Tried to find a nice joke in the net to end this year´s tour de France with a smile on our faces...failed miserably...anyway here it is...

Racing comedy picture, bike race humor

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Any predictions for who will win next year?

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Wont really have an idea until we see what that teams look like and how various individuals look in the Classics and Giro. Not to mention who will be able to race pending Doping investigations.

I'd say LL and Cadel Evans probably have the best chance based on this years performance. AC will have hard time defending title, esp if 'Spider' Soler is around in the Mtns.

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Those you posted were the ones I would choose as well. I did like the fact that two countries were represented as being winners this year--who had never been in the top three before. I could not believe at how close the times were though--really was amazing IMO. Great athletes who made the race enjoyable to watch. If this years race gets released on DvD, I think i'd buy it.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

And another case : Mayo, positive on EPO !

for next year the best teams should be Bayer, Pfizer and Aventis

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If i was him, i'd fire the Doctor who gave it to me! lol - Mayo really sucked in the Tour, inconsistant as he ever was. If thats how he did doping, i'd hate to see him clean! I'd be able to give him a ride for his money!

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Yes ! So true ! Doping himself, achieving close to nothing and getting caught, I must say this is a fiasco for Mayo !

On a more serious tone, I foresee LEIPHEIMER doing great things in the years to come, this guy has potential and I found him more impressive than CONTADOR or EVANS.

Anyway, I'm afraid next Tour will be the same sad prank of a show all over again

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right now all of pro cycling is so corrupt TV watchers will probably drop off as well as attendees for this Fall's giro - Spain ?

discovery team pulled out so those boyz who are also in the dope racket in my opinion will probably go over with Lance A.'s hooked up Hewett-Packard who has got bucks to spare and support financially .

it is going to take years if ever to clean house, what a waste on a great sport ~ by the way Vino says it was all in regard to railroading him and Astana out of the TdF ........... well sorry moron but you were never in the tour physically and Klöden was kicking your lily white a** the whole time and should of blown out to secure a more higher rank...........doesn't matter you were caught with the goods in another doping matter almost at the tours start

life goes on

Well, to give Vino credit, he did have a rather nasty crash that most other people would have dropped out of the Tour from! 20-odd stiches in his knees, which get a lot of motion/flex when pedaling a bike. I do give him credit for toughing it out the way he did, but he really wasnt a contender after the crash. Astana tactics were bad in trying to keep him in it while Kloden was by far the better of the two.

I think because it is European the whole drug thing is a big deal. Cycling is no worse then the NFL or MLB when it comes to doping, but you dont hear anything about that.

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And Chocapic, if you don't mind, I actually agree with your ENTIRE post ;-))

In other words--well said.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

@ Muss : You can't single out US sports, it's the same everywhere and I don't think you can point your finger at US sports having more dope than other types of sports in other countries.
OK, it's quite possible there are more cries and scandals in other countries about this issue, but what is really done to get rid of this : not much, just cry louder.

And of course, a given sport is more or less prone to doping, when it's main requisites are sheer energy and endurance, but when it comes to wit, fast reflexes, collective sophisticated gameplay, agility or dexterity, dope helps but don't make everything.

For example, I think that with an adequate physical preparation, some time and loads of dope, you can make an average Joe a real performant weight hauler or bicycle runner, with all the dope in the world , you can make a Michael Jordan better, but you can't make a Michael Jordan from scrap just with dope.

Now wait a sec please, while I kneel a moment in praise of Michael Jordan (I'm a fan)

@ Evans : we just can't always disagree. If you want to agree more with me, I'm sure we could talk about ZZ Top, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc etc

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Good choice of musicians ;-D Stevie Ray Vaughn is good, as well as ZZ Top. Im familiar with Johnny Winter but not sure what I have heard that is his?

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

it's all over for Floyd Landis, a two year ban from pro-cycling and his TdF title stripped ...........

my sport continues to be plagued ~

A lot of things need to change in the Cycling World. For starters, using a French Lab to test riders. Not to mention the governing body. The list goes on.

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Muss the last two days I have talked with pro-rider friends .......... we all agree they should just fire the lot- officials, lab crews, etc. and then bar any pro-cycle events for a year to "clean-house"

it would work ~ E

Brilliant !

Let's ban French Labs and US blood and urine

If you don't take the weight to handle the message, just shoot the messenger

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Landis was banned by a U.S. court. for once nobody can say it was biased and tell the usual fiction.

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I think you misunderstood what I said. The French Lab has mishandled so many cases and breached their own codes of conduct that many people find it hard to believe them. The Lab is butt-buddies with a particular French Newspaper too, which only adds fuel to the fire. They need to use a lab in Switzerland or something - some place where Cycling isn't the National Sport. The Governing body has been horrendous in dealing with Doping and if changes are made in the top, bring in some one who can really crack down on the whole doping thing, then the sport might start to do better. I think even the org