NWR the Cycling Thread

Yes very sad, though the issue of cars and motorbikes is one that has been increasing over recent years.

I found this part of the BBC piece by Matt Slater very balanced
"Simply put, bike races are now far more crowded than ever: there are cameramen on motorbikes, photographers on motorbikes, sponsors and VIPs in cars, mechanics on motorbikes, team cars, police motorbikes and sometimes up to 200 riders fighting for road space.

"Cycling is going through a purple patch in terms of participation but the economics of professional cycling remain precarious. Race organisers and teams depend on the exposure they get from television, which means more cameras, closer to the action. Without a compelling TV product, there are no bidding contests to host events, sponsors for teams, shop windows for manufacturers, role models for new fans.

"But without safe conditions to race, there are no riders, there is no sport. Cycling must find its balance."
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With the full article here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/35908455
 
Seems like in this case there was little that could have been done by the very experienced motorcycle rider. Terrible for him too.

Certainly not the case in some of he other incidents of let though.
 
Yes, this seems like it was more wrong place & wrong time for both riders. Awful.

It does look like a very crowded place at times nowadays, especially when racing on narrow roads in Belgium, etc.

Also lots of traffic furniture around these days adding to the complicated nature of racing
 
New 202s arrived, totally different hubs. Pretty good customer service to replace both entire wheels because one hub failed.

Tubs glued on and drying so hope to have a ride on Monday.

Big race tomorrow, wish I could watch it!

I'm hiring a bike from Brussels for a day next week, any tips for where to ride? I think most of the pave is a bit far...
 
I hope now that the British cycling review will be an honest investigation. Whilst they were publicly backing him, one feared the panel was going to comprise of Jeremy Clarkson, Donald Trump, Sid the Sexist and be chaired by Shane Sutton.

Calling the para-cyclists ******* gimps and Wobblies is arguably worse than the sexism allegations, but fundamentally I fear it had got to the point where if he liked you, then you stayed and if you didn't you were booted out. On too many occasions he publicly criticised his cyclists, but it seemed that he could dish it out but not take it, as those that spoke up in response were pushed out of the team.

Let's see if anything comes out from the enquiry - but I'm not holding out for anything meaningful being publically released.

Overall they'll lose a forceful motivator who has (through his cyclists) achieved great results before and after he took up the leadership, but I sense it will be better in the long run without him.
 
There's the rub, at elite level it is completely about performance (ie winning medals) but I think that head coaches can be tough and ruthless while retaining integrity. Looking in from the outside it seems that Sutton bears personal grudges and is not objective enough.
 
Is he not an asthmatic? Should be fairly clear records either way... If he is and regularly takes this but the paperwork was messed up that's a different thing to a sudden need for a performance enhancer...
 
Neil Holland said:
Is he not an asthmatic? Should be fairly clear records either way... If he is and regularly takes this but the paperwork was messed up that's a different thing to a sudden need for a performance enhancer...
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That's fair Neil but if he is a known asthmatic wouldn't the chemicals have shown up in tests before together with the relevant qualifying documents - unless of course tests are so infrequent that it hasn't been picked up before?
 
It looks like :-

a) He has a long documented asthma problem.
b) His doctor noted the use of the drug on the Doping Control Form at the time of the test.
c) This same Doctor didn't apply for a TUE.

What is unclear is what he was taking previously for asthma - but it also seems common with Asthma that different inhaler drugs do different things at different times in different ways so that in itself isn't that suspicious. From what I can read it acts as a short term bronchio dilator - so it's effects are pretty short lasting. Though I don't pretend to understand what else it could help etc etc.....
 
Not the same Mr C! I shall have to FedEx you a spoon... Didn't Sharapova take drugs for a non existent heart condition? A documented history of asthma if that is what he has would absolutely persuade anyone reasonable that taking asthma medication would be logical. Not sure he'd have had it listed if the intention had been malicious. An unpleasant situation for him but OGE feel more to blame...
 
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