Monday, July 9, 2012

C**T* , said Brad Wiggins !


Second evening in the Maillot Jeune and Brad was quiet and amiable at the daily press conference , until , a journo from AP Int , decided to seek sensationalism ! The assembled journos  certainly got their quote of the day ! Can you imagine the feelings of those that did not attend ?

My tweet to the first item I read on this event , which did not go through , so had to send by email instead :

  “  cnbcllca2@mailmw.custhelp.com cnbcllca2@mailmw.custhelp.com “

  “ Email comment to the Brad Wiggins story since my computer link for the reply did not work ! “

  “  Your report of the News Conference at the Tour de France today , sounds like a “ Lance Armstrong “ repeat from past years !

Tweeted by C Vdv :

VandeVelde,Christian‏@ChristianVDV
Here is a link to one of them. http://bit.ly/L25Erx but I believe he didn't say "cut". It had a "N" and a "S" in it.

Johan bruyneel said on Twitter :

Johan Bruyneel‏@JohanBruyneel
Loved the response of @bradwiggins to his critics at the press conf. Get used to it, mate. It's windy at the top!


Personally I tend to agree with C VDV in that during the past few days the TDF has been sidelined whilst the Media are feeding on Conjecture , Rumour , Innuendo and leaping to conclusions !

Regrettable that Ryder has gone home , Injured BUT there is more at the TDF to occupy your personnel other than USADA’s efforts to cheat the public of proper use of Tax payers money !

Am I a fan of Lance ? Read my blogs , starting with http://t.co/Cf8B1pG8 and then check Lancing Armstrong in another Blog !  “


CNF and similar forums have been having a field day with “ SKY Team “ and the members of this team in recent times . Recovering from illness is NOT GOOD ENOUGH reason for turning in better results than previously , according to so many  “ Arm Chair critics “!

MY Tweet on this subject :

skippy mc carthy‏@skippydetour
@JohanBruyneel @bradwiggins with this event Brad & Sean will become the next targets of the " Downtrodden , lazy & unforgiving 3rd estate !



Lifted from “ http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-delivers-caustic-assessment-of-his-critics

  “ After a pause, Wiggins replied: "They are just f***ing w*****s. I cannot be doing with people like that. It justifies their own bone-idleness because they can’t ever imagine applying themselves to anything in their lives. It’s easy for them to sit under a pseudonym on Twitter rather than get off their arses in their own life and apply themselves and work hard at something and achieve something, and that’s ultimately it. C***s!"

WELL DONE BRAD ! Of course now you can expect to be treated in the same fashion as Lance regardless of the results from this year’s “ Le Tour “! Journos think they walk on water , BUT they generally only get paid when they produce sensationalism and you will have filled their coffers , as they wiped the slime off their faces !


Another item came to my attention yesterday written by an ABC reporter , glenn Mitchell , from Oz , funnily , this appears to be a blatant piece of plagiarism  of an earlier piece by Ed Pickering :

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4118228.html

My comment there :

Written to Jacques Rogge to call a “ Sports Moratorium “ so as to “ Clean House “! Unless he gets this job done , we WILL be watching the “ Chemical Olympics “ in years to come !

Drug companies use Athletes , to their benefit , to improve and tweak their products .  Research results could help the World population as a whole BUT the Sports Arena is not the place for Sporting Fraud !

Sporting Fraud has been rampant since before the fall of the IRON Curtain ! IT continues to grow to such an extent , that even Amateurs looking for “ bragging rights “ with their mates , think that the use of PED s are acceptable  behaviour !

As regards the moratorium , checkout   http://t.co/Cf8B1pG8  ,  see if you agree , that the time has arrived , that Sporting Fraud has to STOP !

Will IOC and/or WADA go against their vested interests ? Too many incumbents at the top of these organisations have had the finger pointed at them in recent years for them to be comfortable ! USADA appear to be ignoring those in the UCI , some of whom serve within the IOC , says a lot to many , does it not ?

Certainly I would not like to be the Athlete OR Referee taking the “ Olympic Oath “ in this Internet connected World , where you would have to live in isolation , to avoid hearing the latest news of USADA ‘s efforts or any goings on in their chosen sport !

Today “ Podium Café “ waded into the situation with this article :


http://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/7/8/3145520/the-wiggins-fiasco-what-to-make-of-it

They made plenty of valid points and the one that stayed with me was the fact that Twice Brad has put the pressure on his team by denying Cadel’s team the Maillot Jeune to defend ! Of course letting Cadel have the Millot Jeune could be the beginning of the end and I feel certain that Cadel will do all he can to distance himself from Vincenza Nibali !

Won’t be posting a comment to Podium Café since to do so , you get to visit SB Nation front page which is so full of US Sport , and totally irrelevant to my purposes !


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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

ACCREDITATION


Easy to criticise bad driving ? You have all seen it and occasionally wondered how there was not a wreck due to the stupidity of the driver !

Case in point , having been overtaken by the Peloton a couple of km before the Pass Thaun I decided even though rain was falling to persevere and then descend to Mittersill before heading homeward by way of the Gerlos Pass . On the downward slope there are occasionally two lanes to allow overtaking and these are separated by about a kilometre of winding narrow road . Having passed through this choke point filled with delayed traffic , because of the Tour of Austria , heading upward the road runs about a kilometre before narrowing as it enters a 60kph zone due to tight corners . Well into the 60kph zone I was letting the bike run even though the road was wet and the wind was gusting . As you will know a wet road will tell you that there is following traffic and at 60+kph keeping to the centre of the lane as you approach a tight right hand turn is a sensible precaution particularly on mountain roads where there are potholes .

Hearing the following vehicle I continued in the same position and speed since no way could anyone get through the fast approaching corner at these speeds . Well whoever was following either did not know the road , or how fast they were travelling , since there was now a dark blue passenger van straddling the double white lines and overtaking regardless with the corner less than a hundred metres in front . Holding my line and still in excess of 50kph I started into the corner with no idea what was a hundred metres ahead . However by this time the van was on the other side of the double white lines and to cap it all was towing a dark blue box trailer which was being buffeted by the wind and rocking along side to side , from wheel to wheel ! Expected that a gust of wind would have blown the trailer over , but luckily for the driver this did not happen nor was there traffic heading towards them .

Most of you will realise that on tight bends a bike will get through them faster than most motorbikes and certainly vehicles but this clown was hell bent in getting down the mountain regardless of the dangers of reckless driving  . Through a series of bends passing traffic that was struggling upward this combination succeeded in getting into Mittersill . At the point of danger the local churches were sounding the midday hour and as the Tour of Austria was listed in the programme to pass through Mittersill at about that time , one wonders why this driver was in such a rush !

Of course I haven’t mentioned yet the “ Apparent Owner of the van and trailer “!  Emblazoned so that you could not fail to see , “ Tchibo “!  Yes , one of the main sponsors of the “ Tour of Austria” ! Of course the company are not responsible for their drivers are they ? Never heard of “ Corporate Manslaughter “ , have they ?  Luckily on this occasion no harm done ! Doesn’t matter what I say , BUT , the helmet camera on “ YouTube ” will tell it’s own story !

Accreditation of drivers at “ UCI Events ” still relies on the driver saying they are legal ! No other checking appears to take place . Now this incident was outside the “ Parcours “ and thus not subject to anything , other than the “ Normal Driving Regulations of Austria “! It will be interesting to see the reaction of the Polizei , when they review the positioning and movement of the trailer ?

This post of course will get to the “ Tchibo” company , doubt they will do anything and no doubt the “ Polizei ” will reject the situation for “ Lack of Credible Evidence !” . Wonder how long it takes the Info@tchibo to arrive with the CEO , and , yawn , whether a minion will use their email to reply ? Their coffee i never bought  , but they do offer  some good gadgets in their outlets .

Yesterday , Tuesday , the day started gloomy , far better than the two hour torrential downpour of Monday at the DEPART in Innsbruck ! I arrived in Kitzbuehel later than planned , but was able to congratulate Danilo Di Luca and Tommy Rohrregger for their success on Etappe 2 . Near the start I caught up with Tim Roe for the photo and then with a 10min start headed for Pass Thaun , most of the time in company with the Polizei Motor cyclists who were sidelining the traffic so the Tour Accredited Vehicles  , followed by the Peloton , could make its way along the “ Parcours “ !

Contrast this with the Tour de Suisse , which operates with the same efficiency and the “ Le Tour “ where the road is closed for several hours to ALL but snails , unless you have paid a HEFTY FEE to the “ ASO “ for the “ ACCREDITATION BANNERS “! When these smaller events have caused so little disruption to the “ Locals ” , WHY does the “ Le Tour ” insist on creating even more disruption each year ? Pass Thaun is only a Cat 3 climb with a banner and timing device but “ Le Tour “ needs to close the road for Hours !

Read a blog recently that mentioned that the French Gendarmerie and National Police are again this year , having to contend with the same “ blight” on France’s Honour , Those thieving Baskets that control the road junctions and demand money for their plastic flags . Once again they are going into shops and menacing the shopkeepers to add to their revenue ! Last year I wrote about this behaviour several times , but it appears that “ Crime” in France will continue whilst “ Le Tour” visits !

Those of you with bikes at the “ Le Tour “ , the bike stays in your hands , or stands in front of you ! Bikes behind you , are out of sight and out of mind , thus the target of the PROFESSIONAL GANGS that raid the route , the Campsites and even the Team Hotels ! Of course if you are crooked , you can take an oldy , hope it gets stolen , then report to the Police for the paperwork to relieve your Insurance Company on a claim for your clever substitution !

TOO OFTEN last year I met with people , later in the Tour and heard of “ thefts “ , regardless of these warnings . Costs of getting to the Tour these days are astronomical , so losing your bike or property can turn the “ Holiday” into a Nightmare !


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