Ricco. Where will he end up?

2

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  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    VS have some cash from Feillu although not a huge deal. They are shaping up to be a pretty good team next year and are exciting. Great if he goes to QS (although I would prefer another team) as the officials could do nothing to prevent him riding the GTs.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    iainf72 wrote:

    Do VS not want to go to any big races or something?

    Grr.

    Ricco's story no different to vino's though right?
    _
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,718
    Homer J wrote:
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  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:

    Do VS not want to go to any big races or something?

    Grr.

    Ricco's story no different to vino's though right?

    He doesn't own a team :wink:

    It seems it's more likely to be Q.S though. Ricco strikes me as someone who will re-offend sooner or later...
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    I bet bikeradar are hoping the QS move will happen.

    Think of all the traffic through their site!
    _
  • Neil McC
    Neil McC Posts: 625
    Quick Step

    http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... otour.html

    Hoping to ride the Vuelta apparently
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Woo nice. Looking forward to seeing him ride with the best. Would be great to see him in the Vuelta although I would guess he wont be right up there given the lack of training and racing. 2011 should be interesting.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    I appreciate Ricco is a pretty irksome character, but he is entitled to a second chance - just like everyone else found guilty of doping offences in the past. Just 'cos he isn't a charmer (a la Millar), doesn't preclude him from making a fresh start. Last I heard, contrition isn't a prequisite for competition.

    If he transgresses again, he'll probably get a life ban and everyone will be happy. If not, we have another very strong GT stage-racer to compete with the likes of Scheck and Contador.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Generally if you want to rejoin a group you need to make some apologies. That said, he did grass on others, this was not the "I never doped, the vitamin pills must have been contaminated" silliness of others.

    We'll see, I suspect he'll be under close supervision from the UCI for some time.
  • jrduquemin
    jrduquemin Posts: 791
    Pokerface wrote:
    fjellrunner wrote:
    Does anyone care?



    Well, yeah. He's a weasel, but he's still a good rider. And a genuine threat, especially with a decent team around him.


    Lots of people felt similarly about people like Vino and Basso - and look what they have done recently....

    Is he a good rider though? Or was it the drugs he was taking that made him a good rider? ;-)
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    jrduquemin wrote:

    Is he a good rider though? Or was it the drugs he was taking that made him a good rider? ;-)

    Doesn't matter.


    Basso, Vino, Millar, Virenque?
    _
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    jrduquemin wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    fjellrunner wrote:
    Does anyone care?



    Well, yeah. He's a weasel, but he's still a good rider. And a genuine threat, especially with a decent team around him.


    Lots of people felt similarly about people like Vino and Basso - and look what they have done recently....

    Is he a good rider though? Or was it the drugs he was taking that made him a good rider? ;-)

    I suppose we'll see. When he was juiced up to his eye-balls on CERA he was incredibly explosive. Of the EPO super-men who have returned to the peleton, most are still competitive but don't possess the 'turbo charge' at the top end that they used to have - the likes of Basso, Selle, Valverde, Virenque etc. That said, he's still very young and has plenty of capacity for (natural) improvement.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    He has won a lot this year already. Not against the best riders because he was never allowed to race against them, yet he is still a great climber.

    He just wont be able to do what he does at 7.20 : )

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS_dsFNxba8
    Contador is the Greatest
  • holybinch
    holybinch Posts: 417
    I, for one, don't believe in a second chance for druggies in sports.
    I think it's hard enough to catch them, and it would be a better deterrent if they were not allowed to race, ever, if caught.

    And before someone jumps me, no, I don't believe in death penalty.
    We're talking about sport here, which implies some ethics. Or at least I'd like to believe it.
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  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Quick Step spokesman Alessandro Tegner said that it was premature to say that things had been finanised. “There’s nothing official,” he told Sporza.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Mar ge
    Mar ge Posts: 88
    and he's able to ride in the Vuelta for QS....

    Should be interesting.
    I feel a bit guilty for feeling slightly excited at the thought of his return... :oops:
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Mar ge wrote:
    and he's able to ride in the Vuelta for QS....

    Nah, he won't able to ride the Vuelta
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  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    Lefevre is as big an opportunist as Bruyneel if I signs Ricco
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKBacb2V ... ata_player
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Can't imagine someone like Ricco being on the same squad as a rider like Chavanel who is prepared to put the work in to achieve a victory
    M.Rushton
  • Radioactiveman
    Radioactiveman Posts: 964
    Ricco. Where will he end up?


    Hopefully stacking the shelves in NETTO or whichever countries equivalent store he resides in.
    £1.25 for sign up http://www.quidco.com/user/491172/42301

    Cashback on wiggle,CRC,evans follow the link
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  • rajMAN
    rajMAN Posts: 429
    Radioactiveman wrote:
    Ricco. Where will he end up?


    Hopefully stacking the shelves in NETTO or whichever countries equivalent store he resides in.

    +1 Ricco = W****r
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Gazetta's claiming it's confirmed Ricco's gone to Quick-Step with immediate effect.

    Which is why i'll give you a dutch cycling news link....


    http://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/10385/ ... -step.html


    He's hoping to ride the Vuelta.
    _
  • jerry3571
    jerry3571 Posts: 1,532
    Ricco's ban didn't seem to change the fact that this last Giro was the 2nd fastest in history and one of the hardest Tours in the last few years.
    Ricco or no Ricco, the general speed of the riders as a whole must be a sign of deeper problems.
    Basso being the winner too. Faces come and go but the doping is always there.

    -Jerry

    PS- On a happy note- I don't dope and I can prove it as I'm as slow as hell!! :wink:
    “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”- Albert Einstein

    "You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water."
    -Jacques Anquetil
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    jerry3571 wrote:
    Ricco's ban didn't seem to change the fact that this last Giro was the 2nd fastest in history and one of the hardest Tours in the last few years.

    Average speeds of GTs are largely irrelevant as they are more a representation of how hard the peloton races in the first 2/3 of each stage.

    In the days before 50+ TV channels, the peloton (particularly in the Giro) used to roll along like tourists until the TV helicopter turned up and then they'd go for it.

    Now though, these races are on TV much longer and the attacks go from kilometre 1 as the sponsors are happy with exposure in the break.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • jerry3571
    jerry3571 Posts: 1,532
    The average speeds increased when EPO came commonplace in the early to mid nineties and has not dropped since.
    It's just simple biology that if you can do 23mph at 120 beats per minute and then take EPO and you can do 25mph at 120 beats per minute then your average speed will increase.
    Most races, these days, only show Live Coverage for the last 2 hours of a race unless it is a big Mountain stage so the changes in tactics would be minimal for the last 30 years or so.

    -Jerry
    “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”- Albert Einstein

    "You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water."
    -Jacques Anquetil
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Gazetta's claiming it's confirmed Ricco's gone to Quick-Step with immediate effect.

    Which is why i'll give you a dutch cycling news link....


    http://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/10385/ ... -step.html


    He's hoping to ride the Vuelta.

    Aren't the UCI saying the deadline for registering a rider for a team's Vuelta roster was August 8th?
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    According to Danny Nelissen's Twitter, he's signed for Vacansoleil :?:

    http://twitter.com/dnelissen/status/21231130629
  • Gazzaputt
    Gazzaputt Posts: 3,227
    Great to see Ricco back. Served his time and co-operated with the authorities.

    Hopefully Vacansoleil can gain Protour status and we may see him in the Giro.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    afx237vi wrote:
    According to Danny Nelissen's Twitter, he's signed for Vacansoleil :?:

    http://twitter.com/dnelissen/status/21231130629

    Indeed...

    In keeping with Leukemans I guess.
    _
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    THE HAGUE: Former drugs cheat Riccardo Ricco signed for Dutch cycling team Vacansoleil Tuesday on a two-year contract, his new outfit announced.

    The 26-year-old returned from a 20-month suspension in March after he was found to have taken CERA during the 2008 Tour de France.

    Ricco - nicknamed the 'Cobra' - rode for Ceramica Flaminia this season but wanted to move to a bigger team and Vacansoleil fitted the bill as they are seeking to be allocated a ProTour licence for next term.

    "The sponsor and the sporting team believe that Riccardo Ricco, who has been punished, deserve a second chance," said Vacansoleil manager Daan Luijkx.

    "Riccardo has paid his debt. In the past few years, riders who have previously been suspended have helped to restore a cleaner image to cycling. Riccardo is going to join this group."

    Ricco, who passed his medical at the beginning of the week, is hoping to make his debut for the team in Sunday's Grand Prix de Plouay provided he receives in time authorisation from the sport's governing body the
    International Cycling Union (UCI).
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