Zabel next??????

[wolfix]

There was an article in cyclingnews that hinted at T-Mobile dropping cycling with an announcement the next few days....... Thsi quote is from the article......

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Aldag has been considering for several weeks whether he should make a complete confession about his past, and had allegedly considered whether his former room mate Erik Zabel should participate.

Is Zabel a doper? He has been my favorite rider ever since he broke into the ranks....... I would be unhappy if he was, but not surprised. I guess I always assumed he was, since like JU he was a East German. I think it is impossible for a rider to come from East Germany program and not be a doper. The East Germans were always on the forefront of *cheating......

* Before anyone posts that I have a dislike for East Germans, I will that is not true. I simply do not trust them in matters of this sort. I have strong family ties to the old East Germany so I am real familiar with the way my family members think.

I just hope Zabel is clean.

 

[Bro Deal]

I thought Zabel already said he tried EPO; but it did not help him., so he stopped. Aside from how believable that is, will he admit more than that?

 

[Jan the man]

I thought Zabel already said he tried EPO; but it did not help him., so he stopped. Aside from how believable that is, will he admit more than that?

I think it was D'Hondt who said that. ie Zabel tried it once didn't think it aided him/ and so stopped, I may be wrong however.

 

[davidbod]

It looks like T-Mobile is getting ready to implode. This may be the beginning of many teams imploding. Gerolstiener may be next.

 

[earth_dweller]

It does look that way and I do wonder if this will help the sport. Sponsors will disappear, so there will be even more pressure on the riders on the remaining teams to do well. This 'implosion' is not cleaning up the sport to me, where is the UCI/GT org/team plan on how to proceed? Nothing is there. So there will be a vaccum and the same people as before willk fill it and continue with an even stronger 'omerta' and use these events as proof that you should not talk.

 

[JohnO]

I thought Zabel already said he tried EPO; but it did not help him., so he stopped. Aside from how believable that is, will he admit more than that?

That sounds a little better than Basso's "I intended to dope, but didn't actually dope". So at least we're seeing some improvement, though they're still tyros at this, very much in the 'dog ate my IRMS test' school of explanations. Maybe, as a service to cycling, we could generate better excuses. I'll give it a try...

The hot podium girls got my T level artifically elevated.

I was kidnapped by space aliens that were conducting an experiment in human physiology.

That sort of thing is not my bag, baby. (one book - blood doping and me, this sort of thing is my bag, baby. By Tyler Hamilton)

My grandmother gave me cocaine laced brownies. (oops, that's already been used)

Everyone else does it, but I can't remember who everyone else is. (partially true)

I confessed last Sunday and said ten Hail Mary's. No need for a two year ban.

There are no virgins within 100 miles of me.

So what if I gave blood? I thought it was my civic duty. (oops, also already in use)

They won't let me hang on the team car any more. Have to do something.

'Roid rage is actually fun.

Doping is God's way of saying that there's too much money in pro cycling.

 

[Frigo's Luggage]

People make mistakes. I don't condemn these guys for trying a little EPO now and then. How many of us didn't smoke some pot in high school? I hope Zabel comes forward and breaks the omerta because it is the right thing to do and not because he is about to get caught. I never met the guy. However, I suspect that Zabel is one of the good guys in cycling and he sees that this whole situation in this sport is a real mess and can only be corrected by telling the truth. I hope T-Mobile and Gerlosteiner don't implude because I think they, along with CSC, Slipstream and the French, are the only ones serious about changing things. I don't care what Zabel, Riis or any of the others did 10 years ago. I don't really care if Floyd, Basso, Valverde, Armstrong, Pereiro etc are guilty.

All I want is for somebody to start telling the truth.

By the way, Basso's "attempted doping" story is not new. Lets not forget my namesake Dario Frigo and his suitcase full of experimental pharmacuticals that he was carrying around just in case he needed them. Of course, he never used any of the drugs.

 

[wolfix]

People make mistakes.

Doping is not a mistake. It is well thought out and deliberate.

I hope T-Mobile and Gerlosteiner don't implude because I think they, along with CSC, Slipstream and the French, are the only ones serious about changing things.

Of course they are serious...... They are the ones with the biggest stars caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They aren't doing this to clean up the sport. They are doing this to hang on to their sponsors.

I don't care what Zabel, Riis or any of the others did 10 years ago. I don't really care if Floyd, Basso, Valverde, Armstrong, Pereiro etc are guilty.

But these are the guys who are going on to make policy for the next generation of cycling organizations. This doping thing is nothing more then a bump in the road of a ongoing situation that hasn't changed one bit since before any of us were born. I know many of you claim that it is different, but that's because you want an excuse as to why LA won 7 TDF's. So what if the speeds have improved? All EPO did was make speeds faster and it is stil a level playing field. The T-M scandle at this moment proves that doping was available to everyone, and was expected.

The key to this whole thing is "How do we break it?" Does anyone honestly believe that doping is ever going away? Cycling has always been one of the dirtiest sports. Honesty was never part of cycling , from doping to making deals on the road. Read the history of the sport and it is filled with dishonesty.

Everyone seems to think cycling will continue to be as popular as we know it today. But fans are funny. Track/Field was bigger internationally then cycling ever was. Where is it today?

Why are the riders being punished???? I think Riis and LeFevere should have lifetime bans attached to them if Basso admits he used at CSC with Riis's consent. LeFevere??? What the ****...... He should be imprisoned for his past that we know is true. I would say the same thing about J Bruyneel if it is ever proven that LA used dope or Bruyneel has given consent to it.

 

[olo]

bölts just admitted to taking ped's from 1996 on, and schmid and heinrich admitted to giving drugs to those riders who were willing to take them.

 

[Frigo's Luggage]

I agree with just about everything you said. I agree that the only reason this is being cleaned up, if it is at all, is because the sponsors are running for the hills. I think Riis is very practical about this and recognizes that these guys getting caught are screwing with his business. However, if Basso was doing this with his knowledge, he should be banned for life.

I just don't think we should ban Riis or anybody else for something they did as a rider 10 years ago when doping was institutionalized. You are right that these guys are going to make the policy for the next generation. So, I'd rather have somebody like Riis, Aldag, Bolts, Zabel, etc. come out and say I did something wrong 10 years ago, it is a major problem and we have to start admitting what we've done before we can change things. Banning people who admit old sins while they were riders just perpetuates the omerta. However, I think lifetime bans for old offenses are appropriate for offenses by team officials, doctors, etc. In other words, any team official that has encouraged these kids to dope must be banned.

LeFevre and Bruyneel must go. This **** about them being cycling geniusses is insane...just juice the riders and they win alot of races. Whats worse is that they are pious hypocrites.

Doping is not a mistake. It is well thought out and deliberate.



Of course they are serious...... They are the ones with the biggest stars caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They aren't doing this to clean up the sport. They are doing this to hang on to their sponsors.




But these are the guys who are going on to make policy for the next generation of cycling organizations. This doping thing is nothing more then a bump in the road of a ongoing situation that hasn't changed one bit since before any of us were born. I know many of you claim that it is different, but that's because you want an excuse as to why LA won 7 TDF's. So what if the speeds have improved? All EPO did was make speeds faster and it is stil a level playing field. The T-M scandle at this moment proves that doping was available to everyone, and was expected.

The key to this whole thing is "How do we break it?" Does anyone honestly believe that doping is ever going away? Cycling has always been one of the dirtiest sports. Honesty was never part of cycling , from doping to making deals on the road. Read the history of the sport and it is filled with dishonesty.

Everyone seems to think cycling will continue to be as popular as we know it today. But fans are funny. Track/Field was bigger internationally then cycling ever was. Where is it today?

Why are the riders being punished???? I think Riis and LeFevere should have lifetime bans attached to them if Basso admits he used at CSC with Riis's consent. LeFevere??? What the ****...... He should be imprisoned for his past that we know is true. I would say the same thing about J Bruyneel if it is ever proven that LA used dope or Bruyneel has given consent to it.

 

[Ullefan]

Zabel won't admit anything. He always had a close friendship with Godefroot during his time at Telekom. Now it appears he's compromised and Godefroot knows this.

 

[Gregers]

Wolfix, you're dead right on every count bar one important one. If everyone is on drugs (and they probably are) it does not lead to a level playing field.
First year tyros will not have the financial resources to avail themselves of the quantity and quality of pharmaceutical products that the elite regularly abuse.
Some individuals will be more reckless in both the amount and the type of drugs that they use -escalation that is potentially very dangerous.
People respond differently to the same drugs. In the doping forum Ti Man spoke very convincingly about his experiences with regard to this. Predictably, he was denounced as a fraud by some of those deluded souls that insist that Texans don't cheat.
There are no circumstances in which drug usage is anything other than a corrosive cancer that morally corrupts the user and the very nature of sport itself.

 

[olo]

Zabel won't admit anything. He always had a close friendship with Godefroot during his time at Telekom. Now it appears he's compromised and Godefroot knows this.

seems like you were wrong.

 

[Ullefan]

seems like you were wrong.

Seems like I was wrong about alot of things in this sport. It's embarassing.