Kazakh shock; Vino to name names !

whiteboytrash

Go on Vino ! I dare ya !
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Vinokourov revealed that one of the conditions for the 'new' Astana team directed by Johan Bruyneel to obtain the ProTour status was that he would be erased from the structure. "That was the main requirement for Bruyneel to get the license," he said. By making the connection with the Kazakh sponsors, Vinokourov had personally helped to create the team out of the ashes of Liberty Seguros in June last year. But by testing positive for blood doping, the former cycling star has become persona non grata not only at Astana, but also with regard to the European pro cycling scene.
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"I have learned that there is no friendship in Europe," Vinokourov continued. "The priority is to make good business on the backs of others. After the scandal at the Tour, I didn't expect any phone call from the other riders. I was right, as nobody called me. But my former colleagues shouldn't laugh too much about my fate, as it could always backfire on them. When I will write my memoirs, some will be surprised to learn that little Vinokourov wasn't so naive after all, even when he first started out in Europe. I've seen a lot of things, even amongst those who want to appear whiter than snow today."

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The vice-president of the Kazakh cycling federation, Nikolay Proskurin, went even further, saying that Vinokourov had been a disturbing figure to the Astana team's former management right from the start. "It took us some time to realise that we had been wrong in creating the Astana team last year," Proskurin added. "We gave all the keys to our team to Marc Biver and Tony Rominger, but we didn't understand that it was our country's money that interested the most. As soon as they realised that there wasn't any more money to make, they let us down. With the announcement of the positive control, Vino was put in the trash without trying to find out the truth. As if this affair suited them somehow."
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Rather than taking into account the gravity of the doping problem in pro cycling today, Proskurin preferred to see the exclusion of Vinokourov in the light of an anti-Kazakhstan conspiracy. "In Europe, they don't know what to think of Kazakhstan," he continued. "When we arrived in the pro cycling scene, we quickly understood that we scared those who were in it for a long time. There was a rejection of the Kazakhs. But nobody ever dared to reproach us something from eye to eye. Patrick Lefevere, for example, who was the president of the teams' association, never came to shake hands with me. As if we had the lepers, as if we represented the new Genghis Khan."

Vinokourov, meanwhile, is more popular than ever in his home country. Besides posing for fashion magazines, the multiple Tour de France stage winner will also be co-starring in a TV show for Christmas.

Wayne666

Gaumont is the only rider I can think of that has actually outed anyone (Millar, O'Grady, ?) so far. Lot's of them make this threat but never follow thru with it.

italiano

Vino always intrigued me. Recalling his deep grief after the death of his best friend Kivilev, I hear more than bitterness in his remark that there is no friendship in Europe.

Hopefully, he will expose some UCI hypocrisy and may be we’ll learn more about Breyneel/Armstrong deceitful ways.

snood

Hello Lavenu.

kennf

Vino is sounding less and less like the indignant, wrongfully accused victim. Mr. Suh needs to woodshed him.

Crankyfeet

Whenever any action is taken on doping, the victims, whether it be ASO or Vino, seem to interpret it all as a conspiritorial plot against them. Which just shows how much previously, or still does, get/got swept under the carpet.

What surprises me is Astana's sponsors turning on Vino - or did I misread that?

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Bro Deal

I wonder if the conspirators in this dastardly plot are the same ones who schemed against Armstrong.

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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

Leafer

It was that Jean-Francois dude.

thunder

what do the DP folks feel on Landis?

cleaner than a Nun?

Bro Deal

There are some real morons over there. Namely Ali and ChrisH. But it does appear that either there has been a major change at DP or the most of the true believers have taken the off season off. It is a bit different than it was a couple of years ago. I think the Hamilton affair took the piss out of a lot of the fair weather fans.

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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

earth_dweller

To me this reads as Vino firing a warning shot to the Kazakh org, UCI, ASO,.... to make sure they play nice with him. Or else....

"When I will write my memoirs, some will be surprised to learn that little Vinokourov wasn't so naive after all, even when he first started out in Europe."

He never said that he committed to writing his memoirs but 'when'.... yeah right.

thunder

Bro, they all ficked off after the verdict.

All the Landis flunkies were not cycling fans, they were just American fans.

Bro Deal

Ii think that is a good read on Vino's intention.

Who was Vino referring to when he said those "whiter than snow"?

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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

Crankyfeet

Maybe he taped some imcriminating conversations with Ferrari about Mr. Snow White himself?

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