Who's watching the Tour

[Spudman]

of California?

Good race today for the Radio Shack boys.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Doesn't come on any of our channels. Maybe I can catch some online. I sure wish I could order up Vs. and a couple other channels like Discovery, History and I can't think of anything else, instead of having to pay for and get a bunch of other stuff we don't want.

 

[Spudman]

The Giro is currently on Universal Sports as well. That's a free channel in most places. Otherwise I think both can be watched on line.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Universal Sports does not come to us as part of our very basic cable that covers pretty much the free channels, at least to my knowledge. And a regular old antenna doesn't work around here.

 

[Spudman]

Comparing the Tour of California coverage to the Giro d'Italia...American coverage sucks! Very little sustained shots of men cycling, large graphics on screen obscure the riders in the background, too many commercial bits thrown in during the coverage. American coverage just seems really amateurish. Euro coverage has nothing blocking the screen, nice camera angles that give a good feel of the action, sustained shots of men on bikes.

Contador is killing people anyway. I love a good slaughter.

Tour of California coverage - 5
Giro coverage - 9

 

[Tig]

I like the Giro, especially the mountain stages.
I always enjoy the Tour DAY France!

 

[Spudman]

I like the Giro, especially the mountain stages.
I always enjoy the Tour DAY France!

Well then Saturday is just one of those days. It's on Universal Sports and you can watch it live on line too. http://www.universalsports.com/cycling/index.html

 

[Spudman]

Radio Shack killed everyone today including Andy Schleck. Leipheimer and Horner finished 1 & 2 beside each other. What a great team ride. Everyone else was way behind.

 

[Tig]

Didn't watch it, but I'm glad these two dominated. Levy is the nicest pro you'll ever meet. I always like to see him win.
I'm also a big Chris Horner fan. When he's on form, he's a beast in the climbs.

Bummer about Jens Voigt breaking his wrist Friday.

 

[Spudman]

Contador is also dominating the Giro. It's like he's just playing with the competition. He rides away from them at will. He had a superb mountain top finish on Saturday and is still in the lead. His closest rivals are 3 minutes back.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Doping? Whad'ya think? Seems hard to believe these days that anyone dominant does not.

 

[Spudman]

Doping? Whad'ya think? Seems hard to believe these days that anyone dominant does not.

No, I don't think so. The top guys are always tested. But, Contador seemed like he could have been the way he rode Sunday. After 140 miles - over 5 climbs - after 7 hours of racing - on the steep final climb, he simply rode away from the best riders in the world and there was nothing they could do. Incredible!

 

[Tig]

Doping? Whad'ya think? Seems hard to believe these days that anyone dominant does not.

Omerta is fading. More former USPS members are testifying this week. Not sure who yet. I think the Roger Clemens perjury case is scaring people to be honest under oath. Andy Pettitte decided to do the right thing and didn't suffer.

For most top pro cyclists, it is not an option not to dope in the last decade or so. Doping has always been around, even Eddy Merckx was reported to do it. Coach Eddie B was heavily involved in blood doping of his athletes, especially the 1984 US Olympic cycling team. I've known too many coaches and riders who were involved in doping. It is a dirty little secret meant to say a secret. I despise cheating.

Yes, the top pro's are constantly being tested. The game has always been to keep 1 or 2 steps ahead of the tests. We see the headlines when someone doesn't follow do it just right, be it micro-dosing of EPO, testosterone, or mixing up your stored blood bag with someone elses. It would be "interesting" to see a few random tests of past samples with today's testing tools.