Details on Lance's plans with Astana (Dope Tests, Contador,

donrhummy

Some very interesting highlights:

http://www.velonews.com/article/83572/a ... -to-astana

First time I've heard him really put Contador as the leader of the team. The questions: does Bertie believe it? Does Lance mean it?

"I look forward to racing with him.Alberto is the best rider on the planet right now. We have to understand that, have to respect that. I'm not sure I can ride that fast right now. I hope it works out."

Won't buy ASO and claims he won't fight not being invited to the TDF (I don't buy it given that he's said he talked to the French President)

Asked how he would respond if Astana is not invited to the Tour, Armstrong replied: "It's their event. They get to pick who's invited and who's not invited. If i'm not invited, there's not much I can do."

He also denied reports that he was angling to purchase Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), owner of the Tour and other prestigious events, saying, "First of all, I don't have that kind of money."

If this is true, it does lend a lot of credence to Lance's plans to race clean. He'd have both respected Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard (the Astana anti-doping head) and UCLA's Dr. Don Catlin, who is VERY respected in the anti-doping field. Remember that Catlin, while criticizing the French lab, also said he was convinced Landis had doped. So this is not a homer here.

The New York Times reported that Armstrong was talking with Don Catlin, a leading anti-doping scientist, to head Armstrong’s personal anti-doping program. Catlin is the former head of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, and the chief science officer of Anti-Doping Sciences Institute, a testing and consulting company. Catlin testified at Floyd Landis' WADA hearing in 2007.

“I know as much as anybody does how to beat the system; he’s not going to beat me,” Catlin told The Times.

This sounds like a really cool team/idea! I wonder how this came about?

The Times also reported that Armstrong was forming a U23 road racing team that would be managed by retired pro Axel Merckx and would include Olympian Taylor Phinney, who currently races for Garmin-Slipstream.

Taylor's father, Davis Phinney told the Times: “You have this wonderful synchronicity between three legs of a stool: Lance, the Phinney family with Connie and me, then Axel, who is the son of the other great rider in the history of the sport.”

LangerDan

He's certainly got all his ducks in a row.

By "inviting" WADA and USADA to develop a specific testing regime (which was never going to happen) he's now neutralised them. John Fahey cannot now make an adverse comment without inviting the response " I did give you the opportunity and you rejected it"

As you've noted, signing up Catlin has brought two of the biggest names in testing into play on his side. Short of employing Asheden, he couldn't do any more.

Signing for Astana (and assuming that Berties contract is water tight) means that for the TdF at least, he has removed two serious rivals from the equation. I suspect that if Bertie looks to leave, Bruyneel will tie him up in the courts through July.

The formation of an U-23 squad is a very smart move. Lance is now portrayed as investing in the future of the sport, rather than obsessed with his own resurrection. Signing Phinney not only has fired a shot across Vaughters bows but has linked Armstrong directly to the US cycling "royalty" that was the 7-11 squad, who have remained uncritical of Armstrong over the years, unlike several of Lances ex-teammates. In the absence of a blessing from LeMond, this is as close as he'll ever get. I fully expect the new squad to also take Peter Stetina from Garmin

aarw

Good post LangerDan and, unfortunately, i think you're right.

micron

another 1 in agreement, LangerDan, unfortunately

aurelio_-_banned

Lionel Birnie makes quite a few interesting points on all this in his column this week.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/The ... 68496.html

robbarker

The conf in full:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cas ... il&hc=3003

donrhummy

Wow, more interesting details:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... sep25news2

Lance in the Giro?!

"I would love to do the Giro, it's the 100th anniversary [next year], and it's a significant event," he said, adding that he could use his participation to encourage Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to implement more cancer programmes.

Hmmm, the problem for Lance here is that if he shows up as clean but doesn't win, people will say that's proof that he must have doped in the past.

"I don't know if I can perform well," Armstrong said, "but on the off chance I can perform well, Don Catlin will be impartial administrator of the anti-doping testing."

So he'll be tested by THREE groups:
1. Damsgaard
2. UCI
3. Catlin

Astana has previously used the services of Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard for its anti-doping testing. Team spokesman Philippe Maertens confirmed to Cyclingnews that the team would continue to use Damsgaard for the rest of the team, but that Armstrong's testing would be in addition to the squad's testing regime as well as the UCI's biological passport programme.

He gives Contador an out if he wants it:

"I hope it works out. If he has other offers and he wants to go somewhere else or go to a Spanish team, perhaps, that's his decision, but I would encourage him to give this situation an opportunity and I would look forward to racing with him."

Trev36

donrhummy wrote:

So he'll be tested by THREE groups:
1. Damsgaard
2. UCI
3. Catlin

2 off which are on the payroll.

Damsgard employed by Astana & Catlin employed by Armstrong.
It's kind off a conflict of interests to be employed by the people your testing?
You really could look at it a number of ways.

leguape

Can you highlight any of the interesting points made by lionel birnie there aurelio? All I can see is parochial, snide comment which is guilty of being particularly selective about its memory of how Astana came about - ie failing to mention it started life as ONCE, Saiz falling out with sponsors, it being a different licence after ACtive Bay got launched by the UCI etc

Not to mention the biggest incident of pot calling kettle in the words "As soon as you pay a penny to the media, that is not journalism, it is PR." which could quite easily be called the other way - once you start taking advertising money you're just as guilty. Not to mention that he preceeds it by damning him for transparency when Armstrong seems to have stated the test data will be on the livestrong site. That's certainly far more transparent than it being filtered through the view of CW.

If anything cycling needs Armstrong more than it needs CW. If anyone at any publication/media outlet can say to you that they are not professionally looking forward to Armstrong's return in full honesty then they are a complete liar - Birnie's circulation will go up and given their ABCs his publisher will be more than happy. Still, moaning is the British way.

Kléber

Trev36 wrote:

2 off which are on the payroll.

Damsgard employed by Astana & Catlin employed by Armstrong.
It's kind off a conflict of interests to be employed by the people your testing?
You really could look at it a number of ways.

I make that three on the payroll. The Texan made large donations to the UCI in the past and the UCI seems to be raising very few questions with regards to his comeback.

You're right about the conflict of interest. We keep hearing Damsgaard is working with Astana but the season is a couple of weeks from ending and he's yet to publish anything on Astana. He's put out data on CSC though. In both cases, he makes his money from these teams and has a vested interest in their survival. Some might say Damsgaard is incorruptible but I say he's human. Look at the current mess in the financial world, a significant factor has been the bond rating agencies, they evaluate the riskiness of a bond for investors, only the agencies are paid by the issuer of the bond. Even big, transparent agencies like this have tripped up, not criminally but just by getting lazy and investors got hoodwinked by smart presentation, talk of rigour etc.

So I'm skeptical about transparency. I could publish anything onto a website, we'll need to see verification and above all, I want to see if interviews are granted to journalists who were previously blacklisted. Will L'Equipe's Dennis Roussiot get an interview?

aurelio_-_banned

Kléber wrote:

I make that three on the payroll. The Texan made large donations to the UCI in the past and the UCI seems to be raising very few questions with regards to his comeback.

And let`s not forget the way the UCI has gone out of it`s way to protect Armstrong in the past. For example, that hatchet job on the LNDD commissioned by Verbruggen in the wake of his 6 retrospective `positives` for Epo in the 1999 Tour and the way the UCI accepted that pre-dated TUE when he tested positive for corticoids, despite Armstrong only days earlier publicly stating he had no TUE`s at all.

pottssteve

In a way, Armstrong's damned if he wins, damned if he doesn't. If he wins, people will say he's upstaged Berite and if he loses they will say he only won because of the drugs...

The smartest thing he can do is come out and say he's racing to support Contador - then it's clear that he may not win, and any loss can't be blamed on the absence of doping. It may also gain him a few more friends if he shows a little more humility in this way...

aarw

...and respect.

FJS

Bertie on Lance & Bertie in one team scenarios:
http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza.be/mediatheek/1.384764#

For those that don't speak Spanish or Dutch:
'... I have no problem with Lance in the team. He coming here will change everything. At the same time, we have a strong team. I think it is good for the team, and don't think it will be a problem. ... I believe he is a superstar and that he will not come to help me, that's clear to me. It's clear that he will come to the Tour de France to compete for the general classement. But if at a certain moment it becomes clear he can no longer win the general classement, look, then there are options.' [And will you maybe ride to help Armstrong?]. 'If he rides better than me, I will help him. But only if he is better than me.' [Will you stay at Astana?] 'uhm, yes (looks away and touches nose), yes, uhm, next year I think I will stay with this team, Astana, to win the Tour de France next year.' ...

victorponf

Bertie, don´t be silly, go to Rabobank or Columbia!

donrhummy

I think it would be great if he went to Cervelo and rode with Sastre.