Disco/Active Bay excluded from IPCT meeting..

I think if you took a poll among cycling fans you would get results to show that 2006 was the worst TDf in the last 3 decades. Tell me...As of today [about 1/2 year later,] who is the offcial winner?

The part in my post about staging a race in Colorado was humour.

Ju will race the TDf again. he may not win the TDf but he will have a say in the outcome. He will ride for Riis. He will more motivated then he has ever been before. His fan base along with Basso's fan base will be overwhelming. Cycling fans will welcome both of them back with open arms. Meanwhile... all the people screaming for their heads by crying "We want justice" will be delegated to the coffee shops where they will sit with their latte in hand and whine about "the sad state of cycling."

 

Well the IPCT won't have many teams left. Euskatel should be excluded...

http://www.tas-cas.org/en/medias/frmmed.htm

It clearly says the verdict is not a declaration that Landaluze is innocent, so now the team has Galdeano as a new DS (allegedly linked with Fuentes) and Landaluze who is still under suspicion (I mean if a closed case does not mean anything to the IPCT in Basso's case this should be for all riders, as it is not about suspending prominent riders but the holy war against doping).

So that makes: Saunier Duval out, Caisse d'Epargne out, Lampre out, Euskatel out..... And if Quickstep defently signes Barredo they also will be out... Well there won't be much left..

 

Thepaceline links an article from the Houston chronicle on how Bruyneel really really wanted Basso, and didn't really care what Leipheimer thought:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4417166.html

"Noted Bruyneel: "For us it was great to add him [Leipheimer] to the team at that time. There aren't a lot of riders of his caliber that are available." But then, out of the blue, one of a higher caliber landed in Bruyneel's lap. Leipheimer's leadership role with Discovery didn't last until Thanksgiving, never mind the new year. When Team CSC decided to sever its ties to Ivan Basso because his name had been linked to the Operation Puerto drug scandal in Spain, Bruyneel couldn't hand the reigning Giro d'Italia champion a contract quickly enough. Bruyneel didn't think to consult Leipheimer first, either. "No, Johan wasn't candid. It was definitely a big surprise," Leipheimer said. "I hadn't expected it, especially because of all the (Operation Puerto) controversy." Bruyneel claims he didn't give Leipheimer a heads-up because, he said, "I didn't know it would happen until it happened." Asked how he thought Leipheimer would handle the changed team hierarchy, Bruyneel replied: "These guys are professionals. They're realistic. They know the difference between riders. From what I saw in the training camp, (Basso and Leipheimer) were fine with each other. "Levi is ambitious, and I think he is a smart rider. He can use (riding with Basso) to his advantage. There will be good opportunities for him. We've learned it's better to have more than one strong (rider).""

Ironically, this every article is then linked on THEPACELINE!

 

DC's main sponsors Discovery Channel and AMD are increasing their investment in cycling.

See new riders for AMD-DC Junior/Masters teams, and also the previously announced sponsorship by DC (and AMD, Trek, etc.) of the Marco Polo cycling team:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/am_teams/2007/amd_disco

Each cycling team should have sponsors like these, who have confidence in them.

 

Finally an official (Rogge) is talking sense:


http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?p=3122702&posted=1#post3122702

 

If this is in response to my saying that the evidence is there, then, once again, you are showing a remarkable degree of stupidity, even for you.

The exidence is there. 6 months worth of hidden camera evidence. 200-ish bags of blood, although some now disappearing. Programs written out for the athletes, like the one we all saw for Tyler Hamilton.

So, the evidence is there. The question is whether the authorities choose to use it or not. Most likely they will choose the latter because FIFA have too much power and don't want any dirt being spread about their profitable ball game.

 

You're right...
FIFA does have bigger balls

 

Well it's official. The IPCT decided NOT to exclude Disco. 8 teams wanted Disco to stay, 7 wanted Disco to leave. Not a surprise (not for me):
http://www.eurosport.de/radsport/protour/2006-2007/sport_sto1052505.shtml

 

I wonder if CSC voted in favor of kicking out DC. Logic would suggest that, given they would be aggrieved by the hiring of Basso by another team, but I wouldn't be so sure that Riis favored kickouting out DC in the vote. CSC wants to do well in the Classics, and DC might be in a position at some point to work with CSC in those races.

Helping DC could be: Caisse d'Epargne, Unibet, Astana; Liquigas (to preserve the possiblity of hiring JU)

 

CSC did not vote against Disco (I don't think so). CSC is negotiating with Scarponi and also with well just fill in...

 

Jan and Riss sitting in a tree,
Scarponi signed on will make it three.

Come July on the slopes of France,
We will now see Basso and Lance.

 

The dark side is always in live... poor cycling!
With a result of 8 against 7, the mess will continue, inside and outside.

 

Danish media reports the 7 teams voting against DSC were CSC, T-Mob, Gerolsteiner, and the 4 French teams.

 

So Discovery is the only "dark side" team?

 

Danish media?
Where is Riis from?

Anyway it is clear French cycling is doing a major power grab:
calling Landis in for their doping authoroties
excluding a protour team from a protour event Paris-Nice (unibet)
and now 4 French teams voting against Lance...er umm Disco

the problem is the french aRE HOLDING MOST OF THE CARDS,,, Paris Nice, Dauphine, the Tour, Paris Roubaix...only if all the teams rebelled and went instead to the Giro of the TOur of California or something...the TOur is in jeopardy, mark my words
pride goeth before a fall
meaning their heads are stuk sooo far up their arses that they could have a problem...

 

The TDF has been around too many years not to be able to bouce back..... however, it does seem the Giro is stealing some of the thunder the past 15 years.

Cycling itself is on some shaky footing at thee moment. If it wasn't for the past, I'm not sure I would be a fan with it's present situation..... I don't mean the doping, I mean the way it is being handled, the way the UCI and Protour is fighting, and the unfairness and the way the riders are being treated.
I am somewhat critical of JU with the way he has rode in the past, be he is getting the shaft.....
The Indurain years followed by the LA dominance has made a predictable TDF.....

 

No, but we saw by this vote that the dark side is back.
Exclude Discovery from IPCT has no effect for their participation on Pro Tour racing. It was symbolic.

To make a statement that Disco was reintegrated to save unity of pro teams it's a joke when you see the results of the vote !
They were more united before!

 

French teams voting against doping and dopers.
In France, advertises for bet, alcohol drink , tobacco, are illegal... so Unibet are illegal in France, they have to choose an other names ! They know that but they have done nothing !

Calling Landis is a regular case since he was found positive. No news here, it was expected.

You are a GW Bush !

 

I don't begrudge an effort by French authorities and its cycling principals to do what they can to restore or protect the Tour de France. I can understand and appreciate why they would be compelled to take steps just as they are doing. My caution to them would be that the choices they make now are going to have a lot more impact than anything that the teams and riders have done up to this point. If they are not careful, their actions will do all the more damage. Only time will tell if they have the ability to choose wisely.

 

CALA D'OR, Spain -- A warning from the Tour de France: Cyclists -- even such top riders as Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso -- could be expelled from this year's race without evidence from the Spanish doping investigation. Race director Christian Prudhomme said the investigation, in which 56 riders allegedly received performance-enhancing drugs at a Madrid clinic, most likely won't conclude by the July 7 start of this year's tour. "We reserve the right to take away riders' invitations -- their names won't mean a thing," Prudhomme said Saturday. "We are prepared if riders that are not permitted to race want to take legal action." "I wanted to send out this signal, I would have attended this presentation even if it had been held in Hong Kong, Paris or Berlin," Prudhomme added. The raid on the clinic took place last May. Ullrich and Basso were among those forced out of last year's Tour de France. Basso has since been signed by the Discovery Channel team, a move criticized throughout the sport. But none of the riders has been charged. The lead suspect, Spanish physician Eufemiano Fuentes, hasn't been indicted although he faces preliminary charges in Spain for crimes against public health. Prudhomme said any evidence against the riders from Operation Puerto probably can't be used until after this year's tour. "Cycling and the legal calendar don't fit together," Prudhomme said. "But there are facts emerging on an almost daily basis from the Fuentes case."

- What does Prudhomme know that we don't ? Facts ? Daily ?