Basso to Liquigas

limerickman

Good points : Astana are being boycotted by the GT organisers - so your guess make sense.

I think Basso is 29.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

jhuskey

31 later this year.

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

limerickman

Thanks.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

lucybears

Predictably, the International Association of Professional Cycling Groups (AIGCP) throw out Liquigas

hawkeye87

Cyclingnews had some quotes from other riders.

Funny enough, Simoni basically offered a "no comment" equivalent, not wanting to get into trouble. While DiLuca flat out stated that either the UCI remove the rule about banned riders or Liquigas should not be a Pro Tour team. Sour grapes?

__________________

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzsky

azdroptop

So it's ok for LG to sign Basso, but there was a big stink when Disco did? Interesting.

Leafer

Disco signed Basso when he was being linked to doping via OP, ie everyone knew (or at least suspected) he was a doper. That apparently didn't bother Bruyneel, who played innocent and signed him anyway, despite knowing full well that he was probably a doper and would probably continue to be a doper while at Disco.

Liquigas signed him after he (sort of) got caught, fessed up, and served his time.

Big difference.

Cobblestones

Nobody has signed Jaksche.

TheDarkLord

Sour grapes surely, but he does have a point. What is the point in having rules when they are not enforced consistently? And com'on, it shouldn't be that hard to enforce whatever rules they wrote.

Wayne666

I would argue the difference is Bruyneel tried to play like he was the most naive, stupid person on the planet and pretend Basso wasn't linked to OP. All the other teams knew full well he was going back on their agreement not to sign OP riders. IOW, he was being a not-so-sneaky shit.

Liquigas on the other hand seems to be giving a straight-up "fuck you" to the PT and the agreement amongst the PT teams not to sign riders who were caught doping. They are simply anticipating the demise of the PT which has for all intents and purposes already happened.

Wayne666

It is if the "they" is now meaningless.

Eldrack

He's over the hill by now, not worth the bad publicity. If he was a few years younger he'd be on a pro continental team at least, probably a pro tour team.

The other teams whining about Liquigas signing Basso is pure crap. I think the two year suspension rule for doping is fair and for teams to suddenly reject that notion is most likely jealousy that they couldn't seal the deal themselves. However Basso could probably do a bit more for his public image by making an effort to show that he is riding clean, and perhaps speaking out against doping a bit more.

Wayne666

Or he'll just keep on doing what he was doing. It's not like he was ever actually caught despite almost certainly being doped to the gills, as they say.

huboon

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...cle_253999.html

"However, Liquigas have recently announced they intend to rip-up the ethics code and have gone ahead and signed Basso despite knowing it will anger the other teams."

Sounds very Bruyneel-esque to me.