Fignon Has Cancer

Zorba

http://www.velonews.com/article/93220

colm ó maonaigh

I'm sorry to hear that. Doesn't sound too good at all.

Captain Havoc

I'm sorry to hear that, I'm sure LA will be paying him a visit. The clip of him losing the '89 tour is unforgetable.

sy

This is very sad. Fignon is an absolute gentleman and was a classy cyclist in his day. Pancreatic cancer is pretty serious.

The tax man

Hope all goes well for him. Great rider back in the day. '89 tour end was cruel all right.

DirkVoodoo

That's very sad news, like sy says pancreatic cancer is pretty much a 6 month prognosis and not a nice way to go.

Bikerbhoy

The most important thing here is the fact that he seems to have a very positive and optimistic view on his unfortunate situation which is crucial and of course as we all know he is a fighter....ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ FIGNON

Caroline_ie

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/ex-tour-champion-questions-cancer-doping-link-21980

RobFowl

Terrible news, always loved his style. 2 tours 2 MSR's and had a Giro robbed by Moser.
Hope he makes it through this

Chips Lovell

Sad news indeed. He was a very classy rider.

Zorba

Caroline_ie wrote: »

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/ex-tour-champion-questions-cancer-doping-link-21980

He also said on velonews that he was very honest with his doctors and they said they can't be sure his drug taking caused the cancer because, "Digestive cancer is primarily a disease of nutrition. The products I took were intramuscular, they didn't pass through the stomach". Still doesn't matter whether the drug taking caused it or not, it's still not a nice way for a champion like him to go, hopefully his optimism proves true.

Caroline_ie

Zorba wrote: »

Still doesn't matter whether the drug taking caused it or not, it's still not a nice way for a champion like him to go, hopefully his optimism proves true.

That wasn;t the pointg of my post, just pasted another article i found, that's all.
I was born and raised in France and I know what a legend Fignon is ( even though he's such a grumpy bast**d)

Zorba

Caroline_ie wrote: »

That wasn;t the pointg of my post, just pasted another article i found, that's all.
I was born and raised in France and I know what a legend Fignon is ( even though he's such a grumpy bast**d)

LOL yes he was a bit grumpy alright.

Sorry guess we got our wires crossed.

RobFowl

Thought grumpyness was part of the essence of being French !

TBH the stuff they took in the 80's by and large was not actually performance enhancing at all.
I'd say it had no effects on any of his results good,bad or indifferent.
I actually had a pair of glasses like his circa 1990 purely in an attempt to look as coll as he did (not successful)

petethedrummer

RobFowl wrote: »

TBH the stuff they took in the 80's by and large was not actually performance enhancing at all.

hmmmmmmm. Why take it then? It wasn't as enhancing as the blood doping of 90's and 00's but it did have performance enhancing effects.

RobFowl

petethedrummer wrote: »

hmmmmmmm. Why take it then? It wasn't as enhancing as the blood doping of 90's and 00's but it did have performance enhancing effects.

Amphetamines actually have no performance ehancing effect but can cause dehydration and irregular heartbeats. They cause a euphoric effecdt which makes ytou think you're able to go faster !. Corticosteroids reduce muscle pain post racing/training but also caose weakened bones and increased the risk of muscle/tendon tears. They are also catabolic as opposed to anabolic steroids so decrease rather than increase muscle bulk.
Testosterone and other anabolic steroids do improve performance though.
Doctors only really came into cycling late 80's so prior to this alot of these products were given by soignuers who mostly had no real idea what they were using or the rational behind it.

Caroline_ie

RobFowl wrote: »

Thought grumpyness was part of the essence of being French !

Feck off! :pac:

Chips Lovell

RobFowl wrote: »

Amphetamines actually have no performance ehancing effect but can cause dehydration and irregular heartbeats. They cause a euphoric effecdt which makes ytou think you're able to go faster !. Corticosteroids reduce muscle pain post racing/training but also caose weakened bones and increased the risk of muscle/tendon tears. They are also catabolic as opposed to anabolic steroids so decrease rather than increase muscle bulk.
Testosterone and other anabolic steroids do improve performance though.
Doctors only really came into cycling late 80's so prior to this alot of these products were given by soignuers who mostly had no real idea what they were using or the rational behind it.

Would tend to agree with this too. While amphetamines don't actually improve you physically, you could argue that they allow a cyclist to go harder or push through the pain barrier.

Captain Havoc

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Feck off! :pac:

I lived there for two years, I'm going to have to concur.

Diarmuid

A friend of mine told me during the week that her reflexologist (don't ask) has an ex-pro from the 80's as a client. Supposedly big kidney problems from all the cortisone injections.

The drugs they took aided recovery (cortisone) or made them feel invincible (amphetamines). However you could take all the speed you want, if you didn't have the engine you weren't going to win the TdF

EDIT: Beaten to the punch there...

RobFowl

el tonto wrote: »

While amphetamines don't actually improve you physically, you could argue that they allow a cyclist to go harder or push through the pain barrier.

Good point but what little research that has been done does not seem to support it (in humans anyway)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11592671?ordinalpos=5&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
"Under fatigue, stimulants have no performance-enhancing effects"

Chips Lovell

Diarmuid wrote: »

A friend of mine told me during the week that her reflexologist (don't ask) has an ex-pro from the 80's as a client. Supposedly big kidney problems from all the cortisone injections.

I'm aware of a rumour about one massive star from the early 90s whose kidneys are totally shot.

RobFowl wrote: »

Good point but what little research that has been done does not seem to support it (in humans anyway)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11592671?ordinalpos=5&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
"Under fatigue, stimulants have no performance-enhancing effects"

That study though is for pilots and drivers. I guess, what I was saying was that ampthetamines may provide riders with the euphoria that allows them to push themselves beyond a point where they would have thrown in the towel if they hadn't taken them, i.e. better endure the pain.

RobFowl

el tonto wrote: »

I guess, what I was saying was that ampthetamines may provide riders with the euphoria that allows them to push themselves beyond a point where they would have thrown in the towel if they hadn't taken them, i.e. better endure the pain.

Thats supposedly what ultimately killed Tom Simpson

Chips Lovell

RobFowl wrote: »

Thats supposedly what ultimately killed Tom Simpson

Exactly.

ROK ON

Diarmuid wrote: »

A friend of mine told me during the week that her reflexologist (don't ask) has an ex-pro from the 80's as a client. Supposedly big kidney problems from all the cortisone injections.

Different sport, but when issues of Jonah Lomu (former All Black winger) cam eto light, many sceptics in the rugby journo world made veiled references to steroids etc.

RobFowl

Read this this morning on cyclingnews. What an attitude. I wish I could be so strong in the same situation
"Having been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon faces his toughest test yet - overcoming his illness. The Frenchman is adopting his famous philosophic approach to the hurdle, saying that he has no fear of dying.
"You either fight or you die," Fignon told Journal du Dimanche. "I have no desire to die, but I'm not afraid. I'm not particularly brave nor fearful," he explained. He has begun chemotherapy to treat the illness and will learn more through further testing following the Tour next month."