Listening to the commentators on Eurosport and ITV4, they sometimes refer to the race manual/handbook,
presumably given to all of the riders. I'd love to get hold of one to see the sort of information it contains.
Me too. Presumably route, stage profile, details of major climbs and last few Kms, location of sprints, KoMs, feed zones, danger zones etc. Probably not stuff that Paul Sherwen is continually quoting from (historical and geographical facts etc) but I'd have thought that the Tour provides that as well.
Hands up if you think Nibbles is clean..
Me. But I acknowledge
I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.
and have been fooled before.
My 'evidence'. He was speaking out against doping 6 or 7 years ago when most pros were not. He's had a steady progression over several years. His coaches have not been directly associated with doping (I don't think) and nor has he.
Admittedly the list of his management and cycling colleagues does not look good - Vino, Martinello (?) Basso, Scarponi etc - but what could he have done about that? 2 Italians generally outspoken about doping or generally acknowledged (yes, I know) to be clean - Vanotti and Pinotti - have said they think he is clean (even if he doesn't sweat much!) He can't help it that he hasn't had the same questions about doping as Wiggins and Froome had, and when asked he apparently has taken them in his stride.
A different question. If you were a doping cyclist now what would you be using and what would you be doing to avoid detection?
