Auchinyell Sox Change Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Quintana anyone ? Or Froome a given - all being well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fringo Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Barring injury I think Froome will be in top 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherps Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Alberto Contador is the best stage racer of his generation. It's his to lose. Froome looked really good in winning the Dauphine and Nibali turned it on for a couple of stages also, when he felt like it. Quintana can easily survive in the mountains on his own, but can his team perform well enough in the TTT so he doesn't lose too much time? It's a relatively hilly course so should suit them, but I'm not sure if they have the technique. I just can't see past Contador in any case, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffer Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I think it may be Nibali's year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajin Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Contador has to be favourite, but any of the top 4 are in with a good shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstevie007 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I think they'll all fall off due to being too smacked up to focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Alberto Contador is the best stage racer of his generation. It's his to lose. Froome looked really good in winning the Dauphine and Nibali turned it on for a couple of stages also, when he felt like it. Quintana can easily survive in the mountains on his own, but can his team perform well enough in the TTT so he doesn't lose too much time? It's a relatively hilly course so should suit them, but I'm not sure if they have the technique. I just can't see past Contador in any case, though. Robert Millar has been singing Contadors praises lately as well. Hope everyone can stay healthy till the mountains as the possibility of some real nice racing up them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckielugger Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Nibali and his team should have been banned due to the multiple drugs test failures within the team. As its the whole team that work together to produce stage wins for their lead rider, it can't be right that Nibali is allowed to continue. Until cycling starts excluding whole teams whenever at least one member trangresses then it will never get to be a clean sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherps Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Surprised it took until post 8 until someone mentioned doping. There's no doubt Astana should have at least lost their world tour licence (which probably would have ended the team in any case) for the amount of positive tests coming out of their team and their feeder team. I don't see why Nibali should be banned for the indiscretions of the Iglinsky brothers, though. Also, there is no such thing as a clean sport. Some sports merely appear clean due to poor doping controls or not a lot of press coverage of those who test positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killiefaetheferry Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Betting - going to have an e/w on Tejay van Garderen at 33s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajin Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 How high up the field does he have to finish for that to come in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny's Yard Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) Would like to see Quintana win but my prediction is Contador, with Froome DNF. To add, just googled Quintana to check spelling and this was the first link.. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-quintana-angered-by-nibali-comments-on-whereabouts/ Interesting. Edited July 3, 2015 by Denny's Yard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killiefaetheferry Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 How high up the field does he have to finish for that to come in? 3rd for 1/4 odds. Pp doing 40/1 but patrick and I no longer speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 "Altitude training" for me is just another way of saying, let's go somewhere to micro-dose and have an excuse when blood levels fluctuate. Especially cyclists who have blood passports. Actual doctorates of sport science i have spoken to say there is no concrete proof it is even effective. Placebo effects or increased motivation to train as you're at a special camp may be other factors, some small studies have found responders versus non-responders with some follk getting a bit better, some no improvement and others getting worse, this is the live high, train low method. Also altitude training works better the lower percentage of Vo2 max you're using which runs against the theory that you're pushing your Vo2 max as much as possible to increase your EPO levels etc, so it should work best where Vo2 max is at maximum, but it doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny's Yard Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) Interesting post. Have you read anything worthwhile about this that you could recommend? For runners there is a benefit in that you can increase your volume of cardio work without doing so much damage to your legs. Can't really see how that would particularly help cyclists. Also altitude training works better the lower percentage of Vo2 max you're using which runs against the theory that you're pushing your Vo2 max as much as possible to increase your EPO levels etc, so it should work best where Vo2 max is at maximum, but it doesn't.Not sure I quite understand this bit. Does it work better if you train at a lower % of your Vo2 max? Edited July 3, 2015 by Denny's Yard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckielugger Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Another failed test for Astana on eve of tour...Lars Boom... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckielugger Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 And yes, whilst no sport these days is 100% clean, to allow a team to continue after at least 6 failed tests recently seems bizarre, especially in a team event sport which is all about physical power and endurance. If they , and other sports too, simply excluded any team for events where at least one member fails a test, then teams would start thinking the risk of cheating isn't worth it. At present they can gamble on one getting caught with the rest carrying on. If ALL the team miss out cos one is caught, it's a much greater incentive to not cheat in the first place. For example, if the USA had their whole Olympic team disqualified if one of them fails, then they might finally stop filling their team with cheats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 (edited) Interesting post. Have you read anything worthwhile about this that you could recommend? For runners there is a benefit in that you can increase your volume of cardio work without doing so much damage to your legs. Can't really see how that would particularly help cyclists. Not sure I quite understand this bit. Does it work better if you train at a lower % of your Vo2 max? I don't know of any one book, it's just from conversations with sport scientists, snippets picked up here and there, general reading, as always there is a chance i might just be flat out wrong, but it's what i'm thinking at the moment though. On the Vo2 max thing. When sports scientists do studies of altitude training (live high train low i'm speaking about, high/high can be counter-productive as you cant do as much at high altitude, but is great if competing at high altitude as you aclimatise) they find that the sports where one competes closer to 100% of the their Vo2 Max they have smaller improvement than sports where you compete at a lower percentage of your Vo2 max, say the 400 metres (almost done at 100% versus marathon). the reason this is interesting because it is counter-intutitve to the reasoning behind how high altitude living works. I've found a blog: http://sportsscientists.com/2007/07/altitude-training-the-basics/ "Knowing the basics of the physiology, the next question is does it work? This is a slightly controversial one because the science and the anecdotes don’t agree. The athletes swear by altitude training, the science has often failed to find an effect when studies are done in a controlled way. And that’s what we need to consider." I suspect doping lies in the gap between the anecdotes and the controlled science. Edited July 4, 2015 by phart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Another failed test for Astana on eve of tour...Lars Boom... It wasn't a doping control it was cortisol level test, automatic 8 day suspension under some voluntary agreement, not in official rules.Nothing is stopping him from starting the race beyond ethics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny McRotten Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 This year looks more open than any I can remember, but I've bet on Nibali to do it again because at 6/1 on Betfair he looks better value than any of the others in the big 4. Interestingly, it's possible to bet on all of the big 4 and guarantee a profit of about 8% whichever of them wins, demonstrating that the market isn't completely convinced it's a four-horse race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Contador is trying to double up Giro and Tour after a really hard Giro, so he has that against him. Lack of Time Trials as well. I'm looking forward to it as i do each year. I want Quintana to win, as it's great to finally see a top notch climber back. It might very well be decided by who's team stays the fittest and doesn't feck up the TTT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killiefaetheferry Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 It wasn't a doping control it was cortisol level test, automatic 8 day suspension under some voluntary agreement, not in official rules.Nothing is stopping him from starting the race beyond ethics. and Astana have confirmed Boom is starting...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 and Astana have confirmed Boom is starting...... Hadn't seen that yet Well if Ethics is the only thing standing in the way of him starting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denny's Yard Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I don't know of any one book, it's just from conversations with sport scientists, snippets picked up here and there, general reading, as always there is a chance i might just be flat out wrong, but it's what i'm thinking at the moment though. On the Vo2 max thing. When sports scientists do studies of altitude training (live high train low i'm speaking about, high/high can be counter-productive as you cant do as much at high altitude, but is great if competing at high altitude as you aclimatise) they find that the sports where one competes closer to 100% of the their Vo2 Max they have smaller improvement than sports where you compete at a lower percentage of your Vo2 max, say the 400 metres (almost done at 100% versus marathon). the reason this is interesting because it is counter-intutitve to the reasoning behind how high altitude living works. I've found a blog: http://sportsscientists.com/2007/07/altitude-training-the-basics/ "Knowing the basics of the physiology, the next question is does it work? This is a slightly controversial one because the science and the anecdotes don’t agree. The athletes swear by altitude training, the science has often failed to find an effect when studies are done in a controlled way. And that’s what we need to consider." I suspect doping lies in the gap between the anecdotes and the controlled science. Thanks for the explanation and the link. Interesting reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Thanks for the explanation and the link. Interesting reading. I think a lot of my stuff came from that blog i used to read it years ago. Although interesting stuff on Farah and Gatlin written recently on it. The tour is set up for a belter this year i think. I hope everyone stays healthy and attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts