Giro d'Italia

Ricardodaforce

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Well we are already in the second week of the first Grand Tour of the year. Anyone else been enjoying the race?
 
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I haven't any more, but as a nipper I used to live in San Remo. Together with the music festival the Giro was a higlight of the year. I remember it was amazing standing there and seeing them all cone through. If you haven't had the change set you should try and go see it in person.
 
Yes I've been watching it intermittently as work etc allows ! I think you've got to have huge respect for Alberto contador in continuing so far with a dislocated shoulder..I really love seeing the Italian countryside as the helicopters travel along overhead, some great camera work involved.
 
Follow it every day live on euro sport. More adverts than race this year.
 
I usually enjoy the Giro best of the grand tours but not this year.

Watching an unrepentant drug cheat in pink is just sick making.
 
I usually enjoy the Giro best of the grand tours but not this year.

Watching an unrepentant drug cheat in pink is just sick making.

As you know the absolutely tiny level of Clenbuterol in his sample gave him literally no advantage whatsoever. You should be more offended by the participation of Cunego or Petacchi.

Shame that Porte's challenge seems to be already over.
 
As you know he wasn't given a two year ban for a tiny bit of Clen. He is a convicted unrepentant drug cheat and along with Armstrong should have been banned for life.
 
As you know he wasn't given a two year ban for a tiny bit of Clen. He is a convicted unrepentant drug cheat and along with Armstrong should have been banned for life.
Yes he was.

Read the actual judgement here:

Cycling News summarised the story like this:

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has handed Alberto Contador a two year sanction for his positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France.

You can read that here.
 
As you know he wasn't given a two year ban for a tiny bit of Clen. He is a convicted unrepentant drug cheat and along with Armstrong should have been banned for life.


I put Bertie and Vino in the same category and would like to see both of them banned.
 
I remember this other Clenbuterol case.

http://road.cc/content/news/103648-...es-victim-food-contamination-clenbuterol-case

Same excuse, same team.
The most common excuses for doping in sport are "contaminated food products" or taking a supplement "by mistake".

Clenbuterol is a well known masking agent used to disguise more potent drugs.

The problem is, Contador was never proven to have used "more potent" drugs and it is fact (not my opinion) that the level of clenbuterol in his blood provided no advantage whatsoever. I am all for weeding out the dopers from cycling (and tennis, and cross-country skiing and every other sport), but you cannot sanction people without evidence.
 
The problem is own blood doping is very difficult to prove but clen found after testing in the late stages of a tour is a pretty convincing indicator even to the UCI.
 
The problem is own blood doping is very difficult to prove but clen found after testing in the late stages of a tour is a pretty convincing indicator even to the UCI.

As I said above you cannot go sanctioning people without evidence. If you could, there are many in the cycling world that would ban Christopher Froome. There has been plenty of innuendo surrounding him over the recent past.
 
Not been watching it - but I did notice on the news today that a "photographer" (it looks like he wasn't an accredited photographer just a guy with a pretty big camera) may be sued by both one of the teams and the Giro itself.

http://www.slrlounge.com/cyclist-in...during-race-files-complaint-possible-lawsuit/

From the video, it's lucky he was wearing the neckstrap.....

He deserves to be sued. The compound fracture suffered by the guy he brought down looked horrific. A total imbecile.
 
He deserves to be sued. The compound fracture suffered by the guy he brought down looked horrific. A total imbecile.

It really looks from the video like it was his fault - I'm just surprised it isn't going the other way with people calling for tighter controls on spectators. Especially during the sprints.

Also I'm not sure he brought the Giro into any more disrepute than the Giro did itself by fining a rider for accepting a spare wheel ;)
 
It really looks from the video like it was his fault - I'm just surprised it isn't going the other way with people calling for tighter controls on spectators. Especially during the sprints.

Also I'm not sure he brought the Giro into any more disrepute than the Giro did itself by fining a rider for accepting a spare wheel ;)

Although I agree that it was a poor rule to enforce regarding the spare wheel, it was a UCI rule, not an RCS rule.
 
Although I agree that it was a poor rule to enforce regarding the spare wheel, it was a UCI rule, not an RCS rule.

I don't know enough about cycling to even know the difference between those :) I have heard that such rules are often applied on a discretionary basis though. Whilst I understand that both cyclists were professionals who should have known the rules, it does seem a little harsh to punish somebody for benefitting from a sportsmanlike gesture.
 
Dunno how many of you have been enjoying the year’s Giro like I have. After the drama of losing Thomas and Yates so early on, two whole teams have now withdrawn because of COVID-19.
Mitchelton Scott and Jumbo Visma won’t be starting today.
I’m now wondering if this race is actually going to reach its conclusion.
 
Been watching it every day so far, shame about Thomas he was looking pretty good for this year but it really was a freak of an accident, I hope they manage to get on top of it and finish the race but it doesn't bode well and the Vuelta is due to start next week as well.
 
Been watching it every day so far, shame about Thomas he was looking pretty good for this year but it really was a freak of an accident, I hope they manage to get on top of it and finish the race but it doesn't bode well and the Vuelta is due to start next week as well.

I really don’t like the current Eurosport/GCN commentary team, so I’m really hoping the VSquared team will be providing coverage for La Vuelta on ITV4.
 
Given what is happening, I think the Giro ashould be wrapped up and the Vuelta cancelled. It is sad and unfortunate because there has been some great racing, but the risk IMHO outweighs the benefits.
 
Given what is happening, I think the Giro ashould be wrapped up and the Vuelta cancelled. It is sad and unfortunate because there has been some great racing, but the risk IMHO outweighs the benefits.

With the situation in Madrid as it is now, I really can’t see how they can finish there.
 
yeah i think cycling tours are done for and should call it quits for a while.
to many big teams being dragged arround counties.
game over
 
From the articles I've seen, he was on the radio/phone to his team and not looking where he was going.
 
From the articles I've seen, he was on the radio/phone to his team and not looking where he was going.

I really don’t think the motorcyclist was to blame.
Not going well for Alaphilippe after his humiliation a couple of weeks ago.
 
Well today’s the day La Vuelta starts. 2 Grand Tours at the same time.
 
No work meant I watched today’s stage of the Giro live. Epic is a good adjective. Fantastic to see that a Grand Tour will be decided on the very last day.
 
Stunning win by Tao, shame he wont get to wear the Maglia rosa on a stage. Cant decide if i like the Tour de France way of doing things where Sunday is a celebration for GC or having it right down to the wire. Rohan Dennis constantly hitting the front after Hindely pressed was class
 
Great watch, exciting racing and some beautiful scenery what's not to like, now it's over to the Vuelta to see what happens after the excitement of Sunday's stage.
 
Great watch, exciting racing and some beautiful scenery what's not to like, now it's over to the Vuelta to see what happens after the excitement of Sunday's stage.

Agreed, the only thing not to like was Rob Hatch's commentary.
 
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