Cycling Weeklys angry response to Contadors win (TT Spoiler)

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Comments

  • cogidubnus
    cogidubnus Posts: 860
    Good balanced journalism there
  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    A bit bland, perchance?
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    Jesus. That guy has a fine career ahead of him at the Daily Mail, should the cycling gig not work out.
  • BikingBernie
    BikingBernie Posts: 2,163
    Fair Comment, as far as I can see.
  • chrishd883
    chrishd883 Posts: 159
    Cheap, lazy journalism.

    Of course Contador and Lance are the only "modern" riders that have taken banned substances!!

    But love him or hate him - with or without drugs - Contador is probably the best there is at the moment.
  • FransJacques
    FransJacques Posts: 2,148
    What an ass. Who's he to just what state cyclings in? I'm enjoying it fine thank you very much. It's not in a sorry state, it's rather exciting. The climbs were great and the fans were fantastic.

    Should Contador have been racing? Maybe not. But he showed great class by his riding and by allowing Rujano and Tiralungo to cross the line first.

    He dominated more than Lance did in many of his Tour wins, plus this Giro was harder.
    When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    chrishd883 wrote:
    Cheap, lazy journalism.

    Of course Contador and Lance are the only "modern" riders that have taken banned substances!!

    But love him or hate him - with or without drugs - Contador is probably the best there is at the moment.

    But how will we ever know? The UCI looks like a bunch of incompetent, or worse, corrupt losers doing f all to help the image of the sport.

    It looks like its going to take more than a year to make a decision, come on . . . really
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    PeteMadoc wrote:
    chrishd883 wrote:
    Cheap, lazy journalism.

    Of course Contador and Lance are the only "modern" riders that have taken banned substances!!

    But love him or hate him - with or without drugs - Contador is probably the best there is at the moment.

    But how will we ever know? The UCI looks like a bunch of incompetent, or worse, corrupt losers doing f all to help the image of the sport.

    It looks like its going to take more than a year to make a decision, come on . . . really

    That's not the fault of the UCI though .
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • dougzz
    dougzz Posts: 1,833
    Moray Gub wrote:

    That's not the fault of the UCI though .

    Initial delay, allowing Bertie to announce his own positive, wasn't that the UCI?
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    It wasn't me

    It's not my fault

    But he did it

    It's not a playground! If they really wanted they could grab the whole situation by the balls and clean this sport up for good. But we all know that won't happen :roll:
  • thamacdaddy
    thamacdaddy Posts: 590
    I think it's fair enough. Once you watch the Hamilton 60minutes piece and consider whether corruption in sport exists (football etc) I think it does taint it a little. And let's be honest AC has looked so far ahead of everyone he is either amazing or another depressing example of the top riders having no limits to what they will do to get ahead. This should not be dragged out past the season and it's a joke they are doing it, hard to think past they are not all looking at their own pockets.
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    That article reads like something I would write, as an impassioned, but massively frustrated fan of this sport.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • johnjo blue
    johnjo blue Posts: 36
    Sorry but I can't belive some of the replys on here !
    He was tested and failed a test so he is guilty, whether he is a nice guy or not is complete rubbish.
    Everytime he races in the back of your mind is the fact that he is a cheat.
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    johnjo blue wrote:
    Sorry but I can't belive some of the replys on here !
    He was tested and failed a test so he is guilty, whether he is a nice guy or not is complete rubbish.
    Everytime he races in the back of your mind is the fact that he is a cheat.

    Yes, life is simple in black and white land.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,653
    inkyfingers wrote:
    That article reads like something I would write, as an impassioned, but massively frustrated fan of this sport.

    +1

    Not the most eloquent or sophisticated piece you'll read this year but spoken from the heart. Not a lot wrong with it IMO.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • BikingBernie
    BikingBernie Posts: 2,163
    I wonder how chuffed the Giro organisers will be if his positive is upheld and he has to forfeit his win in the Giro?
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    It's nice to see that cycling journos no longer ignoring the drugs issue...
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • thomasmc
    thomasmc Posts: 814
    BikingBernie wrote:
    I wonder how chuffed the Giro organisers will be if his positive is upheld and he has to forfeit his win in the Giro?

    Its being mooted in twitterland than any ban will be from the date of the hearing & not backdated so he gets to keep his Giro
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    thomasmc wrote:
    BikingBernie wrote:
    I wonder how chuffed the Giro organisers will be if his positive is upheld and he has to forfeit his win in the Giro?

    Its being mooted in twitterland than any ban will be from the date of the hearing & not backdated so he gets to keep his Giro

    Allowing him, if banned, to keep any results from a period where he was under investigation for a case that he himself has prolonged by not taking it on the chin initially would be ridiculous.

    As somebody up the thread stated, firstly, the idea that between them the UCI, WADA, CAS, Bert, Saxo and the Spanish federation cannot sort this within 12 months is obscene and secondly the idea of a bloke professing love and respect for a sport right up until the point it compromises his earning power is an insult.

    If this isn't resolved by the start of the Tour, I'm not watching any of it. I know it won't make any difference and nobody cares if I do or not, but I just cannot imagine myself deriving any enjoyment from it bar the scenery.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • jswba
    jswba Posts: 491
    disgruntledgoat wrote:

    As somebody up the thread stated, firstly, the idea that between them the UCI, WADA, CAS, Bert, Saxo and the Spanish federation cannot sort this within 12 months is obscene and secondly the idea of a bloke professing love and respect for a sport right up until the point it compromises his earning power is an insult.

    If this isn't resolved by the start of the Tour, I'm not watching any of it. I know it won't make any difference and nobody cares if I do or not, but I just cannot imagine myself deriving any enjoyment from it bar the scenery.

    +1. I just couldn't be bothered to watch the Giro this year, even though I'd normally be glued to it.

    Simon Richardson deserves a lot of credit for that article. I thought it was exactly the sort of thing that we should be reading in the cycling press, rather than that lily-livered puff-piece on AC in the latest ProCycling.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    I've not read said Puff Piece, worth a look?

    I stopped buying PC for precisely that reason. I think its a big problem that the magazine industry has with sport. To get adverts, they need exclusives, to get exclusives, they need access and to get access they need to keep teams, riders and administrators onside.

    None of this lends itself to decent, objective journalism.

    For example: Did any of the cycling print media attempt to run down the real story behind any of the Landis allegations? The bus stuck on a mountain pass? the Ferrari stuff etc etc.? I can't recall a single one doing anything more than repeating the allegations.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    disgruntledgoat wrote:
    Allowing him, if banned, to keep any results from a period where he was under investigation for a case that he himself has prolonged by not taking it on the chin initially would be ridiculous.

    Why ? If he's not tested positive during the Giro and he was allowed to start the race why should he have that win taken from him ? At the moment he's been cleared - any punishment should start from the point he's found guilty.
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Wasn't he found guilty, by the rules he signed up to, as soon as they found clenbuterol in his body? It was only because of who he is that all the messing about started.

    I appreciate, we're into lose/lose here. If his ban is backdated, he loses a tour (possibly 2) and a giro but comes back sooner. If his ban goes from date of conviction, he's off for longer but 3 GTs have a massive great asterisk beside them forever.

    It's exactly the same strategy Valverde went for, procrastinate in court for as long as possible (how can you need another 6 weeks to polish up a case you've been hawking for a year?) and hoover up the wins in the meantime.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • jswba
    jswba Posts: 491
    disgruntledgoat wrote:
    I've not read said Puff Piece, worth a look?

    I stopped buying PC for precisely that reason. I think its a big problem that the magazine industry has with sport. To get adverts, they need exclusives, to get exclusives, they need access and to get access they need to keep teams, riders and administrators onside.

    None of this lends itself to decent, objective journalism.

    I wouldn't bother. There's nothing in there at all. He did it in Spanish with lawyers saying they'll take on any questions regarding doping. There's a lot in there about how the case has made AC more defensive and less trusting of people outside his circle (shades of Lance, methinks) and a bit about how Saxobank is better than Astana before a repeat of how disillusioned he is with the sport now that he's under suspicion for activities that were not his fault. It's mostly guff, enlivened only by his insistence that he's been 'unequivocal' in his support for anti-doping measures.....

    To add to the amusement, there's also a fawning profile of Vino!
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    I haven't followed it as closely as some but I understood that at this moment he's been cleared and that it is the UCI appealing that decision to CAS that we are waiting for ?

    My point is that if he's been cleared then why shouldn't he race and as there is no evidence he's cheating in this Giro he should keep it.

    Don't get me wrong I'm convinced he was doping and that his positive test is evidence of that - he should lose the 2010 Tour and get a 2 year ban from the time CAS (hopefully) find him guilty. If he gets a backdated ban then I'd be very disillusioned seeing as he's been racing - even if he did get the results taken off him.

    Agree that both he and Valverde have played for time but I suppose Contador would say he's already been cleared and it's the UCI who are the ones dragging this out.
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • RowCycle
    RowCycle Posts: 367
    As someone fairly new to this cycling malarkey (I was gripped by the last 2 TdFs) I find it ridiculous that this issue still hasn't been sorted after nearly a year with the next TdF just around the corner.

    It really is ridiculous!
  • deejay
    deejay Posts: 3,138
    RowCycle wrote:
    As someone fairly new to this cycling malarkey (I was gripped by the last 2 TdFs) I find it ridiculous that this issue still hasn't been sorted after nearly a year with the next TdF just around the corner.

    It really is ridiculous!
    It certainly is.
    Is that why the Italians only raced for second place. ?

    That is my bigest regret of the 2011 Giro.
    21 stages
    1 Neutralised
    5 Italian Stage winners
    !5 Foriegn winners

    Never seen a Giro like it and I go back to watching the unlikely duo Rominger and Cipollini in a two up Break, which was fun.

    Innocent till proved guilty.
    No time served so a ban from the date of the guilty verdict.
    That he says will be retirement so maybe that's why he wants his lawyers to delay and argue.
    He can't lose if the ban comes from a future date as he will have his palmares.
    Organiser, National Championship 50 mile Time Trial 1972
  • oscarbudgie
    oscarbudgie Posts: 850
    The Contador situation has ruined the Giro for me so I can understand this reaction. I hope ASO can find a way of refusing Contador's/Saxobank's entry to the Tour. By winning the Giro I almost think Contador is throwing down the gauntlet to UCI & WADA, daring them to ban him as he knows (but doesn't care about) the damage this will do to cycling.
    Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 3000
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Don't get me wrong Deejay, I believe very strongly in innocent until proven guilty. My proviso would be however that, firstly, I strongly believe him to be guilty of far worse than they have got him on and, secondly, under the rules of the sport he's already been proven guilty.

    I also believe that everyone is equal before the law and that position should not be able to get you off.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    I think it's a reasonable article, I can't imagine many other sports being in such a daft situation with regard to knowing if someone is able to compete legitimately or not. I didn't watch much of the race and I usually always watch the TdF, including many trips to watch at the road side, but this year I'm really not feeling the love and may not bother at all.

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