Well i remember the commentators said "cadel has brought a team for to protect him on the flat stages where as Wiggins has brought up team to help him in the mountains" my reaction was why would climbers have difficulty protecting you on flat stages, surely they could do both.

Agree fellas but we got to give credit where its due - SKY did their homework veryvery well whereas the question really should be asked of BMC - WTF were they doing in prep the months leading into this Tour, I wonder how long before Teams are advised of the course ?
Even though Wiggins gained an early lead due to the first ITT why couldn't BMC anywhere gain some ground - seems they didn't sign up riders suitable for this type of lame route and tactics would need to be asked wouldn't you think ?
Yep was the most boring Tour I have watched in years ! and not because our own didn't shine I watched for years especially the Lance times and this was ordinary watching from the couch :(

Oh well I hope our cycling team do well in the olympics - the track is always great to watch ! and I hope Cadel is spurred on and takes out his frustration on the road event.

IIRC the stages are all announced in October. Somewhere around this time give or take a month. So teams had plenty of time to study the course. BMC were disappointing thought they added two good riders in TJ and Gilbert but it wasn't meant to be. I think the course was dull. Not enough tough mountains and to many ITT's.

But Sky did an amazing job. They got all their riders in the best form of their career. Can't wait for next years tour. Contador and Schleck should be back, hopefully we will see a more challenging course and less of the big names losing time to crashes.

I'll rename this thread to the cycling thread now. We have the time trial and the road race at the Olympics, Schleck and Armstrong's drug saga and the Vuelta a España coming up.

Australian chef de mission Nick Green hints cyclist may carry Australian flag at Olympic opening ceremony

AUSTRALIA'S chef de mission Nick Green may have let the cat out of the bag nine hours early, hinting a cyclist may be carrying the flag at tomorrow night's (Saturday morning AEST) Opening Ceremony.

At his daily press briefing, Green confirmed he had chosen who would carry the flag ahead of the announcement made at 6.30pm local time (3.30am AEST).

He said his choice was a person who emobied the "values of Olympism''.

Later he was asked whether he would advise members of Australia's men's road cycling team, who compete in the road race on the morning after the Opening Ceremony over 250km, against marching even if they wanted to.

"There are no cyclists marching at all. None, " he said.

Then he added: "But there could be one exception.''

Upon saying that, the assembled media and AOC staff laughed and Green turned bright red in the face.

Both Australian track cycling darling, Athens gold medallist Anna Meares, and six-time Olympian Stuart O'Grady, are strong chances to carry the flag and maybe Green let slip it was one of them.

The favourite in betting markets has been beach volleyballer Natalie Cook, but many believe she spoilt her chance to carry the flag at her fifth Games because of her threat of a "sit in'' protest if a female was not chosen as part of her public campaign to secure the honour for herself.http://www.foxsports.com.au/olympic-games/cyclist-could-carry-the-flag/story-fn5k3iok-1226436136712

Stuey O'Grady please [-o< [-o< [-o<

Edited by UnitedGal: 26/7/2012 08:51:25 PM

don't get me wrong, wouldn't upset me in the slightest if Anna was - but I prefer Stuey

Second Aussie cyclist admits drug use

A second Australian former professional cyclist has come forward to admit drug use in the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.

Cycling Australia issued a statement a short time ago to reveal that its Vice President Stephen Hodge has resigned after admitting he used performing-enhancing drugs during his career.
"In light of the current circumstances Stephen has made it clear he doesn't want a mistake he made two decades ago to affect the work of Cycling Australia to take the sport forward," said Cycling Australia President, Klaus Mueller.
Mr Hodge turned professional in 1987 and raced in the European peloton up until his retirement at the end of 1996. He began his tenure on the board as the Chair of the Athlete's Commission in June 1999. At the 2007 Annual General Meeting Mr Hodge was elected Vice President of the Board, a position he has held since that time.
"I would like to personally thank Stephen for his immense contribution to the sport in a volunteer capacity," said Mr Mueller. "When his professional cycling career ended he became a tireless worker for the sport and for almost 15 years has freely given up his time as an advocate for the rights of athletes and to promote and develop the sport in Australia."
"At all times while Stephen was on the Board with me he acted with high principle and great integrity and has been a staunch opponent of doping.
"I commend him for his decision to speak out," said Mr. Mueller.
Today's announcement follows Cycling Australia's decision to sack Matt White as men's road co-ordinator after he admitted to doping during his time with Lance Armstrong's US Postal team
White had already stood down as Orica-GreenEDGE sports director and CA road co-ordinator on Saturday.

Won't be long now....

It will survive. The Tour De France is to big to die.

Can anyone get their hands on the 1000 page report on Lance?

Its to the point now where you question if anyone is actually clean.

I still find it astonishing how so many riders evaded detection.

The UCI are a corrupt organisation.
Ignored and covered up Lance Armstrongs drug use and took kickbacks.

As for Lance Armstrong, what a cunt of a human being he is. Really nasty piece of work.

Federal Minister for Sport Kate Lundy has called for an exhaustive review of Cycling Australia and is considering giving Australia's anti-doping agency enhanced investigative powers to clean up the sport.

Following revelations from the US doping authority about the use of drugs in cycling, Senator Lundy has asked the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) to brief her on whether its testing and investigation regime is strong enough.

She says she has asked the authority to provide her advice as soon as possible.

"I have every confidence I'll receive that advice from ASADA soon," she said.

"The most important thing is restoring confidence in the sport of cycling.

"Unfortunately these revelations have shocked people involved in that sport to the very core, not lease because of the role that Lance Armstrong appears to have played."

It comes as disgraced seven time Tour de France winner in the US since he was officially named a doping ringleader.

Senator Lundy says everything must be done to clean up the sport.

"I think the revelations of late have been devastating both for the fans of the sport of cycling and participants who've long held people they've perceived as genuine heroes in such high esteem to find out all along, there's so many people out there cheating through doping," she said.

Cycling Australia vice-presidentafter admitting to being a drug cheat for six years during his professional cycling career, including during the Tour de France in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He was a director of Cycling Australia for 13 years.

Hodge says he had to use performance enhancing drugs to remain competitive and be selected.

"Riders shouldn't be in a position to have to make these choices, and I think for me over the last few years, that's really what's been my main concern, in all the work that I have done on the Cycling Australia board is that this is not a position athletes should be in," he said.

"And I'm very pleased to say that I think now that's not the case."

Earlier in the week, as the coordinator of the men's road team because of his admission he took drugs while a member of Lance Armstrong's cycling team.

The revelations have led to speculation that the fallout from the scandal might not have played out in full just yet.

Hodge believes he may not be the last cyclist to fess up.

"This is a decision for them," he said.

"I've made a decision to come out and talk about this, about how the decisions that I made that were wrong.

"But I can't speak for anyone else. It's really their place to do what they feel is right."

'There will be others'

Cycling commentator Matthew Keenan says Hodge should get some credit for coming clean.

"The fact that he used performance-enhancing drugs reflects very poorly on the system that gave him the environment where he thought that was OK to do," he said.

But Keenan says taking drugs to remain competitive and be selected is still not an excuse.

"It's an explanation to say that he had to take the drugs to stay competitive, but it's still not an excuse," he said.

"Hodge did have options, and one of those options would simply be that maybe this is not the sport for me, and I can go to finish my university degree and become a banker, become a plumber, whatever it may be.

"He did have options. Ultimately, he is responsible for his own choices."

Keenan says not all riders were doping at that time.

"There's some riders during that period who had a reputation for being clean," he said.

"And that is a poor reflection on the sport, that guys had a reputation for being clean, as opposed to the other way around, which indicates that Stephen Hodge certainly felt as if he was cornered and his only option to fulfil his childhood dream - ride the Tour de France, be competitive at the world championships - was to take drugs, which is an appalling position for somebody to be in."

He says he thinks there will be others who come clean and confess to doping.

"Whether they go of their own volition is yet to be seen, but there'll be others to join them," he said.

"Unfortunately this isn't the last we've seen of this."

I hope we get it!

Came across 2 threads in a cycling forum which I urge everyone to read....

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=11579

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=19010

It's the real picture of 'livestrong' - one big sham & it may be boring as at times if you can overcome that it will make your blood boil

Being a drug cheat is nothing compared to what else Lancy boy is up to

Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling