Valverde in the Basque Country?!
Comments
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A good take on Valverde and Caisse d'Epargne, from the horse's mouth if you like from:
http://theinnerring.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... -nuts.html
If you don't want to read the full piece:
...but note the read comment below the blog post, a suggestion that the sponsor could do a runner mid-season. Could be interesting...I put in a call to the bank's Paris HQ to get their view on the matter and they kindly came back. Speaking to an informed and interested PR staffer - they aren't all this helpful - I got the house view. A lengthy chat can be reduced down to one sentence: "We are waiting for the UCI to rule and cannot act before then."0 -
Valv.Piti should've been withdrawn from competitive racing by his team long ago.
That would've focussed everyone's minds on getting the issue resolved one way or the other. As things stand, it's in the interest of the rider to string it out for as long as possible, as there's no incentive for him to conclude, as the conclusion is (more than likely to end in) a two-year ban.
Caisse (as a racing team) have lost all credibility for me. Which is a shame, 'cos I quite like LL Sanchez.0 -
I'd love to know what the view is of the riders he is competing against. I'm sure that a few of them are rather unhappy to have him taking part in races.
It disgusts me that he is still taking part in races despite his ban. The problem is that he rides for a Spanish team and they seem to have a different attitude to the rest. It can't be good for race organisers to have him win their races, but then I guess if they were that worried they wouldn't let him compete.0 -
pedro118118 wrote:Valv.Piti should've been withdrawn from competitive racing by his team long ago.
Caisse (as a racing team) have lost all credibility for me. Which is a shame, 'cos I quite like LL Sanchez.
This whole tread makes one wonder; heroes and villains, eh?
Valv.piti - villain
L.L. - hero
A.C. - hero
:roll:
Not much discussion of all of A.C.'s results after 2006 being tainted.... no drop of form there....0 -
Marco Pinotti twittered something sharp the other day and I think Fedrigo's called Valverde "a hooligan, a thief". Others just say it's stupid that he's been rumbled but others have not, their frustration is not with Valverde but the system as a whole.0
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Kléber wrote:Marco Pinotti twittered something sharp the other day and I think Fedrigo's called Valverde "a hooligan, a thief". Others just say it's stupid that he's been rumbled but others have not, their frustration is not with Valverde but the system as a whole.
The peloton is very good at villifying those already beyond rescue, whilst collectively covering all others. I'm not overly impressed by such statements; I would have more respect for those actually breaking up the omerta...0 -
FJS wrote:
The peloton is very good at villifying those already beyond rescue, whilst collectively covering all others. I'm not overly impressed by such statements; I would have more respect for those actually breaking up the omerta...
But, for the most part, they (the clean riders) probably have no more evidence of doping other than the same gossip you and I have heard. I don't have respect for people who make accusations without the proof to back it up.Twitter: @RichN950 -
FJS wrote:Kléber wrote:Marco Pinotti twittered something sharp the other day and I think Fedrigo's called Valverde "a hooligan, a thief". Others just say it's stupid that he's been rumbled but others have not, their frustration is not with Valverde but the system as a whole.
The peloton is very good at villifying those already beyond rescue, whilst collectively covering all others. I'm not overly impressed by such statements; I would have more respect for those actually breaking up the omerta...
There does seem to be some sort of hidden safe list that once you are on it you can do no wrong with the UCI.0 -
"Isn't the consensus that he's riding clean now? Post puerto?"
His current performances bring to mind the "incredible" performances from Vino, Landis and Ricco.0 -
Seems weird that there's plenty of riders prepared to castigate Riccardo Ricco as a "cheat", "parasite" and shout about him "not being welcome" in the peleton, yet Valv.Piti has had a [comparatively] easy ride?
At least Ricco 'fessed up, even if he did show little remorse/humility during the whole sorry affair.
Lest not we forget, our very own white knight David Millar happily lived in denial in the face of plenty of evidence for some time before he 'came clean' (well..........when they found a syringe with traces of EPO at his house anyway).
Teams, Sponsors and the Authorities/Governing Bodies need to be far more decisive in terms of action and due process...............why doesn it take years to get these things sorted?0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
For example, yesterday, when talking about Mancebo's style Magnus said "He seemed to go faster with his twisted style" to which David replied "Well we all know it was more than that as well"
Mancebo is back??
I feel sorry for all the guys beaten by Valverde. Someone like Cadel Evans for example would have a hefty chunk more wins, including perhaps a Tour de France and Vuelta had these people with dodgy goings on been stopped from starting races until it was sorted with them either punished or cleared.
I can see why Valverde is doing it though, and while he is still winning, why his team management refuse to remove him from their roster.
Compare pre 2006 Valverde to Valverde now and his climbing ability I would say has dropped somewhat- Just think back to when he won that stage in 2005 against Armstrong after dropping the likes of Basso, Rasmussen, Mancebo etc0 -
I don't buy this whole Valverde's level has dropped since Puerto argument I'm afraid. He won the Vuelta last year, his first three week tour and has won numerous hilly classics since then. In fact his results have been very consistent throughout his career.0
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andyp wrote:I don't buy this whole Valverde's level has dropped since Puerto argument I'm afraid. He won the Vuelta last year, his first three week tour and has won numerous hilly classics since then. In fact his results have been very consistent throughout his career.
I agree - his level, performances, win ratio has been very good since 2005. Perhaps Courchevel 2005 was just one of those super days that come along every now and then for an elite athlete.
But this isn't the issue - whether he was or is riding clean. The issue is he has a case to answer, and he and his team are not dealing with these allegations. He has made no attempt to clear his name from Puerto, instead he's put all his efforts and resources into postponing the innevitable - suggesting the evidence doesn't carry the legal gravitas to trigger a ban. Relying on technicalities, rather than proving his innocence. Hiding behind procedure/beurochracy...........what a weasel.0
