Id forgotten all about Obee.
glaconman Wrote:Funny, I never liked Boardman because he seemed to whinge all the time during The Tour and had a pained expression on his face all the time. But now I know why! He was famous for being clean and was probably the only person in the peleton who was experiencing what it was actually like to cycle that race without chemicals. Poor fella. (Apart from Big Mig of course, in case Ana is reading.)
Youre absolutely right about Boardman
He was always completely shagged at the finish but seemed to me a lot more human than many other cyclists as a result.
Read an interview recently with Eufemiano Fuentes (Dr Blood of Operación Puerto fame). He apparently stashed away bags of blood belonging to half the international peloton. Unsurprisingly this attracted a bit of suspicion. Reading between the lines, his view seemed to be that his blood meddling antics were actually beneficial for the health of the cyclists and the real culprit is the very nature of professional sport itself and its inhuman demands on the human body. He went on to suggest a rest day every 2 or 3 days if pro-cycling was to become clean but that this would be impossible for commercial reasons. The conclusion? Inhuman ultra sport (represented by the intensity of modern day cycling) + loads of cash = inevitable doping, perhaps for the whole lot of them.
Interestingly he also considered that the physical demands on an elite marathon runner to be even greater than those on the cyclists with the difference being the marathon runner has longer to recover.
This week Ive dusted down my old racer and mountain bike, changed tyres and brake blocks..etc
Sod this running lark, Im off on me bike
now where did I put that bag o blood.
