Jeff Owens said:

Pelkey saying he might not do it anymore. Any idea how much funding he needs? It really enhances the steephill feeds which can be of questionable commentary or even more questionable Slovakian.

Does Kelly speak slovakian?

mugwump said:

Jeff Owens said:

Pelkey saying he might not do it anymore. Any idea how much funding he needs? It really enhances the steephill feeds which can be of questionable commentary or even more questionable Slovakian.

Does Kelly speak slovakian?

I've been trying to figure that out, too.  I paid him $30, figuring that's what I paid NBC/Universal/whatever last year for the Tour--I paid him the same for the Tour last year.  I should go through my notes because he gets charged something per viewer minute or viewer second.  Grand Tours are typically in the 86-90 hour range these days.  Lets assume 90 hours for the slowest rider.  Pelkey's a lawyer who probably bills by the hour.  But he's a former journo, and a former NPR reporter, so he's probably used to getting paid less for doing what he loves--and Laramie lawyer rates can't be that good.  If he got paid $30/hour, assuming no charges for his blogging service, he'd still need 90 people paying what I paid--and he's got to have way more viewers than just 90.  Still even if 180 people paid that, does the blogging service charge him $30 an hour?  He leaves it unknown, so it's hard to tell.  

Maybe he should do a kickstarter campaign.

noted

A month or so ago, someone on the club, expressing frustration with how their racing was shaking out in relation to his competitors, suggested a new system of points that rewarded 1st place and basically gave the finger to everyone else.

Gesink may be legitimately sick, but I think it's also possible he's got a case of, "Did Not Live up to Expectations-itis"  (because 12th, you know, in a grand tour, just sucks. Also, does not qualify for upgrade points) and is going home early to reload for the next event.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/05/news/gesink-is-the-latest-pre-race-favorite-to-abandon-giro-ditalia-with-illness_288501

Racing and getting results is just plain hard. And right now you might be a cat 5 or 4 or 3 who is just killing it every weekend, contending for the podium. But, eventually, you are going to find yourself in a field of racers who have YOUR number.

And then they'll be looking at you in that break and wonder why they hell you are pulling through like such a pussy. They're sure you're just racing conservatively for upgrade points (because why else would you be so weak?) Meanwhile you are redlined and just happy to have made the break. Or maybe worse yet, it's all you can do to finish with the field. Because last week, you tried to take your own advice and attacked the field like crazy only to get dropped and a big fat DNF and this week you think, maybe this week, I'll try to get more than 15 minutes of racing in today, because how many DNFs can a racer stomach in the name of racing in the most honorable and manly way possible?

Wow.  10km to go and OPL has it totally strung out with Cav 2nd to last wheel in their train.  Cannondale keeps surging but can't stay up with the OPL train.  Very impressive...

Am I the only one who did some calculating to figure out how many watts you'd have to do to get over 5.8 w/kg for half an hour? For me it would be 375 watts - or approximately what I do for my 2 minute intervals ON ANAEROBIC DAY. Incredible.

yep, i calculated that a while ago and its pretty retarded and humbling to say quite the least.

Jules said:

Wow.  10km to go and OPL has it totally strung out with Cav 2nd to last wheel in their train.  Cannondale keeps surging but can't stay up with the OPL train.  Very impressive...

I think they were just trying to stay close.  I don't think they had the desire to pass them.  And it could have been smart strategy as one of the few ways to beat Cav' is for another team to take control leading into the final 200m.  all the other sprinter teams want to burn out the OPQ guys, and one way to do this is to force them to overextend themselves too soon--so you challenge them early, get them to dig deep before they get to the final K.  I surmise this because they blew by OPQ in the final K and set Viviani up perfectly.  Cannondale also did this on the first stage where they lurked and then threw down with two K to go.  And then on the day of Cav's 100th, Cannondale also grabbed control late.  

@Wump, yes I did wonder... "isn't it too soon?" but they were SO dominant... and then Cav was all "Still the fastest!"

I can't imagine any sprinter wants to come from seven guys back each time.  Part of the seeming dominance is that the other teams wanted to work over OPQ.  and they did.  I'm far more impressed with Cav' now that he doesn't have High Road taking him to second position at 200m.  

I think his team did a lot of work in the first half of the race and then in the final 20k so there really wasn't anyone left to lead him to the line. But they had still performed a valuable role in ensuring that the race was still together and there for winning, even if he then had to freestyle it at the end.

John Malcolmson said:

Velonews wheels this one out. Squeak, squeak, squeak.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/05/news/road/analysis-nibalis-giro-win-represents-quandary-of-new-cycling_289152

I'd like to understand some of the "legal" methods teams are using to perform flawlessly for three weeks.

Are these still legal? http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pdf/the_legal_advantage.pdf

John, thanks for citing my under-seen Competitive Cyclist altitude tent training brochure.  Altitude tents are legal everywhere, save Italy.  I think staying at altitude is easier than sleeping in the tent.  There is some question as to how long the effect lasts.

@JP That's a great piece you wrote—super thorough. Do you have any insight into how riders in the Giro recover their hematocrit levels day to day? I'm pretty sure it's not just the soigneur. Dry ice on the legs?

I don't. I can't imagine people using altitude tents during stage racing--it's hard enough to recover from 200km a day in normal conditions, these tents at an altitude that could make a long-term difference would probably make recovery impossible--keep in mind that Lance and his fellow dopers probably used these things as excuses as much as anything else.  

I'm willin to bet they as using hyperbaric tents to simulate sleeping at or below sea level.

Myerson uses one and he's pretty darn cool.

Below sea level!              o

POLEMIC!

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/05/news/porte-penalized-two-minutes-200-francs-for-oricas-help_370932

Doping is cheating, and cheating is the opposite of sport.

I mention this, because today's gesture by Clarke is the definition of sport.

Completely disappointed to see the decision from the Giro organizers and the UCI. What lack of perspective. No wonder cycling is in the dire state it is.

The saddest trombones ever...this race has ass clowns riding onto the course crashing riders and camera lens' almost severing arms and the organizers have been saying tough shit.  I would like to see some of the biggest names in the sport announce a boycott of this race until their concerns are heard and changes made.  

eloy said:

Doping is cheating, and cheating is the opposite of sport.

I mention this, because today's gesture by Clarke is the definition of sport.

Completely disappointed to see the decision from the Giro organizers and the UCI. What lack of perspective. No wonder cycling is in the dire state it is.

The optic is so bad for the sport that I can't even begin...Cycling had an opportunity today to  poke it's head out of the gutter by celebrating a sporting gesture...instead it punishes these 2 riders and comes across as crass and indifferent to the true meaning of sport, which is to teach  teamwork, loyalty and leadership among other things.  As fans, we've endured decades of doped up inhuman performances, that were bereft of any innocence.   Performances that the  cycling authorities were complicit in.  We finally get a very visible, human gesture that was innocent in nature and the cycling authorities shit the bed...I will spare you all the gif of that optic.

I think what drive me a little crazy about the, "because I said so" or "because that's the rule/law" response is that the powers that be almost always selectively enforce their rules/laws depending on the context.

It boggles the mind that in Paris Roubaix they were allowed to ride on the train tracks with the barriers down and were not penalised, then this?  Total inconsistency and their argument that 'rules are rules' is totally not applicable as they have consistently shown that that is not the case (drafting team cars, sticky bottles, riding on pedestrian paths in the classics despite the rules previously not allowing that).  Absolutely BS.  No joke, if he loses by less than 2 minutes, he should take the UCI/RCS to the Court for Arbitration of Sport.  Can't change the classification but can get what they are owed in winnings!

The real scandal is that Sky switched from Veloflex to Continental tires. 

(specially bcs I just removed some contis GP4000 and glued velofexs, I'll say however, veloflex feels so much better)

Richie Porte might be the biggest doper in the pack (as long as his buddy Froome-dog is off "training" somewhere else). His emergence has been downright bizarre. While I disagree with this decision for all the reasons given above, I feel zero sympathy for the man. Also -- uh -- where were his teammates when he flatted? This is his own team's fault. Pure and simple. You think Astana or Tinkoff would have made the same mistake? Hell no. They have been riding as units all race.

Also, I disagree with the comments about Contador here. Contador has been very consistent in his performances for his entire career. And he was caught with traces of clenbuterol, which is not a particularly potent doping agent. In my opinion, Porte is far more suspicious. And I think there may be some subtext in this decision that indicates race organizers agree with me.

Actually it sounds like his teammates were right there and Clarke gave him the wheel so they wouldn't lose a man for the chase... But yes: no sympathy and what a dumbass call