I donât remember any talk of him last year in the build up to the Olympics or any other races, it was all about Roche. Then this year I heard of him winning a few stages here and there and I think he won a couple of races so Where has Martin come out off?
Stephen Roches sister. Keep up ffs sake
Funny fucker. 
Kimmage never struck me as that type of person.
Me neither but it was a strange article-I will try to find a link to it. Kimmage is a cranky bollox but this article made him look like a bit of a child-hard not to be a little smug I suppose when he has been vindicated for the years of abuse and being treated like a leper by a lot of the cycling fraternity.
I posted a link to the article on this thread yesterday, bro.
:oops: So you did mate.
He is a pro for 5 years, age 27, has been gradually building up a nice CV. Rode Tour for first time last year. Has not been in the Irish media so much.
I posted a link to it a couple of weeks ago, kid.
He wasnât a factor for the Olympics because it was too flat. Heâs been a good climber all his career, just not been involved in Le Tour as much for various reasons.
[FONT=Georgia][quote=âBandage, post: 798591, member: 9â]Was going to ask you boys about what can be concluded after the first two mountain stages alright in terms of race cleanliness. Surely a bit suspect to see the Team Sky lads (some of them not renowned climbers) powering up the climbs yesterday and burning mountain specialists and GC contenders? But, on the other hand, the fact that most of them were completely spent today in the aftermath is probably an encouraging sign? I see yer man Kiryienka finished outside the time limit and is eliminated from the race so Froome might be lacking support in the Alps. Not sure what to make of the likes of Schleck, Contador and Evans up at the front today.[/quote][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]I think thereâs a little too much being made of Skyâs capitulation on Sunday in a positive sense, Bandage. The order is the inverse, but Porteâs travails on Sunday, following his spectacular Saturday, are a mirror image of Landisâs famous leap in form when he âwonâ the Tour. That erratic form and unexplained peaks in form have always been triggers of suspicion for doping, but now theyâre being treated as proof that Sky are human, and ergo didnât dope. I think thatâs a dangerous assumption and I wouldnât be comfortable in drawing many positive conclusions from Porte falling apart on Sunday â it was one stage, Froome rode fairly conservatively. If that was all it took to evade suspicions of doping then it would have been a small price to pay.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]I think Iâm more concerned with David Walshâs opinions on the matter. Heâs tweeting some bizarre stuff at the moment in response to accusations that Froomeâs performances are strikingly similar to a certain Lance Armstrong. Walsh is basing his defence of Froome entirely on the difference of personality between the two â itâs obvious he never liked Armstrong but a gruff personality wasnât the sole reason Armstrong was a suspect, and the opposite traits in Froome should mean nothing in the context of doping. Sure didnât Flo Jo have a lovely smile?[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]I do think the Tour (and cycling in general) is getting cleaner all the time but when you see guys like Schleck and Contador near the top, and the abundance of riders who have ridden for known doping teams, under leaders who were doped and for managers who advocated doping then itâs a long way from being a perfectly clean sport. Thatâs why I advocated the idea of wider responsibility in that Dan Martin piece the other day. If riders donât suffer collectively then they will continue to be encouraged to take risks and the sport will never properly acknowledge the orchestrated collusion that underpins some of the cheating.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]I wouldnât have Evans in the company of Schleck and Contador for tainted riders by the way.[/FONT]
Agree on Evans, Rocko. But remember that Walsh used to be gushing about Lance back in the very early days. Maybe if Lance had left David drive around in the Motorola/Discovery team bus like he used to do for Phil Liggett maybe things could have been different. Like him or not, at least Kimmage is consistent, he trusts no one. About Schleck or Contador, they arenât related to the riders they were a couple of years ago, so maybe they are âcleanerâ. Sky arenât half as strong as they were last year. No Froome equivalent to back up the leader. Rogers gone, Eisel gone.
Would the decline of Sky correlate with the departure of Sean Yates and the increased spot light that was going to be on their riders after last years win?
Porteâs performance stinks alright. Itâs like Sky decided it was a bit too fucking obvious the day before and decided to sacrifice him. He didnât even look like he was struggling to me.
Yeah Iâd guess Contador and Schleck are cleaner alright but theyâre obviously guilty of past transgressions that they continue to deny and avoid.
Well thatâs obvious. But the only solution to that is life bans or shutting down teams.
Talansky has crashed about 15ks out and looks set to lose some time here with the peloton driving towards the finish at St Malo.
Talansky has miraculously got back on despite Garmin driving at the front with Dan Martin getting looked after.
Less than 8ks left now and the big sprinting teams are moving up as David Millar drops out.
Kittel takes Griepel on the line, Cavendish takes out Degenkolb behind them causing a dreadful crash for him. Cavendish will surely be in hot water over that, disgraceful manoeuvre.
It was Tim Veelers who was taken down. Whilst Veelers was looking around a bit and not fully concentrating on holding his line, Cav was at fault, he lunged in like a rutting bull