Giro to welcome Astana?

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I'd say he is full of it. Didn't he offer his DNA for clearing his name with regards to OP? Now that the offer has been made by the Spanish authorities, has he rushed to clear his name? Dude probably does not even know how many lies he has told in the past. :rolleyes:Sorry DarkLord, there is a misunderstanding, IIRC the French tidbit was referring to the directeur sportif of Caisse saying that he likes the biological passport... not Contador. As you correctly point out, I doubt he is pro a biological passport...

Sorry DarkLord, there is a misunderstanding, IIRC the French tidbit was referring to the directeur sportif of Caisse saying that he likes the biological passport... not Contador. As you correctly point out, I doubt he is pro a biological passport...Oh, ok. Thanks for the correction. Obviously, I didn't read the article in French.

At some point Valverde is going to have to admit to himself that he cannot win the tour. Aside from it being his bad luck race with crashing out, his performance last year was pretty poor. Of course, he was probably off the juice given the thinly veiled threats by both Ann Gripper and the ASO to certain cyclists of which he was one.
Caisse was off the gear at last year's TdF.

Valverde should be pissed if Contador were to join for the Tour.

Caisse was off the gear at last year's TdF.

Valverde should be pissed if Contador were to join for the Tour.Caisse? or just Piti? Getting passed by Rasmussen in the first TT kinda tipped Valverde's hand. But I was not aware that Caisse had a team program for sure. They'd probably have all their riders involved in the OP cloud with Piti if that were the case, wouldn't they? Or was he involved with Fuentes only when he was with Kelme? I was just wondering if you had something on the team as a whole being clean last year, or whether it was just an observational opinion?

Caisse was off the gear at last year's TdF.

Have you forgotten the last TT?

1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.51
3 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 1.56
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.01
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.18
6 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.27
7 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.33
8 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.36

Have you forgotten the last TT?

1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.51
3 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 1.56
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.01
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.18
6 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.27
7 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.33
8 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.36Or the team results...

Teams Classification

1 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 273.12.52
2 Caisse D'Epargne 19.36
3 Team CSC 22.10
4 Rabobank 36.24
5 Euskaltel-Euskadi 46.46
6 Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.44.33
7 Predictor-Lotto 1.50.21
8 Lampre-Fondital 2.19.41
9 Crédit Agricole 2.25.44
10 AG2r Prévoyance 2.26.08
11 Liquigas 2.28.30
12 Quickstep-Innergetic 2.57.15
13 T-Mobile Team 3.17.26
14 Bouygues Telecom 3.49.53
15 Barloworld 3.59.12
16 Gerolsteiner 4.09.28
17 Agritubel 6.17.20
18 Team Milram 6.48.28
19 Française des Jeux

Have you forgotten the last TT?
There are a lot of weird results in the last ITT, but something happened to Valverde. He was nothing compared to two years before. And Caisse's performance in the mountains was sub par for them. Maybe they missed a refill early in the Tour.

There are a lot of weird results in the last ITT, but something happened to Valverde. He was nothing compared to two years before. And Caisse's performance in the mountains was sub par for them. Maybe they missed a refill early in the Tour.One could speculate that he knew the UCI were going to spend a fortune analysing his pee before and during the 2007 event... and/or he may have had trouble locating a trustworthy replacement gynacologist since 2006.

Contador says he will only ride with Astana

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/mar08/mar29news

Contador says he will only ride with Astana

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/mar08/mar29news

What a pillock - he might as well ride with a saucepan up his arse

Contador took the time to dispel any rumours (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/mar08/mar28news) that he might move to another team to participate in the Tour de France, giving thanks to his Astana team and pledging his loyalty. "Without them, it would have been impossible," Contador remarked of this week's victory. "I may have been the best in the time trial and in the queen stage, [but] without the support of my team, it would have been impossible to control the race.Yes, of course. Without JB's juice and vitamins, it would be impossible for Contadope to win. No wonder he intends to stick with JB. ;)

Contador says he will only ride with Astana

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/mar08/mar29newsYou can leave mafia only as a protected witness...
It's too early for him to enter witness protection programme.

I think Astana should just buy one of the teams that have been invited... :D

I think Astana should just buy one of the teams that have been invited... :DOr they can buy the race itself. Weren't there Cult members suggesting that the Kazhakhs buy ASO/RCS? ;)

Or they can buy the race itself. Weren't there Cult members suggesting that the Kazhakhs buy ASO/RCS? ;)Then they would own "The running of the Jews" and the TdF. They would be a threat to Bernie Eccleston then... :D

Then they would own "The running of the Jews" and the TdF. They would be a threat to Bernie Eccleston then... :D
It would be awesome. They could combine the two. Maybe start the running of the Jews from the top of Alpe d'Huez as the riders are starting the climb? Imagine the spectacle!!!

apologies, pete, was so busy pissing myself laughing replied to the wrong post - had meant a general reply to fscyclist and his claims.

Contador has potential but the fact his brain exploded when he was 20 makes you wonder - coupled with the fact he seems unable to break the ONCE-Liberty-Astana chain there are big question marks. As for the Tour he won, he wouldn't have made the top step of the podium if Rasmussen had stayed in the race - the Chicken had the beating of him every time the road went upwards and it frankly amazes me how everyone lauds Contador and there's never a word about Rasmussen's incendiary riding in that race. As for the laughable suggestion that Contadope would have taken too much time out of uberdoperJan in the climbs and then held him easily in the time trials - and been clean doing it - made me spit coffee all over my keyboard.What claims? I think the only claim I made is that if Jan were to race in the 2007 TdF, I think Ras, Basso, and Contadore would finish ahead. I don't find that to be an outrageous claim, and we'll never know the answer so just try and prove me wrong. I also never would claim that Contadore would beat Ullrich in his prime, nor could he beat Merckx in his prime. But...I bet he could beat Merckx right now. I also never claimed Contadore is clean, but neither do I think anyone else I mentioned is. I also agree that Ras was outstanding and should've been the winner. I've written plenty in this forum about Ras ride and how impressive it was.

Anyway...glad I made you piss on yourself.

...Anyway...glad I made you piss on yourself.LOL. :D

Good one fscyclist :D

The thing is, I've followed Contador since before his brain exploded, saw his promise, didn't like his ties with Saiz but hoped he'd be snapped up by another team - but to go from Saiz to his protege the Hog just stinks, and says something very unpleasant about Contador's mindset. On the other hand, never could stand Rasmussen but feel that the way he has been airbrushed out of the last Tour is a disgrace - Contador never got the better of him in the mountains and was largely ineffective against the Chicken's attacks but the revisionist version of the TdF 2007 would have you believe that Contador did this amazing, attacking riding stage after stage - in fact, his performance was little better than a poor Armstrong clone - though by the time he's won TdF number 10 I suppose he and Bruyneel will have the programme perfected - though they'll be riding 'the TdF in Langkawi' on the Verbruggen 'No Holds Barred' circuit for doped up freaks.

Sorry, really had enough of Bruyneel and friends thinking they can take the piss out of the sport with impunity. Astana are a joke team, run by a joke DS with a joke anti doping programme (same one as used by CSC? Enough said). Time to spare the sport and put them - and their biggest supporters, the UCI - out of their misery.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/7319853.stm
Under the picture:
"Contador's Astana team were also excluded from the Tour of Spain"

Hmm...am I reading this wrong or has something new turned up? Last time I heard Vuelta was still open for Astana.