UCI bans teams from racing Paris-Nice

tispectrum said:

The UCI said Thursday it had sent letters to all 20 ProTour
teams reminding them that Paris-Nice is now a national event and under
ProTour rules teams are forbidden from competing in the event scheduled for
March 11-18.

That proves that the UCI is incompetent: only 19 letters were
required.

-ilan

ilan said:

tispectrum said:

The UCI said Thursday it had sent letters to all 20 ProTour
teams reminding them that Paris-Nice is now a national event and under
ProTour rules teams are forbidden from competing in the event scheduled for
March 11-18.

That proves that the UCI is incompetent: only 19 letters were
required.

Maybe it proves that they strive to exceed your expectations.

tispectrum said:

Quoted message said:

The UCI said Thursday it had sent letters to all 20 ProTour
teams reminding them that Paris-Nice is now a national event and under
ProTour rules teams are forbidden from competing in the event scheduled for
March 11-18.

ilan said:

That proves that the UCI is incompetent: only 19 letters were
required.

Apart from which, they haven't exactly been enforcing that ban at some
continental races where continental teams have been complaining that the
number of pro-tour teams has exceeded the number allowed.

tispectrum said:

UCI bans teams from racing Paris-Nice

UCI bans teams from racing Paris-Nice

February 22, 2007

AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) -- The international cycling federation
banned all ProTour teams from competing in next month's Paris-Nice race.

The UCI said Thursday it had sent letters to all 20 ProTour
teams reminding them that Paris-Nice is now a national event and under
ProTour rules teams are forbidden from competing in the event scheduled for
March 11-18.

The UCI and big tour organizers are at odds over UCI's 27-event
ProTour and who can issue licenses for teams to take part in the elite
tours.

The UCI has clashed with organizers of the Tour de France since
setting up the ProTour in 2005. Tour organizer Amaury Sports Organization
was dismayed to pay for the right to host a race that dates back more than
100 years.

Organizers for the three-week French race and the sport's two
other main stage events -- the Giro d'Italia and Spanish Vuelta -- insist
that only they can determine which teams can ride in their races. The UCI
has retaliated by announcing it will file a formal complaint with the
European Commission for anticompetitive practices.

The UCI's latest move comes just two days after president Pat
McQuaid met with ASO chief Patrice Clerc in Lyon in an attempt to resolve
disputes between the two sides. But the meetings were unsuccessful and UCI
then accused Tour de France organizers of attempting to seize control of the
sport.

The Tour, the Giro and the Vuelta held their events separately
from UCI's calendar last year.

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If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

-ilan

ilan said:

If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO. Who cares what
the average speed is?

It might take a year before all the unknown riders become knowns, but
it won't affect the Tour as badly as it will affect the UCI.

Jeff

Jeff Jones said:

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO.

Teams just like Unibet were trying until this year?
They don't want Jeremy to win stages :-((

"Jeff Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

ilan said:

If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO. Who cares what
the average speed is?

It might take a year before all the unknown riders become knowns, but
it won't affect the Tour as badly as it will affect the UCI.

They could invite women riders. That was the trick the organizers of the
Giro did in 1924 when all the important men's teams refused to participate.
It worked: there was a lot of extra publicity ...

Benjo

Dan Gregory said:

Jeff Jones said:

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO.

Teams just like Unibet were trying until this year?
They don't want Jeremy to win stages :-((

I think Unibet was a convenient political playing piece for ASO,
because of the legal situation in France. That helped bring all this
to a head. But teams and sponsors like Tinkoff will quite happily
benefit. And how long would the big name riders stay with the UCI's
race calendar if they were deprived of the chance of riding the Tour?
I would estimate as long as their existing contracts ran for, if that.
The smaller teams wouldn't remain smaller for very long, and the
sponsorship would follow where the media exposure is.

ASO et al seem to be holding most of the cards, but even if they win,
it will end up in an awful mess. The UCI has itself to blame for this
by not consulting and getting total agreement from the organisers
right at the start [insert Chung quote here].

Jeff

Jeff Jones said:

ilan said:

If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO. Who cares what
the average speed is?

It might take a year before all the unknown riders become knowns, but
it won't affect the Tour as badly as it will affect the UCI.

Exactly right

And the Elites won't sit idly by and watch the Wannabees lining up for
the Tour; they'll be clamouring for a spot on the startline, with or
without McBoggy.

The UCI needs the Organizers and the Riders. Neither the Riders nor
the Organizers need the UCI

I was gonna expound at length on the UCI-Pro Tour theme, but
unfortunately am far too busy these days with too many irons in the
fire.

But all in all, the riders, except as a collateral prime, are not
interested in winning the Pro Tour

However they are terribly interested in Winning 'Pro Tour' (sic) races

And so if it comes to a real pissing match, McBoggy's gonna get
longcocked and he'll be heading back to the Emerald Isle scratching
his head and wondering what kind of idiot he was to let Verbruggen rig
the election for him on his promise to nurture Verbruggen's
moribund [censored].

Ponder the old adage, McBoggy: "A fool and his Heritage are soon
Parted"

--
Le vent à Dos
Davey Crockett [No 4Q to reply]
The news CNN doesn't Show
http://azurservers.com:8080

Jeff Jones said:

ASO et al seem to be holding most of the cards, but even if they win,
it will end up in an awful mess. The UCI has itself to blame for this
by not consulting and getting total agreement from the organisers
right at the start [insert Chung quote here].

"This is not a well thought-out plan."

"Davey Crockett" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

P-N will go ahead. Listen to Uncle Davey.

But this may be the end of the UCI and their dictatorial
commandments.

But it might even be not the end, but the beginning of the end, of
Cycling as a major international sport

If I were you Davey I wouldn't bet any money on this. What I expect to
happen is that the promoters will force the present moronic UCI
administration out.

Just look at the mess - SURE we want control on drugs. And cycling has done
more than other sports up front. But what the blithering idiots at the UCI
are doing is destroying cycling from the inside.

Explain how anyone could justify the treatment of the riders under Operation
Puerto. Apparently under the UCI all it takes to disqualify a rider is a
rumor. And the release of the information on Floyd before he was even made
aware of it himself! That's so far out of whack that the very act should
have disqualified the evidence since everything seems to be an open book
that can be tampered with by any number of people.

Pound should have been fired the very first time he opened his mouth
inappropriately.

There is going to be professional bicycle racing so it is the management of
it that is in question and little else.

Jeff Jones said:

On Feb 23, 1:56 pm, Dan Gregory

Quoted message said:

Jeff Jones said:

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO.

Quoted message said:

Teams just like Unibet were trying until this year?
They don't want Jeremy to win stages :-((

I think Unibet was a convenient political playing piece for ASO,
because of the legal situation in France. That helped bring all this
to a head. But teams and sponsors like Tinkoff will quite happily
benefit. And how long would the big name riders stay with the UCI's
race calendar if they were deprived of the chance of riding the Tour?
I would estimate as long as their existing contracts ran for, if that.
The smaller teams wouldn't remain smaller for very long, and the
sponsorship would follow where the media exposure is.

ASO et al seem to be holding most of the cards, but even if they win,
it will end up in an awful mess. The UCI has itself to blame for this
by not consulting and getting total agreement from the organisers
right at the start [insert Chung quote here].

Jeff

I dislike how the UCI operates, e.g., its arbitrary cancellation of
the Olympic kilometer ITT,
but it is better than ASO, because it has a minimal level of
democratic authority, while
ASO is just a business, and if it wins in this case, it will have no
one to answer to. Already,
ASO is trying to decide legal issues by saying that Pereiro won the
2006 Tour (and
implying that Armstrong didn't deserve any of his victories because of
doping), so giving
ASO a free rein will be a big step backwards to the days of tyrant
organisers and slave athletes (e.g.,
Eddy Merckx was not able to make enough money to retire, which is why
he went into the bicycle
frame business, compare this with his son Axel who has probably earned
more money from racing than his father ever
did, even taking inflation into account).

I believe that the current mess cycling is in, that is, Landis,
Operation Puerto leading nowhere, ASO vs. UCI, is
due to an increasing awareness of legal rights, which leads to serious
challenges to the long tradition of
slave athletes and tyrant organisers. Hopefully, this will result in
better conditions for the riders, which is something that
all fans support. One thing is clear, ASO and the other Tour
organisers are definitely not on the
side of the riders, so they are most in the wrong.

-ilan

benjo maso said:

They could invite women riders. That was the trick the organizers of the
Giro did in 1924 when all the important men's teams refused to participate.
It worked: there was a lot of extra publicity ...

You must be channeling Sierraman.

Bob Schwartz

ilan said:

I dislike how the UCI operates, e.g., its arbitrary cancellation of
the Olympic kilometer ITT,
but it is better than ASO, because it has a minimal level of
democratic authority, while
ASO is just a business, and if it wins in this case, it will have no
one to answer to.

I agree. It's not good, whichever way you look at it. Each side has
some big problems, and if a solution isn't reached (I think some sort
of compromise will happen before P-N, but it will favour ASO) then an
enormous mess will result. An even bigger mess than the existing one.

Jeff

Jeff Jones said:

ilan said:

If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

They could invite anyone. Of course, they want the big teams and
riders, but smaller non-ProTour teams would jump at the chance to race
the Tour and it would still be quite watchable, IMO. Who cares what
the average speed is?

It might take a year before all the unknown riders become knowns, but
it won't affect the Tour as badly as it will affect the UCI.

Jeff

Agreed Jeff.
I'd really savor it for that matter. It would be wide open racing,
and a big [censored] for the UCI. Makes me happy.
Bill C

Jeff Jones said:

ilan said:

I dislike how the UCI operates, e.g., its arbitrary cancellation of
the Olympic kilometer ITT,
but it is better than ASO, because it has a minimal level of
democratic authority, while
ASO is just a business, and if it wins in this case, it will have no
one to answer to.

I agree. It's not good, whichever way you look at it. Each side has
some big problems, and if a solution isn't reached (I think some sort
of compromise will happen before P-N, but it will favour ASO) then an
enormous mess will result. An even bigger mess than the existing one.

Jeff

I think it's going to have to crash hard, and the UCI realise that
they can't dictate from on high. When that turmoil is happening,
hopefully the riders realise that NONE of this happens without them
and form a real union and become full partners in the sport.
Bill C

"Davey Crockett" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tom Kunich' cyclintom@yahoo. com said:

If I were you Davey I wouldn't bet any money on this. What I expect to
happen is that the promoters will force the present moronic UCI
administration out.

Hmmm; Yes, if I built a castle, fixed it up real good, looked after it
over the years, made it into a world famous place, a credit to the
nation, I sure as Hell wouldn't let some Jumped Up Nobody from the Bogs
of Wherever tell me who I could invite for Dinner.........

I think that we're in agreement. The question is - will the UCI change or
will they go down?

ilan said:

If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

I think I can get enough guys from my team of masters fatties to go.
Some are in pretty good shape right now.
--
JT
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On Feb 24, 12:41 am, John Forrest Tomlinson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

ilan said:

If the Pro Tour teams do boycott, maybe ASO will invite the Iranian
and Doha teams that they invited to their Tour of Qatar.

I think I can get enough guys from my team of masters fatties to go.
Some are in pretty good shape right now.
--
JT
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