Episode 95: 2014, The Season That Was

It’s that most bittersweet time of year when we reflect on the season that was. We talk about our favorite moments and our favorite riders. We were impressed with the Colombians and the youngsters the most! The future looks bright!

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Episode 94: Goodbyes

We say goodbye to Andy Schleck and the racing season, as we reminisce about Andy Schleck and recap Worlds and Lombardia. We also wonder if we’ll look back and see Oleg as the “Idea Man” who saves cycling and discuss whether Astana is playing the UCI and MPCC.

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Deep Thoughts: TdF ’14 Stage 18

Once again, Nibali makes the Tour his BITCH. And seriously, I cannot say enough about Nibali. I cannot remember a time when he was so aggressive. My memory of his Vuelta and Giro wins were more defensive, once he had the jersey. Here, he’s just toying with the competition!

• First, some old business. Can we please talk about how great it is that Frank Schleck is showing life?? He was in the top 10, but has dropped down to 12th after today, but STILL! Makes me so, so happy to see signs of the old Frank. Now, if only Andy would follow suit… Perhaps if he sees his brother doing well, that will get him out of his funk!
• Now back to Nibali. “Oh hai Chris. No, I don’t want a BigMac, but thanks anyway. Remember when you beat me in the Vuelta that one time? I sure do! Anyway, SEE YA!” (I mean, that’s the only reason I can think of why Nibali wouldn’t just let Horner go, who’s 39 minutes behind him!)
• “Wow, Vinny, it was so cool how you just flew by Nieve!” “Who?” EXACTLY.
• Also “ALL YOUR JERSEYS BELONG TO MEEEE!” not really, but I’m sure that was going through his head.
• With all those unzipped jerseys, you get to see who wears a heart rate monitor and who doesn’t. I was surprised to see so many guys without monitors. I thought that was the ‘thing’ now!
• Astana really is the boss this race. I’d be tempted to compare them to Sky (in the sense of controlling the race, always at the front), but Nibali is like, a million times more interesting than Wiggins!
• All this attention Nibali is getting is making me realize how big the Tour is- he’s won two GTs, but it wasn’t until he was awesome at the Tour that people started accepting that he is actually so awesome.
• I’ll admit that I was rooting for him to take the stage, but I did feel bad for Nieve.
• Tejay still riding a good ride. I get the impression he doesn’t quite have enough to attack and break Pinot or Peraud, but I say being able to mark them and not lose any time is a good start!

Episode 58: The Doping is Back in Town

We’re back talking about all your favorite topics- doping, the UCI, Pat McQuaid!

First up, the Senate report.

• Cycling Tips has a great overview of the whole report (not just the ’98 positives)
• Joe Lindsey wonders if the fault of the journalists or the fans that there is so much focus on doping/positives [Bicycling Magazine]
• Neil Browne’s guide to doping categories
• Gerard Vroomen wonders about all the coincidences in the doping confessions
• Inner Ring’s thoughts

We speculate on why O’Grady got so much grief for his ’98 positive over the others who were revealed as positive in the report. We discuss the other type of omerta that still exists in cycling – doping methods and networks.

Also, how and when do cycling fans move on? Who is at fault for all headlines that focus on doping – the journalists or the fans who click on the links?

Then, we talk about Pat McQuaid’s slow decent into crazy-town

And we demonstrate that we are bad at math.

We also talk a little bit about actual racing, when we talk about team transfers! Jeff rechristens it “Schleck Trek” and sings a little ditty.

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Episode 57: A Growing Respect

We recap stages 10-17. This includes the fabulous Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez!

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Episode 56: The Cautious Optimists

We recap stages 3-9. We talk about negativity and how we don’t like it. We talk about the Sky/Froome controversies. We talk tactics. We basically rock your socks off.

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Episode 55: We Know Our Stuff

We recap the first two stages of the Tour, talk about fantasy cycling, and discuss who we think could win. OH, we also talk about Lance, but leave it to the end, so you can skip it if you want.

• Top 10 Riders To Look Out For at the 2013 Tour de France [GCN video]
• Tour de France 2013: Preview and Favorites [C-Cycling]
• Tour de France 2013: Who Will Win? [Cycling Weekly]
• Le Tour: Killers, Pretenders, and Dreamers [PezCycling News]

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Episode 54: The Tour is Coming!

We spend too much time talking about Jan Ullrich, Brad-we-refuse-to-call-him-Sir breaks up the the Tour?? and we compare Andy and Frank to Bert and Ernie (you can guess who’s who).

And the LE TOUR!

• Keep track of who the teams are taking [Cycling Weekly]
• Podium Cafe preview (they make fun of Aussies!)
• CGN does a good video preview

And since I KNOW you want to do fantasy cycling this year, be sure to check out Neil’s (@NeilSG83) 10 tips for being awesome at fantasy cycling, then join our teams at road.cc (76730) and Velogames (23164933)!

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Episode 47: The Gang’s All Here for Milan-Sanremo!

We get the whole gang together to talk about Milan-Sanremo! And what a race it was, huh?? It’s fast becoming Anna’s favorite spring race. We also discuss the “paperboy technique” employed by many on stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatco and Anna gets her ranty-pants on over people being rude. Plus, the trials of being Andy Schleck.

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Episode 42: Lance, Round 2

Jeff is back and he MUST vent about Armstrong, so we revisit the interview. Jeff  is particularly eloquent this week.

• Lance decides USADA isn’t good enough for him- he wants UCI or WADA. [Cycling Weekly]
• UCIIC might be suspended in exchange for a Truth and Reconciliation committee. That’s going to end well. [Cycling News]
• Nibali regrets not joining Team Sky back in 2009. Strange to think how things might have turned out… [Cycling News]
• Contador definitely won’t ride the Giro- watch out Tour! [Cycling News]
• Wiggins pulls a Wiggins- claims Sky has done most work cleaning up the sport [Cycling News]
• Andy makes Anna feel some sympathy for him again. The key is admitting mistakes. [SBS]

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