My war with VeloNews and the Chris Horner fan boys

So, yeah...I've once again pissed off some people at Velo News. Not just other readers who post their juvenile, half-witted comments, but also the "writers" of the juvenile, half-witted articles. As of right now, Velo News has not shut down my account like they did when I railed on them for their one-sided support for local cycling doper Chuck Coyle. But I'm working on it.

But hey, is it my fault that Velo News employs some of the most incompetent chimpanzee journalists known to man? So what if I referred to the writers at Velo News as "the journalistic equivalent of cat-4 riders"? That's a compliment! I actually gave them more credit than they deserve. A more accurate description of their writing would be "the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked." (credit Homer Simpson for that one). Don't believe me? Well, Ben Delaney still writes for them. After his R-SYS wheel article, Velo News kept him on board. Obviously he has incriminating pictures of someone powerful at Velo News. There's no other explanation for his continued employment as a "journalist".

But those hacks aside, its the ongoing war between me and what appear to be the founding members of the Chris Horner Fan Club that really seems to have pissed of the masses. Someone (who's opinion is wrong) wrote that "Chris Horner just continues to underscore why he's one of the best and cleanest riders in peleton. In fact, he and Bobby Julich are arguably the best non-tainted U.S. riders in Europe during the past 10 years." Certainly having no 'tain't would benefit any cyclist.

But, as you have already surmised, my newfound Velo News friend is full of shit. Why? Because a man does not reach his prime at the age of 40. After very delicately pointing this out, I received quite a few insults, many questions about my intelligence, and enough dimwitted explanations for Horner's greatness to fill Ricardo Ricco's transfusion fridge. One person even went so far as to write that he had actually raced with Horner and gave a detailed explanation of all the bad luck endured by Horner during his rather uninspiring European Campaign #1. I think it was Chris Horner himself that wrote that.

But, as so many arguments tend to go, many details have been ignored. Left out of the conversation by the 'Lovers of Chris Horner' are two little tidbits I'll simply call "coincidence". His second European stint was with Saunier Duval. Anyone remember that team? Or course you do. Now, WHY do you remember that team? Yeah, you know why. Then Chris Horner rode with the Johan Bruyneel led Astana team along with everyone's favorite raving egomaniac, Lance "Never tested positive" Armstrong. Familiar with their stories? Yeah, I thought so. And finally, Chris Horner currently rides with RadioShack and the same cast of characters mentioned above. It is during this particular time of his career that Horner reached his peak. The only problem is that no athlete reaches his peak at the age of 40.

Something stinks and its not just another Ben Delaney article.

Look, I don't dislike Chris Horner. I don't even know the guy. But only a fool would believe he is just coming into his own at an age where most other top level athletes have retired or at best are a shadow of their former greatness. And in the sport of cycling, where every great performance is met with suspicion of wrongdoing, to believe that Chris Horner is 'non-tainted' is simple minded. His performances have climbed steadily during what should be the twilight of his career. His association with teams of ill-repute coincides quite well with his improved performance. For God's sake, he was top 10 at the Tour in 2010, better than Leipheimer, Kloden, and Armstrong. All this while nudging up against 40 years old.

Cycling is a dirty sport and every great performance is rightly met with great suspicion. Too many times we've cheered the amazing ride only to have the newly anointed hero piss a liter of drugs. If you believe cycling is clean, well...you're an idiot. The list of grand tour winners finds more dirty riders than clean ones: Landis, Contador, Valverde, Basso, Ulrich, Vinokourov, Heras, DiLuca. Yeah, its well established that cycling is a dirty, corrupt sport with a win-at-all-costs attitude.

I won't say it here. You make the call on why Horner is getting better as he ages. And be sure to read Velo News when you need to feel intellectually superior to others.