GO LANCE GO! DAMN, and even if you put some jealous a-hole hijacking a thread on your ignore list, their name still shows up in the thread! TAKE THAT SKRRRRIATCH!!!!!
Sooner or later the truth will come out. Look at all the 100metres athletes. Never thought Ben Johnson was on roid? Christie got caught but got away and so did Lewis. Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery we all thought was clean and now all the sudden... I guessed everyone is lying and jealous Can't stand cheaters are getting away while other people are clean and working their butt off to make money to feed their family. Not only that, the Governing Board of Tour De France been keeping the secret about cyclists on drug to keep their sport rating up.
truth?? who needs truth?? just sling accusations and you can ruin a man. you can tear him down. keep up the great work!!!
Supporting cheaters? Typical fans. Until their heroes fall... Oh yeah, Ben Johnson was my idol but when he got caught, I didn't believe it and denying it was all a set up to frame him. Maybe you should use a little common sense and do a little research about steroid users and how much it been hidden from the the publics. It's going be be a domino fall baby when Marion Jones or Tim going to court if it will come to that. Just like what happen with the Ben Johnson trial when names start coming out.
evidence. i'll believe it when i see the evidence. until then you're convicting the innocent on a rumor.
Lance Armstrong was favored to win Wednesday's stage 16 time trial. He did more than that. Armstrong actually passed rival Ivan Basso – who had started two minutes before Armstrong – en route to dominating the Alpe d'Huez mountain climb and all but securing his sixth consecutive Tour de France win. Jan Ullrich finished second in the stage. Lance Armstrong seized complete control of the Tour de France on Wednesday with an awesome display of power cycling to win the 9.6-mile individual time trial. The American, bidding for a record sixth overall Tour victory, blasted round the 21 hairpins on the twisting climb to the Alpine ski resort in 39 minutes 41.47 seconds to annihilate his nearest rival Ivan Basso. Italian Basso, one minute 25 seconds down at the start of the 16th stage, had no answer to Armstrong and finished 2:23 back after being overtaken by the U.S. Postal rider on the road. Armstrong leads Basso by 3:48 http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_yl...NlYwN0bQ--?slug=reu-dc&prov=reuters&type=lgns GO LANCE!!!!
INCREDIBLE! DOMINANT! HARD WORK! FOCUS! BTW, quoted in yahoo news...tsk, tsk, tsk "There were lots of fans, and it was a little scary. To me, sincerely, it was not a good idea to have a time trial at l'Alpe d'Huez. It's over now but a lot of German fans were just disgusting. C'est la vie...
Somewhat related to the discussion we had before...you think Millar is the only one? 'I knew I was a cheat … but I was under a lot of pressure' NEIL DRYSDALE July 21 2004 DAVID Millar, Scotland's top road cyclist, has for the first time confessed to using the banned drug EPO in his build-up to winning the world championship time-trial event in Canada last October, and his website, itsmillartime.com, admits his future is far from certain. The confession, made by the 27-year-old competitor during a two-hour hearing in Paris and published in L'Equipe yesterday, is brutally honest. "I took EPO when I was in Manchester and the two syringes found at my home (in Biarritz) were those I had injected into myself in the run-up to the world championships. I had taken the syringes back home, so as not to forget that I had become world champion in Hamilton (Ontario) whilst on drugs. I had always dreamt of becoming world champion, and I had reached that aim, but I knew that I had cheated to fulfil my objective. "I drugged myself because I was a prisoner of myself, of fame and the money I was earning. I believe that these two syringes were the evidence of how ashamed I felt to have used drugs. I am not proud to have drugged myself. On the contrary, I was very unhappy at what was happening, but I was a prisoner of the person I had become." Millar's testimony, which he supplied to Richard Pallain, the French judge who is investigating a series of alleged doping violations by the beleaguered Cofidis team, could hardly have been more explicit, and leaves the rider exposed to the probability of receiving a two-year ban from the British Cycling organisation when he attends a disciplinary hearing in Manchester during the next fortnight. Last night it also emerged that his Cofidis employers have sent him a letter, sacking him from his £600,000-a-year contract, following his two-hour hearing in Paris. In a few weeks his Olympic ambitions have been dashed, his reputation dragged through the dirt, and the word "disgraced" ritually appended to his name. Despite the honesty, Millar did cite the pressure he felt to meet the expectations of Cofidis as a contributory factor in his decision to use EPO. These pressures were heightened in 2001 when he was struggling to recover from a long-term injury and a bout of glandular fever. "I am not making any excuses, but I had a lot of problems around 2001 and I felt I had to be in contention at all the major races to keep Cofidis satisfied, especially once I became team leader," he told Mr Pallain. "After taking EPO for the first time, I knew I was a cheat and I didn't feel good about it, but I was under a lot of pressure. There were the magazines in Britain, the sports papers, the TV channels who were tipping me for glory and good results, and even victory in the Tour de France and I did not want to be criticised, so I went over the edge. I had some terrific weeks when I felt as I was on fire, but that has all gone now. I accept that. I had to come clean and stop living a lie." His website was once packed with an in-your-face attitude and have-bike-will-travel philosophy. But it seems Millar's time is over. The former stage winner in the Tour de France must now contemplate the door being firmly closed on his career, and the sport's governing body, the UCI, has confirmed that it is prepared to divest him of his world title and award the gold medal to Australia's Michael Rogers. "Under normal circumstances, we cannot use confidential information from a police inquiry to take this action," said a UCI official. "However, Millar himself has confirmed in court that he has used illegal substances, and if he repeats that confession to us, it's not necessary for us to await the verdict of Judge Pallain." It's that openness by Millar which has most surprised observers. Effectively, he has damned himself with his own words and left himself without any defence. To some extent, Millar's rapid emergence in 2000 also contributed to his downfall. Since he burst on to the Tour de France scene by winning the prologue, hype and expectations have collided with his own ambition to tear up the rule book and blaze his own trail. Lance Armstrong, currently bidding to become the first man ever to win six Tours, was initially impressed by the Scottish wunderkind, but soon changed his mind. "That was David Millar – drunk on his ass again in London," he told a Sports Illustrated journalist in the midst of an interview, reflecting the widespread view of the Maltese-born sportsman as being overly fond of socialising and dabbling in excess. As for Cofidis, Armstrong, who recovered from cancer after being ditched by the team, was unequivocal. "Millar should get as far away from them as quickly as possible," he said 15 months ago. "He needs to get his act together now if he is ever to really fulfil his potential, but he can only do that with the right people around him." It was sound advice that was never heeded. Yesterday, Millar renewed his acquaintance with his two former team-mates at the hearing: Philippe Gaumont and Cedric Vasseur, who had made the original allegations about their Cofidis colleague and both of whom have already been dismissed by the team. But, while British Cycling has never had to deal with a case of this nature before, where a rider has admitted using performance-enhancing substances, rather than testing positive for them, the outcome is unlikely to be any different, given Millar's sustained use of EPO on at least three occasions. "David was given notification by them (British Cycling) on July 5 that he will have to attend a disciplinary hearing, and that has to be held within a month," said his sister and agent, Frances. "We will be making no further comment until after that time." http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/20448-print.shtml
"To me, sincerely, it was not a good idea to have a time trial at l'Alpe d'Huez." "It's over now but a lot of German fans were just disgusting." --Lance Armstrong __________________________________ Apparently during the time trial German fans pelted Lance with Obscenities and Amphetamines...
While i would not be shocked to learn Lance was juiced -- his absolute dominance at the Tour de France in a sport that's ripe with doping is an amazing feat-- so far he appears clean. SJC -- are you suggesting Ulrich is juiced too -- he's done pretty well of late. Is he quilty by virtue of being a top level cyclist? It just seems so classless, at this point, to be hurling this nonesence in the hopes that some of it sticks. Flame away if he's found guilty. Until then -- Go Lance!
Lance moves closer to sixth straight title Associated Press L'ALPE D'HUEZ, France -- Riding through a frenzied sea of fans, Lance Armstrong dominated his rivals Wednesday and extended his overall lead in the Tour de France by winning a time trial high in the Alps. Lance Armstrong not only survived 21 hairpin turns, he dominated Wednesday. The five-time champion finished the 9.6-mile climb through 21 hairpin turns to the L'Alpe d'Huez ski station in 39 minutes, 41 seconds -- the only rider under 40 minutes. It was the first time Tour organizers set up an individual race against the clock on the legendary climb. "I wanted it bad because of the history around this mountain and the importance to the race. All in all, it was a very important day," Armstrong said. "Lots of emotion, lots of adrenaline." He was 61 seconds faster than second-place Jan Ullrich and actually passed his closest challenger, Ivan Basso, even though the Italian started two minutes ahead of the Texan. "Lance is strong in the mountains," acknowledged Basso, who was eighth Wednesday, 2:23 behind, and now trails by 3:48 in the overall standings. Armstrong said he was surprised Basso lost so much time, adding: "It's still a tight race. I knew I had to be good." It was Armstrong's second consecutive stage victory, third during this Tour. At this point, seemingly only a disaster would stand in the way of a record sixth straight title when the cycling marathon ends in Paris on Sunday. Behind Basso, Andreas Kloden is third overall, 5:03 back, after arriving third Wednesday, 1:41 behind Armstrong. His teammate Ullrich -- the 1997 champion and five-time runner-up -- is fourth overall, 7:55 off Armstrong's pace. Last year, Armstrong finished just 1:01 ahead of Ullrich, by far the Texan's narrowest winning margin since he came back from cancer to win his first Tour in 1999. No one came close to Armstrong's performance Wednesday. Wearing black shoes, black socks and his coveted yellow jersey, which he reclaimed by winning Tuesday's first stage in the Alps, Armstrong was relentless. Despite the steep climb, he rode at an average speed of 14.5 mph. As overall leader, Armstrong had the advantage of being the last of the 157 cyclists to start the race against the clock. That enabled Armstrong to measure himself against his opponents -- notably Basso -- as he climbed. "I didn't expect to get gain so much time on Ivan Basso," the American said. "When I set out, I didn't know how fast I was going, how my form was. But a spectator said, 'A minute ahead.' I replied, 'No, no, that's not possible.'" Mouth open, silver chain dangling out of his unzipped jersey, Armstrong caught Basso and passed him just after riding over a red-white-and-blue Texas state flag drawn on the black pavement. Basso glanced left at Armstrong, who just looked straight ahead. At the bottom of the climb, crowds completely covered the road, parting only at the very last second as riders hurtled toward them. Some fans ran alongside the bicycles, waving flags that came close to catching handlebars or wheels. Others were slow to move aside, forcing riders to swerve. Spectators honked horns, blew trumpets, rang cowbells and urged riders on with applause and yells in a cacophony of languages. Police motorcyclists rode in front of the racers, sirens blaring, parting the crowds somewhat. But every moment still seemed to be an accident waiting to happen. "The crowds were animated," said Armstrong, who complained in particular about German fans. "Although I enjoyed my day, I still think it's a bad idea to have a time trial on this mountain." Some of the hundreds of thousands of people camped out for days to get the best spots. It was the 24th time since Fausto Coppi of Italy first won a stage here in 1952 that the Tour had come to L'Alpe d'Huez. But until now, the mountain was the tiring end of Alpine stages that had already taken riders over other climbs. The ascent has an average gradient of 7.9 percent, rising to 11.5 percent in its steepest stretches. It is classed as "hors categorie," or unrated -- the hardest on the cycling scale of difficulty. The route started with a flat section in the valley at Bourg-d'Oisans and finished at an altitude of 6,105 feet, for a vertical ascent of 3,729 feet. Some riders did not go all out, saving energy for Thursday and one of the toughest stages this year: 126.8 miles from Bourg-d'Oisans to Le Grand-Bornand. That trek includes five climbs, one of them an unrated ascent to Col de la Madeleine, at an altitude of 6,600 feet.
ya think getting passed when you got a 2 min head start will destroy Basso's spirit? lol During the rest of the climb, what to do you think was going through his (Basso's) head? Lance is unbeatable!
