tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post3901780020340304365..comments2024-01-03T06:52:57.387-05:00Comments on Pappillon: UPDATED2: Reader(s) wonder(s) [about Alejandro Valverde] and/or what place the first clean rider placed in, actually, if not first?JMPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-56722777221244457052010-03-25T18:40:51.825-05:002010-03-25T18:40:51.825-05:00I think you'd have better luck calling out to ...I think you'd have better luck calling out to the people you mention and asking them to step forward.JMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-13471973003946333662010-03-25T18:39:06.270-05:002010-03-25T18:39:06.270-05:00Not sure why anyone would think that there aren...Not sure why anyone would think that there aren't those with legitimate power over me who decide what to do with things like the information you mention, and that it's hardly my call.JMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-18648966368953378862010-03-25T18:37:06.977-05:002010-03-25T18:37:06.977-05:00joe,
when are you going to quit speculating on pe...joe,<br /><br />when are you going to quit speculating on people who made it further in the sport than you, and instead, give us the names of people who you sold to?noahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844722992391244841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-61732818336553730932010-03-18T13:30:06.321-05:002010-03-18T13:30:06.321-05:00Oh, I just read an "old" interview with ...Oh, I just read an "old" interview with Tom Zirbel that appeared in the January 2010 issue of "ProCycling," and I have no doubt now that he was doping. The interview just reeks of ambition and its DRIPPING off the pages...you could just hear him flicking the side of the syringe to get the bubbles out before he injected himself with...(whatever he injected himself with that he needed to use DHEA to bridge the cycle).JMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-17595933580658032322010-03-18T13:24:58.940-05:002010-03-18T13:24:58.940-05:00The rider I most loved to watch, unfortunately, wa...The rider I most loved to watch, unfortunately, was DiLuca. I wish he'd not been a doper - when he got caught for CERA he robbed me of a rider who I could enjoy watching. What was Garzelli's helmet design? Can you post a link for everyone to check out?JMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-79606192019935221872010-03-18T13:17:28.975-05:002010-03-18T13:17:28.975-05:00Conversely, it appears that it took not doping to ...Conversely, it appears that it took not doping to finally have Valv win a grand tour. I agree, Garzelli's great to watch. Plus he had the best helmet I've seen in last year's Giro TT. <br /><br />That thread on CN was disappointing. Just bantering semantics of law. Does Armstrong have threads like that about him, where everyone assumes his guilt without question? He's been under the same type of scrutiny and somehow always comes out clean. I was under that impression that Valv lacks that kind of political clout, but what do I know?Steve Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17639176315514772554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-64736062325514598972010-03-18T13:02:57.036-05:002010-03-18T13:02:57.036-05:00Note: the youtube clip I posted starts AFTER Garze...Note: the youtube clip I posted starts AFTER Garzelli was caught by the two ISD riders...JMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-76853498103866436672010-03-18T13:01:41.734-05:002010-03-18T13:01:41.734-05:00Re. Garzelli - he definitely came back strong, but...Re. Garzelli - he definitely came back strong, but never again as a Grand Tour contender...<br /><br />Nonetheless, I REALLY like watching Garzelli race. His win in the KOM at last year's GIRO was utterly fabulous. I loved following his efforts, and you could tell that he wasn't charged like DiLuca/Menchov. Just look at his effort that day on stage 10 over SestriƩre...<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Giro_d%27Italia,_Stage_1_to_Stage_11#Stage_10<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9S9lsGTpYkJMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-60182912232508817872010-03-18T12:53:18.525-05:002010-03-18T12:53:18.525-05:00Btw, the first post questioning Scarponi asks who ...Btw, the first post questioning Scarponi asks who has returned from a doping suspension as strong as their were prior. For that answer they needed go further than watch that race and see Garzelli, once disgraced, pipping Scarponi in a sprint bonus for the GC. Interesting, because there are very few examples of this. <br /><br />I don't know much about Scarponi's case. He was very young when he was busted. Garzelli, oddly enough, is a very similar rider to Valverde and could have followed a similar path.Steve Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17639176315514772554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-76058677948510015252010-03-18T12:44:01.167-05:002010-03-18T12:44:01.167-05:00He probably did dope. My guess, which is pure spec...He probably did dope. My guess, which is pure speculation of course, is that he just didn't do it well. Given that during a period where almost all of the best cyclists' were training scientifically while Valverde was still racing for telephone poles, and given that he hardly ever lost as an amateur, and the way dope flowed so freely in Spain at the time, his attitude would suggest that he just followed along with whatever the team was doing and didn't pay it a lot of mind. When things got ugly he was probably one of the first to stop because it wasn't something he focused on but his blood was in the lab by that time. I knew a lot of casual dopers like this when I played sports (where'd you'd be thinking "if you're on so much sauce how come you're not very much better? Man, you must really suck naturally.) This could explain his lack of great success or decline during this time, given that most of those who had huge improvements in performance were clearly very systematic. Did you catch Hamilton's schedule when it was first published? Impressive. Okay, I mean it's cheaing and all but, damn, those guys were doing some intresting science, too. <br /><br />Also, when I was watching Valv as a young racer he had so much talent it seemed just a matter of time before he got with the program and slaughtered everyone. But this never really happened. Which made me think that he never got tight with doc and their modern approach to performance.Steve Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17639176315514772554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-24196612954308154212010-03-17T21:33:18.381-05:002010-03-17T21:33:18.381-05:00Steve, good point. There was a thread on cyclingne...Steve, good point. There was a thread on cyclingnews.com forum about just this today, though centered on Michele Scarponi and his performance at T-A. Let me dig out the link here for our readers:<br /><br />http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=166810&postcount=34<br /><br />I'll definitely concede the point that Valverde has performed consistently throughout this entire period. Now Manzano clearly accused him of doping. Anecdotally we know that doping is easier in Spain than in Italy. Maybe he has been doped this entire time. Or maybe he was just doped during Puerto, but given that most of those riders had to drop down off the juice, if Valverde had to do the same and has natural class, well then he'd still be competitive against his colleagues, even off the juice.<br /><br />But correct me if I'm wrong, isn't there a direct match to the DNA of Valverde and the blood evidence from OP? And wasn't he challenge to CAS that the blood evidence couldn't be used b/c of procedural issues or questions of jurisdiction? He wasn't arguing that it wasn't his DNA, was he?<br /><br />Nonetheless, a fun rider to watch, though I'm glad Evans won World's after he got shafted at the Vuelta and lost the chance to challenge Valverde for the overall thanks to the ill-timed flat.<br /><br />Hey everyone, don't forget to check out www.vdb4-ever.be and memorialize another classy - if troubled - rider...JMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346798683078093966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196779.post-382080294706603692010-03-17T21:19:56.821-05:002010-03-17T21:19:56.821-05:00My issue with Valverde's case is this: if he w...My issue with Valverde's case is this: if he was doping how come he hasn't since had a drop in form? He's still a top flight rider and probably the biggest threat overall in an any given one-day race across varying terrain. It was the same when he was an amateur, the same during the period he was accused of doping, and the same right now. Unless he's been systematically doping since he was an amateur and is still doping in the same manner as during OP, which is highly unlikely, his case is completely different than every other rider I can think of. <br /><br />Can you think of any rider at the forefront of any doping scandal who was the exact same rider after being busted? They've all had a substatial drop in form. Hamilton, Landis, Basso... even Armstrong who, ya know, "never doped" but is somehow a shadow of what he once was. It goes on and on.Steve Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17639176315514772554noreply@blogger.com