tonym

The story so far.....

Remember, those domestiques 'at the back of the pack' are race winners in their own right, many excel in other types of race and possibly all of them were big amateur stars before they made the leap to pro contracts with these top teams. One could dig a lot further down the UCI rankings and still find doping (whether it be 'doping' in the re-infusion sense or simply charging with hormones, steriods and stimulants) endemic. As for a 'safer' type of performance enhancing drug....it'll never exist because there'll always be something bigger, badder and more potent calling riders to the dark side.

It's an age old technique (a Belgian soigneur once told me and a few others that Mercx used to visit the Swiss Alps to change his blood with a young boy...now whatever this meant I'm sure there's an element of extraction/re-infusion there) but coupled with today's processes (adding EPO, like John said, to stimulate red cell prodution) and altitude training, the rider's blood consistancy an become treacle-like. We've all heard stories of teams being woken at some small hour to ride around hotel car parks for fear of them dying in their sleep....now that's why.

heck yeah! My little boy, aged 5, was telling me about some character he'd seen on Return Of The Jedi. After quizzing him about where and when he'd seen this alien/man he told me that he appears on the bit where, " you know Jabba The Hut? Well, you know where Leah is sitting down in that nice gold suit?" (Yeah, I know it well son.....) Funny how children pick up on this sort of thing and also how many fond memories re-appear in later life either as dreams or fantasy

About 8".....

Klöden's ride was indeed spectacular -- I like this guy very much and hope one day he can improve on his podium places. He's often accused (on British TV) of just being a wheel-follower but I disagree, he can be quite temptestous and attacking at times (remember the stage into Morzine, I think, a year or so ago?). Now that T-Mobile are 'leaderless' as such, one can only hope he'll stay with the outfit and benefit from his marvellous teammates work to go on to be a real contender.

Tonym, Landis does not have the yellow jersey yet, he is third in overall standings. The time trial participants run in the reverse order of the overall standings so it will be Landis, then Sastre, and then Pereiro. It should be a great race! A very exciting finish to this year's Tour. And let's not forget the final stage tomorrow... Yes, may the best man win! yes of course in my excitement I went all funny....

very much so Ed..... the time trial today will be riveting; when you take into account that of course Landis will have in front of him in two minute intervals both Sastre and Pereiro!!! If he manages to get either of them in sight (which does happen) then he'll know that the Tour's his. He does seem a likeable guy, however prior to Thursdays's stage I always had him down as a bit of a lacklustre rider --- strong yes, but not effervescent in the manner of other 'giants'. His background is about as unconventional as it gets, what with his oppressive family and mountainbike background. Let's hope the best man wins.

I think yesterdays stage result was a combination of a fully recovered Landis (making up for the day before -- heatstroke possibly?) at his best, some slightly iffy DS decisions (give him enough rope etc...-- you can't do that with a guy like Landis) and possibly some apathy/animosity between the other (close) contenders' teams. ie. Why should CSC ride after him when T-Mob have as much at stake etc. To be honest, I don't know how they let him get that inital gap. And when the T-Mobiles did start chasing they made it so hard for everyone bar a couple of CSC's, they did it so late in the stage. Either way a memorable stage by Landis and now a very possible candidate for yellow on Saturday (long TT). Who knows though, I mean a long flat day today, nothing should happen but in this year's Tour......

We had the same cool, rainy sea-fret yesterday morning until I rode up to the top of the Moors. It cleared around 4pm. Back up into mid 20's

Cheers FFA! Hope your having a good 'un.

Last November i was admitted into hospital with suspected Crohn's and chatted with a guy in the bed next to me about it's long term affects. I am certainly moved to donate Joe, especially knowing now that you lost your nearest through the disease. Thanks for that link.

31 deg C and a very warm wind. The tar is coming right up so North Yorks council in their infinite wisdom see fit to dispatch some gritter lorries with fine gravel to cover the surface of most affected roads. Cheap and nasty intervention to our already cacky roads

Hot! 28deg C at 9am

Have fun by the way i'd love a week over there at the moment.

Paris? You can get there easily and in relative luxury on Eurostar from Bruxelles. You will find some guys on this board who shop regularly at Paris Jazz Corner and Moby Jazz. I spent quite a bit of time in Belgium (Flanders, though) when I was younger but most of the time it was culturally devoid being dragged around the cycle racing scene; I wish I could revisit that time to see it through new eyes. Bruxelles is a very cosmopolitan city from what I remember, nice big parks in which to relax and lots of cafés. Nearby there are loads of excellent restaurents and breweries. I always found Belgium, as a whole, to be very much like Normandy; not a lot of jaw-dropping elements to it but pleasurable in itself -- little things to behold, whether it be miles and miles of unspoilt farmland or sleepy little towns that come alive at night. Bruges is always worth a visit and even through my naive young eyes of 15 years ago I still observed the 'catwalk on wheels' that is common to many European cities --- hundreds of beautiful young women wafting around town in their summer frocks on old sit-up-and-beg bicycles

All the best from sunny England Agustin!

You've just described AghARTA in Prague!! Well, apart from the parking (we walked). Dead right about the ambience; you want to be able to converse now and again without spoiling it for other punters. Food should be simple but good and wine and beers should be regional and cheap! The new Jazz Bar in Edinburgh, although being run by real enthusiasts has the stage set too far down the club with a bar running all along the left hand wall -- a bit of a queue and the listeners enjoyment/view is impaired. It does tend to attract The Sunday Times crowd too for whom listening isn't the most important experience. BTW my wife regularly plays concerts (chamber music) in an old Victorian railway station which has been converted to a partly alfresco bistro-type-thing. The paying crowd love it because of the surroundings; flagstones, inscriptions on the walls, etc., and the musicians love the acoustics (and a few glasses of plonk courtesy of the management)

All the belated best Guy. Glad you had a good day!

Lovely full sound in these recordings from first listen. IIRC Gdogus is a bit of a fan of this set Just wondering which of the complete string quartet boxes to go for; think it may have to be the Fitwilliam/London recordings. What do you all think?

All credit to the Portuguese goalie but what was going on around the French goalmouth those last few minutes?

That's the one I can't stop playing at the moment. Plus, there's a chance if I can get playing again (get some chops back in order) there's a great little 3 piece band with a tremendous female vocalist who said they'd consider a tenor man behind the voice. As I've said before, this is my idea of heaven. BTW, thanks Paul. PM sent.

Thinking about dragging the ol' Selmer back out and I wondered if anyone had the chords to the above song. Something to get my teeth into. TIA, Tony.