Will Vino come back at the Bejing Olympics? - Page 2

If he retires his ban is unvalidated until he comes out, so the only possibility is to do it for have just one year and no retirement if he wants to race at JO

Yes maybe one year ban means Vino will join team as management next summer.

He's done: http://velonews.com/news/fea/13769.0.html

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"Bait in 08" --nns1400

Thank you, helm. Vino will not go down without a stiff fight...

I never knew that Astana was kicked out of the tour. I thought they retired after Vino was kicked out.
Vino is 34 and would need one the greatest come backs of all time to compete which would include intensive training and the ability to compete in some early tune up races in 2008 which can't happen because of his suspension.
Retirement is the best direction he can take.IMO

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Dope,when training and talent just aren't enough.

funny, he more or less admits they all dope in the end.

Quote:

Vinokourov, who said that he would be consulting his American attorney, Maurice Suh, regarding an appeal of his suspension, blamed anti-Kazakh bias for his problems.

man that sounds familiar.

Amazing, that the UCI/ADA hired anti-Americans and anti-Kazakh folks, you;d think they'd be hard to find

It looks like Suh is building quite a career for himself. If it were me I would hire a lawyer who had shown he could win a case. Or maybe I would hire TTF if he could keep fromlaughing at own his arguments.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

I did not know that. It does make sense.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

More from Vino.......

ALMATY, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Cycling is as clean as other professional sports but low budgets and a weak federation have made it an easy target for the media and anti-doping crusaders, according to banned rider Alexander Vinokourov.

The 34-year-old Kazakh announced his retirement from the sport last week after he was suspended by the country's cycling federation for a year following a positive test for a homologous blood transfusion during the 2007 Tour de France.

"Cycling is a scapegoat now," he told Reuters in an interview. "I don't think bike racing is any dirtier than other sports -- soccer, tennis.
"It's just popular to sensationalise bike racing these days, and they are just trying to do it as often as possible."

The pre-Tour favourite, who won two stages of this year's race, was sacked by his Astana team in July following the positive test.

Vinokourov said budget disparities made the International Cycling Union (UCI) an easy target for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

"In all of cycling there is a budget of maybe 200 million euros ($293.3 million). But if you take soccer for example, at Chelsea alone there might be 300 million euros. It's just completely different money," Vinokourov said.

Vinokourov said WADA was closing its eyes to suspected doping in other sports because the professional federations running them were too powerful and would not submit in the way cycling had.

"If WADA is really fighting for clean sport, then why is it that if in Spain (doctor Eufemiano) Fuentes has a list of 150 athletes, they only announce the cyclists?" he said.

Fuentes was at the centre of the Operation Puerto investigation, which was launched after police found anabolic steroids, blood transfusion equipment and more than 200 bags of blood at addresses in Madrid and Zaragoza in May 2006.

The case was closed in March without any charges laid, although the Spanish government has appealed against the ruling.


Vinokourov thought cycling was risking its livelihood and status by constantly bowing to pressure from WADA.

"What I see is that cycling is moving in this direction where it's going to be tough to fight, and if it continues it's possible that it could be excluded from the Olympics, and then bike racing will just die."

He said riders were less to blame for the current state of cycling, which has been hit by a number of doping scandals this season, than the administration running the sport and the managers who surround it.

"I see us as a good group of people with a bad conductor. Everybody plays their own music and in the end you just end up with a complete mess," he said.

Former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis admitted to doping, saying he took performance enhancing substances during 1996, the year of his race victory.
In September, 2006 Tour winner American Floyd Landis was stripped of his title and suspended for two years for a positive test for synthetic testosterone during his victorious ride. Landis is appealing the punishment.
Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his Rabobank team, while leading the 2007 Tour for lying about his training schedule, an allegation the Dane denies, and Italian Cristian Moreni failed a dope test for testosterone.
Vinokourov has maintained his innocence and is appealing against his ban.

"Of course I want to lodge an appeal. Nobody would allow his image, something built up over years, to be pulled down in one day," he said.