Nibali, Vino, Astana, CIRC

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This whole CIRC ( Cycling Independent Review Commission)  report that is being released tomorrow is going to be interesting.  It’s either going to rock the cycling world or just turn out to be more of the same old, same old.  I’m guessing the later, but hoping for the former.

I know it sounds weird that I’d want a report that casts a horrible shadow over the sport I love, but the whole doping thing has been dragging on for nearly two decades, and these guys just don’t get it.  Something needs to change.  I’m hoping there are a bunch of riders and support, of professional teams, shaking in their boots right now.

I went to the The Doug Report this morning and saw an article where it says Vincenzo Nibali said he thinks the whole Astana licensing deal is a political situation.  He said-“My opinion is that it’s all about politics. It’s not anything to do with the riders.” 

I was thinking about who screwed up that statement is.  His memory might be short, but 17 riders of his team, Astana, were said to be associated with Dr. Ferrari, Lance’s (and other’s) doctor, who is banned for the sport.  That doesn’t really seem like politics, it seems like the riders.

But then there is another article that says that La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests if Astana’s czar, Alexandre Vinokourov, steps down as general manager, then they might be able to keep their Pro Tour status.  If that is the case, then Vincenzo is absolutely correct.  Strange.

I did a post a couple weeks ago about this whole thing and said that I thought that money would prevail and Astana would keep their Pro Tour license.  I didn’t really see this twist, since Vino and Astana seem to be synonymous.  I don’t think that Vino is going to step down.  He is too defiant in normal life.

Anyway, there are a lot of things going on behind closed doors in our sport.  We’ll see if the CIRC report is another dud or if it is truly an in-depth investigation into the a very ugly aspect of our sport.  Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

 

We'll see if this guy is all talk.

We’ll see if this guy is all talk.

 

7 thoughts on “Nibali, Vino, Astana, CIRC

  1. JKM

    Well I just do not know enough about the current situation to really comment other than my general dislike and untrust of the UCI and all of it’s political stooges

    But in the town I call home there are so many kids, I mean young kids who are serious about road cycling.. All this continuing bullshit around this pro sport is really quite stupid.. Just appears a big merry go round and a very bad example of the pro road group.

    Kind of makes America’s stick and ball sports seem all ok. Least Roger Goodell has taken a zero tolerence on domestic violence in the NFL.. Can the UCI stooges make any headway, any?

    I will go back to my hands on experiences racing MTB bikes in Europe on the world cup and world championship platforms. The UCI, and most if not all of them are crooks, just white coat pompus assholes. Every time I was around a UCI notable or official their behavior is their shit don’t stink! Didn’t appear they were in it for the sport,, just the power and $$$$$$$ .

    Like Ive said before how wonderful it would be if the USA hit them where it hurt, pull the plug on network coverage.. NBCSN should refuse to air any of the tours until someone can make any change to this screwed up sport at the pro level.

    JKM

     
  2. Voice of Reason

    Och can shed some light on this if he testified, why do you rant about all the other doping programs except BMC? Their management has a lot swirling around them too. Hell, there’s testimony

     
  3. donkybhoy

    This so called ‘independent’ report is anything but. UCI lawyers went through it to take out anything litigous FFS. How can that be independent?

    Another whitewash. Pro sport really is WWE.

     
  4. Velo Derailléur

    There’s no solution to this. Except maybe having two separate classes of cyclists competing in the same races side by side. Naturally aspirated and supercharged. Look at the motorsport such as rally for example. Cars with different size engines compete in same events. This will not kill cheating but might just ease up things a little. If a cyclist tests positive in a race he (or she) will be automatically moved to the supercharged class for the remainder of their careers with no way of going back. Which class will end up being the most popular and get all the money will be decided by the viewers i.e. all of us who hasn’t anything better to do than wasting our time on this planet watching bike races and loving the sport. Speed is addictive and thus once dscovered it will stay with us in one way or another. Legal or not.

     
  5. Sean YD

    If you are in the Central Time Zone Steve, you won’t have to wait past 7 p.m. The embargo is for 1 a.m. Central European Time. Start hitting “refresh” on your browser…

     
  6. Skippy

    Not only is the report available , BUT , there are the Usual conspiracy theories rampant , already !

    Here are a few of the Tweets :

    Stefan vd Weijde ‏@scvdw
    @mattslaterbbc @irishpeloton 39, but who’s counting. Should’ve been 390, if main conlusion of the report (“culture still exists”) is correct

    Cillian Kelly ‏@irishpeloton
    The CIRC only interviewed one current rider during their investigation. Shows where the priorities lay. It’s really administrative stuff.

    Sticky Bottle ‏@sticky_bottle
    Eddie Dunbar at it again with another top ride on UK pro scene http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/eddie-dunbar-at-it-again-with-another-top-ride-on-uk-pro-scene/

    Matt Slater ‏@mattslaterbbc
    Tygart: “Report confirms greed, power & profit – not truth – motivated UCI leaders & allowed EPO & blood doping era to ride rampant”

    propulse ‏@propulse
    RT @veloclinic: skinny is not the hard part, it’s skinny and maintaining power for 3 weeks that doesn’t make sense.

    skippy mc carthy ‏@skippydetour
    @propulse @veloclinic SKINNY racers carry less baggage over Cols @ high speed BUT have no margin! Les feed in RACES?

    propulse retweeted
    Cyclisme Spandelles ‏@spandelles 1h1 hour ago
    “One respected cycling professional felt that even today, 90% of the peloton was doping…” #CIRC

    propulse retweeted
    Andreas Schulz ‏@euroschulle
    Beste Zusammenfassung zum #CIRC-Rapport, die ich bisher gelesen habe – von @JeuneGuillou für @LeMondefr_Sport #Doping http://mobile.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2015/03/09/dopage-ferrari-et-fuentes-toujours-actifs-dans-le-peloton_4589607_3242.html

    propulse ‏@propulse
    The Guardian: ‘Middle-aged businessmen are winning amateur races on EPO’ http://gu.com/p/46e6q/stw

    SKINS Chairman retweeted
    Jeremy Whittle ‏@jeremycwhittle 1h1 hour ago
    CIRC: it’s compromised, unsatisfying and begs too many questions, but at least they have delivered it: HeinPat would never have done this.

    Dave/Dim ‏@dimspace
    @veloclinic @TheRaceRadio @ulif but they may well be falling prey to the cheap chinese knockoff

    mike ‏@veloclinic
    @dimspace @TheRaceRadio @ulif in circles were there is not testing GW1516 can be relabeled as AICAR and sold for a bit of a premium

    mike ‏@veloclinic
    @dimspace @TheRaceRadio @ulif still low cost but has an active substances

    Uli Fluhme ‏@ulif
    @veloclinic @dimspace @TheRaceRadio so what’s the reason for all the impossibly skinny guys in the last few years, even amateurs?

    mike ‏@veloclinic
    @ulif @dimspace @TheRaceRadio skinny is not the hard part, it’s skinny and maintaining power for 3 weeks that doesn’t make sense

    propulse ‏@propulse
    RT @veloclinic: skinny is not the hard part, it’s skinny and maintaining power for 3 weeks that doesn’t make sense.

    skippy mc carthy ‏@skippydetour
    @propulse @veloclinic SKINNY racers carry less baggage over Cols @ high speed BUT have no margin! Les feed in RACES? pic.twitter.com/cNztRASOs7
    View photo
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    AMAZINGLY , the report has revealed the extent of the AMATEUR Doping , of which YOU were already aware !

     

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