Archive for the ‘Tour de France’ Category

An open letter to the Director of the Tour de France

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
An open letter to Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France:

Mr. Prudhomme,

Congratulations on another successful Tour de France. The 97th edition of the Tour was an exceptionally exciting and dramatic race to follow this year.

Over the course of its history the Tour de France has visited more than 10 countries. I would like to propose to you that the time has arrived for the Tour to visit North America.

This would electrify the American sporting world, and would undoubtedly be a major marketing coup for Tour organizers. People would come from all over North America for the chance to witness in person the greatest race in all of sport. In fact, I would argue, a visit to the continent would be bigger than the Lance Armstrong era.

Bringing the Tour de France to North America in early July would come during a void in the American sporting calendar. The NBA and NHL Finals are already completed, and there would still be several days before Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game is played. The Tour would be front and center stage in the sporting world for those few days.

With a nod to France’s special relationship with French Canada, I propose that the Tour spend two days in Quebec Province, and then one day in the United States. Here’s a suggested schedule:

Sat: Prologue in Quebec City

Sun: Stage 1 Quebec to Montreal (shuttle to Albany, NY afterwards)

Mon: Stage 2 Albany to New York City, with a finish in Central Park

Tue: Rest day – fly back to France.

I would also argue that there would be no better time to do this than during the Tour’s 100th edition of the race. What better way of treating this special anniversary than by doing something bold and completely different?

With the permanent retirement of Lance Armstrong after this year, American cycling will need a shot in the arm. Look what happened to ratings on the Versus Channel during his retirement years. The Tour cannot afford to allow American cycling to go backwards at this junction.

Just as Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong have done in the past, a visit to North America by the Tour de France would inspire a new generation of cyclists and cycling fans, and provide the Tour with a greater fan base.

Thank you.

Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Christian Prudhomme, North America, Tour de France | Comments Off

Doping allegation turns into full-blown investigation

Sunday, July 11th, 2010
As the Tour de France rolls into the Alps this weekend, dark clouds are forming over the sport in America.

Last week I linked to a feature length story published in the Wall Street Journal in which Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour Championship due to doping, laid-out detailed doping allegations against Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal / Discovery teams.

My first take on the article was that these were the words of a sore loser trying to get revenge for some perceived snub. However, officials have apparently taken these allegations very seriously. An article in yesterday's Weekend Edition of the WSJ states that the Food and Drug Administration and anti-doping officials in the U.S. and in a handful of other countries are looking into the situation. Interpol, the international police organization, is bringing other law enforcement agencies into the probe as well.

Moreover, the article also points out that other riders and team officials are stepping forward with similar stories provided by Landis in last weeks' article.

This appears to be very serious, and reminiscent of Operacion Puerto which brought down or implicated several top names in European cycling.

In other words, this could be the equivalent of Watergate for American Cycling.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.

Posted in American cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Operacion Puerto, Tour de France | Comments Off

TDF Prologue / Doping Allegations

Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Yesterday Lance Armstrong made a serious statement at the opening time trial of the Tour de France. Unexpectedly, Armstrong finished 5 seconds faster than his rival, Alberto Contador.

It appears that Armstrong may be better prepared than I previously thought. Although we won't really know until the mountains, I might have to revise my predictions from last week. At this point I still don't think he has the legs to win the Tour, but I do think the race could be a lot tighter than I originally thought. I will be real curious to see how Lance performs in the first real mountain stages (7 and 8).

Don't forget Tuesday. Stage 3 will be quite interesting as well. The race passes over a few stretches of cobblestones near the finish that could really shake things up. Contador has little experience riding over cobbles.

Speaking of Lance, did you see the feature length story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday? Quite interesting.

Former teammate Floyd Landis laid-out some detailed doping allegations against Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal / Discovery teams. Although very compelling, you have to take it with massive grains of salt. Landis is a known liar and bit of a loose cannon. Of course Armstrong has strongly denied all allegations.

There's been an awful lot of smoke surrounding Lance and illegal doping over the years. I completely agree that there are a lot of reasons to believe that he isn't doping, such as his freakish physiology, his attention to detail, his revolutionary preparedness and training, and the fact that he lost a lot of upper body weight due to his cancer, while maintaining the muscle mass in his legs.

However, I'd like to point out some historical facts:

* The three winners of the Tour de France in the three years just prior to the the Armstrong era have all admitted to doping:

1996: Bjarne Riis
1997: Jan Ullrich
1998: Marco Pantani

* During the Armstrong era of 1999 through 2005, there were a total of eight different riders that finished second or third to Lance in those years. Five of those riders have since been busted for doping: Alex Zulle, Jan Ullrich, Raimondas Rumsas, Alexander Vinokourov and Ivan Basso.

* In 2006, the first year after the Armstrong era, Tour winner Floyd Landis was stripped of his victory for illegal doping.

* At least six teammates -top lieutenants - of Lance Armstrong have been busted, or admitted to doping over the years, including; Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Roberto Herras, Floyd Landis, Frankie Andreu and Manuel Beltran.

I really don't know what the truth is. What are your thoughts? Do you think Lance has been, or has ever cheated?


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.

Posted in Alberto Contador, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Tour de France, cycling | Comments Off

The Armstrong-Contador rematch

Monday, June 28th, 2010
"My relationship with Lance Armstrong is zero"

This Saturday marks the 97th version of the Tour de France which will begin in Rotterdam, Netherlands with a short 5.5-mile time trial. The race features a delicious rematch of the Lance Armstrong - Alberto Contador feud.

Last year I predicted that Armstrong would finish on the podium of cycling’s greatest race, with an outside chance of possibly landing at the top. He ended up finishing third, with his teammate, Alberto Contador, landing the Yellow Jersey.

This year, I think it’s likely that Armstrong will finish with the best overall time among his teammates. Unfortunately for Lance in this scenario, Contador is no longer a teammate.

Although he’s never publicly admitted it, I believe Lance’s biggest reason for coming out of retirement two years ago was to defend his all time record of most Tour de France victories (7). At only 27 years of age, and already with 2 Tour victories under his belt, I think Lance knows that Contador has an excellent chance at matching or surpassing his record someday. I believe Lance’s chief motivation for returning was to take out at least one Yellow Jersey victory from Contador, thus increasing his chances of maintaining his record as the man with the most Tour championships.

Be that as it may, I don’t think Armstrong’s chances of beating his former teammate are all that great. In fact, I think Contador will beat Armstrong by a fairly large margin – by more than 7 or 8 minutes.

On roads that will be up and down all day, Stages 7 and 8 will present opportunities for the Spaniard to pick up time against his rivals. However, with a weaker team than he had last year, I think Contador will wait until late in the Tour to strike against his former teammate.

I look for Contador to land his first psychological blow on Armstrong during Stage 14 when the race finishes at the top of Ax-3 Domaines, the second major mountain top finish of the race. Look for Contador to launch his first serious attack on the slopes of the final climb to the ski resort in the Pyrenees.

It’s likely that Lance will be able to limit his losses on this day. However, Stage 17 will likely be the day of reckoning. The 108-mile stage ends at the summit of the famous Col du Tourmalet. Contador will use the final miles on the steep slopes to the top to smash Armstrong and all other contenders.

I still think Lance is strong enough to finish on the podium again. There aren’t many contenders that will be able to go mano a mano with Lance. It’s likely that Andy Schleck will again be his biggest competition for that second spot on the podium. Who knows, maybe if circumstances prevail towards the end of the race, maybe Armstrong will covertly lend some assistance to Schleck in order to overcome Contador? If my theory for Lance’s return is correct, the motivation will certainly be there.

With last year’s winner out of the picture due to doping investigations, I look for Contador, or one of the Schleck brothers, Frank or Andy, to claim the Red Polka Dot Climbers Jersey for the “King of the Mountains” this year.

For the Green Sprinters Jersey, I fully expect Mark Cavendish to win this year. Despite a nasty crash at the end of the 4th Stage of the Tour of Switzerland (see video below), there is no one in the world as fast as this man is right now.




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.

Posted in Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Lance Armstrong, Mark Cavendish, Tour de France, cycling | Comments Off

Tour de France bikes to be scanned for motors?

Sunday, June 20th, 2010
In the quest to win cycling's greatest race, cyclists are apparently willing to resort to hidden motors in their bike frames to give them another advantage. I guess drugs just aren't cutting it anymore.

An AP story is reporting that bikes used at the Tour de France will be scanned to make sure they don't contain illegal motors, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on Friday.

The move comes following rumours that Fabian Cancellara used 'mechanical doping' during his victories in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The Swiss Olympic time-trial champion strongly denies the allegation.

The ICU said in a statement that "a scanner will be used from the time of the Tour de France. This instrument, recently tested with a successful outcome, will allow an official to detect any illegal devices that may be concealed, for example, in the bicycle frame."

A video posted on various websites (in French, with subtitles) appears to show Cancellara pushing a button on the handlebars of his bike during both races.

The 2010 Tour de France begins in Rotterdam on July 3 and concludes in Paris on July 25.

Cheating in the Tour de France isn't new. Many people think that the doping issues that have plagued the sport in the last two decades marked the decline of the sport. However, cheating has existed almost from day one. During the second Tour de France in 1904, Maurice Garin, winner of the inaugural French race in 1903, was disqualified after hopping on a train during one of the stages.

Others riders took short cuts in the early years as well. While some jumped into cars, others resorted to being towed by cars in which the cyclist would fix a wire to a wing mirror and then hold it between their teeth by a cork.

Using a bike to hide contraband isn't new either. One of the great Italian cycling icons, Gino Bartali, used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance during World War II. Pretending to be training, Bartali helped several hundred Jews escape the German death camps.

While "training," Bartali wore a racing jersey emblazoned with his name so that everyone knew who he was. Neither the Fascist police nor the German troops risked discontent among the Italian people by arresting him.

Whether it's cars, trains, drugs or motorized bikes, you just can't have a Tour de France without some controversy. I guess it is what it is.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com Detailed information on trails in the Smoky Mountains; includes trail descriptions, key features, pictures, video, maps, elevation profiles, news, and more.

Posted in Fabian Cancellara, Gino Bartali, Maurice Garin, Tour de France, bikes, cycling, mechanical doping, motors, scanned | Comments Off