The Tour de Romandie has been and gone and first some notes from the race starting with the winner Carlos Rodriguez.
Romandie is often a race where teams give young riders leadership, it’s not quite the purpose of the race but it suits many given the slot on the calendar: post Ardennes, pre Giro. The almost retro course design helps with set-piece strategic points such as two time trials and two summit finishes, a course with no traps or surprises. The paradox is a race that isn’t necessarily gripping to watch but whose outcome can be significant.
In 2018 Egan Bernal was the Big Thing in cycling having just signed for Team Sky after winning the Tour de l’Avenir the previous year and Romandie was his first World Tour test and he thrived, taking the mountain time trial stage and duelling with Primož Roglič on the mountain stage, although they marked each other and Jakob Fuglsang beat them for the stage win. This year he was playing domestique for Rodriguez but late in the mountain train and making moves he could not a year ago and now seems within touching distance of the performances he made before.
Rodriguez gets his first stage race win and presumably not the last as Romandie winners tend to go on to greater things. If he can ride high in the mountains and time trials alike then he can build this into grand tour success. No revelation given his performance in the Tour last summer and more of course but still a step up. He was due to go to Movistar only for Ineos to realise the mess they’d made in recruitment and bid to retain him. He’s the winner from this, presumably well-paid but with the kind team in his service that Enric Mas doesn’t have, Carlos Rodriguez was riding the Ineos mountain train with a first class ticket and with Bernal. Ineos will take a lot of delight from this. A mention for Richard Carapaz and EF too, last year was a washout but now he’s looking more like what the team hoped for and there should be more to come.
The “loser” of Romandie if we can call him that was Juan Ayuso, in the yellow jersey for the last mountain stage but then deposed, falling to fifth place overall. Relative of course as he had more than a solid race and one bad day is just that. Local newspaper Le Temps wrote that UAE were conscious of putting all their eggs in the basket marked Pogačar and using Romandie as a dress rehearsal for his deputy or even co-leader this July.
Ayuso and Rodriguez make for natural rivals as two Spaniards chasing stage race success. Like many rivalries of the past the media can try to expand differences and form caricatures but so far there’s no clash and the pair are friendly and spurring each other on.
The surprise of the race was Dorian Godon winning two stages although the lack of sprinters meant he had a good chance and he was fourth in the prologue, a sign of his form. He’s an interesting character. He moved to Girona, not for the sunshine but because he could study to become a physio at the same time as being a pro cyclist. It’s helped Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale move up to third on the UCI team rankings as of this morning. Godon was asked what the difference is for this year and he’s been at pains to play down any big changes. He could have cited the new bike but not really, more talking of a virtuous cycle with riders coming good although after some reflection last winter on their poor results with more work done by team staff on nutrition and other organisational work. In other words the team under-performed last year and is now over-performing.
Watching Romandie on local Swiss channel RTS all week was instructive. Local channels on the ground have lots of info and gossip:
- No scoop but they reminded viewers how teams stay in the same hotel all week. This means daily transfers for the stages but a “base” and no need to pack up the suitcase every morning
- Each stage has decentralised organisation, one day could be organised by a local cycling club, the next by town council committee; presumably with plenty of central input but a different model
- The event’s future was in doubt because of financial difficulties and race director Richard Chassot was making public appeals for support a year ago. He seems to have got more than an audience and the event is secure thanks to sponsors and donors
- The women’s race is later this year, but next year’s route for the men was also mentioned on TV, it’s rare for a stage race to have the course in place a year out but 2025 will start in the watch-making village of Saint-Imier and finish with a time trial in the watch-selling city of Geneva
- The slow motion summit finish of Thyon 2000 will be back as well
- As well as English, Carlos Rodriguez also speaks French. It’s not fluent but he gets by alright and maybe it’ll come in handy this summer?
The revelation of the race was Florian Lipowitz who finished third overall. The 23 year old German rider was all over the race, looking strong in the mountains and almost too much as he could have raced more precisely at times. But he has only been cycling since 2020 after switching from biathlon where he was on the German national team. He won the Czech tour last year but this was a step up, he was making moves when the likes of Ayuso and Yates were dropped. Bora-hansgrohe could field their own winter sports team with Lipowitz, Palzer and of course Roglič. Lipowitz rides the Giro next.
Elsewhere now and one person who isn’t doing the Giro is Emanuel Buchmann. After Bora-hansgrohe published their roster he went public with frustration at being told earlier this month he wasn’t going to be picked. It’s rare to see public criticism like this and more so from Buchmann who is by many accounts polite and shy. One thing to note is that if a rider is moving teams then their current team often sees them as an ex-rider even if they have months or the best part of the season left on the books. Plans together, investment in training it all goes out the window. So by extrapolation – a fancy word for guessing – Buchmann could be signing elsewhere for 2025. It’s tempting to see this in the light of Lipowitz’s recent results but again Buchmann was told weeks ago and presumably the decision goes back further.
To the opposite story now and Isaac Del Toro has a contract with UAE through to the end of 2029, the longest deal in pro cycling. They, like everyone else, have been impressed by what they have seen from the 20 year old. Indeed the only concern here is how much he is racing, he’s done 32 days already including World Tour events like Tirreno and Itzulia but he’s handled it all well of course. So far UAE have handled their busy team well, outwardly everyone is getting a chance.
Finally Cofidis and Total Energies look to be jostling to sign Julian Alaphilippe. Both have obvious reasons, Total Energies is struggling for results and visibility and in a vicious cycle where invites are drying up so they have fewer chances to score points which might qualify them for invites. The Total CEO himself has said aloud he’d “break the piggybank” to sign Alaphilippe, the team wants popularity as much as results. Alaphilippe could swing some invitations and by extension keep the team on the road because otherwise their chances of being at the Tour are drying up. Cofidis would be a good match but perhaps not for the reasons you think, the sponsor does consumer credit and payday loans, it’s customer base are by definition those struggling to get by so signing a rider down on his luck hoping to turn things around… it fits. What team suits him is another issue though, more should be interested and we’ll see how the Giro goes, a stage win is within reach although the course doesn’t present abundant chances for a rider best in the mid-mountains. For French speakers L’Equipe now have a monthly cycling podcast called Echappées and so it’s excellent, the second episode covers Alaphilippe’s career path… and outlook plus mentions in passing he used to be able to do 1,000 push-ups.
From a season perspective, quite a comeback for Rodriguez. He was quite frozen in some early season races and it looked like everyone apart from Ineos is asking where is he. Come spring he had some fairly impressive results, second at Basque Country and a win here.
Guess Ineos has mastered the art of form at right time.
“Time waits for no man” so as Del Toro, Rodriguez and Lipowitz enjoy their time in the Sun, others are seeing, maybe not the Sun going down, but the shadows getting longer.
Del Toro has been racing since the Tour Down Under but seems to be enjoying himself, even so UAE have to give the guy a rest sometime. Would Ayuso be better off at another team? Sure he’d be racing against Pogacar instead of for him, but could he be improving instead of following?
Lipowitz and Zwiehoff both did well in the Czech Tour and up the monster climb Babadag in Turkey last year.
Gordon had a good Catalunya so he’s in good shape.
Maybe Buchmann and Alaphilippe can find a second wind at a new team but nowadays it seems that over 25’s are considered peloton veterans.
Lipowitz took me completely by surprise tbh. Hope it’s not a flash in the pan Padun style (who I realise had health/weight issues).
Bora are starting to look as though they’ll have a Tour team that genuinely matches Jumbo and UAE for 2025 if not 2024…
Looking at Bora 24
Roglic, Hindley, Vlasov, Jungels, Zwiehoff, Meeus, Haller, Martinez (if he does the double)
Pos Bora 25
Roglic, Hindley, Vlasov, Kemna, Lipowitz, Zwiehoff, Meeus, Pithie (if rumours are true)
Alexander Hajek and Emil Herzog also coming through.
1,000 push-ups… in a day?
PS The kind of strength cyclists (and long-distance runners) can possess sometimes takes people who work out in a gym in order to lift a maximum (or to build muscle mass) by surprise.
Yes, apparently a thousand in one go, it’s from his time on the French army cycling team.
Also weight and strength training is increasingly important for many riders, it’s been the sort of thing done in the off season and then dropped once races and travel get in the way. But Van der Poel is an example as someone who incorporates it in his regular routine.
do you happen to have any details on what strength training MVDP incorporates?
is it similarly push ups, pull ups etc? I doubt there’s an in depth training break down but it sounds interesting.
have long felt MVDP looks remarkably good on a bike and seems to have a completely different physique to almost another other rider, guess this might be why, alongside genetics.
A lot of work around the core: abdominals, lumber, psoas with his physio coach David Bombeke who works with lots of other pros, he used to be Cadel Evans’ personal soigneur/physio etc.
Isn’t too much core muscle too much weight to carry over hills and mountains?
Core muscles are part of the stiffness gain. Without them, the force applied by your legs would just throw your body around. They are probably more useful for explosive short hill climbs.
Yes, weight is less of a worry for Van der Poel but the idea is to have as much stability on the bike as possible, proportional to the force. A lot of riders do it in the winter and then gradually leave it but it can be useful for everyone when matched to the type of rider.
Core work can also be very helpful in managing & alleviating chronic back pain, which I imagine is an important factor for MvdP…
GMBN did a video with Nino Schurter a few years ago – and weight training is part of his routine…..
Road cycling is finally catching up to the benefits of a strong core.
Finally? I remember being a new guy and having an opportunity to ride with better and more experienced guys (including ex-semi pros and a pro) and pestering them with questions.
The two pieces of advice I got from everyone I asked were: ride your easy rides so easy – “So easy that you´d rather not do them” – and do core work-outs and some lifting.
That was fifteen years ago.
The big difference – if there really is one – is that in the past the strength training was done during the winter break only?
I would like to complement Egan Bernal on the undoubted progress from his career threatening accident. It must have taken bucket loads of courage. determination and an indomitable spirit to recover from those numerous injuries. Romandy must have given him some assurance that he can perform at his previous best level.
Well done and good luck Egan. You are an inspiration to many.
+1
it’s funny when there’s a crash off camera and you’re never quite able to understand how bad it was until you comprehend how long a comeback has been, if there is one at all.
hoping Thomas Gloag makes a comeback from his car smash last year soon and Tao gets back to last season’s form in time for the Tour.
There is blurry footage. And it’s far from being funny, like no crash is “funny”, except for OlArmchair
There’s funny “ha-ha” and there’s funny “peculiar”.
I believe oldDave was using the peculiar version, not the laughing edition.
Really enjoyed this post thank you.
Found Romandie very interesting – have been following Ayuso, Rodriguez and also Cian U (who didn’t race there obviously) closely in last few seasons for two reasons –
1) to see who might be the most likely to challenge the best in the near future at GT’s… in all honesty had Rodriguez as the least likely in that list, and might still do so seeing as he’s a tiny bit older, but very happy for him to get this win and hopefully build on his youthful promise even if it’s still a long way up to P&V.
2) Clearly Bernal and Pogacar heralded a new era of super talented youngsters, and maybe because Pog followed Bernal so quickly, I had been expecting more wonder kids to follow and quickly jump to Pog’s level but despite now having a peloton full of exciting prospects and youngsters doing remarkable things, it’s beginning to feel like Pog will continue to stand apart as special amongst a special generation for what he did between 2019-2021 specifically.
Thankfully Vingegaard emerged as a slightly late developer (in the modern sense!!) to give him competition on the Grand Tour front but I’m looking forward to, and hopeful of, a time where one of Ayuso, Rodriguez, Cian, or now maybe even Del Toro, make the leap so it’s a three way battle, even if two of those riders are unfortunately signed to UAE already!
As for INEOS’ roster management and signings – they had bad luck following Froome and Bernal’s crashes but in the years since Bernal’s crash, I’ve been dumbfounded by how poor either their management or their recruitment (or both) has been… to miss out on WVA, MVDP, Pog, Vin, Remco was just about understandable given the context of the time but then to subsequently miss Cian, Ayuso, Del Toro, Jorgensson and to have not seen any real development in their own youngsters, Magnus Sheffield, Ben Turner, Thymen Arensman, Ethan Hayter, Leo Hayter, Luke Plapp, Ben Tulett (both now gone), even Pidcock (who I’m not convinced has improved in the last few years) plus nearly lose their best GT hope in Rodriguez, is a stunning turn of events following their heyday.
Obvious caveats in that Tao, Sheffield and Turner seemed to be on an upward trajectory only for bad luck to scupper, Pidcock continues to sprinkle some magic dust and Ganna has been impressive in the same period with Tarling likely to continue down a similar trajectory – all alongside Rodriguez’s own development – but few of these seem like a true silver lining given that they nearly lost Rodriguez (which might suggest they don’t truly believe he can reach the top and were happy to ditch in favour of Remco), Tao is now gone (and again felt like the teams belief was never truly in him), Ganna & Tarling’s exploits are both remarkable but will never be true success for a team of Ineos’ ambitions and finally Pidcock, who likewise seems like a excellent talent but on current results a bad/misguided bet for a rider to truly take them back to TDF glory.
It feels like a combination of bad luck and bad management that saw them fall behind Jumbo and UAE but that was forgivable given a decade of success – now they seem in danger of falling behind Bora also and that would be more damning to this armchair fan given their continuing budget? I guess all eyes are on AJ August and Rodriguez’s progressions? Or whether they can get finally get Remco, even if I don’t think that pursuit will deliver the ready made Pog/Vin slayer some imagine.
I’m interested to see what Tao does this summer and whether one of Thomas Gloag (following his injury) or Oscar Olney or A.N.Other develops into the Brit they missed in the near future.
Although in truth none of this matters! The positive story is Decathlon’s sudden rise and Bora hopefully becoming a party crasher this Summer, or Bernal and Rodriguez ascending further to deliver a spectacular surprise!
Rod Ellingworth gave an interesting interview on GCN about how Sky/Ineos after a while just ran the same system year after year and other teams just adapted, adjusted and surpassed them, together with management problems (Brailsford apparently stopping transfers), the support staff getting bigger and bigger and people moving on. Froome’s and Bernal’s crashes obviously did not help, but it seems that instead of moving wth the times, they got stuck in a rut.
Change in cycling politics didn’t help them, either, although even so the UCI was still far from being as stringent as it could or should, and the impact of change only became more visible in the middle term.
What do you mean by this Gabriele? I don’t understand.
That they were allowed to exploit that gray to deep black pharma zone while Daddy was the Big Chief. Frome fake TUEs to forbidden substances, while other teams were under greater pressure. Then the wind changed and things became more of a general laissez-faire with the occasional scolding (which most receiving part soon learnt to reject, dismiss or ignore, starting with Froome himself). It’s a shame that with all the quite much very very official and institutional elements established about Freeman, for example, the UCI never decided to take direct action on those subjects in a team perspective.
And of course I don’t think that it’s all about this, although in the case of some of their athletes it was way more of a factor or even the main one. Let’s say that they thrived in an extremely peculiar sort of environment, then when conditions changed and what was a privilege became “less exclusive”, they showed to what extent the results depended on those conditions. Not “a little”, not “a lot”. I’d say, quite much. They still have the privilege of money, but apparently it’s not enough, they are not even any sort of “primus inter pares”, now, more of a “tertius vel quartus inter pares”.
oh okay – I see, I didn’t realise you meant this area.
I don’t fully agree but won’t open the can of worms for the thousandth time here – these stories go round and round as it does and will do with Jumbo, UAE etc etc – but as you say, I do not think it’s the overriding reason for their downfall nor their success.
Happy to be called ignorant but as far as I can see, the funding was there post Bernal’s crash to have put better building blocks in place for a return to at least challenging in the near future than where the appear to be there currently. Although if Bernal and Rodriguez combine to terrorise the Tour I’ll clearly have egg on my face however unlikely that seems right now.
@oldDave
“Stories”? Comparison with the (very legitimate) suspects about current teams? (“Suspects”, all the same). Are you joking or trolling? When any of those will have the amount of damning facts Skineos have left stinking behind them, you might be taken more seriously. Have you heard the weird stories which still go around about that old USA team built around some ex triathlete, or that German team working closely with some university, or the confessions from that Dutch team, or that Spanish gynecologist? Oh, the power of human imagination!, luckily we don’t need to “fully agree” about anything of that having really happened, or we’d be opening can of worms and eating them (or bein’ eaten) all the time, what they call Diet of Worms ya know.
This is a little bit of an over reaction Gabriele.
I haven’t said anything about Lance, T-Mobile or raked up the entire history of cycling’s relationship to doping – I wasn’t really saying much? So not sure how I can be trolling or joking? I doubt we really disagree all that much on this and if we do I’m more than happy for you to call me ignorant – you can leave it there, it’s all cool, calm down!
You’re probably right anyway, I just didn’t want to get into it all as my main query on their recent management/recruitment was from around 2021 not before, I just didn’t fully understand your comment.
In terms of their doping etc – I well remember from speaking here at the time that you were an avid Quintana fan, as any commenter has their biases including me – so I generally wait for INRNG’s assessments on all doping matters which as far as I remember reading are not quite as clearcut currently as you’re outlining.
Denying what I stated above about Sky equals people being in denial in those other cases. It’s factual enough, less about “agreeing”. And there’s probably so much more I didn’t even name.
As for Quintana, that’s a great example of something at the opposite side of the spectrum, evidently enough.
Of course, it’s not all about that at Ineos, I had already insisted on that point, still it’s a huge factor in explaining the previous situation. Now they’re just back to normal. Froome surely wasn’t a case of great recruiting (neither were most of their top riders). If you don’t get it, you’ll spend a lot of time looking for “marginal explications” which explain things… marginally.
oh blimey.
I’m so lost on all this Gabriele – I don’t really know what you or I are talking about… I’m really not sure what the big deal is or why you’re getting so agitated. Honestly let’s move on – I’m not denying you anything or really even disagreeing with you as far as I can see but I’m definitely starting to think doping chats should be banned from these comments as they always descend into bonkers arguments (although I would add I’m not actually arguing here) between all of us armchair fans who know enough to get angry but not enough to really have a real substantive debate on who did what/where/why etc.
There’s only one person trolling in this thread with unsubstantiated, tinfoil frothing at the mouth. Unsurprisingly, it’s not oldDave.
Unsubstantiated ROTFL
^____^
If you are being honest, and you really don’t know what Gabriele is referring to: – it’s wigo taking triamcinolone before tour and giro (legal according to authorities)
– testosterone patches ordered and delivered at sky headquarters (legal according to authorities)
– Froome Vuelta salbutamol over the limit (legal according to authorities)
– Freeman
Oh jesus – I’m being slightly misunderstood here Ziga and the last thing I wanted to do was trawl over all this.
There was no dishonesty or attempt to appear disingenuous and goad people into an argument…
I genuinely thought Gabriele was referring to something I didn’t know about with rule changes above that wasn’t to do with doping. I was wrong.
And obviously I know everything you’re talking about. I post here near daily, I’m a dedicated cycling lunatic – I’m not denying it or even looking to talk about it, it was a genuine misunderstanding.
My opinions are a tiny bit more nuanced on the whole saga but I really don’t want to get into the debate and would prefer to just let INRNG give us the proper in depth coverage when it comes up from time to time.
@ZigaK, don’t forget the Henao blood values, supposedly explained by a never to be published academic paper.
Let’s read oldDAVE again:
“these stories go round and round as it does and will do with Jumbo, UAE etc etc”
This means that that sort of “a tiny bit more nuanced opinions”, tend to compare on the one hand:
a) proven and often exclusive pharma practices managed at team level along with institutional cover-up or cooperation at the highest level and consequent impunity (this is only the “facts” part, not the “opinion” one, which in my case is even less “nuanced”)
…while on the other hand:
b) *suspects* about a team which has been overperforming and with a minor positive, or a hugely rich team with suspicious staff.
It’s like oldDAVE is stuck in 2012, when the Sky links in cycling politics were already existing yet more generic and less blatant, and most of what you could say was about technical opinions on performance.
Now in Sky’s case it’s not anymore about stories or opinions. Time will tell if current teams are the same or just a further incarnation of, say, PDM, Festina or Rabobank, or maybe another still different case like Saxo Bank. Or nothing at all like that. We don’t know much more than conjectures (I’ve got mine). We don’t know everything about Sky, either, but we know quite a lot more, and damning enough.
Let me add that the most serious impact of doping practices (steadily changing the results) in the history of the sport have some specific characteristics:
– systematically managed at team level
– managed with solid medical-scientific support
– institutional cover-up
The above always had a huge impact shifting the results, so imagining that it hadn’t with Sky isn’t what I’d call a “nuanced opinion”, rather a radical one.
“…all of us armchair fans who know enough to get angry but not enough to really have a real substantive debate on who did what/where/why etc.”
This was also a fun part, as it applies to present time teams, of course, less so to the past, about which we don’t know everything, surely, yet *more than enough* to express a solid historical judgement.
(I won’t even start to discuss the difference between being angry and being serious)
Enough said for now, but of course if other pearls should surface I’ll comment, until inrng calls for a truce, as I’ll always do everytime a Lance fan writes “everybody was really doing the same” and so on.
Oh god Gabriele, this is impossible. I simply have not said or think the things you’re imagining I have/do? You’re getting into semantics around words likes stories and nuanced and imagining that I’m having an argument with you that I’m simply not. I have barely disagreed with you or even said anything? You’re fighting with ghosts? I just didn’t want to drag all this up again and I don’t think anyone here needed this spelt out to us for the umpteenth time?
You eventually start reading like a bully determined to extract their pound of flesh? Do you want each commenter here to list all historic doping incidents and acknowledge their opinion matches yours before they post in future?
It’s exceptionally tiresome to have these kind of imagined disagreements when your posts are usually so insightful and enjoyable to read. If I annoyed you I apologise but I think you’re dramatically misunderstanding the conversation despite my repeated efforts to calm it down.
Sounds perfect for Man United then.
Although they currently seem to have a reverse recruitment policy that involves saying all their players bar three are up for sale but not saying if there will be any replacements. But remember, you win nothing with youth….!
I was just thinking about this on the ride back from home on Dave Brailsfords old tearing roads round his home town.
I was fantasising a little that Sir Dave is looking to bring some of the guts and determination of the bike riders we follow and admire so much to the players in his football squad. A kind of “ride through walls” attitude to supercede the “throw your hands in the air complaining at your loss of entitlement” look we get at present. I can only hope I suppose.
*training roads
Dave Brailsford “tearing roads” isn’t really wrong.
I cycled up to Valmorel a couple of years ago. Checked strava and was surprised to see that David Brailsford had gone up there the year before in 2018, and he actually went faster than the backmarkers in the Dauphine stage 5 – including Naesen, Teunissen, Terpstra, Tusveld and Alex Howes.
Ok… they would have been conserving energy… but they still had a time cut to make, and they’re world-level pros. DB was a pretty good amateur, but never a pro. And that was a good few years ago – not when he was… 54, post testicular cancer.
Though, I guess testicular cancer has a track record of making cyclists quick. (Or… maybe… substances that are known to make cyclists quick are also able to cause cancer? E.g., androgen hormones and male gonads…; *cough* T patches delivered to HQ for “staff” *cough*).
Anyway, DB is an amazingly quick 54 year old cyclist. Able to make world-tour time-cuts on mountain finishes, least on the final climb.
I’ve long fantasised about substituting the medical staff at a football game.
When a player is writhing around on the ground clutching their leg you’d instead send out a couple of vets – one to hold up the sheet and the other to operate the shotgun.
Paul J – thanks for posting this, enjoyed reading.
Anonymous – that’s way too terrifying even for a joke.
Here’s the thing, if Team Sky staff are happy to dope themselves (which basically was Sky’s excuse for the T-patch purchases – and given DB’s climbing abilities we can draw inferences about which of the staff that might be), what does that say about their attitudes to doping?
Just to be clear – at no point anywhere have I said they did or did not dope – I’m not disagreeing with you, I just think each individual circumstance basically requires a full INRNG post (if not more!) to give a fair and broad overview, which is why I’d prefer to leave it to our host and admit I simply do not know enough than get into another flair up in the comments section around doping which seem to happen too regularly as people over enthusiastically police others thoughts.
I find the need to batter our fellow cycling enthusiasts into submission on this topic a bit dull (which is obviously not what you’re doing, was referring to the convo above).
I was interested Dave zipped up the climb fast though and glad you took the time to mention.
oldDAVE, you are a case, and grumping bitterly in a different thread won’t make things better however you insist you are not arguing, you are not angry, you are so very calm… might I suggest you follow my example from now on (exception, if you directly cite me, be it by name or not) and just drop this desperate Sky pseudo-wittgensteinian defense (“you shouldn’t be talking what ain’t be appreciated by me”)? You write again and again you won’t write on the subject – what about not writing on it at all?
Gabriele – we’ve got to stop this.
This is the same page, there was no hiding in a different thread, I’d just written the above reply and it was still on my mind.
You’re are inventing all of this.
I have said happily that I am ignorant and would prefer to just read INRNG’s words on the Sky doping saga, which I go back to regularly when these kind of comments flair up.
I’ve also said repeated I do not disagree with you in the most part, I just don’t talk on the topic simply because I don’t have much to say or add. (which is what makes each of these posts painfully circuitous and why we should both quit).
I’ve also said I’m not arguing and enjoy your posts usually? Why not just take the win? We’re both cycling fans, we can enjoy each other’s posts.
Of course I’m not as calm now as the first post where I thought we were having a nice conversation because I feel like you’ve slipped into a slightly tyrannical tone and are wilfully misunderstanding me so you can make your point that you well know hundreds of people have made here before and every other reader knows backwards.
But I will happily stand by what was written above. I do think you’re acting poorly.
At least the Pseudo-Wittgensteinian defence bit did make me laugh, I was trying to recollect if I’ve ever read anything that silly on here!