I really haven’t. I never liked him much before he was popped for transfusing blood, but liked him much less afterwards. He never seemed to be the least bit remorseful, which somehow makes it worse. I surely wasn’t that happy about him winning the Olympic Games this year.
I wrote an article last year about Vino buying Liege from Alexander Kolobnev for 100,000 Euros. I thought that was done. But, I guess those two guys, Vino and Alexander got caught up in the Padua investigation and the UCI has decided to investigate the whole thing now. Here is a link to the article.
In my original post, link above, I say I didn’t really have that much issue with those riders exchanging money after the race. What I don’t like about the new article is that it says that both Vino and Kolobnev are/were clients of Dr. Ferrari.
My read on this, if it is true, is that if those guys were clients of Dr. Ferrari then they both need to be removed from the sport. Vino forever, since this would be his second “issue”.
I hate it all. It is much easier to hate the guys you don’t like already and feel sorry for the guys you like. But, when it comes down to it, there isn’t much difference between all of them. They took drugs to win major races, maybe including the Olympic Games.
Maybe we’ll have a Columbian winner of the Olympic Road Race when this is all done and over. And a new team guy in charge of the Astana Team too.
I never much liked this look when Vino made his return from his suspension. Him wearing a jersey with his picture on it? Strange.
AV was a doper, no doubt. However from stories I’ve read of his training regime in the Communist country where he grew up is indeed impressive. Would have likely killed or broken most domestic cyclists.
My wife is from former communist Romania. and was involved in the athletic system as a child much in the same way as AV. The drive to win at all costs is indoctrinated in those athletes from the get go when they’re like 6 years old. Those who grew up under that onerous system look at things differently than us back here in the west.
Not defending his decision to dope but just saying the mindset to succeed when from there is extremely strong and not easily broken>
Personally as a former competitive cyclist myself, I like the guy despite the doping. Like him WAAAY better than LA, who was a bully and lout from the beginning.
LeMond rules all though. Always has and will.
That jersey is gonna give me nightmares…. just possibly the nuttiest kit I’ve seen in my life.
Vino is kinda of the Eastern Bloc answer to Lance, No?
I agree with Koldos. It is hard to draw comparasions between Eastern Bloc athletes and the rest of the world. To say they are brainwashed from an early age is factually correct. Has always been hard to warm up to these athletes given the long and bitter rivalry between East and West. But, Vino needs to be held accountable for his actions none the less.
Say what you want about Vino but the guy has some serious guts.
When he puts his numbers on he races. Period.
/Lance Armstrong
I think the 2012 winner of the Olympic road race may have some issues though. Going against a veteran at the end of a long race is NOT an enviable situation. Still, that was hard to believe.
He was part of the Sky A-Team with a bunch of those riders going way, way outside their historical norms for a 2012 beat down the likes of which we haven’t seen since USPS. But, it’s important to recognize that this time if the Sky 2012 scandal ever breaks, it won’t be quite like the USPS scandal.
Maybe the Colombian has talent that has shown itself with less doping? I’m not being sarcastic. He might be good with less doping.
Snobbie’s critique of Vino’s kit as a David Lee Roth redux:
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2010/09/secret-to-success-crawling-before-you.html
Vino is tough to root for…but nobody has had a tougher ride. Sure it sucks to watch him win with the same old tricks….but man…wow
http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2010/07/quiet-goombah.html
I’m stopped being a Lance fan in 2007. I knew he doped as early as 2004 when I started cycling (I was told the situation by those I started hanging out with when I started riding).
I however I loved Vinokourov & his aggressive attacks. He made big PRO races fun to watch. Its sad to see this 100,000 euro payment for LBL, but the thing is you cant pay off 30 people, so he had to have the legs (and the red cells) to get a podium in my humble opinion.
What’s most sad though is this whole deal with the Rus Velo team working with Ferrari. So sad that these mid level pros/amateurs have to dope with an expert drug doctor just to compete. I mean seriously, I can ride at their level with a bad knee and like negative perfomance enhancers.
How do cycling fans or enthusiasts of any sport come to like or dislike a particular competitor of whom they have zero personal knowledge? Every time Michael Rasmussen’s name comes up there’s a chorus of negativity. How many people have actually talked to the guy? It might be a little easier to generate some hate for a baseball player, who operates both at bat and in the field pretty much by himself and tends to display aspects of his personality during the course of a game. How’s that work with cyclists? They’re usually cruising down the road elbow to elbow with almost 200 other riders, except for the odd sprint or breakaway. How does that give anyone any legitimate reason for feeling one way or another about them?
Interesting – do you have a link? I tried to do a quick google search for RusVelo+Ferrari, but cant seem to find anything…
Liana (wife) displays the effects of being raised in that system not only in her former athletic endeavors but in everyday life as well. The push by her coaches to succeed at all costs (dancer/gymnast) engrained that in her 6 year old brain.
Couple that with the deprivation of growing up where you only get to watch Bambi in 10 minute segments and only on Saturdays because the rest of the time all the TV programming is allotted to how wonderful your president is and how the common good is the best way, you either get someone who lays down and accepts the reality as it exists or breaks out and strives to succeed, just not necessarily at all costs.
As a former road cat 1 with aspirations in the early 80’s to early 90’s (shared the road behind ST many times), there were many temptations to “try a little something” for a special event. Never did so but then again I was raised on a dairy farm in the UP of Michigan, not in my grandparents former communist type heritage in Hungary.
I never had the pleasure of meeting AV but indeed thoroughly enjoyed his attacks and balls up moves. Going out Olympic champion.. I cheered at the TV.
What I’m gathering from a lot of the comments is that a lot of you are willing to overlook/forgive someone for “cheating” as long as they make a race exciting/entertaining to watch.??? Regardless of where/how the guy was raised, he knew the rules and willingly broke them just like the rest of the dopers. I loved watching him race as much as anyone but the fact remains that his victories were no more legitimate that Lance’s. As far as the whole Liege thing, well that’s just pathetic!
So nobody thinks he bought the Olympic gold too? Just watch the finish.