The Pro Road Cycling Thread

[Nervous Nedum]

That regarding the stink about Froome using an inhaler?

No, this is to do with an emergency TUE he received at the start of the Tour De Romandie. The story has kind of spun off in four separate strands.

1) Froome himself and the merits or otherwise of the TUE.
2) The UCI processes for issuing TUE's (turns out they don't have the committee in place that they're meant to have to comply with WADA - which has lead to direct criticism from WADA)
3) Tied in with two, the doctor who issues the TUE's and his possible connections in the past to doping incidents.
4) Team Sky's issues with transparency and the contradictory nature of some of their statements and actions (David Walsh wrote an article about it in The Sunday Times).

It's been quite a big story and fairly interesting reading as it's developed, though somewhat of a tangled web.

Just read Alex Dowsett has made the Movistar team for the Tour, really pleased for him and hope he goes well.

Really pleased for Dowsett, what a few weeks for him having just smashed the British 10 mile record. If only there was a prologue this year!

 

[Rascal]

That regarding the stink about Froome using an inhaler?

No, this is to do with an emergency TUE he received at the start of the Tour De Romandie. The story has kind of spun off in four separate strands.

1) Froome himself and the merits or otherwise of the TUE.
2) The UCI processes for issuing TUE's (turns out they don't have the committee in place that they're meant to have to comply with WADA - which has lead to direct criticism from WADA)
3) Tied in with two, the doctor who issues the TUE's and his possible connections in the past to doping incidents.
4) Team Sky's issues with transparency and the contradictory nature of some of their statements and actions (David Walsh wrote an article about it in The Sunday Times).

It's been quite a big story and fairly interesting reading as it's developed, though somewhat of a tangled web.

Just read Alex Dowsett has made the Movistar team for the Tour, really pleased for him and hope he goes well.

I dont understand that mate

Whats the problem?

 

[EalingBlue2]

I reckon Froome nieve Lopez Thomas pate eisel the Belarusian brothers Porte will be the team but not sure on kennaugh fitness if ok he has to go and whether they will want knees or even take the young Irish Lad.

Cav looks like he has the team built just for him and he has a lead out team up to the standards he had back in 2011 - Renshaw and pettachi certainly give him pace and experience and Martin will be invaluable - he will never have a better chance to have a storming 4 or 5 stage wins

 

[Shands]

That regarding the stink about Froome using an inhaler?

No, this is to do with an emergency TUE he received at the start of the Tour De Romandie. The story has kind of spun off in four separate strands.

1) Froome himself and the merits or otherwise of the TUE.
2) The UCI processes for issuing TUE's (turns out they don't have the committee in place that they're meant to have to comply with WADA - which has lead to direct criticism from WADA)
3) Tied in with two, the doctor who issues the TUE's and his possible connections in the past to doping incidents.
4) Team Sky's issues with transparency and the contradictory nature of some of their statements and actions (David Walsh wrote an article about it in The Sunday Times).

It's been quite a big story and fairly interesting reading as it's developed, though somewhat of a tangled web.

Just read Alex Dowsett has made the Movistar team for the Tour, really pleased for him and hope he goes well.

I dont understand that mate

Whats the problem?

I don’t profess to fully understand it myself bud. There’s been quite a bit of contradictory information and, as ever with something like this, half the battle is picking through other peoples spin and agenda to get close to the facts (which themselves are shrouded in confusion).

My understanding is that a Theraputic Use Exemption (TUE) is something a rider can apply for that will permit them to have in their system a substance that would otherwise be banned. It can only be up to certain prescribed limits and it must only be authorised once the motivation for its use has been assessed by a committee of medical practitioners who say there is just cause

In this case Froome received and applied for a TUE at the Tour De Romandie. If you remember, he pulled out of Liege-Bastogne- Liege on the Sunday morning of the race with a chest cold but then rode Romandie which began on the Tuesday. He was prescribed a steroid to combat his chest infection which he took and went on to win the race. WADA are satisfied that what he was prescribed was correct and doesn’t break any rules, so in that sense there’s no issue.

Where WADA aren’t happy (according to the French newspaper that’s been breaking the story) is the process by which the UCI arrived at the correct decision. Rather than having in place a committee of three independent practitioners assessing TUE requests, like WADA specifies, it’s reported that the UCI have only one lone doctor. That Doctor apparently has been with the UCI since 1999 and as such his reputation could be somewhat compromised, given what has gone on in the past with the sport and alleged doping cover ups or assistance given to riders. On that basis the UCI has now agreed to review their operations to ensure they fall in line with WADA’s expectations.

The wider debate focuses around whether or not a rider who receives an Emergency TUE should be riding in the race at all. The presumption is that if you’re sick enough to require an Emergency TUE you shouldn’t be fit enough to ride, never mind win a stage race. Other teams have said that if their rider needed an Emergenct TUE it would be to help with their recovery and they would definitely not be entering them into any race, as although it’s not legally wrong, it could be deemed morally questionable and providing an artificial unfair advantage.

This is where the criticism of SKY is coming in. They reportedly have stated in the past that they do not agree with TUE’s and would not use them in any circumstances. Froome has also apparently declared he’s never had a TUE, but it’s now been suggested that in addition to this one he also had one during last year’s TDF. When you couple this with Michael Berry’s Tramadol claims; the employment of Leinders and Inhaler-gate, people (including the usually very pro-sky David Walsh) are beginning to question why it appears sometimes that their anti-doping stance is diverging from actual actions.

That’s the gist of it as best as I can summarise. The good thing to come out of this could be it tightens up the UCI’s regulations, but who knows. It’s all a bit messy and not great for the image of the sport, regardless of what’s true or not.

 

[leighton]

Dan Martin is out of the Tour now. He is going to focus on being race ready for the Veulta instead shame as he done OK in last years tour.

 

[EalingBlue2]

Pate and eisel for the flat and cobbles and every available mountain man picked!
Zandio for experience and early climbs! Porte Thomas kirieynke nieve Lopez as climbing domestiques

 

[chesterbells]

Pate and eisel for the flat and cobbles and every available mountain man picked!
Zandio for experience and early climbs! Porte Thomas kirieynke nieve Lopez as climbing domestiques

Yep, saw that - team released earlier wasnt it?

Anyway, where is everyone going next weekend??

Grinton Moor or Buttertubs Saturday
Holme Moss or Jenkin Road (Sheffield) on the Sunday
Fingers crossed for the weather at the moment - sunshine and showers is the best I can get for next weekend at the mo - not the most helpful of forecasts tbh.
I see most of the road closures are from 6am, so its gonna be a weekend of sleep deprivation however you slice it.

8 more sleeps to Xmas...can't wait

 

[Shands]

Pate and eisel for the flat and cobbles and every available mountain man picked!
Zandio for experience and early climbs! Porte Thomas kirieynke nieve Lopez as climbing domestiques

Yep, saw that - team released earlier wasnt it?

Anyway, where is everyone going next weekend??

Grinton Moor or Buttertubs Saturday
Holme Moss or Jenkin Road (Sheffield) on the Sunday
Fingers crossed for the weather at the moment - sunshine and showers is the best I can get for next weekend at the mo - not the most helpful of forecasts tbh.
I see most of the road closures are from 6am, so its gonna be a weekend of sleep deprivation however you slice it.

8 more sleeps to Xmas...can't wait

I'm heading for Jenkin Road on the Sunday. I expect it to be mobbed so I'll be aiming to get there as early as possible.

 

[chesterbells]

Pate and eisel for the flat and cobbles and every available mountain man picked!
Zandio for experience and early climbs! Porte Thomas kirieynke nieve Lopez as climbing domestiques

Yep, saw that - team released earlier wasnt it?

Anyway, where is everyone going next weekend??

Grinton Moor or Buttertubs Saturday
Holme Moss or Jenkin Road (Sheffield) on the Sunday
Fingers crossed for the weather at the moment - sunshine and showers is the best I can get for next weekend at the mo - not the most helpful of forecasts tbh.
I see most of the road closures are from 6am, so its gonna be a weekend of sleep deprivation however you slice it.

8 more sleeps to Xmas...can't wait

I'm heading for Jenkin Road on the Sunday. I expect it to be mobbed so I'll be aiming to get there as early as possible.

Yeah, that my thinking too. I was 100% set for one of the biggie locations as named above until v recently, but now I'm wavering - rather than be somewhere 10 or 15 people deep I'm thinking of finding somewhere a bit more obscure - gonna be getting back to watch the full 5 hour re-run/recording anyway each evening.
Think I'll wait till Wednesday and check the forecasts before making a final decision

 

[Nervous Nedum]

Kreuziger out of the Tour, could be crucial. Irregularities on his biological passport apparently.