skatha Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 I read an editorial from some yahoo who claimed the tour this year was boring without the doping.... I thought this year was great... I was disappointed my boy Tom partied too close to the event, but it is comforting to know he wasn't engaging in boring performance enhancing drugs. I thought that removing the time bonuses was a great idea-cut down on some of the calculation aspect that Lance used to love to do. I loved that a bike broke in two-so much for "cutting edge" technology. I discovered Christian Vandevelde-who's cute and a good athlete-a key combo for hetero female sport enthusiasts. By the way, I always drink champaign on the last day and I'm halfway thru the bottle even as I attempt to type Carlos really deserved the win. He's been on the cusp of big things for a while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 a weak team which is proof that the Tour can't be won without a strong if not the strongest team.Vandeveld still has the crash monkey on his back but at least it's a smaller one.Beside that he lacked confidence in himself at a key moment in the mountains when he should have attacked(his own admission),or it could have been him in yellow, though CSC would probably have fought hard enough not to let it happen.Sastre deserved to win for sure.The next few years should be ultra close with riders like the Schleck bros,Vande and quite a few others coming up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDY_2_Carve Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 I didn't even know the tour happened and I watch Sportscenter pretty often... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 I watched it every night even though I was certain that I wasn't going to...Carlos was the man on the Alp...Cadel blew it not going after him. The Manx man was amazing, Garmin Chipoltle and Columbia were a bit over covered but it was still cool to watch. I like the harshness against the dopers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 What about Mark Cavendish, 4 stage wins!! Where was McEwen or Grady? I did hear Zabel's name mentioned in a couple of sprint finishes. Columbia must have been on a high with how well the did in the tour. I wish Vandevelde was a little more aggressive in the mtn stages. He just seemed content to hang onto someone's wheel. Cadel, he blew it big time. He needs to ride aggressively. Silence/Lotto needs to hire some support riders also. He was exposed too much in the alpine stages. I think it was a great tour, glad they came down hard on the dopers. Did anyone else read the article that in the first week there were 12 riders who tested with higher amounts of red blood cells but the only action taken was that the officials were going to contact the team doctor and let them know of the elevated levels. I wonder why they elected to toss only one rider and not the other eleven riders??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 What about Mark Cavendish The Manx man was amazing, I think it was a great tour, glad they came down hard on the dopers. Did anyone else read the article that in the first week there were 12 riders who tested with higher amounts of red blood cells but the only action taken was that the officials were going to contact the team doctor and let them know of the elevated levels. I wonder why they elected to toss only one rider and not the other eleven riders??? Elevated levels in and of themself prove nothing elevated levels with traces of EPO (or some other blood booster are a different matter. For example; Vandevelde lives at altitude so his red blood cell levels are going to be high when compared to somepne like Cadel Evans but if there are no traces of doping of masking agents all they can do is report the irregularities and hope there is a natural cause or that if they are in fact cheating that they will get caught at some point because they now have a reason to suspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 You can also have an elevated hemoglobin level with dehydration-it's called hemoconcentration. I've seen Hgb level as high as 21 (normal 14-17) in people so severely dehydrated they've gone into renal failure. Your total red cell mass is unchanged, however. So, hence, the team doc notification. But, Gecko is right-you've flown smack dab in the middle of the radar screen once you have a lab result like that in your history. Also, driving through Arizona near Flagstaff, I noticed that you've got the combo of a relatively high altitude without the expense of living in Colo. Spgs. Just a thought.... Like the Tour will open up to allow 45 year old women to race... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.