I saw this over at Crankpunk and since I’m under the weather and weak, I’d though I’d just post it too.
Steve Tilford
Blog
I saw this over at Crankpunk and since I’m under the weather and weak, I’d though I’d just post it too.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/belgian-federation-requests-two-year-doping-ban-for-greg-van-avermaet
Got a lot of time for David O’Doherty
Maybe Tilly you could do something like this. Kind of like what Anthony Burdain has done for travel & food. Get up on stage a read some of your stuff, show a couple bike racing short films, invite a couple guests like Bob Roll, Nelson Vails, that tri-athlete woman and maybe some of the struggling ex-7-Eleven guys, maybe a reformed doper who came clean but not under oath, heck invite this guy. I’d bet you could pack them in – Boulder, Davis, Austin, Madison, Ashville, NYC, Athens…just a thought.
fortified baby food in the veins? what the f*ck?
Here’s the other article for today – seems like Crankpunk doesn’t like BMC much, either: “There’s a reason that BMC and Ochowicz can continue to take the 5th on everything, and why teams allow riders under investigation to ride – because they can. And because the management in these teams believe their guys are not really guilty, just like Ochowicz with Lance. And why might that be? And you think this is just one team? That the majority of the others are better? Think again. Join the dots. They are large and plentiful. Once you’ve done that, step back and you’ll see a multi-headed demon with the faces of a whole bunch of stars and just about every single DS driving a hot veiny shaft into the arse of cycling.” http://www.crankpunk.com/blogs/crankpunk/item/814-bmc-racing-need-to-be-turfed-out.html
From the article; “Vaminolact, a fortifying baby food that helps improve recovery. This is banned if injected. Van Avermaet’s defence claimed he was given a prescription for the substance but never took it to a pharmacy.”
Pssst, Greg. Please consult w/ your lawyer before coming up w/ a 4 year old’s excuse.
Your selective outrage is now bordering on the absurd with the complete meltdown going on at BMC. I remember your indignation with Tinkoff and Astana allowing riders under investigation to ride yet you have no problem with GVA. Your utter refusal to comment on what’s going on in your own back yard is becoming comical and this blog is losing credibilty by the day.
Did Steve point us to crankpunk on purpose to see the BMC story? Seems pretty damning – and true, except for Phinney. He’s just as dirty as all the rest.
Wiggins said in his Sky retirement video interview last week: Whatever you think of Lance Armstrong, he has changed cycling by elevating it to the next level. Or something like that.
Now – I really, really, don’t like Armstrong. He is a despicable human being, a jerk and egotistic a-hole and he can burn in hell. But I think (reluctantly), objectively, Wiggo is probably right. Marketing-wise, he brought cycling to a new level, where we can say “cycling is the new golf”. You can take those 7 TdF away but you can’t take away that accomplishment. He cheated on that one, fair and square!
Now, this comedy bit is only moderately funny but is ALSO, so obviously tongue-in-cheek, and the comedian has never really put cycling as his top “5 things” in the world, he probably never even knew of Armstrong or “Tom Boooonen” until a few weeks ago. However, to a lot of people including some regular cat 4 racers here who take themselves may be a bit too seriously, this *IS* true – they truly DO believe that Lance Armstrong ruined everything in their lives since 1999, and is responsible for them sucking at cycling and finishing 232nd in the latest Grand Fondo.
Just making sure you are in on the joke – because it is directed a bit at you as well, as far as I am concerned.
You rail against Armstrong and Levi and Horner and Hincapie and of course, who else – Vino – but then randomly “forgive” the riders who you think are “decent guys”, “good at heart”, honest human beings who just had to dope, they were practically forced at a gun point.
And then there’s BMC black hole.
With Armstrong, it’s not so much the doping that I object to, it’s hypocrisy that I hate. He was trying to frame riders like Hamilton while getting the benefits of doping himself.
But as far as hypocrisy goes, there is plenty of others who can get on the list, even people who never doped or even non-riders, hypocrisy is worse.
in the two years i been viewing this site, all i have gotton out of it, is steve bumming food and rooms and bragging about his past, and picking what hes gonna bitch about.. the current news is GVA possibly being banned.. wheres steves comments? oh, his gal works for BMC, so hes quiet.. you’re a phoney like the rest of them…
Some thoughts for mike crum, and maybe some others:
1st. Are you always as passive aggressive in your day to day interactions with everyone else?
2nd. Do you have a blog with thoughts to share so we can make personal insults towards you?
3rd. Did you get sentenced to 2 years probation which requires you to read this blog?
4th. Did Steve meet you and insult you personally to the point you feel compelled to spend your remaining time making poorly written insults on an internet blog?
Disclosure. Never met Tilford, never raced against Tilford, don’t always agree with his posts, but find some interesting thoughts on here. Like anything in life, I can choose how I process and use any information I seek out. I too wonder if the BMC thing will be called out, but I have found that people make choices about when they will or won’t speak out in ALL facets of life. BTW; cheating, lying, idiots, and general badness happens in all facets of life and there is not a single person posting without an infraction.
The cost of crashing Cadel’s Tour win party was a non disclosure agreement. I keep the stack in a safe in a my office. Also in that safe is the video of me licking Lance’s remaining nut. One day…
That being said, I think Steve is between a rock and a hard, hard place with respect to BMC, because a misstep could cause him significant financial harm. I’d be surprised if a cost/benefit analysis of Steve’s cycling career in these past few years came out in the black; in the coming years, the balance must tip towards the deficit end, inexorably. I think a back-handed reference is about as good as it can get, for now. If Steve goes into teaching, or journalism, and gets new sources of cash flow, that can change, but right now I think his options are somewhat constricted.
I think a kickstarter campaign to bankroll a book about cycling – or a series of books each focussing on different disciplines within the sport – written by Steve, would be pretty successful. Something to think about…
@InTheKnow – you think having your old man come up with some crazy health problems would keep a kid off of the juice, but something about an apple falling too far from a tree….