BAsso to sign for Disco 'this afternoon'

[wolfix]

Thanks.

And the factors mentioned by you, JH and CH must also come in to play also : CSC and Mobile and AG2R suspended Basso/Ullrich/Mancebo respectively.
Do you think that these teams will sit back and allow these guys to ride for other teams, after they're being suspected of doping and their being forced to suspend/fire them?

Not a chance.

This is a right royal ballsup.

This sport is in a very serious situation.

I'm not sure that the teams were forced to fire them except by their sponsors. What the teams may be concerned with now is the chance of a possible lawsuit by the riders for not allowing them to race. [If it was team sponsors that wanted them off the team.] But I have to ask ..... Did the race organization actually ban them?

"If" Basso is truly innocent, or the others, they may have a solid lawsuit against the teams for denying the riders without evidence.

And the teams do not want anyone looking real hard at their teams "if" systematic doping occurred with team approval. It seems to me that the riders and teams are getting along real fine. Riis even said that it would be hard for him to see Basso ride for another team. Both riders and teams want this to just go away.....

But you are right.......The sport is in trouble.

 

[whiteboytrash]

It is a right royal balls up... the police had footage of Botero entering Fuentes practice, not a smoking gun but upon raiding the practise they find 200 bags of blood, 400 vials of EPO, GH and testosterone. Yet Botero is riding again ? What’s the UCI stance on him ? nothing. Yet Jan Ullrich is linked by a hand written fax and a text message and will never ride again. Basso linked by a dog's name, a fax and a phone conversation has signed a €4 million deal with Discovery and probably in a better position than he ever was. Mancebo sent a text to Morueru apologising that he was caught up in blood doping yet his contract of €1 million a year salary must be honoured by AG2R and he will probably ride again. Landis tests positive for testosterone after one of the most amazing rides in the history of the Tour and claims that the UCI, the lab have cheated him and he is innocence. What a year ! I bet McQuaid could never imagined any of this occurring ! Problem is his complete lack of consistency in his approach to the riders. If Jan can’t ride then neither can Basso. If Jan can't ride nor can Mancebo, nor can Botero. Saiz ? Lets not even go there !

The UCI should of rounded up the federations got them all to agree on the procedures and then would have seen consistent approach to all the riders.

1998 the UCI should of forced all of the federations to implement French styled blood testing. Then they would of been able to test the parameters of all of the riders involved in Puerteo...but of course the UCI told us the issue was in hand back in 1999...... again I repeat that Armstrong donated money to purchase a blood machine for the UCI… why didn’t this catch the riders ? or maybe the donation didn’t by a blood machine ?

Thanks.

And the factors mentioned by you, JH and CH must also come in to play also : CSC and Mobile and AG2R suspended Basso/Ullrich/Mancebo respectively.
Do you think that these teams will sit back and allow these guys to ride for other teams, after they're being suspected of doping and their being forced to suspend/fire them?

Not a chance.

This is a right royal ballsup.

This sport is in a very serious situation.

 

[earth_dweller]

Agreed - the sport of pro cycling is in serious trouble and will go the way of pure entertainment (and laughing stock) such as wrestling if they are not careful.

Okay hindsight is easy and yes the UCI should have done something after Festina but they didn't. They royally f****d up Puerto, so what can they do now? Fire McQuaid and bring in a firebrand that will get the public/media on their side? Cosy up with WADA (beurk)?

 

[Tim Lamkin]

"If" Basso is truly innocent, or the others, they may have a solid lawsuit against the teams for denying the riders without evidence.

A part yet to surface, which will, with time.. be front page.

 

[TrekDedicated]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[wolfix]

I'm moving to Spain and declaring myself a cyclist. There is justice there..... Today I get a $89.00 ticket for improper registratation on my van. A simple mistake, but I am wrong.
Fuentes get caught with enough blood to make a "Rocky" movie, $60,000 that allegedly is drug money, and he has a black book of names that is bigger then jhuskeys black book of "Hot Women in the Hills" book.
Fuentes is still working.

 

[jhuskey]

I'm moving to Spain and declaring myself a cyclist. There is justice there..... Today I get a $89.00 ticket for improper registratation on my van. A simple mistake, but I am wrong.
Fuentes get caught with enough blood to make a "Rocky" movie, $60,000 that allegedly is drug money, and he has a black book of names that is bigger then jhuskeys black book of "Hot Women in the Hills" book.
Fuentes is still working.

Damn ,my secret is out.
#1 Dolly Parton- Millican Grove Rd. Sevierville Tn. (4*) Double D

 

[cheapie]

I missed something. I must have. Why would Basso ride in support of Tommy D?

you missed the tongue firmly planted in WBT's cheek. it's hard to see over the intarweb!

 

[guncha]

Maybe what cycling needs to do is this...... And do this on a united front. Suspend all ongoing investigations against riders/teams. Re-instate all suspended riders. Eliminate any punishment that involves doping up to this point.
Then on Jan1,2007 have new rules in place that really deals with doping.

Go outside of the sport to hire the doctors that run the teams. The team doctors are all from one organization that pays the doctors wages, not the team. The team has to pay into this organization.
The results of the doctor testing on every rider gets put into a data bank.
Then have a head doc who tests individual riders during every GT or stage race. This would be a overview on the organizations doctors and the riders.

It won't happen.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Riis speaks:

"Whatever ultimately happens in the Operation Puerto investigation, in the case of Ivan Basso, I myself have also lost," Riis told Italian press agency Ansa.

"I find myself without the best rider in the world, but I also risked seeing the team with which I've spent so many years disappear."

"In my opinion the Spanish investigation is still a long time from finishing and I'm really afraid that nothing will come of it," Riis said.

 

[guncha]

I'm reliably informed that no one mentioned in Puerto will be authorised to ride -
under the jurisdiction of the UCI.

What posters fail to notice here is that the sport and the governance of the sport is what is in play.
Basso/Ullrich/Mancebo etc can sign for whoever they wish : they won't be allowed to cycle under the auspices of the UCI.

The real story here is the power struggle between the UCI and the race organisers.

As a fan of cycling I want answers.

Who's blood been that? If documents were falsified- maybe there was no blood and other stuff at all? If there were plenty of doping attributes- why none is brought to justice? Will Basso ride while Jan won't ride- why there is no consistency?

It seems the game is very dirty and 5 or 6 years ago I stopped watching F1 because there was too many dirty scandals with involvement of M. Schumacher and FIA openly lobbied interests of certain sponsors. I have never watched F1 since then and it seems the same might happen with cycling if the situation won't be resolved. I won't cheer riders under suspicion.

I think cycling stands over the individuals because the champions replace each other while the races take place over and over again. Therefore it is disgusting that UCI places individuals outside the system and there is no consistency in various cases.

I am very disappointed by the actions of DC because they sign a rider that is still under suspicion and attitude of DS of DC towards DNA database is confusing and Lance stands behind that. Ironically that I started following cycling when Lance's era and I might stop following cycling because of the actions of his team.

LANCE SUCKS!!!

 

[jhuskey]

Thanks.

And the factors mentioned by you, JH and CH must also come in to play also : CSC and Mobile and AG2R suspended Basso/Ullrich/Mancebo respectively.
Do you think that these teams will sit back and allow these guys to ride for other teams, after they're being suspected of doping and their being forced to suspend/fire them?

Not a chance.

This is a right royal ballsup.

This sport is in a very serious situation.

Lim,looks as though you are 2 posts away from the big 10,000. Do we need to retire your avatar or something?

 

[whiteboytrash]

El Pais's sporting headline this morning was: "Discovery defies ethical code of the ProTour and signs Ivan Basso"- The tide has turned in Spain obviously not in the US. Do you think Hilary Clinton could introduce better anti-doping laws ?

As a fan of cycling I want answers.

Who's blood been that? If documents were falsified- maybe there was no blood and other stuff at all? If there were plenty of doping attributes- why none is brought to justice? Will Basso ride while Jan won't ride- why there is no consistency?

It seems the game is very dirty and 5 or 6 years ago I stopped watching F1 because there was too many dirty scandals with involvement of M. Schumacher and FIA openly lobbied interests of certain sponsors. I have never watched F1 since then and it seems the same might happen with cycling if the situation won't be resolved. I won't cheer riders under suspicion.

I think cycling stands over the individuals because the champions replace each other while the races take place over and over again. Therefore it is disgusting that UCI places individuals outside the system and there is no consistency in various cases.

I am very disappointed by the actions of DC because they sign a rider that is still under suspicion and attitude of DS of DC towards DNA database is confusing and Lance stands behind that. Ironically that I started following cycling when Lance's era and I might stop following cycling because of the actions of his team.

LANCE SUCKS!!!

 

[jhuskey]

El Pais's sporting headline this morning was: "Discovery defies ethical code of the ProTour and signs Ivan Basso"- The tide has turned in Spain obviously not in the US. Do you think Hilary Clinton could introduce better anti-doping laws ?

A cyclist doping in the US is like running a stop sign. If you don't get caught nobody cares.
If you get caught still hardly anyone cares.

 

[whiteboytrash]

A cyclist doping in the US is like running a stop sign. If you don't get caught nobody cares.
If you get caught still hardly anyone cares.

Good point; for all our ranting and raving about blood doping etc. I couldn't honestly say I know anyone apart from on this forum who would know or even care about Puerto. The fact that Basso will be riding for DC is not a big deal. There is still going to be a million people on the side of the road in France this year regardless what he Spanish authorities find or don't find or what the UCI pretend to do.

 

[acpinto]

UCI days are over.

DC signed basso. UCI can´t have a fight with DC. USA market very important and it is sustained by that team. So no way, they gonna, without solid proof, forbid Basso of running.

And, of course, LA will demand his blood machine back.

They can live without the USA market but without the machine... no way.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Agreed and there is the "conflict of interest" point raising its ugly head again. The UCI responsible for developing the sport in the US now has the problem where there actions could hinder that development. They really should outsource this ethical doping business to an independent party.

I think the UCI gave Armstrong his blood machine back as a retirement present hence why it wasn't any use before Puerto !

UCI days are over.

DC signed basso. UCI can´t have a fight with DC. USA market very important and it is sustained by that team. So no way, they gonna, without solid proof, forbid Basso of running.

And, of course, LA will demand his blood machine back.

They can live without the USA market but without the machine... no way.

 

[Tim Lamkin]

The UCI responsible for developing the sport in the US now has the problem where there actions could hinder that development. They really should outsource this ethical doping business to an independent party

Man you are spot on.

 

[poulidor]

They really should outsource this ethical doping business to an independent party.

Maybe WADA would be this indepedent party?

 

[Serafino]

I still fail to understand the attitude of some in claiming that Basso, JU, et al., "have to prove their innocence". Where is any credible public evidence pointing to their guilt? Third party coded references to dog's and SMS messages? That's simply ludicrous.

The UCI and some of the teams are taking their playbooks on this issue from Stalin. All that's missing is a show trial and summary convicton/execution.

Unless the UCI and others prove their guilt the rider's involved should be given the benefit of the doubt. It seems to me that you have more rights if you actually fail a drug test vs. being the subject of rumour and conjeecture.

Seems to me that the UCI and Pro Tours teams are trying to deflect any attentions from themselves by focusing on a few sacrificial lambs.