Petacchi Takes Stage 2 – He’s Back…

Alessandro Petacchi took first in todays stage of the Giro De Italia. I guess its true that Mark Cavendish can be beaten!

Alessandro Petacchi

Below is the top 10 from todays stage race:

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini 3.43.07 (41.951 km/h)
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – Highroad
3 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha
4 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step
5 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
6 Oscar Gatto (Ita) ISD
7 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C.
8 Davide Vigano (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
9 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – N.G.C.
10 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step

My favorites:

42 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
97 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
37 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
53 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas
119 Christopher Horner (USA) Astana

That’s just a few of the ones I like!

General classification after stage 2

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – Highroad 4.04.43
2 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad 0.14
3 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia – Highroad
4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia – Highroad
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia – Highroad
6 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0.16
7 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes – Farnese Vini
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0.20
9 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
10 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0.27

Levi is in 18th and 40 seconds behind the leaders jersey. Overall, I’m ecstatic over the results so far.
The fact that Lance is up there in the top 10 is incredible. It gives me the indication that he is going to absolutely fly in the Tour De France!

If you want much more information, head over to CyclingNews.Com!
Enjoy!

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Cranky Just Found Out Tyler Got Hit Again – Doper Or Not?

Tyler Hamilton’s career in cycling has ended following a positive doping control, I read this at Cyclingnews. He tested positive for the banned steroid Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) after an out-of-competition control in early February. Hamilton admitted to knowingly taking the substance which was an ingredient in a vitamin supplement he took in an attempt to alleviate depression. He has decided to retire.

This whole doping deal has really gotten under my skin! Who fucking cares that all these cyclist are doping anyway? Hell, if there all doping – isn’t the playing field level? I do believe there are those who do not get caught and those that do. And then there are those who are just flat out machines and do not need to dope (But probably do)! Anyway – Tyler is still a great cyclist and I hope he can get through his depression which is truly why he was taking the vitamin supplement to begin with.

It’s my opinion that all the testing done nowadays is so stringent that it makes it damn near impossible to be in good shape! In order to actually use the testing of cyclist as a means of cleaning up the sport – maybe all governments need to regulate vitamin and supplement manufacturers! How can we expect cyclist to fall within the guidelines if we cannot know for sure what is actually in the vitamins we are taking?

Have you ever had a bout of depression? I have and so the name cranky actually came about. My last two years in the Navy before retiring, I had some pretty serious depression. Some folks are born with it and others – well, it comes on by tragic events, or a major change in your life like hitting the end of a career.

Sometimes, depression can only be fought off with the use of drugs – whether they be over-the-counter or prescription. My depression was so bad that I was put on (Hell, cannot remember now)! Anyway, the point is, Life is a sport that has many ups and downs and it spins us all around like cranks. Sometimes we power over the top – and other times, we can barely scrape the mud off our shoes. You cycling will know what I’m referring too!

***Note*** When your spinning the cranks on a bicycle and cranking correctly – you will add power over the top of the crank revolution and be pulling at the bottom of the stroke – hence scrapping the mud off your shoes.

Let me give you a little background to the drug Tyler was popped on:

DHEA is a natural hormone released by the adrenal glands and the synthetic form is primarily marketed as an anti-aging drug, an anti-depressant and for muscle growth. It is one of the only steroids in the USA not classified as a controlled drug and does not need FDA approval to be sold over the counter. According to Scott, it is banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and USADA because it is an andro-related substance. Technically, however, DHEA has very little performance-enhancing effects on the body.

To think that DHEA is a performance enhancer is absurd! But, since Tyler has had a shady past and there is a history of doping – Well – the rest of the story seems pretty obvious to me. I am simply fed up with the doping situation in cycling. I think they should just ban testing all together and let the cyclist deal with the drug problem. Hell, they couldn’t do much worse than what the testing companies are doing…

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