Two cyclists just made my day!

[TxDoc]

What a day yesterday!

First, Fabian Cancellara manages to turn around his 2009 season by winning both the final ITT of the Tour de Suisse and the overall. Congrats to Fabu, 2009 TdS Champion!

Second, Lance Armstrong wins the Nevada City Classic after a successful breakaway. Congrats to Lance for his first comeback victory! Now let's go take back the Tour :D

Thank you guys - I've been waiting to see these images for the past six months!
:)

[kermit]

Glad to see Fabian made a comeback after all the illness. He is the time trial machine. Lance is just a freak of nature! Can't wait for the tour.

[alpinerabbit]

I don't know about Cancellara and the Tour and I definitely doubt Lance is up to it. He looks too old and frankly, to scared.

[ny biker]

Astana will ride for Contador unless something goes wrong for him. I could see Lance trying to get a stage win, and but most likely he'll be a super domestique. Even he has admitted that he's a longshot for the yellow jersey.

But I gotta say, finishing 12th in the Giro is impressive given his age and the fact that he retired for 3 years and broke his collarbone a month before the race.

[arielmoon]

Awesome for both!

[SadieKate]

. . . and I definitely doubt Lance is up to it. He looks too old and frankly, to scared.Up to what? :confused:

[ZenSojourner]

Too SCARED?

I'm sorry, that's just totally off the wall. The man beat brain cancer that spread throughout most of his body and continued to compete during the process. Pardon me, I think that was prostate cancer that spread to the brain and other places, but either way is just as bad.

You don't get to call him "scared". I'm willing to bet you haven't got a clue of what he's already faced and survived.

My dad beat cancer 4 times. It took 3 simultaneous cancers at the age of 89 to finally take him out. I don't think you know what courage is.

[Possegal]

Just to clarify, he never had brain cancer. He had testicular cancer that metastasized to the brain and lungs, which is a very different thing. Testicular cancer responds to treatment far better than brain cancer does, so it really is a different thing. Sorry - I work in oncology, it's a little pet peeve of mine. Not that I'm not a big fan of his for all he's done for cancer awareness, I most definitely am. But even he says something in that stupid movie "dodgeball" about having brain cancer. He did not have brain cancer.

I see you edited while I was posting. But again the "either way just as bad" isn't true. All stage 4 cancers are not created equal.

Personally, I am looking forward to watching him in the tour and am a tad annoyed that I bagged on planning a trip to France to watch because cousins told me they were coming to visit in July and this weekend they told me they can't. Don't think I can pull off a trip at this point. UGH. So I'll be watching Lance on Versus and enjoying my July anyway. I'll have to buy some stinky cheese and good wine to enjoy while watching! :)

[tctrek]

We know that Lance came back to ride for his Livestrong cause, which is great. He's not even getting paid!! But we just can't stop cheering him on to WIN. I just think it's incredible after all he's been through that he's riding at all. He is an amazing person.

[SadieKate]

Cheering him on to WIN the TdF????? I think he's going to ride in support of Contador. A win for him is getting Contador the yellow jersey again. He's been pretty frank about this.

[ZenSojourner]

I see you edited while I was posting. But again the "either way just as bad" isn't true.

Sorry, whether you work oncology or not, you're just wrong. In fact, the fact that you claim to work in oncology scares the living crap out of me.

Terminal cancer is terminal cancer is terminal cancer. I've spent the last 2 years devoted to keeping my father alive, despite the nay-saying of oncology "experts".

The kind of cancers that Lance Armstrong was fighting are VERY bad. You can play ontological games with what is "bad" and what is "worse" til the cows come home, and sometimes (to quote Huey Lewis), bad is bad.

What Lance Armstrong was facing was VERY bad. When cancer spreads, it's worse. I'm sorry if I wasn't up to remembering the EXACT circumstances when I wrote the post, but since my dad just died 12 days ago, I'm still struggling. It doesn't help that medical "experts" killed him by putting him on morphine when he already had COPD and congestive heart failure "because he said he was in pain".

Yeah. You know what pain he was talking about? I do. Because I asked. Unlike the medical "expert" who put him on morphine and killed him.

He had an incipient bedsore over his tailbone. That was one pain he had been complaining about for 2 weeks before he was murdered.

He had a bleeding sore on the bridge of his nose, caused by a respiratory therapist putting a CPAP mask on him for HOURS that was patently too small. The nurse on the floor - and the nurse supervisor - both REFUSED to have the mask changed "because the seal is good". The thing was making his nose bleed and it was falling into his mouth because it was too frickin' small. I had to call my son in another state from my cell phone, get him to find the number for respiratory therapy at that hospital online, find the person responsible ON MY OWN, and make them come down and change that mask MYSELF, because medical "experts" couldn't be bothered.

That was pain #2.

And now for the best part. Pain #3. You know what pain #3 was that made the "oncology expert" think he needed to be medicated to death?

His mouth was dry from the frickin' CPAP. They refused to take the mask off long enough to let him suck on foam straws to moisten his mouth. So when the frickin' ghoul who called herself a doctor came along when I wasn't in the room and asked if he was "in pain", and he tried to explain, instead of trying to understand him (how understandable do you think an 89 year old man with no dentures, wearing a CPAP mask, with a mouth so dry his lips are chapping and bleeding, could possibly be to someone who just plain isn't interested in his true condition?) she just dosed him up with morphine, called me AFTER the fact and tried to scare me into making him DNR, then gave me some crap about how he's "struggling to die", THEN, when I dragged her back to his room, she stood over him like a frickin' VAMPIRE asking over and over and over and OVER again, "Are you having any pain?" EVEN AFTER HE SAID NO REPEATEDLY?

NONE of that is pain requiring the administration of opiates.

The expert mentality is extremely dangerous. A truly knowledgeable person in ANY field acknowledges that they don't know. Reconsider your status. My father was killed by "experts". The final straw was when they put him on a frickin' morphine DRIP (again when I wasn't there) because a nurse asked if he was in any pain, and he said, "I don't know. Something hurts. It's EVERYWHERE."

And that, my friend, is what he ALWAYS says when he's sick and needs to use a frickin' BEDPAN. And after 3 days with no bowel movement, how likely do you think it was that what he needed was a BEDPAN, and not a morphine drip? I can tell you this for certain, he hadn't been offered a bedpan, and nobody called me to help before they did it.

"Experts" killed my father. People who "work in oncology" caused his PREMATURE death. He was going to die anyway and it was VERY clear that as far as they were concerned, a few weeks, a few days, a few hours, it didn't matter to them.

It mattered to my father, and it mattered to me, and it mattered to his son and grandchildren who didn't get to see him before he'd been drugged into oblivion.

Are you sure you want to claim "expert" status here? "I work in oncology and this is a pet peeve of mine" - you don't use the word, but the implication is there. Sorry if you're "peevish" about what are life and death issues to the people actually struggling with it!

I have NOTHING but respect for Lance Armstrong, and the fact that he was successfully competitive in a highly demanding sport despite spreading cancer. I know I couldn't do it. He's a bigger person than I am, not because he rides a bike better, but because he fought for his life and refused to give it up under circumstances that I can't even begin to imagine.

It's not just that he lived. It's that even when he was sick, he LIVED.

[ny biker]

Okay, I just watched the final stage of the Tour of Switzerland. Cancellara really was amazing. And I love it when the winner cries at the end.

[Tuckervill]

ZenSojourner, I'm very sorry for the tragic loss of your father. You are obviously still processing what happened. Maybe you should take a break from the forum while you attempt to heal?

With utmost respect and condolences,
Karen

[ilima]

I don't know about Cancellara and the Tour and I definitely doubt Lance is up to it. He looks too old and frankly, to scared.

If Cancellara wins the prolougue he'll probably be in yellow for a week before any significant bumps show up. Nobody expects him to contend for the overall.

[Possegal]

I am truly very sorry for your loss.

[OakLeaf]

(((((((ZS))))))), I'm so sorry for your loss.




I'm rooting for Valverde. :) No good reason, just to pick someone to make it more exciting to watch.

[Possegal]

They just announced that Valverde will not be in the Tour this year, due to his ban in Italy and the tour riding through Italy at one point.

[SadieKate]

Honest to goodness, I think the guy is paranoid. Why in the world would he think that Armstrong could/would contend for the TdF? Just look at how he's been riding. The Nevada City Crit is NOT an example of how he'd do at a 3 week stage race.

http://bicycling.com/blogs/boulderreport/2009/06/23/lances-team-in-turmoil/?cm_mmc=RSS-_-bicrsshome-_-NA-_-NA

[OakLeaf]

They just announced that Valverde will not be in the Tour this year, due to his ban in Italy and the tour riding through Italy at one point.

Well, dang.

Time to throw darts at my monitor and pick someone else. :p

[redrhodie]

They just announced that Valverde will not be in the Tour this year, due to his ban in Italy and the tour riding through Italy at one point.

I got really bummed when I first read that too quickly, and thought it was Vandevelde instead of Valverde. I hope Christian gets well enough to compete.

[jobob]

Who's paranoid - Contador? :confused:

Astana is such an odd set up this year, too many chiefs, too many crossed allegiances. I think Contador is head and shoulders above the others, but then there's Levi and Kloden vying for second-to-top banana, and then Lance is mixing it up. There certainly seems to be confusion over who is working for whom. :rolleyes:

I got such a kick out of watching the Giro, it looked as though most of the team was back supporting Lance, while Levi was up near the front only with Horner supporting him (and, when Horner crashed out, Levi seemed to be on his own more often than not). That was just my impression though.

[SadieKate]

Who's paranoid - Contador? :confused:Ah, yes, as that would be the title of my post. :p

He just seems to go looking for internecine feuds. It doesn't cement relationships and support from teammates.

[redrhodie]

Honest to goodness, I think the guy is paranoid. Why in the world would he think that Armstrong could/would contend for the TdF? Just look at how he's been riding. The Nevada City Crit is NOT an example of how he'd do at a 3 week stage race.

http://bicycling.com/blogs/boulderreport/2009/06/23/lances-team-in-turmoil/?cm_mmc=RSS-_-bicrsshome-_-NA-_-NA

If the team is not going to back him, it won't really matter how strong he is (riding alone) so I think he's not being paranoid if he's looking for better support. But, maybe it has nothing to do with Lance or the team. Maybe the fear of Astana not paying is motive. Maybe it's a bit of both.

Reminds me of the '86 tour already. Hinault/Lemond for those who remember.

[jobob]

I'll mainly be rooting for Saxo Bank and the Schleck brothers -- old habits die hard :D, plus in reality I'll be rooting more for Cancellara (to do well in the TTs of course), O'Grady and especially for my man Jens! (assuming they're on the tour team of course). Update: I looked it up and they've all been named to the TdF team. Yeah baby! :cool:

Cervello Test team is my next fave -- Sastre has kind of grown on me. I do not know why. Also, they have Thor so I want to see if Thor Will Smash this year -- or, at least, if he can manage to beat out Cavendish in a sprint :D

Vying with Cervello for a place in my heart is Garmin-Slipsteam. I too am hoping Vandevelde does well.


As for Astana, eh, it'll be fun to watch the draaaama unfold. :D

[SadieKate]

From day 1, Contador seems to have discussed in the news his distrust of Leipheimer. Then, add Armstrong. More of the same. For the best possible outcome, as in support from his teammates, these should have stayed private. Whether or not the basis for his distrust is factual, he never really gave the possibility a chance.

[jobob]

If the team is not going to back him, it won't really matter how strong he is (riding alone) so I think he's not being paranoid if he's looking for better support. But, maybe it has nothing to do with Lance or the team. Maybe the fear of Astana not paying is motive. Maybe it's a bit of both.
I'm with RR here. It doesn't appear to me that the team is fully behind Contador. Dunno if that happened on account of Contator's statements & actions, or if the lack of support was evident to C before he started spouting off - I don't follow pro cycling that much. But all around it didn't seem like a match made in heaven, even from the start.

[ny biker]

Well Bruyneel is already on record as saying that Contador is the leader in the TdF this year, and Levi would be second if for some reason Contador falters. And Lance is on record saying that he does not expect the team to support him over a stronger rider just because he's won it 7 times. So maybe Contador does have issues.

During the Giro, the guys at Universal Sports mentioned that Contador has plenty of other offers and would probably leave the team if the Astana sponsorship ended, because all the riders' contracts would have to be renegotiated under those circumstances.

Anyway. I just hope Chris Horner gets to race the Tour.

===
Interesting - just read this in cyclingnews.com re: rumors about Contador and his entourage going to Garmin:

Armstrong commented on the story on Monday. "Just read this [the article]," he wrote on Twitter. "JL [US writer Joe Lindsey, who broke the story - ed.] may not be far off on this (for once). I'm choosing to ignore and remove myself from drama. TdF – hard enough."

[SadieKate]

Anyway. I just hope Chris Horner gets to race the Tour.Final 9 announced today and Chris not among them. Big pblblblblblblblbl to Astana. :mad:

[jobob]

Get out. :(

[SadieKate]

If you want to see the final 9, you have to sit through over overly dramatic and slow video. Give me a break. I've been slowly losing respect for Bruyneel over the years. The hype he pulls just drives me crazy.

http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/

[ilima]

Final 9 announced today and Chris not among them. Big pblblblblblblblbl to Astana. :mad:

No Rubiera, who postponed retirement to ride for Lance, either.

Of course there's the obligatory Kazakh, probably taking Horner's or Rubiera's or Brajkovic's "spot."

[redrhodie]

If you want to see the final 9, you have to sit through over overly dramatic and slow video. Give me a break. I've been slowly losing respect for Bruyneel over the years. The hype he pulls just drives me crazy.

http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/

I made it through about 5 seconds of that! Are they racing bikes, or landing on Normandy?

[SadieKate]

Oh that's perfect! Someone on bikejournal just said my comment about the video was sour grapes, and I responded about the media making sports into a life/death drama, that athletes are not heroes unless they save someone's life.

You should post that. It's going to make me laugh all day.

[katluvr]

All I know is it gives me something to look forward to. I mean I tape the TdF and then put the bike trainer inside, infront of the TV and I pedal away. Even the kinda boring flat stages help me to ride. It passes the time. And there is always fast forward!
Said that so little bike racing is actually telecast that we have to gooble up every little piece!
I think/hope it will be interesting. And who knows....it may be someone we least expect. I always find that fun! But yes, it will be nice to watch Lance ride the TdF one more time. He is what got many of us "hooked".

[ny biker]

Seriously, it was what, 5 minutes long?

I figured Horner was out since he mentioned on twitter last night that he had left Colorado and gone back home instead of staying to train with Lance and Levi. I guess the broken leg did him in.

[SadieKate]

He just seems to go looking for internecine feuds. It doesn't cement relationships and support from teammates.

I would like to go on record by saying "I told you so." :D

http://www.velonews.com/article/94913