Contador is back!
 

I haven't been on this forum for a while, partly because Rogers Sportsnet broadcast Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris Nice with a 1-day delay and I was afraid of spoilers. I am surprised to find that there has been no mention of Tirreno-Adriatico, and that is probably because of spotty TV coverage in USA. If you didn't see it, you missed some fantastic stages. Contador was his old self and beat Quintana by 1 second on stage 4, then dropped him on stage 5, and others, to eventually win the race by 2:05.

Looking forward to Milan-Sam Remo on Sunday but even more to Volta a Catalunya starting Monday. The Volta has Contador, Froome, Quintana, Uran, Rodriguez, Tejay, Horner, etc. Should be great. Sportsnet will again be a day delayed so, please, no spoilers.

Stage 5 of TA was quite a race. It was good to see Contador in his old form.

Rogers Sportsnet did not air Milan-San Remo and never posted a reason. I forgive them because I am grateful that they show a lot of cycling, but it is bush-league to not even have an announcement.

I watched the final 3 minutes on Steephill and it seems it was not an exciting race.

Good to see the UCI allows some dopers back into racing. /sarcasm

I've never been a fan of Contador the man but I have to admit to a grudging respect for his racing style. He's willing to go for it himself rather than hiding behind his teammates for 95% of the race

agreed...

you have to admire the guy's willingness to work, at any rate. in yesterday's Volta a Catalunya stage, a sprinters stage, he came in sixth, as a result of some intense effort near the end, with little chance of gaining anything on the GC leader.

he's a pretty canny strategist too.

He was hoping to gain a time bonus. He missed by one place as they are only given 1-5.

Yay for winning more races and have them retroactively removed from doping allegations. Amazes me he hasn't been given a lifetime ban yet.

If they gave lifetime bans based on one failed test, how many would be out of the peloton?

Who cares. They should enforce their rules. If the UCI and other promotions decide they allow doping, so be it. I don't care. But if doping is against rules, then enforce it. Why should other cyclists be banned but Contador continued to be celebrated and allowed to compete. His wins at both Espana and France were revoked.

And do you seriously believe he wasn't doping with Team Astana? Do you seriously believe he hasn't been doping for the past at least half decade?

If the UCI and professional cycling want to prove they do want to keep competition clean, they should give Contador lifetime ban and retroactively remove all his wins from 2006 onward. Screw him. As long as he's riding, pro cycling will be tainted.

Personally I don't care if cyclists dope. I think Lance Armstrong is hands down the best cyclists of my lifetime. I believe even if Froume and Wiggins were doping, they wouldn't be as good as Armstrong. But if you're going to have rules, enforce them. No exceptions, no special treatment. It should be zero tolerance. If you don't have zero tolerance then the competitors will always believe there is a chance they will get away with it and continue to compete and just think, I have to dope better.

I suspect Contador is just doping smarter.

I hate to see yet another thread (much less another rider/race/year/etc) hijacked to debates about doping. Your sentiment is acknowledged Zymphad and I know that many agree with you. But as we watch these races, we can't erase from the screen or the road the guys we think are cheaters. They are there on the road and one can't help but root for or against them and note who is strong and who isn't. Cheating or no, Contador is a remarkable resilient competitor. I don't usually root for him - there are others I prefer. But he has skills and he has guts.

But increased strength and resiliency/recoverability are the advantages of doping. If you're going to ignore the difference that makes to race results, you might as well lift the ban on doping entirely.

Yeah yeah, sure. That's not my point. My point is that he's in there in the race. You or we might think he shouldn't be there, but as long as UCI doesn't take him out, the other riders are marking him or drafting him or getting smoked by him, etc. He's not just getting his own result, he's influencing the other racers' strategies and therefore their results too. So if I'm going to watch a race, I'm not sitting there thinking - he's a doper, the guy behind him is a better person. I'm taking in the race as it unfolds, with him as an actor.

I'm not arguing what's right and wrong - I'm just telling you how I feel when I'm watching.. I can't watch every race keeping track of who's legit and pretending the other ones aren't there because 3 years from now their result will be voided. Making sure the racers are legit is UCI's job and if they aren't doing it right, then shame on them. But my job is either to enjoy watching the race or to say it's all a crock and do something else with my leisure time.

Years ago I stopped watching pro football when I decided that the prevent defense was a conspiracy by the NFL to make games more exciting. I lost interest. I'm not at that point with bike racing. Maybe you are.

Seriously? You think that an NFL head coach, who is measured on wins and losses, and is subject to termination from a highly lucrative job at any time, would call a defense for the purpose of allowing the other team to get back in the game and potentially win?

"the only thing the prevent defense does is prevent you from winning" - John Madden

After watching with great excitement the spectacular drives that invariably happen in the last couple of minutes of close games, I began to feel manipulated. And I note that those coaches get paid millions of dollars as severance when they are fired.

But this is not the place to debate the NFL. You are free to believe what you like, as am I. Just like we can harbor or ignore suspicions of doping.

I would have guessed it was because you live in Minneapolis and are stuck with the Vikings...:)

I always liked Contador. Good on him and he looks like a good pick for the Tour this year.

Yea but if you magically removed all drugs from the face of the Earth one rider would still have an advantage in strength, resiliency and recovery. Failing a failed drug test you run what you brung. The topic is beat to death. I still fail to understand why some folks get so emotional about it.

Did Contador pass his test?