"François Yves Le Gal" wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:19:59 GMT, "Dave xxxx" wrote:

Wish treatment had made me as fast as him on a bike

You haven't taken enough corticoids, EPO and HGH, then.

Just saw the end of today's stage, with Richard Virenque - a convicted EPO
junkie - riding alone for 200 km or so and taking a five minute lead on the
other riders. He was fresher after this stage than anyone is after climbing
a couple of stairs...

Isn't today's pharmaceutical research wonderful?

I dunno whether he is taking anything now, but then who isn't?

Several of our stars destined for the Athens games have been dropped
because they were shooting up horse growth hormones....

Drugs in sport are here to stay, but one has to realize that some athletes are
just never going to ever beat a born natural, even if they were full of all the
banned
and detectable drugs.

I'd be very surprised if Virenque gets to Paris in less time than Lance.
If any of the others who Lance fears may be a threat had also rushed off the
front of the bunch,
Lance would have reacted.
Breakaways are only chased down by the Peloton for a reason.
Le Tour is a game of tactics, and with lots of calculated moves and strategies,
and keeping one's reserve
for the right time to spring when everyone else is weak, and leaving oneself in
good enough shape
for the day after.
And its team work.

But this is Lance's unique chance to win 6 in a row, which hasn't been done
before,
and the mountain stages ahead will soon see if he can achieve it, and as they
say,
it ain't over until the fat lady sings.

There would be those who fancy beating him this time, but I am not sure who
they might be.

Patrick Turner.