Just in....
Dutch television's sports anchorman Mart Smeets has just reported that the Astana-Würth team has left the Tour de France. The team had five of its Tour riders officially named in the Operacion Puerto affair (Sergio Paulinho, Isidro Nozal, Allan Davis, Alberto Contador, Joseba Beloki), as well as several others (Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, David Etxebarria, Angel Vicioso, Unai Osa, Jörg Jaksche), and of course ex-team manager Manolo Saiz. The team therefore wouldn't have had enough riders to start.

In an official statement, Active Bay, the team's management company, confirmed the news. "In view of the content of the dossier sent to Spanish authorities, Active Bay has decided, in accordance with the Ethical Code signed between the UCI ProTour's teams, to withdraw from the Tour de France those riders that appear in the above-mentioned dossier.

"This decision is adopted without prejudice of the respect to the right to the presumption of innocence of these riders and of that Active Bay will exercise the actions for the defence of its rights and those of its workers. This measure does not concern the team's riders of the Tour de France that are not included in the dossier: Alexander Vinokourov, Andrey Kashechkin, Carlos Barredo and Luis León Sanchez. Nevertheless, the withdrawal of the riders that appear in the above-mentioned dossier implies that the Tour of France team will not have the minimum number of riders demanded by the UCI rules, which means the team will not be able to take the start tomorrow morning in the Tour de France."

The organisers of the Tour, ASO, were already determined to refuse to allow Astana-Würth to start, despite a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport that said it could.

Lawl, the entire team. GG

ok meet ya Kingston road and Queen for 4ishpm

well you are on a free wheel so it is a coasting fest for you:rolleyes: , us Fixed Geared drivers peddle the entire time:p

Le tour's site is hopelessly outdated now, the riders' list is just so wrong now.

Poor Vinokourov, should have stuck it out with t-mobile.

EDIT: seriously, i feel bad for him; he had a real shot at winning.

That is the silliest argument I've ever heard. :p

aight see you in a bit Steeker.

The American's have their own, more advanced program that the euro's are not welcome in. Don't fool yerself thinking that they are not "on the juice" like all the other supposed elite rider's. Cynical? Yes. Realistic? Also yes.

^^^^tip O the hat to Dat^^^^
How to go about cleaning it?

i didn't say they weren't doping, i just pointed out that they were 'unscathed' in this particular crackdown. you're right to be cynical. you think Landis is "on the juice", a good Amish boy like him? what happened to the good old days of the TdF before drugs when riders would survive on their strength, wits, brandy and cigarettes?

when being superhuman really meant something

when energy food meant salami and baguette...

pedalling. jwhitehorn you coming to CM?

not sure yet. i'll how i feel at quitting time. what time is it? 6 or half past?

Now that you mention it I almost never see them actually eat now. It's all gels and weird foil packages.
Give me some real food anyday thanks. Salami baguette some cheese....yum

i have seen shots of them being handed cookie dough, as sort of a change from the gels and bars and such. i believe discovery actually employs their own full time chef, but for meals after the race. i don't like any type of riding where i can't have a coffee and a pastry at some point in the ride.

have you guys heard of the l'eroica race in italy? it basically mimicks (sp?) old-school races: period correct bikes, wool jerseys, gravel roads, no support, salami / cheese / wine at rest stops. it's like a civil war re-enactment but way, way cooler and more fun. and not bigoted (sp?). i'll try to find the link...

EDIT: found it
now that's a spicy meat-a-ball!

Ya it does look cool. It's been featured in Velonews and Bicycling. A couple years ago I saw a movie called something like The Fausto Coppi Story or something on TLN. It was in Italian, but the photography and art direction was so cool I was glued to the set. It must have been shot on some of the same roads and mountain passes.

P.S. Has anyone seen the feature Le Velo de Ghislain Lambert?

damn that's looks cool

Alberto Contador wasn't even accused, was he? He was the highest ranked junior last year to still be < 25 this year. Oh well.. :/

damn.. that would be REALLY good right now. salami and brie on a baguette.. yum! :D

someone posting something somewhere about having to relieve oneself during races of any kind. some guy had to take a dump in a boat race so he stuck his ass out over the side and proceeded to fall in the drink. whipping it out during a bike race and showering everyone behind ala spyhunter. i can't see how one would retain any urine as most of the liquid one takes in would be sweated out. but when you gotta go....

Ooops.

Okay, I may or may not have lapsed into an impromtu nap session when I was supposed to be heading to Keith's shop and paying J.W. for a stem. My apologies. I will rectify that situation as soon as possible. Keith, I'll stop in tomorrow and see if you're there. Jeremy, your beer is in my fridge - a 6 of Heineken that will remain chilled and ready for our next meet-up. Let me know.

Did anyone here snag that Track Pro that was on CL last week? It was a 58cm and was selling for $600; I emailed the seller and never heard back. Great deal, I thought.

Best dressed at June CM 06 award goes to - samhouston
And best quick bike drop in front of car on green light (without having it run over!) goes to-shiznaz
Fun fun
Cheers