Just watched the time trial. How fast is Wiggins.

You should be able to tell us, you just watched the time trial.

Where does this sit in terms of sporting achievements in British history?

Gotta be pretty near the top, with Wiggo one of our best sportsmen ever when you add in his Olympic golds etc.

Didnt you watch it yesterday?

Where does this sit in terms of sporting achievements in British history?

Gotta be pretty near the top, with Wiggo one of our best sportsmen ever when you add in his Olympic golds etc.

Very high up there, especially as there is no real tradition of the sport in this country.

One thing that did occur to me was this was heavily funded over the last twenty years or so by Lottery money and grants. When you compare the state of cycling now and then, compared to the FA which has had much, much more private money poured into it over the same timescale, it shows just how bad a job the football authorities have done.

I assume that funding will drop off with Sky sponsorship and success generating more commercial returns. What then needs to happen is that the cycling funding is redirected to another deserving sport with similar ambitions.

Very high up there, especially as there is no real tradition of the sport in this country.

Very high up there, especially as there is no real tradition of the sport in this country.

One thing that did occur to me was this was heavily funded over the last twenty years or so by Lottery money and grants. When you compare the state of cycling now and then, compared to the FA which has had much, much more private money poured into it over the same timescale, it shows just how bad a job the football authorities have done.

Perfect ending!

Wiggins during Lesley Garrett massacring of the National Anthem.

Eh?

Did he fail any tests?

The moral of the story is that if a cyclist looks too good to be true, then he probably is. But if a cyclist looks too good to be true and has an entourage of lawyers, press flaks, doctors and bodyguards, then he definitely is.

As reluctant as I am to make assumptions, by doing this he's effectively just walked away from his entire lifetime's accomplishments, so that rather suggests he knew he'd be convicted.

As reluctant as I am to make assumptions, by doing this he's effectively just walked away from his entire lifetime's accomplishments, so that rather suggests he knew he'd be convicted.

Yeah. The Guardian took the line that you have to be a master strategist to win the Tour de France, doped or no; this "I'm walking away from the legal hassles for my family's sake" is exactly what a master strategist who knew he was about the get caught would do to save whatever he could of his professional reputation. Obviously none of us know, but to my mind Occam's Razor says he's a cheat (as were, it seems, practically all of them).

but to my mind Occam's Razor says he's a cheat (as were, it seems, practically all of them).

You're probably right. How could someone clean dominate the sport when practically everyone else around them was doping?

It's sad, because his ascent from cancer survivor to sport superstar was an amazing story. I'd give my left bollock just to win the Tour even once.

Livestrong has been a for-profit company, not a charity for a while, if my recollections are correct.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides support for people affected by cancer, founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't easy, even with drugs. And anyway if others around him were at it then his achievement still stands really.

Apparently not at the time, but part of the allegations are that he DID test positive, but that the Lance Armstrong Show was big enough to hush it all up.

37' 35" Marco Pantani 1997 Italy
37' 36" Lance Armstrong 2004 United States
38' 00" Marco Pantani 1994 Italy
38' 01" Lance Armstrong 2001 United States
38' 04" Marco Pantani 1995 Italy
38' 23" Jan Ullrich 1997 Germany
38' 34" Floyd Landis 2006 United States
38' 35" Andreas Klöden 2006 Germany
38' 37" Jan Ullrich 2004 Germany
39' 02" Richard Virenque 1997 France

Somebody mentioned the fastest times up Alpe d'Huez.

It's an interesting list....

How can one person for the drugs testers to not report it...

Quick quiz! What's the conenction between some of thses riders?

Quick quiz! What's the conenction between some of thses riders?

Based on that table, they're all really, really tall.

for us cycling tifosi this actualdoesn't change that much.. we're knew this, and gave it its place in that era of cycling.... taking of his victories is quite ridiculous IMO