Tour de France 2019

[Liep]

Before stage 1: This year will be Fuglsang's year!
With 20 km to finish line on stage 1: Next year will be Fuglsang's year!

He's a fighter, finishing the stage with blood streaming down his face, but he just cannot manage to stay on his bike through a whole tour.

Luckily there's a record number of Danes in this year's edition so plenty of stage wins to hope for.

[mongers]

Before stage 1: This year will be Fuglsang's year!
With 20 km to finish line on stage 1: Next year will be Fuglsang's year!

He's a fighter, finishing the stage with blood streaming down his face, but he just cannot manage to stay on his bike through a whole tour.

Luckily there's a record number of Danes in this year's edition so plenty of stage wins to hope for.

Sad, but nether the less and enjoyable first stage.   

Should be an interesting tour, what with a couple of less Brits in it this year and new blood talent emerging.

[celedhring]

Is this thing still riddled by druggies? Loved watching Le Tour until pretty much every great champ from the 1990s and 2000s was outed as a cheat. That put me off watching the sport.

[The Brain]

Is this thing still riddled by druggies?

Oh yes.

[mongers]

Is this thing still riddled by druggies? Loved watching Le Tour until pretty much every great champ from the 1990s and 2000s was outed as a cheat. That put me off watching the sport.

They've probably had greater success against the drug cheats then international weight-lifting has.

[Legbiter]

Is this thing still riddled by druggies?

Oh yes.

All competitive sport is.

[Duque de Bragança]

Is this thing still riddled by druggies?

Oh yes.

All competitive sport is.

Even pétanque and curling ?! 

[Legbiter]

Even pétanque and curling ?! 

The Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky has been formally charged with a doping offence by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. He is now likely to be stripped of his mixed curling bronze medal, won with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova last week.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/19/russian-curler-banished-from-winter-olympics-after-failed-drug-test

 

Even curling is not pure.

[Legbiter]

Ok this is just ridiculous. 

The sleepy world of pétanque has been rocked by claims that Belgian players are turning to stronger stimulants than shots of pastis and drags of Gitanes cigarettes when bowling on the international stage.

The image of the jeu de boules, in which the bowler's feet must remain anchored to the ground, is that of elderly men in flat caps and string vests idling their days away under a fading sun.

But beyond the gravel strips found on squares and summer campsites across northern continental Europe, two leading players on the game's lively and cut-throat international stage have caused uproar by accusing their Belgian counterparts of snorting cocaine to secure a competitive edge.

"I know enough Belgian players who use coke," said Edward Vinke, 46, a top Dutch player, speaking to the Vice sports website. "They go to the toilet and do not throw a wrong ball when they come back. They really feel like the king."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/15/petanque-drug-allegations-cocaine-belgian-players

[Duque de Bragança]

Ok this is just ridiculous. 

The sleepy world of pétanque has been rocked by claims that Belgian players are turning to stronger stimulants than shots of pastis and drags of Gitanes cigarettes when bowling on the international stage.

The image of the jeu de boules, in which the bowler's feet must remain anchored to the ground, is that of elderly men in flat caps and string vests idling their days away under a fading sun.

But beyond the gravel strips found on squares and summer campsites across northern continental Europe, two leading players on the game's lively and cut-throat international stage have caused uproar by accusing their Belgian counterparts of snorting cocaine to secure a competitive edge.

"I know enough Belgian players who use coke," said Edward Vinke, 46, a top Dutch player, speaking to the Vice sports website. "They go to the toilet and do not throw a wrong ball when they come back. They really feel like the king."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/15/petanque-drug-allegations-cocaine-belgian-players

Old-school pétanque play vs coke head play...
Well, there are much better doping products than cocaine but I guess it still qualifies somewhat as doping. 

[PDH]

Wasn't there a story a while back about PGA Tour pros having a high rate of doping?

[mongers]

Well timed and very deserved win by Julian Allaphillipe, Oh and he takes the yellow jersey too. 

[PDH]

That was a very nice finish on the La Planche des Belles Filles - when Tour riders are almost stopping and having to weave back and forth on a climb, any bike rider watching suffers along mentally.

[mongers]

That was a very nice finish on the La Planche des Belles Filles - when Tour riders are almost stopping and having to weave back and forth on a climb, any bike rider watching suffers along mentally.

Yes, an epic ride.

Nice that the rider who lost out in the tussle to win the stage and who crossed the line shaking his head, got the consolation prize of the yellow jersey!

[mongers]

Stage 8 was a real classic bike race, definitely worth catching.