested positive and to this point has not had any proof of an organized doping program aside from good results is 100% dirty.
Your logic is remarkable.
Rope a dope.
Armstrong is going to win the TDF.
Alberto is young, Lance is old. I doubt Lance will come back to race next year. So Alberto doesn’t need to leave Astana, but he should. He should be cause they dissed him when they didn’t ask him about Lance before letting Lance join the team. He should find the highest bidder that also has a decent team that can support him in the tour. Hopefully he has good representation.
Armstrong already hinted that he’ll make his own team next year, and that if he owns a team he is riding. He also hinted that the new team news could come as soon as June 1st — the deadline given to Astana investors to pay up.
Team Viagrastrong, presented by the Olsen Twins.
Only requirement is to have one testicle
that’s a lot to take on. tough to kill two birds with one stone
How come no new content? I love you guys and I just want more.
Super wheelsucker.
“His own team + race?”
Who do you think owned Postal/Discovery? no different now.
he only had one stone then too
New content? Many irons in fire, but nothing could be finished this week. But good stuff on horizon for sure. Also, Memorial Day killed Toto writin’ time.
I hate how “they” still list Basso and Di Luca ass “winners” of the Gir0!?!?!
Did they not have drug conspiracies those very same seasons?
“I did not dope, only intended to dope during the Tour”, after “winning” the Gir0 by 9 minutes???
This Gir0 is a luzer!!
can we have an argument about which announcers are better. it took we a few stages, but i think the Universal guys are better. the one guy’s voice is a bit annoying but they make much more insightful comments and actually seem to generally be able to identify the riders better than Paul and Phil.
phil and paul are bordering on senile. they’ve been at it too long. if i hear paul talk about how he raced for a local barbershop trade team at the cirque du soleil in 1910 and remembers the big pothole to the right at the base of la rue du asse climb, i’m gonna hurl a pile of cran razz gu all over my flatscreen tv.
do i come over to your house on thanksgiving, look at your doddering, drooling crusty ole grandmother in the corner, and yell “why dont you shave that f*ckin prickly beard, you old blue-haired bat?!” no. no, i don’t do that. not because its not true, mind you, but b/c granny’s been there for a long time, and she was pretty cool back in the day, and so you put up with her now, even if she can’t tell one grandkid from the next, doesn’t realize or admit that 90% of them are stoned to the gills, and half the time you’re pretty certain she’s sauced anyway. even when its 10am.
cycling, its got what we call “traditions.”
so before you come in here yabberclamming about this announcer vs. that, realize that we’ve got a couple of open secrets in the family. welcome. try not to point them out, fa una brutta figura and it also shows you’re new here.
listen you milk-fed chumbalone, i was brute-shifting campy cambio corsa over the col d’izoard while you were but a figment in your own granny’s imagination as she danced naked in an absinthe-fuelled haze at the place de la concorde. so don’t be telling me my business, capiche?
from tour of cali…with the mechanics perspective, “these levers! are they brakes or are they shifters? Wow! They’re (there, their, thair, thermopoli) BOTH!
That was great TV!
Interview with Contador on Astana/Lance debacle:
http://tinyurl.com/6t47vr
Did you make this up? He has a contract w/ Bruyneel not w/ Astana.