i know hindsight and all that, but the more i see ricco's acceleration last week, the more ridiculous it looks.

but imagine how cool it would be if they made EPO compulsory? mass sprints up mountains, alp-eating competitions, it'd rule.

Oh what fun to watch your favourite athletes die of heart failure

so you agree!

Is cadel a gay wheelsucker? Check the bitch slap. Is he really an Aussie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikzgWE3t0A

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008...ders-find.html
"--Should the ASO just allow doping at this point and implement a Maillot Dopage for the highest-placed drugged rider?"

lol

200years?!?? you sure?

another gem on BSNYC in one of the ricco-related posts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiCH64c6KSw

you'll need to understand french though...

Conditions look very moist. That's great if you're with a lady, not so much when you're riding up (and down!) an Alp.

i find it difficult to understand all of the commentary of the irish guy. there is something strange about his voice.

is it just me or does anyone struggle with it ?

Sean Kelly's Irish accent has been completely Euro-Cycling-Pro-atized. And his lexis has shifted so he says things like classement (with no French accent) instead of classification.

I don't find it hard to decipher though.

Looks like CSC are going to turn the screw at the climb at the end today possibly pinching the jersey off bum face . Excellent.

ha ha evans in total pain on that climb!thats what happens when your team can't ride for you!

I take 'evans' isn't very popular then?

Thank god Evans is out of Yellow. I like the guy and hope he wins overall but it'd be so boring to see him wear Yellow all the way to Paris. He might even attack on Tuesday!! I doubt it though. He'll just win it on the final time trial imo.

Best stage so far.

I feel sorry for Evans. His team can offer nothing really. Having said that Menchov seems to get by on his own. Evans has no chance against CSC, they have a fantastic group of riders. The train that is Cancellara and Voght to pull to the foothills then the Shleck's and Sastre on the climb's proper.

Great ride by Kohl today, kudos.

I had predicted an Evans win but now I think that is unlikely.

I will go for Sastre to win.

Ive taken a days annual leave for te Alpe Duez stage on Wednesday, should be good!

that was one exciting finish. menchov was well ahead when he slipped.

the best part was the big cock and balls someone had painted on the road. it must have been 15 feet long

hahah yeah I missed that but my gf spotted it.

I bet the bookies are having a bit of a scamble to adjust odds now.

great stage, showing that evans is going to be possible weak in the hills

i think he'll have to dig deep and call it damage limitation, and hopefully be in with a shout at the time trial

Schleck and Kohl will probably need to put 2 to 3 minutes minimum into Evans to have enough of a buffer for the TT.

Bad luck for Pereiro. Beloki never got over his broken femur :(

PS. Don't attempt to say 'enough of a buffer for the' out loud.

Join us - Offside Bar on City Road if you can make it. (Although I have a nagging feeling your in Glasgow?!)

I would really like to watch it in the company of you lot.
You are right though, I am in Glasgow, if I had planned bit better I could have come down and stayed at a friends and watched it in the pub.

Instead I will purchase a slab of Peetermans and a large bag of kettle chips for my pleasure, next best thing!:)

I'll be watching it in similar circumstances in Nottingham. But then I have Eurosport and no regular job so I can do that all day everyday anyway.

good stage win by simon gerrans. he's good mates with a couple of my mates, and apparently a great bloke. very canny final attack to steal the win.

evans losing yellow is not the problem. he's only 8 seconds down which he can get back from Schleck and Kohl with no worries in the time trial. the problem is he doesn't look that strong, and with some very tough stages coming up he could lost more time pretty easily. where the fuck have his team-mates been, especially given that they refused to give mcewen ANY support because they were apparently all pulling for Cadel.

here's what Gerrans had to say in The Age, Melbourne's broadsheet daily paper: http://www.theage.com.au/world/how-i...0721-3idu.html

is anyone else playing the eurosport fantasy tdf game?

evans is a strong rider, you have to expect a bad day or so in the tour. i believe he will bounce back.

the reporters are stupid, poking his injured shoulder with the microphone, what you expect.

evans was consistent last year in all the mountain stages. if he does the same this tour and keep the gap to within 2mins evans should bag the yellow in the ITT. sastre and valverde looked strong and comfortable yesterday.

stoked that gerrans won the stage. and beat the american! pate stayed on the tail of the breakaway group all day and never helped out. it was only until the final climb that he was forced to go up front. i wouldve been pretty pssd off if he had won.

allez allez!!

well, quite!

I've never watched a programme with as many advert breaks as there are in ITV4's coverage. I'm pretty sure that they are breaching the guidelines in terms of commercials per hour...

Evans looked quite sick and still managed to hold on well to the scumbag climber scum.
Not being in yellow now is fine - less pressure for the next two days. So long as he doesn't let too much time go he can smash the puny climbing scumbag scum in the TT. Climber scum.

Couple of nasty crashes and Menchov crashing going UP. Funny stuff MenchyMench. Keep it up.

Gerrans! Melbourne boy does us proud! Fuck yeah!

I'm voting Cav for Brit sportsperson of the year even if some plonkers out there don't understand why he retired.

Can you get British Eurosport's version?

eurosport mate. itv's fckd. appeared to be equal amt of tdf and ads there. as much as i prefer the commentating crew on itv, the ad breaks made it unbearable to watch. pulled my hair out last time i was on it.

cav abandoned? missed that