Georgia Legislature: Mathematicians

Politicians from the southern US aren't really known for their cultural sophistication, right Trick Daddy? So the recent news concerning the Tour of Georgia shouldn't really surprise us, yet it does. Despite the fact that the 2006 Tour of Georgia had $26M of direct economic impact for the state of Georgia, the Georgia Legislature can't find $800,000 for the Tour. Maybe a 3250% return isn't good enough for them, but just because TommyD is the race favorite is no reason to shortchange it.

Trick love the Zipps.

Wake me up for Amstel Gold

This year's Paris-Roubaix was boring, as Paris-Roubaix's tend to go. No rain, no mud, no Roger DeVlaeminck. Yes, the first Australian on the podium and best Spanish finish since the 1950s are Good Things for Cycling(TM), but the race lacked drama, unless of course you consider the main favorites sucking Tom Boonen's wheel drama. This week in racing is looking pretty bleak too until the Amstel Gold Race, seeing as the most engaging thing about following the Tour of Georgia is waiting for another big sponsor to pull out.

Boonen Loses Roo-Bay, Too

The freckled Aussie menace, Stuart O'Grady, fought through the heat and dust to win today's Paris-Roubaix.
And Tom Boonen did not.

Tom, bitting the dust.

Platogrande: Sucker

We are shocked by Platogrande's take on the Floyd Landis fiasco.

We knew he was finishing up his docotoral thesis at an Ivy League university, but we didn't know it was in sucker studies.

Why not acquiesce to Floyd's request that the samples be tested at the UCLA lab, you ask?

Because the lab can't do it, fan boy.

From cyclingnews.com:

Former UCLA head Don Catlin, who recently stepped down, said that the laboratory could not provide what Landis was hoping for, anyway. "We couldn't do (the tests)," he said. "It was very clear and the reason we couldn't do them is that we had one instrument, and it was down." The particular test method needed is an instrument able to perform 'IRMS' testing to show evidence of exogenous testosterone.

Furthermore, Catlin said that the laboratory of Chatenay Malabry was bound to the same procedure standards than UCLA. "A WADA lab is a WADA lab," he continued. "I know they're card-carrying, full-fledged members of the (World Anti-Doping Agency) system. WADA holds everyone to standards. They do that with an iron club."

Anyway, the whole reason Flandis is even getting a second test done is to see how the lab reached it's decision in the first place.
"The Panel’s expert will identify if there are flaws in the testing equipment. That expert will determine if the methodologies are flawed," it said in the ruling.

Flandis does not want the sample tested because it contains exogenous testosterone and it will finally put an end to his charade.

Until then he is doing irreparable damage to cycling's image.

And he's a scumbag for doing so.

Plato, you're Rainbow Brite on this one.

USADA be hatin', tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty

In a stunning show of hypocrisy, USADA is demanding that that Floyd Landis' negative urine samples from le Tour '06 be retested. By the same lab that French @#$%ed up in the first place. The same lab that has a disturbing history of testing errors.

We here at Cycopaths universally condemn dopers, but we don't always agree on who is a doper. Tyler? Posterboy. Mancebo? Retired-then-not, what do you think? Jan? We know the story there. On Floyd's case, however, there is no meeting of minds; indeed, there is a decided difference of opinion.

Some fans of cycling, this reporter among them, are able to distinguish between "guilty", "not guilty" and "innocent". Is anyone in the pro peloton truly innocent? We will never know. Floyd appears to fall into the "not guilty" category, a victim of angry little men in suits. The comical inconsistencies in the testing of Floyd's samples, with the equally ridiculous insistence, flying in the face of reason and scientific convention, on unblinded re-testing by a suspect lab smacks of saving face by rigging results. Why not acquiesce to Floyd's request that the samples be tested at the UCLA lab too? Do USADA, WADA and their posse think Floyd's got some pull there?

Tell me again why we trust the dope testers any more than the peloton.

Kemmelberg: That Sketchy?

Since no other races compare the Belgian classics, then it follows that there are no other crashes like those on the Flemish cobbles. A mass pile up in le Tour is terrible, but one during Gent-Wevelgem? Spectacular!

In fact, wednesday's spill on the Kemmelberg was so severe that more than a few cycling luminaries are calling for its removal.

Mr. 60 wonders: how bad could it be?

To the evidence!

It seems that it all started when a water bottle came loose on the high speed cobbled descent (Tony Cruz,' probs- ed.) and a rider swearved to avoid it.

Everybody who is anybody began hitting the cobbles on Wednesday! Matthew Wilson sprained his wrist, American Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) fell and broke his kneecap, Matthew Wilson sprained his wrist, Milram's Alessandro Petacchi and Fabio Sacchi both suffered contusions, Marco Velo broke two ribs and injured his knee and collarbone, Wilfried Cretskens (Quick.Step) suffered a deep cut to his right arm, im de Vocht (Predictor) broke his thumb, and Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner) bruised his shoulder, elbow and knee. Perhaps the most beautiful of all was Frenchman Jimmy Caspar who boke his fall with his eye socket. Good one Jimmy! We didn't learn that in Judo.

Well, Mr 60 for one belives that there is no place in the pro peloton for danger. Sylvain Chavanel's tattoo is bad enough. You're officially on notice, UCI. In the meantime, the Cycopaths recommend Bushwick Bill's Guide to Crashing.

Not too soft.

Tony Cruz: By Any Means Neccesary

"I have a free role, so I will go for it. I will try to be in good position and make the selection."
That's Discovery Channel's Tony Cruz speaking before Gent-Wevelgem on Wednesday. He said some other stuff but we've decided to cut him off.

Isn't this the guy who clipped the wheel of teammate George Hincapie during the Tour of California? The man responsible for forcing George to miss his beloved Belgian classics?
Yep, he makes Tonya Harding look classy.

George is home in Girona nursing his wrist and making crepes with his wife, while Tony's in Beligium making little use of George's spot. And how did Tony do? He missed the selection, finishing the race in the third group, 5'02" back.

Nice ride, Brutus.