Okay, so WHY did Cofidis and Astana get the boot?

[RonSonic]

It was explained that Rabobank was not kicked out of le Tour because there was
no failed test, that Cofidis and Astana had riders test positive so they were
booted.

So what's with T-Mobile who had a rider test positive and the rest of the team
still rides, however poorly?

Or is this all Calvinball?

Ron

 

[Cycle Carl]

"RonSonic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> It was explained that Rabobank was not kicked out of le Tour because there
> was
> no failed test, that Cofidis and Astana had riders test positive so they
> were
> booted.
>
> So what's with T-Mobile who had a rider test positive and the rest of the
> team
> still rides, however poorly?
>
> Or is this all Calvinball?
>
> Ron

Sinkewitz crashed out of the tour. He was not "kicked out" because of his
non-negative result, which was from an out-of-competition test prior to the
Tour. Apparently this is the difference.

Whether ASO is involved in Calvinball or not depends, I suppose, on whether
the rules, however obtuse, are constant or changing.

-C

 

[jyh]

In article <[email protected]>,
RonSonic <[email protected]> wrote:

> It was explained that Rabobank was not kicked out of le Tour because there was
> no failed test, that Cofidis and Astana had riders test positive so they were
> booted.

I have not read anything that would imply that Cofidis was kicked out of
the Tour, or even that is was pressured to leave. Officially, Astana
was not kicked out: They accepted the organizers' invitation to leave
the Tour. I don't think that ASO can actually kick a team out of
the Tour once the race has started.

> So what's with T-Mobile who had a rider test positive and the rest of the team
> still rides, however poorly?

What we don't know is whether ASO also "invited" T-Mobile and Rabobank
to leave, and these teams declined the invitation. Anyway, I think that
a difference was made between a rider taking pills or applying a
T-patch, which can be done w/o anyone else knowing about it, and blood
doping, which necessitates involvement, or at the very least knowledge,
on the part of the team.

jyh.

 

[William Asher]

RonSonic wrote:

>
> It was explained that Rabobank was not kicked out of le Tour because
> there was no failed test, that Cofidis and Astana had riders test
> positive so they were booted.
>
> So what's with T-Mobile who had a rider test positive and the rest of
> the team still rides, however poorly?
>
> Or is this all Calvinball?

I would guess that for Astana, the team knew at least one other guy would
test positive for homologous blood doping and they couldn't risk that, so
when they were invited to leave they did. Cofidis reasoning maybe was
along the same lines when the Tour told them: "Your entire team will be
tested next, do you want to withdraw?"

T-Mobile and Rabobank may have thought the rest of the team was clean and
it was only one guy on his own.

--
Bill Asher

 

[Tuschinski]

On Jul 27, 7:45 pm, William Asher <[email protected]> wrote:
> RonSonic wrote:
>
> > It was explained that Rabobank was not kicked out of le Tour because
> > there was no failed test, that Cofidis and Astana had riders test
> > positive so they were booted.
>
> > So what's with T-Mobile who had a rider test positive and the rest of
> > the team still rides, however poorly?
>
> > Or is this all Calvinball?
>
> I would guess that for Astana, the team knew at least one other guy would
> test positive for homologous blood doping and they couldn't risk that, so
> when they were invited to leave they did. Cofidis reasoning maybe was
> along the same lines when the Tour told them: "Your entire team will be
> tested next, do you want to withdraw?"
>
> T-Mobile and Rabobank may have thought the rest of the team was clean and
> it was only one guy on his own.
>
> --
> Bill Asher

Astana: Agreed for those reasons (it seems rather organized and I
assume the bloodhounds were nipping at their heels to close for
comfort)

T-Mobile seems to have decided that it could better face the storm
headon, wich is a very good idea considering they have Stapleton, who
is very good at damage control. Also realize that then it was "just" a
rider who got caught out of competition. I have no doubt had it
happened AFTER the Vino incident it would had more fall-out.

Cofidis: I'm not so sure about team-organised cheating as the Moreni
acted naturally embarassed and his teammates naturally shocked. Also,
the hypocrisy was a bit too much after their grandstanding in the
riders protest.

Rabobank: They fired Rasmussen themselves... he hasn't been suspended
by the Uci, nor found guilty of cheating. There is simply no ground
for either Aso or Uci to penalize the team.