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Ag2r: Roche vs Gadret

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Comments

  • #52
    ROK ON
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭ROK ON


    RobFowl wrote: »
    Awful. every time he shows a bit of form bang and back to scratch.

    The first few stages are not too hard do maybe he'll ride himself into form.
    Pherekydes wrote: »
    Not really comparable.

    Roche is the undisputed leader, but I reckon Gadret will finish highest. Roche has missed a lot of prep.

    I think we'll see 2 possible scenarios: Roche starts strongly and dies gradually as the race progresses, or starts poorly and gets stronger as the race progresses. Hope I'm wrong on both counts.

    IMHO he should take it easy in week 1 and ride into it. He could hope for getting into a break but reality is that the guys like Gilbert, Evans, Vino, Vockler, Chavanel will be bursting a gut in the non flat week1 stages. Of thise Gilbert, Evans and Vockler are in a rich vein of form at present. It would take a very strong Roche to even stay with them let alone beat them.
    Given poor form for one reason or another (and given a complete inability to TT) I think he should completely sacrifce any ambitions for a placing.
    IMHO a 4oth place finish and a stage win (plus maybe a couple of placings) would be a fantatsic tour and something to be prooud of. Victory rather than consistency.
    Pick a few stages and go for it.


  • #53
    happytramp
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,625 ✭✭✭happytramp


    TheFredJ wrote: »
    If you liked that check out the following:

    Villach 87
    Tales from Lombardia
    Paris-Nice - The Irish Years
    Kelly's Spring Campaign
    The Stolen Vuelta

    You'll generally find my crap on the Cafe Bookshelf. Mostly it's just book reviews, though the reviews often have stories in them (eg this week's Badger stuff) sometimes it's a bit more ... dope related. eg The Delgado Affaire. If anyone wants to suggest topics - twitterfy me

    Cheers for that! I've run out of books to read on holiday and been keeping myself busy with your articles. Well done, they make for very entertaining reading.


  • #54
    el tel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,991 ✭✭✭el tel


    gadretfan2.jpg


  • #55
    TheBlaaMan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,452 ✭✭✭TheBlaaMan


    I'm really enjoying reading thru some of the stuff linked in post the post above by Fred.

    In addition, Podiumcafe has a whole lot of other interesting stuff. The review of Willy Voet (he of the drug filled car on the '98 TdF which began here in Ireland) caught my eye.
    Here's the link, and some snippets:
    "P was a cheap anabolic, a powerful hormone normally used to develop muscle mass but, banned from the French market, hard to get hold of. Festina imported it from Spain. To assess P's effects precisely, Voet used a guinea-pig - himself: "Before the Dauphiné Libéré in 1996, I took ten pills over seven days, then urinated conscientiously into a jar from days five to eight after taking the final pill. The whole works was then sent to a laboratory in Ghent. The [drug] had been eliminated from my system by day eight. For a cyclist, who will get rid of chemicals far more quickly than someone sedentary like me, the period was still shorter."

    So now he knew how long P could be tested for. But what of its effects? They, Voet discovered firsthand, were felt almost immediately: "Three hours after I took the first pill, I began shivering. I had the impression my lungs were swelling, that I had a new battery somewhere in the system. I felt confident, full of energy, strong as a bull - on hormones. The effects lasted more than a month, effects which we used with good results in the big Tours after that."

    Voet's riders were administered this new drug: "It was for this reason that in 1996 some French and Swiss riders did not compete in their national championships. Right then, they were in the middle of their [P] courses, and the only disastrous effects would have been those felt at the drug tests during the championships. The official reason given was a virus circulating in the team, which, according to the press, was giving us a lot of concern coming up to the Tour de France. In actual fact, the whole team was at a training camp in the Pyrenees."

    The drug? Clenbuterol."

    .........:rolleyes::rolleyes:


  • #56
    Chips Lovell
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Chips Lovell


    Well that puts that one to bed.
    citing fatigue


  • #57
    manwithaplan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,200 ✭✭✭manwithaplan


    ROK ON wrote: »
    IMHO he should take it easy in week 1 and ride into it. He could hope for getting into a break but reality is that the guys like Gilbert, Evans, Vino, Vockler, Chavanel will be bursting a gut in the non flat week1 stages. Of thise Gilbert, Evans and Vockler are in a rich vein of form at present. It would take a very strong Roche to even stay with them let alone beat them.

    Excellent stuff, sir. Nice of the riders to oblige by following your predictions closely.


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