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Post by Sovereign on Jul 11, 2016 20:48:47 GMT
I always thought Phill liggett was a great commentator, well he kept me entertained anyway.
Yes Boadman and Peter keen were the first ones to bring sports science and cycling together. We then had the slow trickle of more and more funding and the application of good scientists and the success snowball started. It is just staggering how we have literally dominated all forms of cycling since this point.
I was heavily involved in the training of elite and professional cyclists just before this time, but I found I was banging my head against the wall at times as a lot cyclists were still working full time jobs and didn't have the time to put in the training that they desperately needed , I soon got into property which totally changed the direction of my career.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 11, 2016 20:52:42 GMT
Thanks for letting me know that.
I picked up a lot from Chris Hoy's book. Fascinating reading the story.
If Boardman and Peter Keene hadn't kept at it we'd have nothing.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 21:05:57 GMT
I could never forgive Liggett for his lack of insight about Lance Armstrong. It was obvious to anyone on the inside of the sport that he was a cheat and Liggett was the last to catch on.
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 11, 2016 21:19:10 GMT
I could never forgive Liggett for his lack of insight about Lance Armstrong. It was obvious to anyone on the inside of the sport that he was a cheat and Liggett was the last to catch on. At least Amstrong kept it in the team bus / hotel room. When I was racing they used to pass it round the pre race hotel lobby. It got stupid. It was good gear though.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 12, 2016 7:36:19 GMT
I may have been the very last to catch on about Armstrong. Could not believe he would do that and be so blatant in his defence when so many people knew Dave Millar alluded to the drug times a few times in commentary I love the Sky team comment about incremental improvement being worth more than drugs !  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 14, 2016 21:03:39 GMT
Stunning finish yesterday
Even more stunning today plus farce and a desperate, urgent need for change and rider safety
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 15, 2016 15:01:32 GMT
Stunning finish yesterday Even more stunning today plus farce and a desperate, urgent need for change and rider safety Never ever seen anything like it , yesturday was carnage !!! It is bound to happen and I'm surprised it doesn't happen every other day, it made for very interesting viewing. Even my wife was jumping up and down. The crowds are completely bonkers and they MUST be managed better. I can't even begin to tell you how vulnerable the riders are when they compete on stages like that. Physically their bodies are so delicate , as they push their bodies right to the absolute limit of weight loss and therefore fragility. When you are racing at that extreme intensity and altitude, you often have no idea what is going on around you, when I used to race, if I didn't try and control things I would push myself so hard that my senses would start to pack up. My hearing would go, then as I went harder and harder all I could see was what was directly I front of me, my peripheral vision would be gone and I would have no idea what was going on around me , all I knew was I was going as hard as I possibly could until I crossed the line, then I was totally dead to the world, but with a Cheshire grin on my face. So the very last thing these guys need are uncontrollable lunatics on the side of the road. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 15, 2016 16:19:06 GMT
More barriers required and careful setting up of the stage end and dangerous pinch points on the route.
I have found my body changing from when I did 9.5 miles to work and then back, now just over 20 miles in one hit with only ever rare pauses as little traffic. I have little idea on what it must be like to race for 150 miles odd and then repeat day after day with the odd mountain thrown in
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2016 16:22:26 GMT
Adding some barriers near the finish would be relatively straightforward but doesn't resolve the issues elsewhere on the stage.
One of the main problems seems to be the amount of alcohol that is consumed. Not sure anything can be done about that given the nature of the spectators. It's probably going to require a death before the problem is taken seriously, let's hope it's the spectator that gets killed and not the competitor.
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 15, 2016 16:39:12 GMT
It's probably going to require a death before the problem is taken seriously, let's hope it's the spectator that gets killed and not the competitor. Love the perspective ! |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 15, 2016 20:48:06 GMT
Remember we have had spectator/s killed One reason I don't go to watch live, way too manic. Don't like travelling either |
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 15, 2016 21:46:14 GMT
Remember we have had spectator/s killed I can't remember / wasn't aware of that. |
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Post by alaska on Jul 15, 2016 22:48:12 GMT
27 spectators have been killed. The last was in 2009.
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 15, 2016 23:03:13 GMT
27 spectators have been killed. The last was in 2009. How did they die, did they just get in the way, I've never known of spectators being killed...... |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 16, 2016 7:54:50 GMT
Might have been 2009 when a woman was knocked down and killed by a motorbike.
Sheer number of people involved and watching means someone will die.
It is incredible the mountain top lunacy hasn't done for many more
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 16, 2016 10:10:13 GMT
Might have been 2009 when a woman was knocked down and killed by a motorbike. Sheer number of people involved and watching means someone will die. It is incredible the mountain top lunacy hasn't done for many more Wow, tragic. Again more needs to be done in terms of barriers, safety for the riders, and now the spectators, and crowd control. The Tour de France is the biggest annual sporting event in the world, therefore these incidences are inexcusable ! |
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 16, 2016 17:17:33 GMT
I sat down today to watch the Tour, but then I fell asleep and missed the whole thing. But I did wake up to see the winner interviewed. What a numpty!!!
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 16, 2016 20:25:42 GMT
I confess to doing that Helps chasing it on the Tivo. (Now where was I, just before the first sprint stage, ah yes) |
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Post by John on Jul 24, 2016 16:48:56 GMT
Can I ask why Chris Froome is not held in the same breath as Wiggins
He has won 3 tours would of won a fourth if not under team orders
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Post by Sovereign on Jul 24, 2016 18:19:21 GMT
That's a very good point mate. Cycling is a very old and traditional sport. As you probably know Froome was under instruction to support Wiggins and that's that, the subject will not really be open to discussion. It is very rare for a team to have potential Tour winners, so it rarely happens. Why did the Director of the team put Wiggins as the team leader, because overall he had the best chance of victory.
The only other team that I can think of such a scenario was the Telecom Team with Jan Ullrich and Bjarne Riis
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