UCI opens investigation into Valverde

phil s
phil s Posts: 1,128
edited September 2007 in Pro race
And he won't be at the Worlds either...

http://tinyurl.com/32ks7z
-- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --

Comments

  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    Is anyone surprised? The only real surprise is how long it has taken for the UCI to act.

    Contador next?
  • nick hanson
    nick hanson Posts: 1,655
    andyp wrote:
    Is anyone surprised? The only real surprise is how long it has taken for the UCI to act.

    Contador next?
    Isn't he still contracted to Disco?
    No one is a positive at Disco,don't you know? !!
    so many cols,so little time!
  • top_bhoy
    top_bhoy Posts: 1,424
    I wouldn't have a lot of faith in the Spanish Cycling Federation being involved in any disciplinary proceedings or investigation and doing the right thing - does anyone think otherwise?
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    It's about f@cking time! I believe the Spanish Federation shouldn't be let in a 10km radius from the investigation. Since the UCI only asked them to open proceedings and won't be doing the investigating themselves, I somehow foresee a complete whitewash.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    They're opening an investigation? They should have done this months, if not years ago when the evidence first came out. :roll:

    What next?
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Thinking about it, if they're opening an investigation is this grounds to ban him from the event? Clearly they have information that's not (yet) in the public domain but if they want to ban him, surely they need to share the information?

    I look foward to Valverde's press conference and his repetition that "I am calm".
  • It still leaves over 40 other cyclists,not too mention golden tennis balls and the rest of the O.P.list,footballers etc.
  • Yeah it does, but the UCI is responsible for cycling not tennis or football.
  • wasp707
    wasp707 Posts: 116
    Yes, but it's strange that only cyclists have actually been linked in public. When will the footballers, tennis players and athletes names be released and investigations begin?
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    edited August 2007
    I am glad Valverde´s being suspended from racing. His TDF 07 was good, but he was clean...he got more tired as the race went on, e.g. strong on the Galibier but tierd a bit later on in the Pyrenees and losing time..contrast that with him ripping up cols in the Tour of Spain 2003 and then outsprinting the sprinters on the flats...he won mountain stages and flat stages of the 03 Vuelta when Fuentes was the team Dr...it was good at the time, but looks odd now. Mr Valverde needs to be invesitgated IMO...and offered a plea bargain. The UCI need to start gunning for Contador...he need to explain a lot IMO. I hope he is suspended
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Whole thing has been a farce - has anyone been convicted thru this yet ? And how can they with half the list missing as it wasnt cyclists ?
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Have the UCI acted on anyone else?

    I expect it's another one of their half arsed PR exercises.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    I imagine Sirs Basso and Scarponi might disagree that Puerto has been a complete whitewash. As for Contador, I haven't read the 6000 pages of the document yet, but what had been made public of the first report wasn't very incriminating. Someone writing your name in an e-mail where he details the results of a race you got a podium in is hardly a smoking gun. At least the UCI are doing something. The Valverde case shows that if the 6000-page version brings up new evidence, the UCI will act on it. It takes time to process that much info. If Contador's name crops up in suspicious places, I don't doubt they'll dig further into it. Taking down the winner of ASO's crown jewel is way too tempting to pass up.

    We can't have it both ways. We can't say the UCI should act, and then qualify that action as political posturing. I enjoy bashing the UCI as much as the next guy, but come on... now the onus is on the Spanish Federation. It's their case to screw up now. And I don't doubt for a second they'll do their best to do just that.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    drenkrom wrote:
    We can't have it both ways. We can't say the UCI should act, and then qualify that action as political posturing. I enjoy bashing the UCI as much as the next guy, but come on... now the onus is on the Spanish Federation. It's their case to screw up now. And I don't doubt for a second they'll do their best to do just that.

    But this Valverde case is blatant posturing.

    Germans say "No Valverde at Worlds" and get press from it. Suddenly the UCI manage to study the 6000 page document and decide now is the time to think there is a case against Valverde? Is that so Pat can get some more face time being tough on doping?

    Only Italians have been sanctioned for Puerto, no?
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Dave_1 wrote:
    I Mr Valverde needs to be invesitgated IMO...and offered a plea bargain. The UCI need to start gunning for Contador...he need to explain a lot IMO. I hope he is suspended

    You hope who is suspended Valverde or Contador ? Is it ok if there is proof first before the suspension or do you think they should just suspend on suspicion and innuendo alone becuase thats the way its going these days.

    cheers
    MG
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    The bloke's name, as well as the name of his dog, crops up in the documents. He needs to give a proper explanation of any links.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    iainf72 wrote:
    drenkrom wrote:
    We can't have it both ways. We can't say the UCI should act, and then qualify that action as political posturing. I enjoy bashing the UCI as much as the next guy, but come on... now the onus is on the Spanish Federation. It's their case to screw up now. And I don't doubt for a second they'll do their best to do just that.

    But this Valverde case is blatant posturing.

    Germans say "No Valverde at Worlds" and get press from it. Suddenly the UCI manage to study the 6000 page document and decide now is the time to think there is a case against Valverde? Is that so Pat can get some more face time being tough on doping?

    Only Italians have been sanctioned for Puerto, no?


    Aren't you forgetting a couple of Germans?
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    Moray Gub wrote:
    Dave_1 wrote:
    I Mr Valverde needs to be invesitgated IMO...and offered a plea bargain. The UCI need to start gunning for Contador...he need to explain a lot IMO. I hope he is suspended

    You hope who is suspended Valverde or Contador ? Is it ok if there is proof first before the suspension or do you think they should just suspend on suspicion and innuendo alone becuase thats the way its going these days.

    cheers
    MG

    1 year ago I would have said don´t suspend Valverde as it´s trial by media without due process, but with the credibility that Ullrich and Basso gave the Operations Puerto List I think every last one of them in the documentas should be suspended until they´ve been DNA tested and offered a plea bargain if they cooperate
  • They are both dopers. Ban them both.
    Dan
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    This is going to get more interesting

    http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap ... &type=lgns
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    You should get a job on the Mail.iainf72
    All tittle tattle and waffle.Just up your street. :(
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    edited August 2007
    iainf72 wrote:
    This is going to get more interesting

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

    I hope he does not get to start until he´s been proven not to be the owner of the blood at Fuentes. The sports been damaged enough and surely the peleton will not want valv putting their jobs at risk by showing up. I always use to give the rider the benefit of the doubt, but now, if I have a choice between a journalists report and the riders word...I´ll believe the journo everytime...as they have been correct, Millar, Basso, Ullrich, Tyler...when has a journo been show to fabricate a story? They always seem to be true stories...so no way should Valverde be riding till he has clarified the DNA aspect at least
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Timoid. wrote:
    Only Italians have been sanctioned for Puerto, no?


    Aren't you forgetting a couple of Germans?[/quote]

    I don't believe Jan or Jorg have been sanctioned at all?

    Jan definately not.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    It's bizarre he's blocked from riding the worlds but can race elsewhere, for example in the GP Plouay. Double standards from the UCI, surely not?
  • Wasn't the evidence allegedly connected to Valverde quite old? ie. referring to the time he was with Kelme, who employed Fuentes as team doc. My impression is that at the time of the bust he was not linked to the good doctor. If the link is real and they still want to go after him, why not go after Zabel? Is Zabel going to be punished? The UCI are using Valverde to attack the Spanish Federation and the Vuelta. A gross mistake because he'll be defended now through thick and thin. In Spain they're also concerned why the Mayo B result has been delayed so long. To coincide with the Vuelta? This is the belief in the current appalling atmosphere. I agree with the poster on the other thread, these are witch-hunt times. If someone points a finger, and it's convenient for certain interests, then the hunt is on.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Wasn't the evidence allegedly connected to Valverde quite old? ie. referring to the time he was with Kelme, who employed Fuentes as team doc. My impression is that at the time of the bust he was not linked to the good doctor. If the link is real and they still want to go after him, why not go after Zabel? Is Zabel going to be punished?

    No, the statute of limitations for dopage is 8 years and Zabels infractions were more than 8 years ago.

    There were blood bags in Fuentes freezer marked Valv.piti - That's been kicking around for ages.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Moray Gub wrote:
    Dave_1 wrote:
    I Mr Valverde needs to be invesitgated IMO...and offered a plea bargain. The UCI need to start gunning for Contador...he need to explain a lot IMO. I hope he is suspended

    You hope who is suspended Valverde or Contador ? Is it ok if there is proof first before the suspension or do you think they should just suspend on suspicion and innuendo alone becuase thats the way its going these days.

    cheers
    MG


    Suspicious and innuendo should be enough, yes. These riders and their bosses have been destroying the sport for years. Professional sports is about making people -- fans, spectators, aspiring children, etc -- believe in you. They have reaped the financial and other rewards from people believing in them. Now they should face the consequences of people not believing in them.

    This isn't a court of law. It's cycling. And if a rider wants us to take him seriously, he should make sure there is no perception of cheating.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Peakraider wrote:
    Suspicious and innuendo should be enough, yes.

    Yikes. That's a bit radical.

    Name a rider and I'll build a case for you.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • I think we should presume that anyone connected with any of the dodgy doctors, anyone who accidentally misses a test, any rider whose hematocrit and testosterone are unusually high two weeks into a stage race, anyone who goes on elusive training camps in the winter and competes in just a handful of races, anyone who recovers from debilitating injuries in days, etc, etc should be presumed to be a doper.

    Then add in many others you wouldn't normally expect.
  • top_bhoy
    top_bhoy Posts: 1,424
    In Matt Rendells book on Pantani, the doctors knew/suspected strongly Pantani had been doping even although his haemocrit levels were under 50% because several other of the blood parameters were anything but normal and were all out of sync with what would be found in normal blood parameters. Maybe its time the haemocrit levels weren't the be all and end all of a riders ability to participate, even if nothing 100% can be proven - put it down to 'medical guidance'.