Winnersaint

Ullrich was implicated in the Puerto case as was Ivan Basso and both were chucked out of the 2006 TdF. In some respects although I don't condone what was done I kind of get the fact that at the very highest level at around the turn of the Millenium EPO and blood doping were a sporting fact of life for cyclists. Most of his contemporaries doped or were implicated in doping scandals. Pantani had a haematocrit level of over 60% and was kicked off the Giro for it, Zulle and Virenque amongst others were implicated in the Festina Affair. Amidst all of this was this man who'd survived cancer and who effectively came off his sick bed to win the most gruelling of sporting events. I think people want to believe in modern miracles even though in our hearts we knew something wasn't quite right. The longer it went on the more I think people wanted to believe in the Armstrong story and the 'Livestrong' doctrine with its inspirational stories of survival (or otherwise). My take on the whole thing is that as a cycling fan we always knew that there were issues with regards to doping and that as testing became more sophisticated so would the lengths that riders would go to avoid detection, I think given the back story a lot of people naively hoped he was better than that. Am I surprised? Not particularly. This looks like turning into the biggest sporting fraud of all time and that is the real disappointment. I don't think we'll ever hear an admission from the 'horses mouth' but any sniff of post-comeback doping will put Armstrong right in the mire. Looking at the sport as an outsider it is easy to dismiss cycling as the preserve of the doped up cheat, but it is a question of perspective as pro cycling at an elite level takes place in a very small fish bowl compared to the vast aquarium that football exists in. His 7 TdFs I'd just scrub them from the records.

Nothing like a good ride up and down chalk downland. Hope it goes well. Jealous as still recovering from broken shoulder. Got back on turbo this week. Hard on the backside and left arm though. Can go for about 30 mins at moment.

Good luck for tomorrow

Maybe look at the Sportives for 2013 and co-ordinate some sort of get together

Not vanished Doc. Glued to La Vuelta, much more exciting than TdF. Bad off a week ago triple fracture of ball of humerus. Not going to be on a bike for a while. BTW only a week left for you and Mrs Doc cut the distance but try and keep intensity. Continued good luck in your last training week and best wishes for next weekend.

Rabbit pulled firmly out of hat by Albert the Accountant. Remarkable stuff. Don't often see that sort of thing in Grand Tours these days.

Purito nailed on unless Bertie has a rabbit to pull out of the hat. Shame Froome has struggled, but he is still learning and gaining in maturity and nouse. He may turn out to be one of the best 'BRITS'. Wiggins was 3rd last year behind Cobo and Froome, a great performance considering a few weeks earlier he'd been sat on the ground with a broken collarbone in the TdF. Horrible climbs those. Have a few around here in the Hambleden Valley that push similar gradients, but are so so so much shorter. Howe Hill out of Watlington is my nemesis. Was literally seeing stars at the top of that last time up, and I'd only done 30 miles not 100+

Thanks for the good wishes. Dropped car off for service at local Ford dealership on Friday. Cycled home the longer way round to get miles in. Was only about 200m from home (small estate - lots of cars) was going on outside of cars but got blinded by low sun and clipped a Volvo . Outside of left leg caught rear light cluster - dumped on ground shoulder first with Rooneyesque rip in thigh. Cue visit to Royal Berks A&E stitches in leg injury and a shoulder that looks like I've daubed myself with woad. Pretty immobile at the moment. Felt very Bradley Wiggins (2011 tdf) sat on the road waiting for the ambulance. Evidently my mum did same racing in the early 1950s.

Good luck. take care. Had bad collision with stationary car yesterday. Fractured shoulder, bit of a bummer. I hope you enjoy it.

Seriously hope everything goes all right. On a lighter note I'd be tempted out to the LBS to see what nice bike bargains are available before they start ordering and stocking 2013 models. Extra time for training. L2B should be a breeze. Good luck!

Easter Monday 1966... Channon ... end of!

Our daughter got 3As, 4Bs and 3Cs, not bad considering she has been struggling with glandular fever since March.

Good stuff! Looks like it's all coming together nicely. You should ace L2B.

Lowro spot on it seems

Always proud to be a Saint, Even through the bad times.

Terry Paine?

Possibly a mix up between Steves namely Messrs Moran and Williams, who was a cheeky chappie from London.

Don't think so! She's not Irish and really isn't very good on a bike.

Never thought that would happen in my lifetime. The day after we got married in 1987 Stephen Roche became the first person from these islands to win it, now a few days before our silver wedding anniversary Wiggo becomes the Brit to win it. Astonishing, right up there with best sporting achievements. Make no mistake at an elite level it is just nuts the speeds these guys go and the gears they turn. Just to put it into perspective, on my ride today the fastest I clocked was 55kph just about flat out and about to spin out, coming down a motorway bridge over the M4, Wiggins on the lead out on the flat on the Rue Du Rivoli was 65 kph and then some.

I concur to some extent with what Badger says, although I've not ridden a Spesh road bike. The Giant Defy has a relaxed more upright geometry than most which as he says is a bonus if you have lower back problems. In reality most bikes in this price range are probably aimed at the less experienced/newbie/ or Sportive rider and so tend not to have a more racier set up. My advice fwiw would be to get fitted at your LBS. Find a bike you are comfortable with rather than being drawn to particular brands With regards to gears. I have a triple on one bike and a compact double on the other. The three rings on the front of the triple have 50, 39. 30 teeth respectively. On the back is a 9 speed 12-25 cassette. My highest gear is therefore the 50-12 combination and the lowest is 30-25. On the double I've got a ten speed set up. The cassette is a 12-25 but with an extra gear in the middle. The chain rings on the front are have 50 and 34 teeth respectively, my highest gear is the same, but the lowest I've got is a 34-25 compared to the triple. I have to say having that bale out gear on the triple proved to be a godsend on the steeper parts of a sportive I did around West Berks last year. On similar hills on the compact double bike I can get up them, but on the really steep stuff 20% + I find myself thinking about the benefits of having that real bale out gear. If you decide to go for a compact you might look at swapping the cassette at time of purchase to say a 12-27 or 12-29, but the bigger the gap between largest and smallest the more you lose the benefit of a compact set up. Shoe/pedal wise I went immediately to SPD SL shoes and pedals. Never had any issues apart from the obligatory 'clipless' moment on first outing. I think that the power transfer is more efficient than flat pedals with clips, but it is a matter of personal preference. Some people wouldn't dream of 'clipless' while others wouldn't ride with anything else. I reside in the latter camp.

Try these or go have a look at bike shops in your area. http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk http://www.wiggle.co.uk/road-time-trial-bikes/ http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=1996 in that £500 -£1000 price range you'll be looking at a good quality aluminium frame, carbon forks with alloy steerer, and a spec level that varies with price. If you're looking at Shimano equipped bikes its Sora, Tiagra, 105 groupsets in that order. With SRAM its likely to be Apex and Rival and Campagnolo Veloce. Where the manufactures are most likely to cut corners is on wheels and tyres, although not all and that is where the biggest gain can be gained as far as upgrades are concerned. Although bikes will be around the 9 kilo mark most of us would be better off shedding a couple of pounds off ourselves rather than looking at anything lighter at the outset. One of the advantages of a road bike is the fact that you have different hand positions unlike a hybrid. On the hoods, on the tops of the bars and on the drops. That has an effect on hands arms, shoulders and your upper body in general, being able to shift everything around on long rides is essential. If your budget doesn't extend that far then these always seem to get good reviews. http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-5-id_8167039.html

Got so lucky with the Ridley. Originally had a Ridley Orion Special Edition in Vacansoleil livery ordered about a year ago. bit of a bargain I thought reduced from £1800 to £1600. To cut a long story short someone stuffed up. Not my LBS. Ridley either took the order and couldn't fulfil it because it was towards the end of the promo and simply had nothing left in stock or as they claimed it had gone on a meandering journey around Europe and had been delivered by mistake to a bike shop on route. 10 weeks after having paid for the non-existent bike the LBS called and said i needed to come in because they were going to have to look at a different solution. I got to test ride a Ridley Damocles and the Excalibur. The Damocles was white and the Excalibur was black and is a drop dead gorgeous looking machine in its Flandrien paint job. It's got a sub-kilo frame and a full carbon monocoque fork. I'll accept that it is more bike than I could ever do justice to, but it is an absolute joy to ride, and all for the same price as I initially paid for the discounted Orion. Excalibur was retailing at £2100 at full price, so a bit of a bargain.

That was sheer drama! Not just the finish, but the carnage on the climb. Seeing Frank Schleck, Sammy Sanchez, Menchov, Rolland etc getting blown out the back of the peloton on that climb was worth my Sky subscription in its own right, well before next season starts. BTW that truly looked a horrible spiteful climb. 22% is monstrous at the end of 190km. Only things I have climbed similar in gradient are in the Chilterns but they're over and done with fairly shortly and aren't 6K in length. Been up Howe hill out of Watlington up towards Nettlebed (22% according to my mate's Garmin) a couple of times recently. Last time I was seeing freaking stars with the effort. Chapeau to the pros. Great day for British cycling.

Indeed. if we were about to sign him as an unknown and had that on youtube we'd be absolutely creaming ourselves. No-one who saw him play will ever forget that genius. My boss is a Spurs fan. He's going to watch this on Monday. 6 caps for England sums up all that is wrong about us as an International football nation. On that form he'd get in the current Spain side.

It certainly helps. I had to take all of last week off mainly because we had the dreaded call from OFSTED which knocked commuting out the window. By the weekend I was on my knees. Went out for a short recovery ride on Sunday and commutes have just got quicker and quicker this week. As far as hitting the wall is concerned you should be OK. The key to it is to eat and drink, particularly the latter in the first hour and keep topping up as you go along. Electrolyte drinks should help you both avoid cramp. i have found that if you miss out in the first hour you are more likely to suffer from cramp the further you go. If you have been climbing and then are faced steep short relatively normal ascents that is where it can hit. I am notoriously bad at the drinking thing mainly because I have to slow down somewhat to get the bottles out the cages so only really hydrate when it is convenient to do so. Often that is too late. get two bottle cages for each of you and fill up at feed stations if necessary. Eating wise try out energy bars and gels but I've found Soreen mini malt loaf bars more palatable than either.