Agreed - luckily we would never have one of them in our team....
Difference is that David Millar admitted his guilt, he cooperated with the police and the cycling authorities, took the punishment and has since campaigned against doping in sport and cycling. After he won a stage in this year's Tour de France he patiently answered questions about it and so has in my opinion redeemed himself, because we are all perfect right?
Vinokourov on the other hand refused to accept that he had been caught doping and denied that he was doping even though the evidence was totally conclusive, subsequently he has refused to answer questions about it and effectively acts like it didn't happen.
Admitted it or got caught then admitted it. A drug cheat is a cheat - Maradonna cheated by punching the ball into the net, but he admitted it afterwards, and explained it was the Hand of God, so that was all right then?
Admitted it or got caught then admitted it. A drug cheat is a cheat - Maradonna cheated by punching the ball into the net, but he admitted it afterwards, and explained it was the Hand of God, so that was all right then
There should always be leniency for those that confess to a crime and generally there is and Millar is lucky to be allowed to compete in the olympics. I personally would ban all those who are convicted of doping from the olympics and other major championships but that's another matter. However the point I'm making which you ignore is that he has earned some redemption for his actions after admitting guilt, while Vinokourov refused to admit that he was doping and so is either in deep denial about it or more likely he regarded it as bad luck and the only offence he committed was to get caught.
But as a result of his doping conviction Millar had the World Championship he'd just won taken away, if Argentina had been forced to relinquish the World Cup they won that year or forfeited that match against England, effectively knocking them out of the competition then the two situations might be comparable. Maradona "admitted" his guilt in the full knowledge that the sanction would be a big fat zero. I can't recall if he was even banned after the event but if it was then it would have been for a couple of matches and he was soon back.
well harvey you are obviously more knowledgable than I am but I can't get my head around the fact that if we were so hot to win why we failed so miserably and I don't say that as a criticism it just completely baffles me.
If you don't follow the sport or watch the race then it's difficult to explain, Cavendish is a great sprinter and the tactic was to get him to around 50-100 metres from the line, if they'd done that he most likely would have won. However with such a cyclist there is no Plan B so it was shit or bust - think of him like a goalscorer who scores goals but doesn't do much else for the team. If Team GB had stuck a rider in that breakaway then they would have reduced even further the chance of success and there would still have been no guarantee of a medal as that rider would have have had roughly a one in 30 chance of success. So the best thing to do was to not panic and pace the peloton back by upping the tempo and to set things up for a bunch sprint, however the breakaway was able to maintain the distance from the peloton and the British riders were at that stage pretty knackered having paced back a couple of other breakaways that got away as well as numerous other attemps which were dragged back after a few hundred metres. With a four man team (plus Cav) they rode a superb race but needed some help, notably from the Germans who had their sprinter (Greipel) in the peloton. The Aussies didn't commit anyone presumably because they had O'Grady in the breakaway but their sprinter, Matt Goss, was in the peloton so it might have been in their interest to sacrifice O'Grady's slim chances in the hope that Goss might sneak a medal. So all in all the other teams adopted a scorched earth policy - effectively saying we aren't going to win with Cavendish in the race and therefore they gave their sprinters no chance of even getting a silver or bronze medal either.
. So all in all the other teams adopted a scorched earth policy - effectively saying we aren't going to win with Cavendish in the race and therefore they gave their sprinters no chance of even getting a silver or bronze medal either.
then it is not a sport worthy of debate as such behaviour and actions are not sporting and certainly dont fulfil the olympic ethos
Right then... why were the other British Riders racing for Cavendish to win a gold medal? Why didn't they want to win one themselves - why bother cycling all those miles to not win anything?
Sorry i know nothing I just dont get it and dont worry I do not expect an answer, as I wouldnt be able to fathom it out still.
He doesnt come across very well, regardless of whether he just lost or not.
Cav was the only true sprinter in the team so the idea is to get him within 1000 - 500mtrs of the finish line and let him bomb off and win it. None of the other members in the GB team were true sprinters so they would have had to have gone off the front early in the hope that nobody caught them.
The opposite happened in the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins was the best all rounder so Cav and the rest of the Sky team all helped to protect him and make sure he had what he needed to win the race overall.
Unless you follow cycling it can seem a little complicated because to add to the above there are other competitions taking place in a race like the TDF as well i.e. best sprinter wins the green jersey, the best climber wins the polka dot jersey, the best young rider wins the white jersey and of course the overall winner wins the yellow jersey.
Right then... why were the other British Riders racing for Cavendish to win a gold medal? Why didn't they want to win one themselves - why bother cycling all those miles to not win anything?
Road racing is probably the hardest sport to win at the Olympics. In most sports the winner will come from one of a few people, occasionally an outsider can come from nowhere and win but they are rare. In the RR any one of about a hundred riders could have won depending on luck, getting their strategy right, the weather/race conditions - some riders go better in hilly conditions others on the flat and so on. This means there are lots of riders and teams following their own tactics and strategy - trying to breakaway and get a jump on their rivals. For these riders it's like trying to get the winning ticket in a raffle.
That was the same situation that the British team were trying to engineer - to get their sprinter to the front with a few yards to go and it's why you need a team around you.
Anyone know where I can get a Team GB cycling top? Wiggle has sold out all sizes except medium and there's no way I am even going to try fitting in that size top ;o)
Comments
A doper wins the race and a Columbian comes 2nd
Never rely on the Aussies or Germans to help us!
A drug cheat is a cheat - Maradonna cheated by punching the ball into the net, but he admitted it afterwards, and explained it was the Hand of God, so that was all right then?
Admitted it or got caught then admitted it.
A drug cheat is a cheat - Maradonna cheated by punching the ball into the net, but he admitted it afterwards, and explained it was the Hand of God, so that was all right then
There should always be leniency for those that confess to a crime and generally there is and Millar is lucky to be allowed to compete in the olympics. I personally would ban all those who are convicted of doping from the olympics and other major championships but that's another matter. However the point I'm making which you ignore is that he has earned some redemption for his actions after admitting guilt, while Vinokourov refused to admit that he was doping and so is either in deep denial about it or more likely he regarded it as bad luck and the only offence he committed was to get caught.
But as a result of his doping conviction Millar had the World Championship he'd just won taken away, if Argentina had been forced to relinquish the World Cup they won that year or forfeited that match against England, effectively knocking them out of the competition then the two situations might be comparable. Maradona "admitted" his guilt in the full knowledge that the sanction would be a big fat zero. I can't recall if he was even banned after the event but if it was then it would have been for a couple of matches and he was soon back.
Interesting article here if you know naff all about whats involved!
Sorry i know nothing I just dont get it and dont worry I do not expect an answer, as I wouldnt be able to fathom it out still.
He doesnt come across very well, regardless of whether he just lost or not.
Cav was the only true sprinter in the team so the idea is to get him within 1000 - 500mtrs of the finish line and let him bomb off and win it.
None of the other members in the GB team were true sprinters so they would have had to have gone off the front early in the hope that nobody caught them.
The opposite happened in the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins was the best all rounder so Cav and the rest of the Sky team all helped to protect him and make sure he had what he needed to win the race overall.
Unless you follow cycling it can seem a little complicated because to add to the above there are other competitions taking place in a race like the TDF as well i.e. best sprinter wins the green jersey, the best climber wins the polka dot jersey, the best young rider wins the white jersey and of course the overall winner wins the yellow jersey.
Road racing is probably the hardest sport to win at the Olympics. In most sports the winner will come from one of a few people, occasionally an outsider can come from nowhere and win but they are rare. In the RR any one of about a hundred riders could have won depending on luck, getting their strategy right, the weather/race conditions - some riders go better in hilly conditions others on the flat and so on. This means there are lots of riders and teams following their own tactics and strategy - trying to breakaway and get a jump on their rivals. For these riders it's like trying to get the winning ticket in a raffle.
Here is the last few km from last year's WC in Copenhagen:
That was the same situation that the British team were trying to engineer - to get their sprinter to the front with a few yards to go and it's why you need a team around you.
Might have to go for one of these, expecially like the Baked Beans and the Marmite ones:
cyclesurgery.com/jerseys/clothing/fcp-category/list