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2012: Ups and Downs
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| 9-Ball |
Posted on 29-10-2012 14:22
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Domestique
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Well, a relatively grim year...
Up:
Seeing Paris-Roubaix in the flesh
Competitive Vuelta and its route
Sagan, Van Garteren and Pinot at TDF
Voight's mad charge at TDF
Lemond's McQuaid tirade
Contador back in the saddle
Down:
Armstrong case
All the other doper cases (esp Shreck)
Contador back in the saddle
Schleck missing TDF
Poor Giro
Terrible TDF; worst in more than 25 yrs, frankly, mainly due to the ridiculously loaded pro-Wiggins route and Skyhigh (conspiracy!)
Sky's previous anti-doping stance and subsequent behavior/suspicions
Sky at TDF
Wiggins winning the TDF
Froome at the TDF, both performance if unclean and being held to serve Wiggins if clean
Wiggins winning Dauphin (again!)
Evans and his belly
Wiggins again, just for luck
Roll on 2013. 
It was eleven more than necessary.
Jacques Anquetil
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| jph27 |
Posted on 29-10-2012 14:23
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Team Leader
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Ups
1. Armstrong losing all his results from 1999 was nice, and felt as if justice had been served.
2. The Vuelta, where Purito seemed to have won it, then lost it, only for Contador to crack on the Bola del Mundo, but hold on. Much better than the Tour.
3. The youngsters coming through. Vanmarcke, De Gendt, Rolland, Pinot, Quintana and Betancourt to name just a few.
4. Pozzovivo to Ag2r. I'm a big fan and have wanted to see him in the WT for a while.
5. Voeckler in the Tour. Two stage wins, Polka Dots and amazing considering he went there still injured.
Downs
1. Sky winning the Tour. Because the British media made it sound like they could do nothing wrong.
2. The Giro being decided in a TT. I want to see the race being sorted in the Mountains, not on the final stage TT.
3. Juan Jose Cobo. Hopeless at the Tour, Hopeless at the Vuelta.
4. People wearing orange. Euskaltel having to admit foreigners, Rabobank losing their name sponsor.
5. Pat McQuaid. Just why. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 07:48
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| Flair |
Posted on 29-10-2012 14:51
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Domestique
Posts: 402
Joined: 01-08-2012
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Ups
1. First british winner of the TdF. Sure I'm English and therefore biased but the more countries with winners the better.
2. Slowest TdF for ages. Good case for there being a much much cleaner peleton.
3. Lance finally getting nailed. It needed to happen.
4. Pinots TdF win for the sheer entertainment that was the team car.
5. The UCI finally dropping the Kimmage case.
6. Sky sucess. With the caveat that hopefully it will be a bit more even next year. Teams dominate seasons from time to time. As its a team from a country that isnt traditionally a cycling great, it means more exposure and therefore more interest which is only good for the sport.
7. World Championships. Was nice to see a bunch of really really tired guys at the end of the season just not able to stay with the pace. Like it should be.
Downs
1. Pretty much anything involving the UCI. (Various Lawsuits against people telling the truth, denying the Armstrong thing for years and most of this year even though it was pretty damn obvious he was going to be strung up.)
2. Lack of ambition by certain teams in the ORR. It was a great race in general, but it was depressing to see the teams whoms only win shot was a sprint finish not even try.
3. Vini winning the ORR. Drugs cheats who still deny it winning things is bad.
4. Contador winning Vuelta. As Above.
5. Contador riding again. See above. |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 29-10-2012 15:41
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World Champion
Posts: 14236
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Smowz wrote:
2. Endless Sky (as in the cycling team!) bashing/fanboyism. They ain't the b-all and the end all and they are not the devil incarnate either.
9-Ball wrote:
Terrible TDF; worst in more than 25 yrs, frankly, mainly due to the ridiculously loaded pro-Wiggins route and Skyhigh (conspiracy!)
Sky's previous anti-doping stance and subsequent behavior/suspicions
Sky at TDF
Wiggins winning the TDF
Froome at the TDF, both performance if unclean and being held to serve Wiggins if clean
Wiggins winning Dauphin (again!)
Wiggins again, just for luck
This is fun to read in two consecutive posts.
It shows how we all differ in look on 2012 season. Only Gilbert, Sagan and young guns seem to be popular everywhere.
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| ShortsNL |
Posted on 29-10-2012 16:47
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 898
Joined: 17-11-2011
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Ok, here goes. No particular order.
Ups:
-Westra winning the penultimate stage in P-N, and the epic mountain TT that followed between Wiggins and Westra.
-De Gendt at Giro. 'Nuff said.
-Greipel finally beating Cav head to head in the Tour.
-Gilbert winning WC, great display by the entire Belgian team. Honorable mention to Leukemans and Van Avermaet for completely putting themselves in favour of the team, unlike let's say, Spain.
-Epic lack of footage of the final climb in Il Lombardia due to a massive thunderstorm, made the race seem so much more heroic.
Downs:
-Poels crashing in the TDF and having to spend the rest of his season recovering from massive injuries. Thanks rest of the peloton and the UCI.
-In a more broad sense, all the crashes in the first week of the Tour.
-Most boring Tour ever in terms of the GC.
-Spanish reactions on the Armstrong Case. |
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| kumazan |
Posted on 29-10-2012 16:57
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Team Leader
Posts: 6662
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ShortsNL wrote:
Downs:
-Poels crashing in the TDF and having to spend the rest of his season recovering from massive injuries. Thanks rest of the peloton and the UCI.
I know blaming the UCI for everything is fun, and I have seen many ridiculous claims, last of them when peole blamed them for Hounard's positive test. But blaming them for a crash and subsequent injuries is a new record me thinks.
Edited by kumazan on 29-10-2012 16:57
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| TimoCycling |
Posted on 29-10-2012 17:01
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Sprinter
Posts: 1765
Joined: 27-08-2012
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kumazan wrote:
ShortsNL wrote:
Downs:
-Poels crashing in the TDF and having to spend the rest of his season recovering from massive injuries. Thanks rest of the peloton and the UCI.
I know blaming the UCI for everything is fun, and I have seen many ridiculous claims, last of them when peole blamed them for Hounard's positive test. But blaming them for a crash and subsequent injuries is a new record me thinks.
I think the peloton secures its own safety. Problem is that everyone wants to ride in the front of the peloton because of sprinting teams and teams with leaders. Thats why we need mountain stages in the first week to make things more relaxed. |
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 29-10-2012 18:39
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7681
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Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Smowz wrote:
2. Endless Sky (as in the cycling team!) bashing/fanboyism. They ain't the b-all and the end all and they are not the devil incarnate either.
9-Ball wrote:
Terrible TDF; worst in more than 25 yrs, frankly, mainly due to the ridiculously loaded pro-Wiggins route and Skyhigh (conspiracy!)
Sky's previous anti-doping stance and subsequent behavior/suspicions
Sky at TDF
Wiggins winning the TDF
Froome at the TDF, both performance if unclean and being held to serve Wiggins if clean
Wiggins winning Dauphin (again!)
Wiggins again, just for luck
This is fun to read in two consecutive posts.
It shows how we all differ in look on 2012 season. Only Gilbert, Sagan and young guns seem to be popular everywhere.
I don't even like Sagan |
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| Schleck96 |
Posted on 29-10-2012 18:50
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1498
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
FroomeDog99 wrote:
Andy Schleck is a legend
Hahahah. Good one. 
FroomeDog99 wrote:
Did you watch stage 18 of the 2011 TDF?
Do you know his results in races that aren't the Tour or LBL?
2nd in the Giro xD |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 29-10-2012 18:55
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
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Schleck96 wrote:
Pellizotti2 wrote:
FroomeDog99 wrote:
Andy Schleck is a legend
Hahahah. Good one.
FroomeDog99 wrote:
Did you watch stage 18 of the 2011 TDF?
Do you know his results in races that aren't the Tour or LBL?
2nd in the Giro xD
Fair enough, let me rephrase.
Do you know his results in races that aren't the Tour or LBL since 2008?
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| kumazan |
Posted on 29-10-2012 19:05
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Team Leader
Posts: 6662
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Pellizotti2 wrote:
Do you know his results in races that aren't the Tour or LBL since 2008?
2nd Flèche Wallonne 2009
Sorry I couldn't resist
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| 9-Ball |
Posted on 29-10-2012 19:31
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Domestique
Posts: 477
Joined: 16-08-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Plus, didn't Andy win the Luxembourg version of the X-Factor in 2010?
It was eleven more than necessary.
Jacques Anquetil
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| ShortsNL |
Posted on 29-10-2012 20:36
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 898
Joined: 17-11-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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TimoCycling wrote:
kumazan wrote:
ShortsNL wrote:
Downs:
-Poels crashing in the TDF and having to spend the rest of his season recovering from massive injuries. Thanks rest of the peloton and the UCI.
I know blaming the UCI for everything is fun, and I have seen many ridiculous claims, last of them when peole blamed them for Hounard's positive test. But blaming them for a crash and subsequent injuries is a new record me thinks.
I think the peloton secures its own safety. Problem is that everyone wants to ride in the front of the peloton because of sprinting teams and teams with leaders. Thats why we need mountain stages in the first week to make things more relaxed.
kumazan, you're partially right, in the sense that I mistyped and meant to say ASO, but still to a certain extent also the UCI. With so much at stake at the Tour, it is irresponsible of them allow for such big teams and so many flat stages at the start. It creates nervous racing in the first week, because everyone wants to survive until the mountain stages come. Because of the huge size of the peloton, the risk of crashes is increased even more. The ASO can limit this by doing one or more of the following: A. Limit number of riders participating per team. B. Limit number of teams participating. C. Redesign the course so more GC decisions are made early during the Tour. Do we really have to keep saying 'its the riders responsibility to drive save' until someone actually dies and then change the rules? Like with helmets?
Edited by ShortsNL on 29-10-2012 20:37
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 30-10-2012 06:17
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World Champion
Posts: 14236
Joined: 20-06-2011
PCM$: 300.00
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wackojackohighcliffe wrote:
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Smowz wrote:
2. Endless Sky (as in the cycling team!) bashing/fanboyism. They ain't the b-all and the end all and they are not the devil incarnate either.
9-Ball wrote:
Terrible TDF; worst in more than 25 yrs, frankly, mainly due to the ridiculously loaded pro-Wiggins route and Skyhigh (conspiracy!)
Sky's previous anti-doping stance and subsequent behavior/suspicions
Sky at TDF
Wiggins winning the TDF
Froome at the TDF, both performance if unclean and being held to serve Wiggins if clean
Wiggins winning Dauphin (again!)
Wiggins again, just for luck
This is fun to read in two consecutive posts.
It shows how we all differ in look on 2012 season. Only Gilbert, Sagan and young guns seem to be popular everywhere.
I don't even like Sagan
You will, just wait for it.
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