Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Cyclingnews had a quick interview with a doping expert Michel Audran who dropped some interesting tidbits. I was stunned at almost every response. Just when you think that maybe doping is being driven out of cycling, the riders are simply staying one step ahead with drugs that aren’t yet detected.
Ricco used CERA/Micera which is not [...]

Ricco’s bike is put away on the SD Team Truck: PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images
Beyond words-or actual words would be only expletives-would describe my reaction to Riccardo Ricco’s positive test for EPO and a newish EPO like drug called CERA.
Like synthetic erythropoietin (rEPO), CERA was developed to as a treatment for the anemia that results from chronic [...]

Boston.com has a feature on the Tour with some stunning photos. Here is a tilt-shift effect making the peloton look miniature.

JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
Boston.com

PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Image
The first major mountain stage of the Tour de France dealt Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego a cold dose of Pyrennean reality. Jens Voight and the CSC power zombies crushed the field up the Col de Tourmalet climb. Voight is not a climber, just a power zombie bent on feeling pain. His twisting [...]

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Riccardo Ricco flash visions of Marco Pantani with the vicious atacks up the Col D’Aspin to claim his second stage win of the Tour. Ricco’s attack came up the final climb but before several kilometers of downhill. The main favorites in the select bunch that was left behind seemed to halt their attacks [...]

PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images
Riccardo Ricco put his stamp on the Tour with a nice win st Super Besse during stage 6. With the help of Leonardo Piepoli who joined an attack by Christian Vande Velde with 5km to go in the stage Ricco was able to take advantage of a counter attack.
Alejandro Valverde showed that [...]

AP Photo/Laurent Rebours
Garmin’s TT kit reminds me of the awful Gan team kit of the early 90s featuring Greg Lemond and Chris Boardman. The faded blue with the argyle pattern bring back memories of the blue yellow splatter pattern of the Gan team where even Greg Lemond opted out and wore plain blue shorts.

The TT [...]

AP Photo/Christophe Ena
Stefan Schumacher is the man who can separate the regular cycling fans from the “just following the Tour” fans. There was a huge shock in the news when Schumi took the Yellow Jersey. Who is this German coming from no where? A relative nobody gets to shine in Yellow. Well Stefan Schumacher has [...]

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What was a novelty in stage 2 turned into a regular pattern for the road stages so far in this year’s Tour de France. Each day the breakaways consitent of all French riders usually three or four. Most of them contain Sylvain Chavanel or Thomas Voekler. They also must include a rider from [...]

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Will Frischkorn got into the winning break today in the Tour giving new sponsor Garmin some nice screen time and almost grabbing a win in the process. In the finale Frischkorn just was beaten by one of the smallest and most attacking Frenchmen in the peloton Samuel Dumoulin while number three on the [...]