Pro Cycling

I’m assuming he’s doping mostly so I’m not disappointed in a few years.

This is what I like to tell myself but he’d have to be fucking superman to do this so consistently naturally.[/quote]

Anymore for me it’s just entertainment. I’ll watch the decisive attack, the last 30K, or whatever but I’m not going to invest a lot of time and thought into following pro road racing.

In 2002, that’s exactly what people said about Lance.

in 5-10 years, we’ll discover that everyone at the sharp end of the field was doping the whole time. That’s just what the sport is at the professional level.

That’s what every sport has, it’s just that cycling actually tests and tries to catch them. You think Tom Brady is playing at the top level at age 40 on an alkaline diet and eating only Himalayan pink salt?? (Hint: HGH)

True.

It’s the PE that’s the problem there, not the D[/quote]

Not getting hurt or sick as much is a pretty big PE. See: Froome training on top of a volcano on a remote island.[/quote]

Sure, and modern doping mostly happens in a gray area between recovery/prevention and actual enhancement. I’m pretty okay with the WADA or whoever setting rules, and everyone following them or being punished. The line drawn through that gray area may be arbitrary, but as long as everyone gets where it is, the sport can function.

^^^
yeah I agree.

and re: Sagan: this is a part of thinking about PEDs differently. This is entertainment. Everyone involved knows what’s up. The whole scene really clicked when I went and saw a couple of big bike races in Euroland. The drugs disappear when it has to be made palatable to people slightly more naive than us so they get excited and buy bike things. And imo it is mostly Americans, i.e. fans who take cycling mostly as a sport and one that they often participate in on an amateur level, that think about cycling as this fair and clean playing field with a few bad boys. To euros it is a party on the roadside and something to gamble on while getting drunk.

I like Sagan. He’s entertaining and a good sport and that’s all I expect of him.

[quote=lukasz]
I like Sagan. He’s entertaining and a good sport and that’s all I expect of him.[/quote]

^^^
world champ of whipskids and wheelies dreamboat

This is what I like to tell myself but he’d have to be fucking superman to do this so consistently naturally.[/quote]

Anymore for me it’s just entertainment. I’ll watch the decisive attack, the last 30K, or whatever but I’m not going to invest a lot of time and thought into following pro road racing.[/quote]
I accomplish exactly this by generally refusing to learn the names of anyone I don’t have a strong connection to.

If anyone wants to watch the two kiwis kill each other in the Commonwealth Games its online here (now).
I imagine you will need a VPN. Anton Cooper vs Sam Gaze.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/livetv/tvnz-1

Holy crap. Why have I never seen this race before?
[youtube]B56fnJkJ8LQ[/youtube]

Something about hating fun?

Actually, I’m pretty sure I ran across this race last year, posted it and then promptly forgot about it.

In 2002, that’s exactly what people said about Lance.[/quote]

I always was the downer saying Lance was dirty. I was also the fool who thought Botero wasn’t.

It looks like there is a punters version as a guy I know was just complaining about it. Signage was shit and they all got lost and missed half the cool sectors. #trobrocyclo on IG

In 2002, that’s exactly what people said about Lance.[/quote]

I always was the downer saying Lance was dirty. I was also the fool who thought Botero wasn’t.[/quote]
As soon as Swart dobbed LA in it was obvious to me. He had nothing to gain. It was Floyd Landers that killed it for me tho. I can’t get invested in it anymore. An ex pro I know reckoned that Julien Absalon was clean so I hold out a small hope that the mtb guys may be clean at some level but it’s really just wishful thinking.

Separate from dope chat, anyone else have misgivings about the increasing involvement of Israel tourist marketing dollars in pro cycling? From Eurosport commercials to the sponsored team to the start of this year’s Giro? Especially as their military is shooting unarmed peaceful protestors and journalists who come within sight of the border wall?

Well yeah, Israel is a fascistic apartheid ethnostate and we should be boycotting most anything to do with it.

So you’re hoping Froome dominates and it quickly devolves into a PR shitshow as well? :smiley:

But seriously, it makes me ill to think people like Netanyahu are even remotely associated with cycling. If he’s involved in any podium presentations I don’t envy those who will be made to kiss the ring adorning such a bloody hand.