Bicycle Blog Cyclelicious

Stage 17: Visit the l'Alpe d'Huez ..."Stage 17 of the Tour de France tomorrow will feature the famous Alpe de Wheeze."...

..."alpe de wheeze" indeed, sir !!!...dammit, fritz, are you making fun of the way i ride a bicycle w/ these inflammatory statements ???...

...& btw, i was racing down la montagne on 'google streetview' & pulled a "john lee augustyne /(barloworld)...over the edge, down the scree slope & my virtual bike went so far it may have landed in your computer...

...non, non, monsieur, j'ai a-ok...nothing more than a scrap on one typing hand...

...j'ai continuez, eh ???...au, revoir... You crack me up, BGW!

Did you really PODIUM at BSNYC yesterday?? ...sacre bleu, monsieur fritz...none other than 'le blaireau', bernard hinault himself, zipped up my jersey...but you must understand my 'oh so dark' "mod op" secret...

...normally i'm good natured, but when it comes to podiums ???...well, personally i don't covet podium spots whatsoever but that dark, dark streak in me loves to deprive others of the top step...

...therefor, when so many, strive so hard, to achieve so little, i occasionally like to make sure they leave w/ even less... Tour de France 2008 Stage 14 Mark Cavendish woo hoo! ...i'll echo that "mark cavendish woo hoo!" wow !!!...just awesome to see this kid come through the way he is...

...every interview, he's looking a little more tired from the daily schlog around france, but his team keeps bringing him up in good position & w/ his great tactical savvy, he delivers the goods...amazing display...

...& fritz...great article & info to dispel the naysayers...despite the ugly headlines at times, i believe cycling is leading the way to cleaner sports... Call me a cynic, but sometimes I wonder if those team-induced drug tests aren't there to ensure their doping levels 'just aren't high enough to get caught'. I mean, what's better than putting together a system to check for doping--hype it up as ensuring your riders are clean, and still utilize it to make sure your riders dont get kicked out (and you have lots of data to fight if they threaten)... yet still use it to make sure anything they are doing is outside detection. I'd like to think that isn't what those teams are doing.. but you never know.

It certainly wouldn't be hard to twist it around and misuse an internal system like that. I tried to watch the tour this year...but I just couldn't do it. I used to enjoy watching it before all the doping, now it seems like anytime you hear about a guy winning a stage he's immediately suspected of doping. The TdF still has a pretty big black eye as far as I'm concerned. It's true that a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch.

Its sad that as a cyclists I don't even enjoy watching the big events...what does that say for everyone else that is less involved in the sport than I am? I am hoping, HOPING, that we can see Mark Cavendish as the new cycling hero...it seems all we CAN do is hope. Tour de France 2008 Stage 12 *SPOILERS* ...i'm stunned...

...& yet i feel like an idiot for being stunned... Mayo was popped last year. Why did ASO allow these guys to start and not Astana, which is same sponsor but new team and management. TdF: Another one bites the dust The regulators are really taking their responsibility seriously... they know that this valuable product needs protecting.

In European courts, Tiffany wins a lawsuit against eBay but in the USA, eBay wins. The value of property, particularly brand names, are highly valued and protected there... and now the TdF too.
Jack "MA: Well, you see synthetic EPO in urine in the form of bars on an electrophoregram. If a rider's taken Micera, the bars are located in a different place to those you see in a sample containing synthetic EPO."

There may not be a simple "test" for CERA, but the expert himself indicates that it is recognizable if you're looking for it. If it was used in the Giro as indicated they are probable checking all the samples for it specifically now. @Jack: For some reason my brain flashed back to that 80s teen pop star.

@Joel: Good point. Is not a good thing
Riccardo Riccò is a liar ... Tour de France Stage 10 ...it's pezcycling news for my money...oh, really ???...i can stop sending checks...ahh, they probably all bounced anyway...

...pez has a daily race report, a regular 'tour de pez' 'human interest' story & a 'tour de france' coach article for each stage, wherein chris carmicheal adds some interesting insight regarding what's transpired on each stage...

...been a fan, since i realized as fritz pointed out, that their posts (& photos) are not the typically dry reportage of the "usual suspects"...v-news & c-news journalists cross their t's & dot their i's like they learned in school but as far as personality, ehh, not so much...

...bob 'bobke' roll is doing a nice daily blog during the tdf over at road bike action & as most will know, mr roll is always entertaining...tim maloney is in france & writes well for that same rag...

...just my deux francs worth... don't forget the daily distractions :) Manuel Beltran - EPO Just talked with Bob Roll about this. His comments are over on our blog. My comments. C'MON GUYS! Did he NOT think he'd get caught? Why...because he's special or something? Oy! This is actually a good thing.

If a non-significant rider like Beltran can be nabbed and tossed out, it sends a message to contenders, up-and-comers, and any of the veteran riders who may think that they can extend their career for another year or two by using the "better life by chemistry" technique.

That's too bad about Triki Beltran. I always thought highly of him as the tireless Postal/Discovery rider. Not anymore. Stefan Schumacher I don't consider this a big surprise. Schumacher has won some very hard, very important races and has a kick. He's a true roleur, and this course was made for that - shorter than typical and a bit hilly. Further evidence, note the performance of Jens Voigt.

Certainly I wouldn't have picked him for the win but if I had to pick 15 riders he would make the list, once you are there on such a short course it could even come down to when you started.

If it had been 15 more kilometers it would have probably been Evans and riders like Kirchen, Millar, Schumacher and Voigt would fade down the standings. At that distance I might even tip Vande Velde.

But what do I know. The only time I got one right was with Landis, and only after I dosed his beer. err... I mean if it had been 15 more kilometers it would have been Cancellara. Duh. Google maps announces Streetview Europe with Tour de France routes I looked at that, it was pretty cool. I didn't know when this streetview thing came on but its really nice.

Hey, I tagged you in another game (i know right). Here's the link The funny thing is that the town shown in the google video is definitely NOT Narbonne, even though the operator clicks on Narbonne. Narbonne has a very gentle canal flowing through it, not a river. The map itself seems fine though. Very odd! Ah hem. Danny Pate in Garmin / Chipotle kit Good photo links Fritz. I didn't even know that Carlton had a Flickr account, but he does have some nice shots. Tour de France 2008 updates How to ride in the Tour de France Tour de France 2008 TV and streaming video ...oh, is it time for the annual "le debacle' du francais" already ???...excuse me, i meant to say "le grand bocoule"...my, my, where is my head, anyway ???...

...ok, ok, i'm intentionally sounding jaded but is hard to see it w/ out a certain sense of 'ho-hum'...no defending champion & his team (which also includes last years third place)...rabobank is included as is cofidis...& who else am i missing but they're including...wtf ???...

...we now know, a week before the tour, that epo testing is crap, so we're not assured of anything, monsieur prudhomme...we also know that the dilettante-ish aso is, through financially investing in the vuelta & forming an alliance w/ the organizers of the amgen TofC maybe, just maybe (do ya think ???) looking to control the world of pro cycling, as opposed to just "ensuring that we have a drug free tour de france"...
..that circle is getting more vicious, monsieur prudhomme...watch that it doesn't come around & bite you, s'il vous plait...

...but ya, i'll get there, when the wheels start rolling & phil, paul & mr roll mention that the pedals are being turned in anger...

...we all so easily put aside our knowledge of murky pasts & sit like children in rapt attention, letting ourselves dream of who might lift the trophy, backdropped by "le arc d' triomphe"... Garmin-Chipotle won't be in the ProTour and may or may not be added next year. However, the whole ProTour thing seems to be flailing away since the major Grand Tours such as the Giro, Tour and Vuelta did not take part this year. ...i just realized i made a serious mistake...'le tour' is often referred to as <"le grand boule" or the big ball, the big circle not whatever word i seem to have made up...

...i will now do whatever penance fritz deems necessary...i'd suggest three weeks of following le tour, on the ground in france but i have to miss the final day in paris...
...i can live w/ that... BGW, I've FedExed your plane tickets to your home address; you should get them in time to make the 2nd Stage. You're on your own for ground transport, though. ...monsieur fritz...zut alors, ami...quelle awesomeness...it would only be fitting penance, to pedale le velo, non ???...

...viva la fritz...now i am ready to appreciate le tour... Floyd Landis loses CAS appeal That is a bummer, but not a surprise. Oh well, I'm still excited about the Tour too. the only bummer about it was it didnt carry a death penalty. He should have kept Lance's doctor. ...it doesn't really matter what the decision is, the whole fricking ball of wax is as screwed up as possible...all parties & all actions concerned, whether "guilty or not guilty" have left an ugly scar on the sport of cycling... Team CSC finds sponsor Tour de France: Slipstream/Chipotle is in! http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2008/04/03/go-argyle-for-roubaix/

Just saw this, how cool, and it's organic Tour de France Finale What a rough Tour. Man, I'm glad it's over so we can focus on ridding the sport of dopers and getting back to loving to watch the greatest sporting event of all time.

Damn that Mayo! TdF Stage 19: Individual Time Trial Millar: struck down by the curse of the British. At least he's been spared Wiggins' fate. Tour de France: Stages of grief Thanks for the mention.

It's been such a heartbreaking Tour and though I have continued to read the results and am still interested in who wins, my "love" for the race is destroyed for this year. It'll be back, I know it will. I look forward to seeing the sport getting cleaner and better- I know it will. My passion is still intact. I hope everybody else's is too.

Maybe we'll get a clean Vuelta now... I hope. Tour de France good news Great comments, Fritz. I'd like to see the percentage of the people who are abandoning the Tour but are still watching the steroid-ridden Barry Bonds chase the Hank Aaron home run record without batting an eyelash. I bet it's pretty high. I agree with you Fritz and I am continuing to follow the tour.

Jamie, good point. I have heard several people point out that Barry Bonds has never tested positive for anything. Maybe that is because MLB is not serious about addressing the problem. As long as they choose to just look away, steroid use will never be a "problem" in baseball as it is in cycling. I am just glad that our sport is making an attempt to clean itself up. Agree and this Sunday I will be sad when it ends again. Although disappointed with the revelations, I think it has been a fantastic TdF.

Jack Well said, Fritz. I really appreciate your positive feelings and comments. More than ever now is the time to support cycling. Thanks for the comments, all. If you haven't seen it yet you should check out what MasiGuy has to write after some reflection. RASMUSSEN SACKED! I'm debating if I even want to watch the rest of the Tour... Same here. I've watched the end of each race with my 11 year-old son. Now I'm going to have to explain the whole doping thing to him. My only solace is that his favorite for the last week or so has been Contador. Please, oh please tell me he is clean... What's next, who's next?! TdF Stage 16: Who's clean? This post has been removed by the author. Michael Rasmussen has been sacked by his team. I want to puke It's all so...so...bad. I'm at a loss, really. I want to believe so badly in pro cycling. I've enjoyed the Tour this year more than the last couple. But, this is harsh. Maybe he did it, maybe he didn't. I have no clue. BUT, what I do know is that everyone touting the 'system' as working is wrong. No matter whether he did or didn't, he deserves to have his B sample tested without people knowing who it belongs to. Do you think there is anyone in France, much less the lab, that doesn't know who has a sample coming??? How is that not biased testing? Now, I'm not implying that it would change the test, but it is still a flaw in the 'system'.
Ugh. Makes me so SAD. Great roundup, Fritz; thanks for all the links. It's the Tour de Frauds. Who isn't just sickened? I was upset about this yesterday and a coworker of mine pinged me this link: http://infospigot.typepad.com/infospigot_the_chronicles/ TdF Stage 15: Eye of the Tiger http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2007/20070724_174418Dev.html

Suite au contrôle positif du Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov, révélé par L'Equipe, la formation Astana dont il était le leader a décidé de quitter le Tour, mardi lors de la journée de repos.

Or in English, e.g. from:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19932813/

PAU, France - Tour de France rider Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after winning last weekend’s time trial, prompting his Astana team to pull out of the race.

The positive test of the Kazakh rider, a one-time favorite to win cycling’s premier event, dealt a heavy blow to a sport already reeling from a spate of doping scandals.

“Vino has tested positive having to do with a blood transfusion and the team is leaving the Tour,” team spokeswoman Corinne Druey said, using the rider’s nickname.

-------------------------------- Stinks, don't it? Best Stage 13 commentary... Glad you liked that- now and again I string a few words together and they actually make sense. I know it isn't often... but I still try. TdF Stage 13: Vinokourov strikes back! TdF update straight from Bob Roll! Hey there, Fritz - hasn't the tour been great!? Vino kicked butt on the TT. Impressive. Contador yesterday on the mountain. Yikes! I haven't looked today, but I'm sure someone did something friggin' amazing, too. Can't wait to see it all tonight with Bob and Al.
Bobke will check in again later this week for a final Tour DAY France update, too. Stay tuned... Friday Tour de France 2007 Stage 12 Interesting that you mention Sinkewitz's case next to the anniversary of Floyd Landis's amazing breakaway win on Stage 17 to Morzine. Ironically, Sinkewitz was the last man Landis dropped on his way to victory that day. And now they have both tested positive for testosterone. German television and drug-free cycling TdF Stage 10: Twitter Death! The little twitter blips also crash Firefox -- not very nice! It's amazing that such a simple app can be so complicated. Firefox also picked that particular moment to slowly install 2.0.0.5 when I restarted.

I'm probably going to switch to a non-browser Twitter client to better isolate the damage. TdF: Who is Team Barloworld? Little know fact: Team Barloworld is actually sponsored by former Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow. Who says he's too old to rock 'n' roll?

(I learned in preparing this joke that Mr. Barlow and I share a birthday. It's a comedy goldmine!) What's your source of news for le Tour? I listen to Phil and Paul in the ayem. If someone else claims the TV, I'll check the updates via CyclingNews or listen in on Eurosport. Tour de France 2007: Stage 8 My favorite part from Sunday's stage had to be this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbjtTBA-TwE

I've never laughed so hard during the TdF. I'm with Vera on this one. Michael, I missed that part. Thanks for the link. I've been watching quite a bit of TdF with my youngest son (11 years-old) and find it amusing when he starts talking about breakaways and the peloton in front of others who have no idea what is going on. I leaving now to find a link of the guy going over the guard rail... Rasmussen is just so cute! so happy for him. TdF Stage 7: The Long Tail Thanks for noticing my blog. I'm headed over the Paris on Monday and will keeping up with the blog in more real-time via Eurosport in the cafes.

I love the way you've arranged stuff here. Keep up the good work. I expect that I'll probably mention you in some upcoming posts this weekend and Monday before I go.

Later,

Jeff
*my other blog - fewer bikes - is http://www.bowlofcheese.com I watched that stage on a real TV at my sister's, who's not a cycling aficionado, whose comment at the podium scene was "I didn't know they let girls ride in the Tour de France! And she won~" And those winning girls on the podium always look so clean and fresh after their long ride! Streaming video: How to bypass country restrictions Excellent -- didn't think of this approach when I found myself nearly locked out a several stages ago (bad Comcast) Have you tested this out for streaming video? Getting good streaming video is tough enough, but in the past I've never been successful through a public proxy server. There are a bunch of sites that track proxy servers and rank the best, but even the top performers are too slow for video... that's been my experience anyway. What's been your experience? This is awesome information! I need to leave town after tomorrow's stage and the hotel on the road probably won't have Versus. If this works, you saved me. Thanks, Fritz! um i want to play maple story so im gonna try this

HOPE IT WORKS!!!!!! Flickr blog features Tour de France photos TdF Stage 6: 120 miles trhough the countryside Tour de France Stage 5: 50 mph finish sprint! No dope = slow tour Interesting that one of my students who's not really into biking noted, when I said something about Stage 3 being a bit slow before the last part, "must be 'cause they're not ..." and body-languaged being doped. Told me that yes, the public perception is that they're a bunch of hyped-up enhanced humans. In the meantime, Barry Bonds is indisputably awash in drugs, yet no body cares, at least not in the Bay Area. Certainly possible, but I think we would see slower speeds later in the race rather than the first week. The dope doesn't necessarily make the riders go faster, but allows them to recover quickly.

The initial slow pace has more to do with boredom than dope. Reality is for people who can't handle drugs... Tour de France Stage 4 TdF: Fabian Cancellara takes Stage 3! Wow! Howdy,

As always, great site. Could I make a small request that folks not put race results in the headline? I clicked on your feed in my feedreader and learned who won the race I'll be watching on the rebroadcast tonight.

Thanks for all the great articles! Ah, I didn't think about that. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the note. That was unreal! Fabian makes me love this sport. Twitter and le Tour Actually Frank Steele has a feed at http://twitter.com/tdfblog the tdf_updates is someone else ;) Wow! Thanks for including DailyTour and FredCast Twitter feeds on your site. How very cool. Glad you like it. I've modified the Javascript a little (with Ken's help to make the URLs into real links, also. SRAM Force group ad I never thought that I would one day be willingly watching commercials on the web. Now I find my self watching this one multiple times. It just shows that SRAM gets it. They did a nice job with this and it is cool to see it spreading around the net. I have this grouppo, just waiting for my frame. 2007 Tour de France live video Don't forget that the David of FredCast is also posting race updates via Twitter and so is Frank at the TdF blog.

It's actually good fun to have company like this using Twitter, lets you kow what others are thinking in real time. Tour de France and bike design Stage 2: Tour de Crash ESPN: Everyone can and should bike Cycling should be a faster growth industry than others... for the reasons stated.

YES!!!! TdF: McEwen takes Stage 1