Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/20/2022 02:03 PM |
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Throws Eddy under the bus a time or two 
https://www.rouleur.cc/blogs/the-rouleur-journal/on-the-farm-with-roger-de-vlaeminck |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/20/2022 02:12 PM |
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He doesn't hold anything back, does he? LOL!!
Good read....thanks for the link. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/20/2022 02:26 PM |
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Roger never holds back. But doesn't read like he is throwing Eddy under the bus. It reads more like a forbidden love affair. Heck he even named his son after him.
He does throw Sagan and Virenque under the bus pretty hard though. Haha.
Also interesting how he notes that he never flatted in his first ten participations but that changed when his form was poorer later on. I've noticed that in his two participations VDP hasn't had a mechanical (or am I misremembering last year?), he seems to be able to find the lines much better than others, much like Mr P-R.. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/20/2022 02:33 PM |
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He does throw Sagan and Virenque under the bus pretty hard though. Haha.
Agreed....and I'm here for all of it!! |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/20/2022 03:56 PM |
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It was the jab at Eddy's weight that cracked me up. He's certainly got a vanity streak!
I also had to laugh this --> "Winning Paris-Roubaix ahead of Willy Teirlinck [in 1977] was a disappointment, I wanted Merckx to be second."
and +1 on the Virenque loathing. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/20/2022 04:04 PM |
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I missed the part about the weight. Haha, yeah that part is funny. Also missed the part about hair implants, that's even funnier. The guy sure is vain. The other funny part was Merckx's thoughts on current crop of racers after he had a few whiskeys. “U-s-e-less, Roger.” LOL.
Winning ahead of Merckx counts more than winning ahead of "who?" so didn't read that as a jab. More like a backhanded compliment. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/20/2022 04:18 PM |
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It was the jab at Eddy's weight that cracked me up.
I've mentioned this before, but back in 2000 I went to Eurobike....was in one of the connecting tubes between the umpteen different halls when Eddy came around the corner, right in front of me. He was big as f*cking house and had his finger jammed up his nose to his second knuckle...
*BAM* all my youthful visions of him flying up mountains were blown away in an instant by an obese old man, picking his nose. LOL!!! |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/20/2022 05:26 PM |
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A bon vivant, not an obese old man LOL. As in future goals. But since I never was nearly as fast as Eddy, I will probably not ever be as well rounded as his current self either.
The fact that he transitioned from flying up mountains to his current self makes him that more legendary. As opposed to Roger with his hair transplants desperately trying to hang onto the past. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/20/2022 10:25 PM |
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| No, this was in his pre-stomach surgery days. He was big as a freaking house. Obese is being actually a bit kind. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/20/2022 11:05 PM |
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He was told to loose a bunch of weight in 2004 but never had any stomach surgery that I know. (in his words anyway he dispelled that as rumours)
There was concern about his health when he slimmed down not before funny enough. Different perspectives. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/21/2022 01:22 PM |
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| Yeah, I know he has always denied it, but you don't lose that much weight that fast without some serious intervention....most likely gastric surgery of some kind. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/21/2022 08:41 PM |
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| Dunno. A guy with a finger deep up his nose in public would hardly seem to care about public knowledge of said supposed medical intervention. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 04/21/2022 09:31 PM |
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| Just sayin that heavy folks drop a lot of weight all the time without bariatric surgery. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/21/2022 10:20 PM |
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Sure, but not as quickly as Merckx did it….
I don’t really care one way or another. If he did, good for him for doing what he needed to do to lose that weight. If he didn’t good for him for doing what he needed to do to lose that weight. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/21/2022 10:56 PM |
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Ok, here you go. It took some digging. I like digging
Merckx also commented on his disagreement with IOC's Jacques Rogge statement that "a zero-tolerance" concerning doping has to be established. "What I mean by that is that it is not possible at this moment to apply zero-tolerance politics. There are too many riders who have medical certificates for medication which they then are allowed to take while racing. Zero-tolerance means that those riders shouldn't be racing at all; it's not fair to the rest of the peloton. You have to make the rules the same for all. If you apply a zero-tolerance policy, then a rider who isn't 100 percent healthy needs to stay at home. It's not a matter of doping or drugs specifically, it's just a matter of making sure that the athletes are taking care of their health."
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What about riders caught doping? "The rules are there to be applied. Riders that are caught have to be sanctioned. There can't be exceptions, whether they are big names in the sport or not, everyone has to be treated the same."
Johan Museeuw is one of the biggest names in Belgian cycling who has been sanctioned for drugs, and his case has made big headlines in Belgium and around the world. "I don't know the dossier, so I can't give any comments on that issue," said Merckx. "It strikes me as unjust that journalists were allowed to look into the court's dossier; such things shouldn't happen as the case has not been closed yet. But it appears to me that Museeuw should speak out, come clean. I can imagine how hard it would be for his family. Especially when you have children to think of. Kids at school can be hard for each other."
Merckx was then asked about his own health, and the secret of his sudden weight loss last year. "Ha, there's all those things people say. Some even say I got a stomach "ring" put in so I could lose this weight. What really happened is that I had an operation on the oesophagus because I had been troubled by serious heartburn for quite some time. This caused me to be awake for hours during the night and the situation also made me eat less and lose weight to start with. Simultaneously I was starting to get into an exercise routine and I watched my diet. After retiring from pro cycling, but liking great food and a beer, the weight stacked on easily. I weighed 113 kg at one stage; it had to come off, now I'm back down to 85 kg." |
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