Cycling continued

[Garden Kitty]

I wasn't sure either. I thought it might be just a lazy way to report that if the USADA finds him guilty, then the tour would strip the titles, but maybe they can rule that he wasn't eligible to be competing then.

IIRC, the Spanish federation and CAS stripped Contador of his title, but CAS does have a wider jurisdiction.

I assume if they strip him, they'd just leave them titles empty because it would seem rather odd to move Ullrich, Basso, Valverde and other podium finishers of the era up a spot.

[deltask8er]

Lance Armstrong Files Suit Against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ‘Kangaroo Court’

As noted in the New York Times, Armstrong claims that the USADA believes it “is above the United States Constitution, above the law, above court review, free from supervision from any person or organization, and even above its own rules.”

Aha, so maybe that’s why Armstrong has taken to reading Above the Law! His own claims against the USADA go hand in hand with the name of our esteemed publication. We hope that Armstrong has better luck in his battle against the USADA than in his track record with women — he might need it.

http://abovethelaw.com/2012/07/lance...angaroo-court/

I assume if they strip him, they'd just leave them titles empty because it would seem rather odd to move Ullrich, Basso, Valverde and other podium finishers of the era up a spot.

Especially since Ullrich and Basso have had their own issues with the same subject.

[Garden Kitty]

Armstrong's suit dismissed in one day, although he intends to refile. From the NY Times sportswriter on twitter, Juliet Macur:

Judge dismisses Armstrong's suit. He won't "indulge Armstrong's desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement or vilification of defendants."

[allezfred]

Miaow. That judge rocks!

Couldn't find the original link for the NY Times, but it's syndicated below.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/oth...319765045.html

Judge Sam Sparks, of US District Court, chastised Armstrong's lawyers for submitting an 80-plus page complaint filled with allegations that "were totally irrelevant to Armstrong's claims." Sparks said the court was left to presume that the lengthy list of allegations "were included solely to increase media coverage of this case, and to incite public opinion against" the anti-doping agency and Travis Tygart, the agency's chief executive who is also named as a defendant.

"This Court is not inclined to indulge Amstrong's desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement or vilification of Defendants, by sifting through eighty mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims," Spark said.

[Garden Kitty]

USADA lifetime ban for Ferrari, and two other US Postal staff

[b-man]

Here's the dumb legal question I've had for a couple of weeks. How can a U.S. agency strip an athlete of titles won in another country?

Of course, I'm sure France would gladly comply in this case

Agree with you. Also as Garden Kitty noted, a US Agency decides they can strip an Italian doctor and a Spanish doctor of eligibility for something they did outside the US?? I don't know a lot about cycling organization, but shouldn't that action be up to the individual country federations or the UCI?

[4rkidz]

what is with all the flat tires today at the summit of the pyranees? Has someone thrown something onto the road or what?? Even Wiggans with a flat tire..

[Garden Kitty]

what is with all the flat tires today at the summit of the pyranees? Has someone thrown something onto the road or what?? Even Wiggans with a flat tire..

I missed the stage, but from what I've read, yes - someone through large tacks on the road.

ETA: An article about the tacks

[4rkidz]

I missed the stage, but from what I've read, yes - someone through large tacks on the road.

apparently this used to happen a lot in the tour - many years ago before the war especially.. how interesting.. hope it doesn't happen again - but was nice to see the sportsmanship..

[Garden Kitty]

Cool move by Ryder to support a fellow Olympian and cyclist with his pink jersey auction!

[Garden Kitty]

Olympic men's road race on very early Saturday AM

[Theatregirl1122]

Cav tweeted that he's nervous. I feel his pain. I get nercous just thinking about tomorrow's race!

And David Millar tweeted this: http://t.co/RdNNTwNB
So I guess we can be glad that the new TDF champion is amusing himself in London.

[susan6]

I want a "Vino-4-ever" jersey even more now.

[Garden Kitty]

That should totally be the Astana team kit.

[susan6]

That should totally be the Astana team kit.

Yeah....Radioshack will have the yellow livestrong trim on the sleeve for the foreseeable future of the team (how ever short that will be); Astana should have "Vino 4 ever" written somewhere on the kit.

[Edward]

Hi Kitty,
Great cycling threat and well carried by other members. Found many informative links here and will definitely saw my favorite sports there as have been cycling since last 3 years and found great exercise to make heart and lungs strong. Cycling reduce body weight, tone muscles and build strength.

ADMIN EDIT: removing commercial link

[Garden Kitty]

Just in case you're missing the Olympics, the Vuelta with Alberto Contador will start this weekend.

[DaiKozOda]

Volta a Portugal (tour of Portugal) started on the 15th of August.
Teams involved:
5 portuguese teams (Carmin Prio Tavira, Efapel Glassdrive, LA Antarte, Onda Boavista, Portugal's national team members)
1 american team (United Healthcare PC Team)
1 colombian team (Colombia Coldeportes)
1 brazilian team (Funvic - Pinamonhangaba)
2 south african teams (MTN Kubeka and Team Bonitas)
2 russian teams (Itera Katusha and Lokosphinx)
1 french team (Saur Sojasun)
4 spanish teams (Caja Rural, Andalucia, ORBEA continental, Burgos BH Castilla e Leon)


15-08-2012 - Prologue in the city of Castelo Branco
Winner: Reinhardt van Rensburg from South Africa

16-08-2012 - 1st stage; 200,8KM (Termas de Monfortinho / Oliveira do Hospital). Lots of mountain.
Winner: Jay Thomson from South Africa.
Video summary of the stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TMRQ...hannel&list=UL
Thomson was amazing. He and a spanish guy ran away on KM24 and them he got totally isolated and he just kept going all by himself, which was especially difficult on the mountain. Basically he was pushing without any help from team mates for around 176KM!!!!

[DaiKozOda]

Volta a Portugal
17-08-2012 - Stage 2; 191,5KM (Oliveira do Bairro / Trofa)
Winner: Francesco Lasca from Italy (spanish team Caja Rural)
Video summary of this exciting stage with lots of attacks. Ricardo Mestre, the winner of Volta a Portugal 2011, was involved in a fall close to end of the stage. Jay Thomson kept the yellow and the green shirts. United Healthcare keeps leadind the team board.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slWJwGsTc-4

18-08-2012 - Stage 3; 176,1KM, (Vila Nova de Cerveira / Fafe)
Winner: César Fonte from Portugal (portuguese team Efapel Glassdrive)
The break-away was successful. Jay Thomson still carries the yellow jersey and the blue jersey (mountain) which is surprising.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYtuj...hannel&list=UL
My fav moment is when a bride is nearby the road waving at the cyclists

[Garden Kitty]

Thanks for the video links!