http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/6916698.stm

Another one bites the dust

7/25/2007 6:54:37 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070726/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_tour_de_france;_ylt=Ahqp7miZJNGGsP5trsQobq0LMxIF

the leader of the tour is out....dont know if thats who the person above me is refering to cause i dont click links usually...but i mean damn...thats some shit

7/25/2007 9:04:15 PM

After his win today, I was wondering when he was gonna get kicked out for doping. And now, he is kicked out for this instead.

7/25/2007 9:27:10 PM

Leipheimer on the podium! With some luck, win might still be possible. Guess Contrador and Evans would have to crash and / or tank in the final time trial, though.

Also, does that mean Leipheimer gets a retroactive stage win for today's efforts?

[Edited on July 25, 2007 at 10:24 PM. Reason : ]

7/25/2007 10:23:31 PM

^ Yes.

I thought after his miracle time trial, followed by how calm he looked while Contador was trying to attack him, that he was doping. I just finished watching todays stage and was just amazed at how he never grimaced while Discovery was throwing their best at him, then he just took off like his legs were perfectly fresh. Then I come here and read about it. No shocker.

7/25/2007 11:22:09 PM

^, ^^ - umm, i'm not sure about the retroactive stage win, but i doubt it.
indications so far don't point to anything specific that happened on today's stage (like drug testing right after the state win) for the reason of Rasmussen's withdrawal. So I don't think him getting fired by his team later in the day would have anything to do with him winning the stage

7/26/2007 12:04:27 AM

all rasmussen's tests during the tour have come back negative.however,he lied about his whereabouts in May to his team and the federations and the team made the decision to pull him out.sad days but 'll still be watching the final time trial in a couple of days.i think contador might just hang on but both evans and leipheimer have a shot since this one's flat and favours the power riders.

7/26/2007 12:34:55 AM

correct me if i'm wrong, but he never got tested...he didnt show up to like a may ~28th and late june test

7/26/2007 12:44:18 AM

i think he missed two random tests by UCI on may 8 and june 28 (you're suspended if you miss 3).however he has been tested during the tour (i think i read that its been 17 times already) and all of those have come back negative.(each day,the stage winner,race leader and randomly selected riders are tested.)

7/26/2007 12:52:53 AM

still think he deserved to be sent home though for lying about where he was earlier in the year.

7/26/2007 12:53:36 AM

Quote :

"I thought after his miracle time trial, followed by how calm he looked while Contador was trying to attack him, that he was doping."

The time trial would make me more suspicious than today's stage. He is a seasoned climbing specialist. Levi is an all-rounder. Contador is a climbing specialist. Younger, but less experienced. Rasmussen also has just about the set-up you can have and has a ridiculously low body fat percentage.

Quote :

"(each day,the stage winner,race leader and randomly selected riders are tested.)"

They claim randomly selected riders, but I don't really buy that there aren't a number that are specifically targeted.

7/26/2007 9:08:53 AM

i think vino is quite good in the time trial. in 2005, he finished 3rd in both time trials only being beaten by zabriskie and armstrong and then armstrong and ullrich. all those guys were top notch time triallists so that means he is good....assuming he wasn't fuelled last time round as well.

7/27/2007 9:05:07 AM

I just don't get how all these guys still cheat after it seems like almost every big name in cycling has gone down for it recently.... amazing....

get em Levi... you're like the last one of my favs who hasnt been outed for cheating...

7/27/2007 2:54:14 PM

With blood doping, it is undetectable after about a month but you still reap the benefits.

That's what he did.

7/27/2007 3:09:50 PM

Quote :

"The time trial would make me more suspicious than today's stage."

Yea, obviously if you just look at the performances separately, you'd be more suspect that a notably weak tt'ist/ had a great tt and less suspect that a strong climber did well in the mountains. But read my comment again in whole. When you look at the sum of his performances, and the calm with which he took Discovery's attacks, and THEN had what appeared to be tons in reserve to just walk away from those guys like they were standing still...well, durr, it's pretty obvious now he was cheating.

7/27/2007 3:11:55 PM

what happened to the team time trials?

7/27/2007 5:03:07 PM

they dont have team time trials every year.once every 2-3 years probably.last one was in 2005 i think.

7/27/2007 5:33:01 PM

I always enjoyed the team time trial, along with the climb up the Alpe D'Huez. We didn't get either one this year.

So, does Contador blow it? Will Evans catch him? Will Levi catch Cadel? I can't wait to find out.

7/27/2007 11:12:57 PM

first time check:
leipheimer best time
evans @14'
contador @36'

7/28/2007 10:44:24 AM

leipheimer wins the stage but stays 3rd overall...trailing evans by only 8 seconds.contador leads by about 20 seconds.super race today.

7/28/2007 11:29:55 AM

Race the last day!

7/28/2007 11:34:03 AM

I heard that everyone in cycling dopes. I also heard that some rides have mini motors in their bikes

7/28/2007 1:36:02 PM

^^ nah,i dont think they're gonna do it.levi's already said he wont attack cadel.would be fun though if it happened but i doubt it very much.

cheers contador!

7/28/2007 1:57:46 PM

What was the deal with that 10 second penalty?

7/28/2007 4:28:58 PM

http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/news/articles/12994.0.html

Quote :

"Leipheimer was slapped with the time penalty [in stage 12] for receiving a bidon pull from the Discovery Channel team car after switching bikes at the base of the treacherous Roselend descent midway through the alpine climbing stage to Tignes. "My chain came off on the descent off the Roselend and got wrapped in the derailleur and I couldn't pedal for the last 5km of the descent," Leipheimer said on the Tour's first rest day. "The car was too far behind for it to come up. When I got to the bottom, I switched to the spare bike, but I even had to change that." It's common for riders to slingshot off team cars while chasing back from mechanical problems, fetching water bottles or going down in crashes."

that sucks. everybody does that after they go back to the team car for medical.

[Edited on July 29, 2007 at 9:12 AM. Reason : .]

7/29/2007 9:12:32 AM

Yay team Discovery Channel!

7/29/2007 7:12:05 PM