I think the world championship should remain a one day­ race as it is more exciting and interesting to watch­ and gives the opportunity toe very type of rider (from­ the sprinter to the climber) to win it (as the course­ is changed every year). Having said that I would love­ to see the reintroduction of the world cup that­ includes all the most important one day races as it use­ to be until the creation of the uci pro tour. Something­ similar should also be created for the stage races (the­ 3 grand tours and also some of the most difficult 1­ week-10 days races such as the tour of Switzerland,­ Romandy etc).

I suppose any World Championship should be structured­ around maximising the chances of the best rider over­ the course of a season. It should aim to minimise the­ impact of bad luck. As we all know, luck (or at least­ good fortune) plays a huge part in any one-day race and­ there is little chance to recover, should somthing to­ wrong etc. Then again, on the plus side, such an­ important single day race is exciting and there is a­ danger that a season long world champs structure could­ be wrapped up by July, which takes the sting out of the­ late season.

To pedro118118, yours is probably the most sensible­ comment i've ever read on here.
Innocent until­ proven guilty is the cornerstone of any Anglo-Saxon­ justice system but the French don't place the same­ importance on it!

Sorry, posted in error. Spain certainly has a great­ crop of sportsman at the moment but only Contador can­ claim to be clearly above his rivals. Their football­ team could quite possibly join him in South Africa but­ the favourites hardly ever win the World Cup. Lorenzo­ is great but Rossi should win again this year. Nadal­ has challenged Federer but doesn't have his­ allround game & relies too much on physical power.­ Alonso is just one of a batch of good drivers in F1­ & who cares about Golf?!
Spain definately has a­ problem with racism but it reminds of the UK twenty­ years ago. They'll learn.
To Pedro118118.

With regards to Spanish sporting prowess. S.

To Martin Pugh. I agree that a one day title is a­ nonsense but as I stated cycling is not the only sport­ that does it. I am a great fan of Sean Kelly and he was­ No 1 in the world for 3 0r 4 years but never won the­ world title. A geat shame. Twice 3rd from memory. There­ have been lots of people who won the title but were not­ the best in the world at that time. Lance for one back­ in 1994, Cippolini to name another, a pankake flat­ course around the sand dunes.

SPANISH CYCLISTS ROCK AND OSCAR FREIRE GOMEZ IS THE­ KING ...KEEP IT UP ESPANA

To Tuggo (comment 15), look at it another way, when you­ consider the time and effort that individuals like­ Valentino Rossi in Moto GP and Jenson Button in F1 put­ in the WHOLE season to become world champion in their­ sport, it doesn't make sense to people looking at­ cycling's world champion who earned it in a one day­ race; i'm sure it's one thing which doesn't­ do our great sport any favours. Contador was the most­ consistent rider over the past season, he's the­ real world champion !

If they calculating points from all grand tours last­ year Alberto, he would be best in last year

...and 'fighting' already drugged/maimed­ animals, whilst dressed as Mickey Mouse. And throwing­ donkeys off churches. And finally, the real zenith of­ sporting endeavour...........tomato chucking.

I know what you are best at, I forgot you are World­ Champion racists!!

"No other country compares to Spain in­ succeeding­ triumphs in everyhting when it comes to­ sports. U name­ it."

Hmm, now justice let me see...lets start­ with F1, can't win at the moment without team­ cheating, football, well done you are european champs­ but are you the world champs? So not the best at that­ one either. Golf, Rugby (OK, I know you don't play­ it much) Skiing (you've definately got ski resorts)­ Boxing, Sailing, Swimming, list goes on, but I'm­ stopping cos i'm bored now.

well justice, if you hate the brits why do you write on­ a british blog?? I'm sure there are many spanish­ forum in which you can puke out your nonsense.

There is obviously a question mark over the legitimacy­ of CONI's methods, otherwise surely UCI/WADA­ would've acted? Strikes me as a form of­ 'entrapment' really, something we all know is­ inadmissable in a court of law (irrespective of guilt).­ If the evidence is there and it's robust, let the­ authorities interrogate it and apply the appropriate­ punishment..........or not as the case may be?! ­ Personally, I beleive the case (where CONI have matched­ Valverde's DNA to Puerto blood bags) will be thrown­ out as being unrealiable - at least if Valverde has a­ decent lawyer in the payroll. Then we're back to­ square one, but I fear CONI will not let this lie.

"but whatever happened to innocent­ until proven­ guilty?"

well to be honest he was indeed found­ guilty. i don't know why Uci is taking so long to­ confirm or reject the sentence by Coni

Mmmmmm... only envy in your comments........what a­ pity.

Harry: you mean ULLRICH.Valverde is innocent.­ Some proofs? Ah, ok.
But you are right, Spain is on­ top: Contador, Fernando Alonso, Nadal, Jorge Lorenzo,­ Dani Pedrosa, Sergio Garcia, Pau Gasol (European­ Champion and World Champion--- Basket), Xavi, Iniesta,­ Torres, Casillas (mmmm, European Champion, you know),­ Swimming..................................
Pedro: Good­ one, the best comment.
Tuggo: Nadal investigated??­ About what? His injuries?? LOL

Well done, Contador.­ See you next year again in Paris.

To Martin Pugh, why do you say cycling is different?­ Swimming, athletics,rowing, gymnastics and dozens of­ sports have world champions decided on 1 day, what is­ your bleat?

Apart from cyclists, when is Nadal going to be­ investigated? Was he not implicated?