Gianetti goes to CAS

iainf72

He's unhappy that his awful reputation has meant he's not got invites to decent races

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=re ... &type=lgns

Kléber

Serves him right. It also serves the sponsors right, for backing a man with such a dodgy past, whether as a rider or a manager.

I feel sorry for the riders though, few will have had a free choice of teams and are caught up in this mess.

dave_1

he should not be in team management but Riis and Bruyneel should also be getting the same treatment...

Perhaps it realy is tme for all the ex pros who run cycling to go, leave the sport ..get others who might , just might, have enough trust in their peers not to feel they need to cheat..the system is the problem...not one individual.

emadden

They are riding tomorrow in the GP Insubria and on Sunday in the GP Lugano... I'll be there ... woohooo ... Will post pictures on Sunday night

DavMartinR

Dave_1 wrote:

he should not be in team management but Riis and Bruyneel should also be getting the same treatment...

Perhaps it realy is tme for all the ex pros who run cycling to go, leave the sport ..get others who might , just might, have enough trust in their peers not to feel they need to cheat..the system is the problem...not one individual.

+1

The whole system needs overhaulling from the top down.

Kléber

Remember Manolo Saiz never rode much.

Instead, I'd just get sponsors to ask more questions. If they are considering entering the sport, they need to do it properly, to ask some questions before handing over the money. If the likes of Saunier Duval got humiliated after backing Gianetti, they only have themselves to blame. A google on "Mauro Gianetti" soon reveals worrying tales of PFC, near death and a fridge full of EPO inside the FDJ camper van (a stash shared with Sciandri). Now if an internet user can discover this in five minutes, imagine what a company considering spending several million Euros a year should be doing...

aac

fridge full of EPO inside the FDJ camper van (a stash shared with Sciandri).

Has Sciandri every spoken about this? Had a quick google but can't see any comments though Wikipedia entry for Cecchini states Sciandri was a client when he took Olympic bronze at Atlanta (behind two other Cecchini clients coincidentally). Is he still manager of the U23s for British Cycling?

markwalker

hmm well if sciandri is seriously implicated in this it doesnt bode well for the this new sky team if BS are prepared to embrace these people.

Am i being Naive? are our british "stars" clean?

jerry3571

If Sciandri is implicated in anything then the Leeds Classic races I went to some years ago look a bit dodgy in the results department. Sciandi has won there, Mr Volpi won there and then got busted and I'm sure Jesper Skibby was up there too and he's admitted. Skibby, let's not forget is nice chap who kissed my sister on the cheek once.
Hmmm... that's a new thread coming up I think; is it possible to be a doper and a nice guy too...??
Hamilton, Mancebo, Zuelle...nice blokes really.... :?

iainf72

jerry3571 wrote:

Hmmm... that's a new thread coming up I think; is it possible to be a doper and a nice guy too...??
Hamilton, Mancebo, Zuelle...nice blokes really.... :?

Of course it is. Why would you need to be an unpleasant character to dope?

Kléber

The FDJ fridge thing has been discussed on the French radio. I was listening to a radio station's coverage before or after a stage of the Tour last July, RTL or RMC I think and they had the PR manager from the French lottery. He was discussing how things came to a head when someone found the stash in the fridge, he stated it was for "Gianetti and Sciandri". I can't find a transcript but he openly said this on public radio.

As a result of this embarassing situation, a meeting was held and the sponsor threatened to pull out but instead agreed to carry on, on the proviso that the team became a "healthy" squad and that there was less pressure to win, with riders focussed on appearing as nice guys and approachable to the public.

Other French teams adopted a similar approach but in a way, they can get away with it because they have an almost guaranteed entry into the Tour and don't have to scrap for results, the TV publicity from July is payback for the entire sponsorship budget alone, all those lone breaks in the first week plus the frequent interviews for French TV, radio and the press.