Vino and the credibility of cycling

Anonymous

I just laughed out loud at this for a good 10 minutes.

Vino recons by BMC and SKY not signing up to the MPCC they are hurting cycling: "“Teams like BMC and Team Sky talk about doping but they refuse to join the MPCC. How harmful is that for the image of cycling?" I wonder if it is more harmful having 5 riders fail drugs tests, two of whom are on your WT team.

He then adds for even more lols:

“Credibility is something everyone needs to work with. We have all our doors open. Anyone who wants to know something is welcome. We are credible.”

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... 1Fjr3VF.99

inseine

The MPCC rule 7 (Team auto-suspension in the event of several positive tests in the past 12 months) seems both incredibly vague and incredibly generous.

I used to like Vino as a rider, but there's no room for him as a manager.

dabber

He really is a piece of work... I wish he would just disappear off the scene. He is certainly a negative as far as the credibility of cycling goes.

RichN95.

"We're not dopers, we're members of the MPCC" is basically the cycling equivalent of "I'm not racist, some of my friends are black"

salsiccia1

There really are times when it's better to say nothing. And Vino, this is one of them

joelsim

"We have all our doors open. Including the back door should Ferrari need to make a quick getaway".

Anonymous

Cycling will never be credible whilst people like Vino continue to hold positions of power.

No_Ta_Doctor

"We have all our doors open, including our back doors if we find a PED that needs to be taken in suppository form"

tailwindhome

Dave/Dim ‏@dimspace · 3m3 minutes ago
Dim on Astana being in MPCC "How harmful is that for the image of cycling?"

iainf72

Does anyone take the MPCC seriously?

No_Ta_Doctor

iainf72 wrote:

Does anyone take the MPCC seriously?

I think they were probably useful a few years back but have largely been overtaken by events and are now a platfom for "cleanwashing" a la vino & Astana.

Didn't they have a no needles policy before the UCI, for instance? I think they helped foster an attitude that teams needed to take more responsibility, but they're not needed for teams to do that and they can't force their members to do so - their only power is to kick a team out if it doesn't take a voluntary sanction.

sherer

it's not just Vino though. Look at Bjarne Riis and others who are still stuck on the you need to cheat to win mantra. We need a total clear out before the sport can really move on.

Will be interesting to see what CIRC come up with

Wheelspinner

Could be an interesting day for Nibs

mm1

Wheelspinner wrote:

Could be an interesting day for Nibs

Quick transfer?

yourpaceormine

https://twitter.com/inrng/status/571191 ... 83872?s=09
Inner Ring tweets that l'Equipe reporting that the ISSUL audit out today says Astana should be stripped of licence

iainf72

And this should stand up to CAS as well

Lolz

There is a reason most people fear the A word

blazing_saddles

The latest tweet is a beaut:
https://twitter.com/inrng/status/571198525259833344

Astana's managers "thought they were filling in a form, they were digging their tomb"

I wonder will it change any of the minds who were again quick to stick the knife into Cookson, though?

blazing_saddles

Here you go:

http://www.uci.ch/pressreleases/the-uci ... m-licence/

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) today confirms that it has now reviewed the audit produced by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL) (1) on Astana Pro Team and its anti-doping culture, policies, structures and management systems. The audit was one of the conditions attached to the registration of the team in the 2015 UCI WorldTour.

After careful review of this extensive report, the UCI strongly believes that it contains compelling grounds to refer the matter to the Licence Commission (2) and request the Astana Pro Team licence be withdrawn.

The UCI considers that the ISSUL audit has, among other things, revealed a big difference between the policies and structures that the team presented to the Licence Commission in December and the reality on the ground.

In addition, the Italian authorities have provided the UCI with the sections of the Padova investigation which it has been authorized to share. As some evidence concerns Astana Pro Team members, the file has been passed to the Licence Commission as part of this referral. .

For the sake of due process, the UCI is not in a position to comment further on the content of the audit report, nor the Padova investigation, until the Licence Commission has assessed the situation and rendered its decision. But this decision to refer the matter to the Licence Commission was reached taking all circumstances and potential consequences into consideration.

The UCI will not make any further comment until the Licence Commission has rendered its decision.

sherer

sorry been a bit behind with the news. What's this latest stuff about ? Are they about to lose their licence ?

sherer

thanks for the quote. So it seems the Italian and the Kazakh sides of the team are just as dirty as each other.

iainf72

sherer wrote:

thanks for the quote. So it seems the Italian and the Kazakh sides of the team are just as dirty as each other.

The Italians investigation is mostly Vino et al. Absolutely zero mention of Nibali

chrisday

mm1 wrote:

Wheelspinner wrote:

Could be an interesting day for Nibs

Quick transfer?

You'd have to think so, wouldn't you? Speculative question - if Astana do get binned and Nibs has to move quickly, where do we think he'd end up? There's no immediately obvious fit to me, but I am still only halfway down my first coffee of the day.
A thought is that Garmindale might be seen as an antidote to any reputational damage, but then again, Italian riders in general are pretty tranquillo about what others think they might or might not have been up to.
Which team has a hole for a GC rider, and the cash to be able to afford him?

iainf72

The problem is Nibz comes with other people

And there ain't many free slots out there

shinyhelmut

At the very least he's going to have to cope without (most of) his retinue for the rest of this season. I hope he employed a good lawyer to negotiate his contract with Astana.

sherer

iainf72 wrote:

sherer wrote:

thanks for the quote. So it seems the Italian and the Kazakh sides of the team are just as dirty as each other.

The Italians investigation is mostly Vino et al. Absolutely zero mention of Nibali

ok thanks for clearing that up.

gweeds

iainf72 wrote:

sherer wrote:

thanks for the quote. So it seems the Italian and the Kazakh sides of the team are just as dirty as each other.

The Italians investigation is mostly Vino et al. Absolutely zero mention of Nibali

Agreed and whilst he is, by all accounts a decent sort and very un-starry, he made his choice and followed the money. It's not like Astana weren't being looked at before he signed.

He pretty much had his choice of teams and no doubt will be fine here, but the lesser riders could be in serious trouble finding rides.

Make no mistake though - this is A Good Thing. Instead of going after individuals riders, start hitting these teams in the wallets and the rules might just change. You want to race? Do it clean. If you choose otherwise and we find out, you're gone. No team. No wins.

It might just bring more sponsors in, if those staying away because of doping see high profile action like this.

gweeds

http://inrng.com/2015/02/astana-uci-wor ... ithdrawal/

Cracking read, as ever

Der Kaiser

chrisday wrote:

mm1 wrote:

Wheelspinner wrote:

Could be an interesting day for Nibs

Quick transfer?

You'd have to think so, wouldn't you? Speculative question - if Astana do get binned and Nibs has to move quickly, where do we think he'd end up? There's no immediately obvious fit to me, but I am still only halfway down my first coffee of the day.
A thought is that Garmindale might be seen as an antidote to any reputational damage, but then again, Italian riders in general are pretty tranquillo about what others think they might or might not have been up to.
Which team has a hole for a GC rider, and the cash to be able to afford him?

Wiggins leaves Sky after Paris - Roubaix. There is a slot right there.

Won't happen but imagine Froome's face if it did.

jimmythecuckoo

Sky were after Nibali at their inception... might happen?

gweeds

Can't see it. Froome is their GC man and Nibs brings a whole bunch with it. Massively disruptive and expensive for Sky, who already have one of the top 3 GC riders in Froome.

shinyhelmut

Almost worth it though to wind up the regulars at the clinic