Another death in the pro ranks
Comments
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Glad to hear it. Unfortunatley it is clear that many others are critical of the ASO, at least in part, because they harbour anti-French sentiments, McQuaid included!iainf72 wrote:There is no xenophobia on my part.
So, would you argue that the ASO`s drug testing regime in this years Paris-Nice (which even included the taking of hair samples so as to allow retrospective testing to be done) was also `just marketing?iainf72 wrote:ASO are doing something but it's just marketing.
Given that another doping scandal might well seriously cause serious financial harm to the Tour (and so the ASO) don’t you think that the ASO be have every reason to be genuinely committed to tackling the doping problem?
Would you claim that despite all appearance to the contrary, the French Government is not actually taking a serious interest in the doping issue, even though the word `France` (as in `The Tour de France`...) is `linked to doping and scandal every July , causing serious embarrassment? Would you also claim that all the anti-doping legislation the French Government has passed with an eye on giving race organisers, the French National Doping lab and so on the power to tackle doping in a more effective manner also just `marketing`?
We also need to remember just how often in the past the ASO have tried to take a much more robust approach to the issue of doping than the UCI were prepared to accept, as with the way the ASO tried to bar Virenque from riding the Tour.
The refusal to invite teams on what the UCI would regard as nothing more than `suspicion` is hardly anything new either. For example, see the following story from 1999:
Dutch Team Is Also Refused Invitation : Tour Bans 4 Cyclists From This Year's Race
By Samuel Abt
Published: THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1999
PARIS: Responding to the drug scandals that have tarnished bicycle racing for nearly a year, the organizers of the Tour de France announced Wednesday that they had banned four individual French riders, an entire Dutch team and the director and doctor of a Spanish team.
The action was unprecedented in the recent history of the Tour, the world's biggest and richest bicycle race, which began in 1903 and runs for three weeks in July. It was crippled last year, and almost ended prematurely, when riders reacted to police drug raids by staging two strikes.
"We have the right, indeed the duty to protect the race," said Jean-Marie Leblanc, its director, as he formally announced the 20 teams of nine riders each that had been invited to start the 86th edition of the race July 3 — and those who had been banned. He dismissed a question about the legality of the action, as none of those involved has been found guilty or confessed to any crime, by saying, "Organizers can invite whom they please."
http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/06/17/bike.2.t_2.php0 -
Maybe, but this years squad includes riders like Operation Puerto`Contador and is managed by the best `dope test management` expert in the business -Bruyneel!Jez mon wrote:But the team of cyclists which ASO have barred have almost nothing to do with the team which accepted the invitation to leave last years tour de france. (
Why do you think that Astana enticed Bruyneel out of `retirement`, other than the fact that they were so inept at doping that they got caught every other week, whilst on the other hand Bruyneel proved himself to be capable to avoiding any major drug busts in the teams he managed despite the widespread knowledge that his riders were `winning` with the aid of 800ml of packed cells` and all the rest!0 -
It`s also the case that there is a world of difference between a rider using a testosterone patch on their own ìnitative`, as did Moreni, and the high degree of team-level organisation needed to run a blood-doping set up, as existed (and probabaly still exists) at Astana.redddraggon wrote:
`Jez mon wrote:Confidis had to leave last year as well as Astana, yet no one mentions them.
Yeh but Moreni put his hands up and said "Fair cop" or similar, Vino and his mate keep insisting on their innocence when we all know they are dirty as feck and the illegitimacy of the controls.0 -
aurelio wrote:
Maybe, but this years squad includes riders like Operation Puerto`Contador and is managed by the best `dope test management` expert in the business -Bruyneel!Jez mon wrote:But the team of cyclists which ASO have barred have almost nothing to do with the team which accepted the invitation to leave last years tour de france. (
Why do you think that Astana enticed Bruyneel out of `retirement`, other than the fact that they were so inept at doping that they got caught every other week, whilst on the other hand Bruyneel proved himself to be capable to avoiding any major drug busts in the teams he managed despite the widespread knowledge that his riders were `winning` with the aid of 800ml of packed cells` and all the rest!
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Valverde gets to ride this year though...who still has OP over his head, the fact is OP is a huge mess, there has been comparatively little fall out, there was a large number of names on the list. Yet Basso is the only high profile rider i can remember to have actually said he was involved.
As for the UCI they have the whole sport to protect (admittedly they often do a very bad job) if pro cycling continues seeping down into the dark world of doping then they're all out of a job. ASO and the UCI both know that the doping is a lot more widespread then they are letting on. They are both attempting to get rid of it. However, given the general attitude of the UCI it comes as no suprise that ASO's anti doping measures are a lot more severe and that they are ready to use brand new technology to find the dopers.
However, i think both organizations wouldn't mind if the problem just "vanished" under the carpet.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Glad to see this thread is back on track, my job is done here...0
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But ASO didn't exclude Astana because of Contador and his links to OP - they made it quite clear that he would be welcome riding for another team. They excluded Astana because they had had enough of that team making the race a laughing stock and the fact of the matter is that the sponsors, the money men and the people behind the team who hold the ProTour licence have not changed from last year. I also think that the Astana backers made a very big mistake in choosing Bruyneel as their saviour, especially with the reputation that the Hog and his doctors enjoy in the sport. but, as aurelio says, his 'doping management programme' is second to none and Contador has certainly benefitted from the step up in 'preparation'.0
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Just look at the news that Kascheckin could be back in the bunch. The guy got busted for blood doping but the Kazakh authorities won't hold a hearing, so it's not even that he gets cleared, just that the Kazakhs won't process the evidence.
Given Astana is the state cycling team, with close links to the government and the national cycling body, the suspension is ok. If everything's clean now, then Bruyneel, Contador, Leipheimer and all the rest can cash petrodollar paychecks until the day ASO give them a ride. In the meantime, they have plenty of other races to do.
So unfair maybe but it feels like the Kazakh authorities behind the team are still not learning the lessons.0 -
Since Kasheskin is already training with the Astana feeder team I expect he'll be riding in the Astana team proper before too long.0
