New Podcast 07/15/08
Posted in Podcast on 15. Jul, 2008
Listening to the new podcast is easier than climbing the Sleeping Bear Dunes, but not nearly as much fun. It is all listener feedback. Topics are saddle sores to Viagra improving “performance.” There’s also a little Tour talk at the beginning.
For saddle sores I have had good luck with Zinc Cream. I would be careful about lancing anything. If puss can get out, more bugs can get in. Also, some type of chamois cream , especially Assos in my experience, can help to prevent such unwanted developments.
Thank you for prescribing a regime of boozing. How do you spell those drinks? All else is well… Off in three days.
Oh thank god. Can’t wait to give it a listen.
You talked about Riis’ inhuman performance when Riis is “shot out of a cannon” and failed to mention the fact that he was probably on EPO at the time. He’s only admitted to using it for one tour – but his attitude suggests to me that he’s no boy scout. His remarks after finding out that he’d be reinstated as the tour winner was pretty crappy – “I guess I won after all.” Snide remarks such as that (with a lack of personal regret), along with his relative lack of success until 1993 (having been pro since 88), suggest to me that all his results are suspect.
No free passes. If you’re going to wax poetic about Riis’ heroics and continue to crap on Armstrong (who has not admitted to doping, nor had doping proven), I will continue to question your opinions…
Jim….You are wrong.
lighten up Francis…
John 1 –
I heard you say that you don’t watch the tour because you don’t have cable. Check out the link below for some live online audio & video feeds:
http://www.cyclingfans.com/
JK- What size is the Bianchi frame you want to sell?
Jim-
I am alluding to something when saying ‘inhuman performance’. I would say ‘yes’, Riis is definitely suspect- especially when there is documentation of his participation in 1995 with the Gewiss Team of their EPO regimine. Yes, that Gewiss team, the one the did the 3 man ttt off the front of Fleche in 1994 (read about it in From Lance to Landis) and had Berzin win the Giro among other surprising performances. Riis is just another guy that ‘has never tested positive’ like many others. Question my opinions all you want, but the riders’ track records, limited credibility and pattern of behavior- especially emerging from the culture of maximizing performance through a new level of scientific sophistication in the 90’s make it hard no to question the majority of performances. It would be blind faith to think otherwise.
The Bianchi FG Lite is a 52cm.
JK in NC
It’s true that Riis was doping, but hey, so were all those guys he smashed. Also, Riis is now contributing to the sports these days, not cashing in like the lying, doping, cash register (did I say that out loud?, Damn Tourettes)
Everyone knows Indurain doped but no one cares because he’s not sueing everyone in sight and jumping in front of cameras for attention.
I actually respect Mr. Armstrong in many ways but he spends too much time propping up his myth. Do you really believe Armstong was the only one not doping in those days?
I’m for a clean sport and no witch hunts for the old timers. Amnisty for old offenses in return for info. If Lance (or Landis or Hamilton) were to confesses I’d forgive them and thank them immediately.
I’m glad they put Riis back in the books.
…sounds like the mongoose got the cobra.
Ricco, you dumbass.
Riccoooooooooooo! God.
Ah, Bjarne… As Le Gimp points out, look at who he beat. If you take the maillot from him, then who wins the 1996 TdF? 2nd was Ullrich…. 3rd was a Festina-clad Virenque…. 4th was a Festina-clad Dufaux… 5th was a Carrera-clad (aka, Pantani teammate at the time) Luttenberger……. Hey, wait a minute, this means, SACRE BLEU! Luc Leblanc would have been the first Francais since Hinault in ‘85 to win Le Tour! Ah, yes. Jim, you are a genius and a true Francais!
As for Bjarne’s ’snide’ remarks. Did you ever think it may be sarcasm, dry humor? Sounds like it to me. If not, can you blame him, considering the company he was keeping (see list above). Take the win from him in ‘96 and its no more valid than last year’s result. Or the year before that… Oh, and who wins ‘97 and ‘98?
Bjarne did also recognize that it was time to come clean, that he was collateral damage from Puerto (the Telekom whitewash being a domino in the Puerto chain of events). Now that was 11 years later, and in response to events and an environment that made it time to come forward. Just because you don’t come clean, doesn’t mean that you are clean, no?
As for no positive tests, note that very few of these guys from the ’90’s and early ’00s tested positive at the time (Not Riis, not Ullrich, not Virenque, not Zulle, not Dufaux, not Millar, not even Pantani… a high hematocrit, yes, positive, no. The list is a long one. Seems that only Casagrande failed to get the memo).
I will also give Riis credit in that he never went after the guys who were speaking out against systematic doping. For instance, Riis never went after the only guy from the ’90s that everyone in cycling knows was clean, Christophe Bassons. Others (i’ll let you fill in the blank here) sadly cannot say the same. Bjarne also never tried to scuttle other riders chances as a personal vendetta. In short, Bjarne has class (no doubt forged in those early years in the late ’80s and early ’90s riding for Super U and Castorama in the service of the great Laurent Fignon), regardless of what he took.
As Brian so aptly stated, (and unfortunately for Les Francais and Leblanc) Jim, you are wrong.
When Riis confessed, I sent an email to Luttenberger (copying CSC & Riis cycling) congratulating him on his “as-yet unheralded triumph”. I went on to explain that I didn’t think that re-writing the record books accomplished anything and thanked Riis for his courage in fessin’ up. I also encouraged CSC to stand by Riis.
Luttenburger (who works for Team CSC) thought it was funny (and asked when he could expect the check) and someone from CSC thanked me for the thoughts.
Luttenburger was the first one on the list I was unable to find the proof or serious suspicion of doping. Was I wrong? was another French champion cheated out of their destiny?
I also send an email to T-Doping shortly after Stapleton started changing things. I told them that if they left now, doping would be their legacy. They bailed out a few weeks later. Good riddance.
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I concur with Le Gimp, no serious suspicion regarding Luttenberger beyond being on the same team as Pantani et al. Yet, had Leblanc known he was racing Luttenberger for the win, I’m sure he would have found those 3-4 minutes to clinch Le Tour for France! Its all rather silly, no?
Yep, that’s why just subtracting the dopers from the standings doesn’t really address the effects on the results. What else can they do though?
It’s good that they are pulling them on the A-sample before they totally wreck the race. Assuming the B-confirms. Yikes, that could be ugly.
Ricco: Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. How did they ping him for CERA when there is no test yet? Snooping around in his shave kit? A rat? Maybe they have a test and have kept it secret. I hope so. I’d like to think the testers were ahead once in a while.
Regarding butt pus: I would recommend getting the boils lanced. Have someone with some experience do it. Make sure the area is cleaned beforehand..Betadine. It would be best to have a Doc do it so they could culture the juicy ooze. A fairly high percentage of butt pus is MRSA (methicillin resistant staph aureus) otherwise known in the press as the “flesh eating bacteria.” Usually no worries but you don’t want the boils to progress. A boil is already infected and unless you rub dirt into it or are around someone with an infection, the chances are remote that you would let “other bugs” in. Also, after lancing it, you want to irrigated to boil with saline (salt water). “The solution to pollution is dilution.”
Regarding the Lance bashing, it is rather obvious that the 2 Js are admitted elitists who will knock just about anyone who is not from the holy continent “see France/Italy.” There is a year and a half of archived Podcasts to prove it!
Lance just happens to be their favorite target, but they both poo-poo’d Evans last August when I suggested he was rider of the year. Of course he is not from the “continent.” Now if Evans was Moreau, it would have been as if the Holy Grail had been found.
Good to see the Dopers go down. The fact that Ricco’s whole team pulled out suggests that he has other teammates doping.
Just my 2 cents.
I’ve had saddle sores lanced on two seperate occasions. It is not a big deal really, my Doc just told me I was nervous on the first one due to the location, that if it was on my shoulder I wouldn’t think twice. Yeah, right – he is the one holding the tools!
Does the collapse of the pro tour mean the dopers can return to the top level in two years instead of four? Do they have to stop racing at all if the events are not UCI regulated?
That is an excellent question Ken. The Bruyneel boys must be champing at the bit for next year. And how about the guys serving current 4 year terms. Will they be paroled?
I wonder if Astana are breathing a sign of relief now that they are not riding the tour. Ricco thought he was ahead of the system and never could get caught since there was no test. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board Bruyneel in search of the latest greatest drug. He directed 8 winning tours being ahead of the system so he might have to come back in 09 with a clean team. Best of luck Johan!
Great banter. I personally think Riis’ comment was dry humor. When was the last time you met a warm, Danish conversationalist?
Re the CERA test – while there might not be a “valid” WADA test, I think WADA worked with Roche to understand the molecular structure of the compound, which enabled them to detect its presence in urine (it has a different isoelectric profile than traditional EPO so it shows up in a different spot in the test). Because it’s not a naturally occurring substance in the body and its known performance enhancing qualities, its presence in Ricco’s body = a positive.
Sounds like Piepioli is out as well for violations of the “ethics” code. Read: don’t look in my bag, coach, you won’t like what you find.
Good call on the butt bumps Dog. I’m all for having the big ones lanced, but like you said, the lance ought to be in some trustworthy hands.
Also, I’m not sure WADA is responsible for the testing at the tour. I think I heard Bob Roll comment that the independence of the ASO from the UCI allowed them to contract independent labs. I haven’t done any further research, and I’m not an expert in any way.
If so, ASO will have done cycling and the riders a disservice. WADA approved labs, tests and procedures must be followed to the letter.
I agree with Kent. There needs to be uniformity in the system or else credibility suffers. Every rider needs to be profiled for the system to work, and still there will be room for error.
I just hope no one from CSC, Columbia or Garmin is doping. If so, the camel’s back will break.
A non-negative for vandevelde or any other garmin rider would be a sadder day for US cycling than anything Landis or Hamilton could muster.
On a brighter note, you gotta love Pate’s effort yesterday. That post-stage interview was heart wrenching. You gotta feel for a guy thats basically in tears after losing a stage like that. Rides like that are why I still have faith in cycling.
I agree McBee, I really hope none of the Garmin boys are doping, I already am suspect of just about anyone who dominates, and to think I thought we’d finally have a clean tour.
As for Armstrong, while I respect him and believe he is a great athlete, I gotta believe he doped too. Many of his teammates admitted or got caught along with the othere who were his closest competition. There’s no way he was beating everyone so badly and clean.
One big question is, with the demise of the pro tour will we see the silly bike weight regulation go away? It seems that the structure of top level pro cycling will either go back to being governed by the country’s federations or there will be some new entity headed by the ASO or some cartel of race owners. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
I think maybe a more accurate indication of doping, something akin to gauging the health of a lake by how many frogs can inhabit the shores would be a ratio of how many French riders win stages. Today we have Dessel and early on there was Doumolin, maybe there is some hope.
JK in NC
By the way, I have decided to hold onto the Bianchi, but will be selling my Specialized Tarmac Pro frameset in fabulous blue & white, 52cm. Anyone? Anyone?
What? How is a French win an indication of clean riding? Once again you have proven my point that you guys are Eurocentric. Why can’t a Canadian or Australian win be an indication? I guess it just may be that the French need to re-evaluate how they approach training and racing. Old school is not necessarily good school (see doping). Antiquated training tactics may be more responsible for the French lack of Tour wins more so than doping. You are suggesting that the French lack of success is because they didn’t dope…I, and I am sure others, find that hard to believe. This tour is as clean as it has been (presumably) and there is not a French rider threatening the podium. Instead we have guys from Luxemborg, Russia, Australia, the US, and Spain battling it out. Why is that? Surely your not suggesting they are all dopers?!?!
DD, I am all for a Canadian winning or anyone else. The problem is, there aren’t enough of them to make broad based, shooting from the hip conclusions the same way that can be done with the French.
Study the statistics of French winners of cycling monuments: Liege, Roubaix, grand tours… pre 1998 and post 1998. Discard the Frenchmen that rode for foreign teams (Jalabert). The drop off is amazing. Do you think the French lost the page on tactics or got left behind in their training? Coincidentally, 1998 was the same year as the Festina affair at the most important bike race for the French & everyone else. I believe the French teams took a sobering look at what was going on and committed themselves to pursue the sport on a different path than the Italian, Belgian and Spanish based teams. If the Aussies and Canadians had enough of a presence I would mention them, but they don’t.
Yes- I do believe the Tour is as clean as it has been, which is a bit of a backhanded comment.
JK in NC
So you are still implying all of the current leaders of the Tour are doping. If not, where are the French?
JK, If the French teams were as serious as you say they’d be doing independent testing: They’re not! The only ones doing it are Garmin-Chipotle, Columbia, CSC, Astana, and Rock Racing (?). The doping found in this year’s tour is detectable by the independent testing. Astana would have been clean! If ASO was serious they would have given an automatic invite to any team doing the “CSC program.” That would have cleaned up the sport in a hurry! Got to give Bjarne credit. He didn’t wait.
Kent, Riis didn’t wait??? How long has doping been a problem? (If some of Bruyneel’s comments (“Do you think that the approach Vaughters is advocating…is the correct way to go?”
Bruyneel: “When you have an aggressive marketing strategy, you can sell anything.”) are indicative of the attitude of some of the directors that have been in the culture of european cycling their entire lives- I don’t think the words ‘cleaned up’ & ‘in a hurry’ could be in the same sentence without the word ‘not’.) I do give Bjarne credit for many things, acting quickly to the doping problem is not one of the things.
JK in NC