Chaos in pro cycling: enough is enough!

TheDarkLord

You should participate more at The Cult. I'm sure that you can have some fun there.

poulidor

The key factor for ASTANA exclusion, by decrasing importance:

• many doping cases 2 years in a row
• new pro-tour licence !
• Contador linked with OP is still a threat (it's why he can't go in an other team)
• Bruyneel
• Old Liberty Seguros

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Let Astana and McQuaid whine !

Aquamarinos

1. T-Mobile/High Road

2. Rabobank

3. Cofidis

4. Liquigas

5. Silence Lotto

6. Astana

All these teams had a positive doping test by their rider(s), or was avoiding the dope test.

The only teams on this list to have a strict Anti-dope programm THIS year are High Road and Astana. Sad but true.

Crankyfeet

I don't get the "new pro tour license" rationale. I realise ASO wants only 16 PT teams and UCI have created more. But is the policy that the oldest 16 teams get the nod, until one of them discontinues their license? And then they go and invite continental teams to make up the numbers?

Pouli... we all know that the real reason for them being excluded is that they are a team run by a country outside the "Euro Boys Club", they don't have 300 million Americans who would cry foul if they are excluded (The Paceline notwithstanding) and ASO is looking for a team, without any connections to the old boys, to use as a football in the war with UCI. They don't like Bruyneel and his relationship with Verbruggen, and they probably never liked USPS/Disco.

All those other things are mostly red-herrings IMHO.

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Cobblestones

Well, then there is the awkward situation that basically one of the Astana sponsors is dishing out doping penalties for the Kazakh cycling federation, and that for some weird reason (can it perhaps be because the sponsor is judging his own rider??) Vino got only a 1 year ban.

Anyway, I wanted to say something about Rabobank. I would argue that they were less guilty in the 'Chicken affair' than it is implied here. Rabobank certainly knew about the whereabouts of Chicken, but it is the responsibility of the rider to make their whereabouts known to the vampires. I don't think the teams (Rabobank) are or need to be kept in the loop here. In other words, Rabobank knew where Chicken was, but Rabobank did NOT know what Chicken told the vampires. The only thing which goes against Rabobank is that they knew at some point that Chicken had missed some tests. But I wouldn't say that Rabobank was complicit in hiding Chicken's whereabouts.

poulidor

Maybe I misunderstand your answer.

By renewing Astana licence, UCI lost the possibility to reduce the number of Pro Tour team to 17!

ASO has no commercial reason to kill American boys, they have more reason to protect them to restore TV broadcasting! But for sure the Slipstream boys are more welcomed than American who didn't stop their doping last year.

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Let Astana and McQuaid whine !

Crankyfeet

That's not what I understood. I may be wrong, but I understood that Rabo were aware of his submission to the UCI.

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Cobblestones

Yes, and I understood it differently. AFAIK, Rabobank (and any team) is out of the loop when riders submit stuff concerning their whereabouts to the vampires. Some teams might require to be kept in the loop, but I don't think it's required, and I don't think Rabobank required it of their star rider Chicken.

Let me see if I can dig up a link from last year about this.

cyclingheroes

Belgian VDB started a petition. They want VDB to be allowed to race the Tour of Flanders:

http://www.frankvdbroucke.be/petitie_eng.php

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jhuskey

Can we add some other rider's names to the petition? I am sorry ,I don't know if I am serious in that comment, I've been drinking and it could just be the alcohol talking.

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Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.

cyclingheroes

So we have a Levi petition, a Contador petition, a VDB petition and now we also have an open letter:

UCI versus ASO: Open letter to Mr. McQuaid, Mr. Clerc and Mr. Prudhomme http://www.cyclingheroes.info/id1349.html

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earth_dweller

Let's have a petition to rule all petitions

Crankyfeet

Can these cyber petitions be fraudulently inflated?...

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cyclingheroes

For me the message is: a growing number of people do not agree with the way the sport is governed.

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