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  • Cancellara's legacy
  • mrblobby
    Free Member

    This being the eve of his retirement.

    On the one hand we have perhaps the greatest Classics rider of his generation. 3 time winner of both Flanders and Roubaix. A memorable Milan Sanremo win. A bunch of Monument podiums and a fair few other classic wins. 7 Tour stage wins and yellow jersey wearer. 4 time World Time Trial Champion. Two Olympic Time Trial gold medals and one silver. About the only thing missing that he might have been expected to win is the road World Champs.

    On the other hand he rode for some fairly tainted teams and under management known to encourage doping and have links to Fuentes. Rumoured to be one of the blood bags in the Puerto case (will DNA matching finally put this one to bed?) Then there’s the motor doping allegations from 2010 when he won both Flanders and Roubaix.

    Really enjoyed watching him race over the years and I’m hoping it’ll be the former that he’s remembered for a few years down the road.

    MrSalmon
    Free Member

    Then there’s the motor doping allegations from 2010 when he won both Flanders and Roubaix.

    Is this something that people actually take seriously?

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Is this something that people actually take seriously?

    I thought that. But then it was the news story that really prompted the UCI to start thinking about bike checks.

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    ghostlymachine
    Free Member

    Yeah, the same people who are absolutely adamant that the entire Team GB squad are on the gear and that Mo Farah is also up to his eyeballs in HGH, EPO and a bit of ABCD.

    Basically anyone faster than them is cheating.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    The former are a load of facts.

    The latter are gossip, speculation and innuendo.

    I have no desire to judge others, or be judged, by the latter over the former.

    Which rather defeats the point of internet forums.

    dovebiker
    Full Member

    Hard not to see past his times at Fassa and CSC and how he could have achieved those results at a time when everyone else was juiced. There’s many in Belgium that would also argue a good case for Tom Boonen – if either hadn’t been around then one or the other’s results would have been astonishing!

    TiRed
    Full Member

    As any Belgian would say, he’s no Tom Boonen! Probably a better rider, but not a better Belgian. Never really warmed to him to he honest, despite his obvious palmares.

    lunge
    Full Member

    Luigi!

    I take him, like most of his generation, with a pinch of salt.

    Good rider, seems like a nice guy, lacks the panache of Boonen, but not much to dislike. I’d have loved for him to have won the London 2012 road race but he binned it and left it open for Vino. But, he rode for CSC under Riis, which is fine, but also taints things a touch.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    The former are a load of facts.
    The latter are gossip, speculation and innuendo.

    Well yes, that is a fact. Gossip, speculation and innuendo does exist. And you could say that will be the case for anyone who’s successful in their sport. But there are legitimate foundations for much of it. And until 2013 you could have said exactly the same thing about Armstrong too.

    Luigi!

    DNA testing the Puerto bags would go a long way to dispelling a lot of that speculation. I’d really like to see this happen soon (we’ve waited long enough for it!) and I genuinely hope Cancellara is not amongst them.

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