Iāve heard he got a āfeed bagā from his Directeur Sportif at one stage on the way to La Plagne which contained some very special feed.
On the mad performances theme following on from Sidney, Indurain rides like a lunatic up Hautacam in 1990, though I agree after that he toned it down and just did the bare minimum.
Armstrong to Sestriere in 99 is probably the most audacious Iāve seen though, considering who he left for dead and how much dope they were most likely on.
Though poor old VDB in the Vuelta that year would be up there tooā¦Christ you could go on listing examples all day.
Look up āchickasmithā on Youtube, he has the Channel 4 highlights of pretty much every stage of every tour since 1990.
Donāt want to be casting doubt on your undoubted cycling credentials Thraw but to the best of my knowledge the Tour didnāt visit Hautacam for the first time until '94. I think the stage you may be talking about is where Indurain and Lemond rode up to Luz Ardiden in 1990. As far as I remember Lemond made the pace the whole way (he was trying to make up time on Chiappucci who had opened a massive gap after a breakaway early in the race) but Indurain dropped him with a few hundred metres left and won the stage. It definitely wasnāt a āred lightā performance however.
I havent been following this at all as I detest cycling and itās clear they were all on drugs at some stage, same with most sports persons really. I just want to know what did he take and which did he say was the best stuff??
Conor Hayes went for a few settling pints the night before the 1987 AI Final [size=2]**[/size]
[size=2]**When being interviewed for Sylvie Linnanes book in 2012 Hayes admitted this having denied it vehemently to Cyril Farrell in an earlier conversation in 1987[/size].
Yeah, youāre right, I think. Iāve watched so much cycling videos over the last few weeks Iām all muddled up. Thatās the performance anyway. I wouldāve regarded it as a red light performance as Indurain won with ease while you can tell LeMond is really really suffering. And this from a fat arsed TT rider.
On a really rather unrelated but somehow ironic note, reading Rough Ride got me into cycling in the first place. And now all this shit has given me the bug again. Getting a decent new racer very soon and I may even start to shave my legs again.
For me the daftest one of all was Hincapie winning the mountain stage. And Landis of course. And Riis the time he went to the back of the bunch and then accelarated away from everyone. Do you remember the Tour where Indurain attacked on the climb in Belgium and blitzed the field early on in the race? Fastest ever stage speed at the time. The only one who could keep up with him was one Johan Bruyneel. And the cunt came around Indurain after he doing all the work and won the stage.
Wouldnāt have minded Indurain so much. He paid his dues, he was riding the Tour from 86/87 and was steadily improving year by year. Was also winning races like Paris-Nice. And he didnāt behave like a cunt when he reached the top. Jesus but he made races boring though.
Iād be lucky to get my Mapei special edition Italian Champion āBartoliā full-zip jersey to close as far as my nipples these days, unfortunately. The cap, arm-warmers, gloves and socks might still be ok, mind. I used to ride around the place looking like a harlequin back in the day. I even had the Rudy Sport Mapei-issue glasses. Great days.
Testosterone gel caps and EPO were the main course according to Tyler Hamilton. Every description of EPO Iāve read concludes that it turns you into a machine and the results seem to concur.
Would EPO be harmful for you? I wouldnāt mind a little something just to help increase my training after the festive period but not if thereās really nasty side effects. I presume most gym instructors would supply stuff like this handy enough.
Donāt know how much research there has been on it but there are some well established risks alright. It thickens the blood which means your heart is going to be under more strain pumping it, and obviously thereās an increased risk of blood clots, strokes etc. as well. I think Hamilton talks in his book about lads setting alarms in the middle of the night so they could get up and exercise to keep their heart rate up and keep the blood pumping around their body.
][font=Georgia]In the 1990s, there was a spate of sudden deaths, at least a dozen, where fit amateur and professional cyclists died in their sleep. That negative publicity was at least part of the reason for the clamping down on EPO use, which was rampant at the time.[/font]
[font=Georgia]It brings to mind one of the most fascinating quotes Iāve ever come across in a cycling book - it was in the book [/font]āThe death of Marco Pantaniā by Matt Rendell[font=Georgia], in which a story is recounted of how in the 1990ās, with EPO use rampant, the cyclists would set their heart rate monitors to sound an alarm if their heart rate dropped below a certain level. On hearing the alarm, the cyclists would have to wake up, [/font][font=Georgia]get the bike out and spend 10 minutes on the rollers, in their hotel rooms[/font][font=Georgia], just to jump start the circulation.[/font]
[font=Georgia]In the words of one cyclist: ā[/font][font=Georgia]During the day we live to ride, and at night, we ride to stay alive[/font][font=Georgia]ā.[/font]
[quote=āballoobasluvsbeer, post: 152378ā]
I read Hamiltons book and enjoyed it, should I read Walshs or is it much the same thing?
[/quote]Tyler Hamilton book is a way better read than walshs new one. From lance to landis is better than is new one.
Iāve heard he got a āfeed bagā from his Directeur Sportif at one stage on the way to La Plagne which contained some very special feed.
On the mad performances theme following on from Sidney, Indurain rides like a lunatic up Hautacam in 1990, though I agree after that he toned it down and just did the bare minimum.
Armstrong to Sestriere in 99 is probably the most audacious Iāve seen though, considering who he left for dead and how much dope they were most likely on.
Though poor old VDB in the Vuelta that year would be up there tooā¦Christ you could go on listing examples all day.
Look up āchickasmithā on Youtube, he has the Channel 4 highlights of pretty much every stage of every tour since 1990.
[/quote]The best stage I ever saw as contador and Rasmussen going toe to toe on arcades I think. Unbelievable attack and counter attack for mile after mile leaving everyone else for dead. Both up to the gills. Shame. Armstrongs problem has always been that he is a grade a bollix, unlike indurain who was equally āpreparedā , but popular.
Yeah just reading about it there, serious endurance levels. Seems to have more warnings associated with it than say steroids or is that me imagining things?