All you freaking people get your head out of your ass! Alll these riders are doping. This been going on for years now and the sport committee is covering up their precious dirty sport. If some of you are too naive or don't have a common sense to see what's been going on, then I feel pity for you.
LOL. Saying SJC is being bias against Armstrong but you're doing everything to denied it. Talking about a guy with no common sense or without logic. Don't you worry, your little hero will go down in disgrace like the rest of all the cheaters out there.
Hopefully Ullrich will start his doping regimen earlier in the season next year! Why he always seems to start doping later than he should is beyond me, I mean cmon he's a professional, START YOUR DOPING EARLY!! Veterans like Armstrong know better than to start doping so late, a good base of doping must start as early as November in order to be in top doping form by the summer. Perhaps he will participate in the Spring Doping Classics such as Paris Roubaix which boasts some of the earlier season dopers such as Johan Museeuw or Tom Boonan, or even his dopemate on USPS George Hincapie, a proven American Spring doper. All in all, doping looks very exciting for next year! Look for Lance's next book, "Every Doping Second Counts" coming out next year. Dope Lance Dope!!!!
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE EXPRESSING GRACIOUS BEMUSEMENT OVER THEIR SIXTH HUMILIATING THRASHING BY AN AMERICAN ONE-NUT WONDER Statement by the President Good morning. Today I direct my remarks to the fiercely proud citizens of France. Thank you for tuning in. Or as you people say, "mary-see for le listening." Now I know that relations between France and God's favorite country (America) have been a little rocky the past three years. Specifically, you all did not blindly support me when I whipped America's heartland of FOX-informed LaZBoy warriors into a paranoid bloodlust over Saddam Hussein's humongous stashes of invisible death rays and nukular killbots. And though it's now clear there were never any weapons – meaning you Frenchies were 100% right, and America was 1000% wrong, well I'd be lying if I said there isn't still a bit of bad blood on our side. Fortunately for everyone, we have the wonderful world of sports to bring us together! In America, that means real sports – like hunting, target shooting, and monster trucks. But in France, I understand that mostly means the Tour de France, where a bunch of guys slither into neon unitards and toodle around on teensy-weensy little 10-speeds for a few days – and people actually care about it. No matter, because even French sports can still bring us closer together. And by "bring closer together," I mean "momentarily forget how much we despise you on account of we're laughing so hard at you." And that goes double for today, a day which brings news that American Lance Armstrong has obliterated his Gallic competition in the Tour de France for a record sixth consecutive time. Man, that's gotta be tough getting whooped by a foreigner in your country's most important athletic competition. I mean, that would be like if the NASCAR Winston Cup was won by Pepe Le Peu driving a LeCar. Six times in a row. With one gonad tied behind his ass cheek. That is why today, I wanted to reach out to our soundly humiliated former allies in France, and just briefly say "thank you." Thank you for the memories. Thank you for being consistent in your inadequacy. And thank you for giving us the opportunity to school you at your own sissy non-game. Moving ahead – especially after my re-selection this November – America looks forward to continuing to help the people of France strive to be all they can be. That is why today, I am pleased to announce that I have asked Republican Congressional leaders to begin crafting new legislation that will clear the way for specialized humanitarian aide to the French. Because now that you people have at long last learned how to ride a bicycle from us, I see no reason why we can't also teach you how to finally make some decent cheese and wine. Thank you, and God Bless America. link
Carmichael reveals Armstrong strategy Lance Armstrong's coach Chris Carmichael has revealed some of the techniques and training tips that Armstrong used to in his preparation for his sixth consecutive victory in the Tour de France. In a column distributed by the Associated Press, Carmichael identifies two factors that he says contributed to Armstrong's success this year: weight control and optimized use of training time. "Lance's preparation became more about what he wasn't doing than about what he was," wrote Carmichael. The first thing Armstrong didn't do, he says, was to put on weight over the winter. "While some of Lance's rivals gained a lot of weight during the winter, he didn't because the process of spending the entire spring losing weight takes away from an athlete's ability to train effectively," said Carmichael. Fine-tuning Armstrong's diet for the amount of training he was doing allowed him to keep the weight off, with the US Postal leader consuming almost half as much carbohydrate in January as the 1000 grams per day he was putting away during the Tour itself. Carmichael's next focus, he says, was to make sure none of the time on the bike was wasted. Rather than sending his rider out with imprecise "old-school" goals, Carmichael says he made sure Armstrong did only as much work as necessary. "Lance doesn't waste time on his bike," he says. "He knows the goals of the day's workout before he leaves the house, and once his power meter tells him he has ridden long enough to accomplish those goals, he goes home. Extra time on the bike isn't necessary and just leads to more fatigue and longer recovery periods." If it seemed that Lance Armstrong was everywhere this spring, attending functions with girlfriend Sheryl Crow and being filmed for ads for his various sponsors, that was a side benefit of the extremely focused regime, says Carmichael. "Increasing the efficiency of Lance's training and nutrition programs also simplified his Tour de France preparations, giving him more time to relax and concentrate on his life outside of training," he concludes.
And the plot is thickening... Tyler Hamilton's cycling team told he failed tests Tuesday, September 21, 2004 (09-21) 04:45 PDT MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Olympic time-trial cycling champion Tyler Hamilton of the United States has apparently failed tests designed to detect a form of performance-enhancing blood transfusions. A spokesman for Hamilton's team, Phonak, said Tuesday that tests on Aug. 19 and Sept. 18 both showed evidence of blood from another person, according to a statement sent by cycling's governing body to Phonak. Follow-up tests were scheduled for later Tuesday. Spokesman Georges Luedinger said Hamilton denied having a transfusion -- which can boost an athlete's performance by increasing the amount of oxygen-transporting red blood cells in his or her system. "Tyler told us he did nothing," Luedinger said. Phonak planned a press conference in Zurich later Tuesday. Hamilton would be the first American investigated for doping at the Athens Olympics. A record 24 athletes were caught for drug-test violations at the games. Asked about Hamilton's reported positive test at the Olympics, IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch said, "For the moment, I can't confirm or deny anything." IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said, "As with all doping procedures, while a process is underway, we can't go into details." If found guilty of a violation at the Olympics, Hamilton would be stripped of his gold medal. Three athletes had gold medals revoked for doping during the Aug. 13-29 games. If Hamilton is disqualified, the gold medal would go to Russia's Viatcheslav Ekimov, with American Bobby Julich moving up to silver and Australia's Michael Rogers to the bronze. Hamilton pulled out of the Vuelta cycling tour after the 12th round on Sept. 16, citing stomach problems. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/09/21/sports0607EDT0114.DTL
Clearly, since Tyler Hamilton may have done something illegal to prepare for the olympics, Lance Armstrong is a doper. I mean, who cares if they are on different teams, and don't have any of the same support staff? They're both Americans, the connection is clear. If that's not enough, their first names have the same number of letters (5). Plus they both have an L and an E! The connection is clear.
I believe I did not mention the name Lance Armstrong in my post, but since you brought it up... Cycling: Olympic champion Hamilton in first postive test for blood doping MADRID : American cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who won the Olympic time trial gold medal last month, faces a two-year ban after becoming the first ever athlete to give a positive test for blood doping. The 33-year-old tested positive after winning the Tour of Spain's eighth stage time trial on September 11 and he pulled out of the Tour six days later. Hamilton's Swiss Phonak team confirmed the postive result and news of the second sample is expected within 48 hours. Hamilton has denied doping however, according to a source within his team, though a press conference was expected to be arranged shortly. The UCI has for the first time used a method to detect blood-doping which has been used in legal medicine for paternity tests. The tests were developed in Sydney and are now used by two accredited laboratories in Athens and Lausanne, Switzerland. The test can identify different groups of red blood cells which thereby determines conclusively whether blood-doping has taken place. Usually an athlete will withdraw blood before reintroducing it before an event to increase oxygen-carrying capacity to the muscles hence enhancing his performance. Till now blood doping, suspected of being used in athletics for the last 30 years, was undetectable. Hamilton has had an eventful, up-and-down year, injuring his back in a crash which led to his retirement during the 13th stage of the Tour de France in July but bounced back to win the time-trial in Athens. Hamilton famously raced three weeks to finish fourth in the 2003 Tour de France after breaking his collarbone in the first stage. If Hamilton is eventually disqualified from the Olympics, gold would go to Russia's Viatcheslav Ekimov, also the champion in Sydney four years ago, the silver to American Bobby Julich and the bronze to 2003 world champion Michael Rogers of Australia, who was crowned after the disqualification through doping of original winner David Millar of Britain. Hamilton has for some time been in the shadow of six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, whom he served in the US Postal team till 2001. He still keeps in regular touch with Armstrong and for much of the European season they live in the same building in the north eastern Spanish city of Gerona. Hamilton dominated the Tour of Romandy this year to such an extent he was considered among an elite group of riders as a possible Tour de France champion. However his Tour challenge faltered following a fall at Angers and his morale suffered further following the death of his dog. For Phonak, it was the second doping affair to hit them during the year following the positive test for blood-boosting drug EPO by Switzerland's Oscar Camenzind. Camenzind was axed by the team and he retired from the sport before being suspended by the Swiss Olympic committee for two years. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/107820/1/.html So why again did Lance Armstrong not participate in the Olympics? I am not making any claim. I am just asking.
You didn't have to mention the name for everyone to know what you were getting at. Come on now. Cause he didn't want to? Cause he's already raced in the Olympics? Cause he wanted to tour with Sheryl Crow? It's not like the Tour de France has lax testing policies, and he's just avoiding the strict ones. Please, we know you think Armstrong dopes - and we know you carry a torch for Ulrich - there's really no need to insult our intelligence with something like this.
WOW! Tyler Hamilton is an outstanding athlete but we'll have to wait and see....as of course he claims he did nothing wrong. from cyclingnews.com Hamilton positive By Jeff Jones The Vuelta a España has been rocked this morning by news that Tyler Hamilton (Phonak), has returned two positive blood tests that showed evidence of a homologous blood transfusion. One test was performed at the Athens Olympics and another at the Vuelta on September 13. Both tests showed evidence of a "mixed red blood cell population, an indication of a homologous blood transfusion," Phonak's press officer Georges Lüchinger was quoted by AP as saying. The results of the counter-analyses are not yet known, but are expected today (Tuesday). Hamilton, winner of the gold medal at the Athens 2004 Olympics in the individual time trial as well as the Vuelta's eighth stage time trial, abandoned the race prior to stage 13 claiming stomach problems. Hamilton has denied having a transfusion, saying the positive test was the result of a surgical intervention he had some time ago. If the B samples are confirmed positive, then he risks losing his Olympic gold medal, which would make Viatcheslav Ekimov the Olympic time trial champion again. Phonak team director Alvaro Pino said, "I have spoken to Tyler and he has claimed he is innocent and apart from whatever the (Phonak) team decides, he will do whatever he has to do to defend himself from these accusations." Phonak will hold a press conference later this evening. Enhancing endurance performance via blood transfusion is nothing new: Athletes admitted to using it at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, when it was not illegal. Typically, a quantity of blood is withdrawn from an athlete some time before an important competition, and when the time comes, the red cells are reinjected to provide an extra boost. This can also be done with another person's blood and even with EPO-enhanced blood, although the risk of detection is far greater. Former Kelme cyclist Jesus Manzano claimed that he nearly died when he was reinjected with some "bad blood" late in 2003. Tyler Hamilton's case is the first ever positive for a blood transfusion, as up until very recently, doping via this method has been undetectable. A powerful blood test developed by Australian researchers was implemented at this year's Tour de France. The test didn't look for a particular banned substance, but instead examined whether there were any abnormalities in a person's blood as a result of artificial manipulation. At the Tour, it was announced that homologous blood transfusions could be detected, but autologous transfusions could not.
I can see it now. Armstrong passes all these new blood doping tests, wins another Tour de France, and SJC will just come back with some other former/ex associate of Lance's who claims to have somehow helped him dope in some vague way. Further accusations will be made that Lance just found a way around this new test. Like clockwork.
'Cuz Germany really sucks? I'm certainly not making that assertion. I'm just curious if that was the answer you were trying to lead us to.
I didn't have to; but neither did I. I just find it strange; knowing how ambitious he is and knowing that this was one huge title still missing in his collection. But this is absolutely inconclusive, and I am not saying that the mere fact that he did not participate allows any definite statement about whether doping had anything to do with this decision one way or another. It's good to see that you know what I think. However, it's kind of like it is with doping - knowing something and having positive proof of it are two different things.
I would say it is because he know he has no chance of winning so he puts all of his eggs in the Tour basket. Lance is not a speed racer, he is an endurance racer. TdF measures that better...notice how he does poorer in the speed trials, though? EDIT: Don't be dishonest. You put it in an 11 page thread about the Tour-de-France where about 9-10 pages were spent discussin Armstrong and doping.
