Pro Cycling (inc Tour de France) 2008

**Bluebeard** · 10/10/2008, 8:49 AM

Originally Posted by Macy

Brutal week for cycling? Another positive week for cycling I thought.

Plenty of positives this week in cycling

.

In real terms, I think, for all the huffing of Bach at the Olympics (lets have a gawk at athletics while we're at it, by the way), I think that the fact that these gobsh!tes are getting caught is probably good news. It looks bad now, but five years ago, they wouldn't be causght, they would go back the following year with new and improved contracts, and anyone clean would be either looking at a year as a domestique to a doper, a year in the lower ranks, or the very real option of having to dope to keep up. This mass cull (in fairness, just two people positive this week, last time I looked) has the effect of upping the clean riders status, removing some of the cheats and creating a major disincentive to cheating. Cycling is probably the cleanest it has been in my lifetime, BECAUSE people are getting caught. I look forward to people winning well one day and getting dropped the next, rather than the other way around, ala Landis.

**Dodge** · 10/10/2008, 8:54 AM

I know lads, I know. But when sponsors are pulling out and German TV is pulling coverage of le tour, things are bad.

Long term, maybe, but every case is damaging.

Funny to see Ricco fail twice more (making it four in total). Even if the two caught were suspicious, its still horrible.

**Macy** · 10/10/2008, 10:41 AM

To be honest the manner of Ricco, Piepoli & Schumacher's victories were suspect at the time. Interesting the reports about the rest of the Gerolsteiner celebrating during the tour when the CERA test was announced, and how they noticed Schumacher wasn't joining in. Great if true that cyclists are now celebrating testing improvements as opposed to the protests of the past.

If the blood transfusion tests that they're supposedly starting on next show up more names, and big names, then it'll be damaging. Interestingly they seem to be hinting at big names who's values went back to normal but who didn't perform in the race.

If they do the CERA test in athletics I'd say yer man Bach will have serious egg on his face for targetting cycling. Do field sports even test for these epo products and blood transfusions?

**Dodge** · 10/10/2008, 10:47 AM

Athletes being tested now anyway...

We all know Schumacher's had his problems before, and Piepoli was sacked for having a similar reaction to Ricco's test. (i.e "****!!!!") Nice to hear the gerolsteiner team celebrating when they heard about the positive test though. Gives hope that most are clean.

The rumours about 7-10 more postives to be announced are worrying.

And we should just thank god that Sastre (Mr Clean) won le Tour. His riding style has never shown the boom and bust signs of cheating. Just always rides solid, and always in top 10. Apparently Cervelo started the new team to distance themself from Riis and CSC. A good sign for Sastre (and Phil Deignan)

**Macy** · 10/10/2008, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by Dodge

Nice to hear the gerolsteiner team celebrating when they heard about the positive test though.

It wasn't even the positive test they were celebrating, just the fact there was a test for CERA!

**Dodge** · 10/10/2008, 11:16 AM

yeah, sorry, kinda skipped over the piece. For those not willing to trawl through cycling news, here's that bit

Sebastian Lang of Team Gerolsteiner said that the team had its suspicions of Stefan Schumacher during the Tour de France when they observed his reaction to news of the new CERA test.

"When it was announced that there was a new test for CERA, we were all happy. We sat on the bus and really celebrated," Lang told the Thueringer Allgemeine. "The whole team... except Stefan. He was suddenly very quiet and withdrawn."

Schumacher was "suddenly totally changed. So we other riders got together and discussed it. Finally we and the team management openly asked him whether there was something we should worry about." The response? "He just openly lied in our faces and said that everything was OK."

Lang was glad that his teammate was caught. "Cheats must be caught and punished. All of them. Even when it is another heavy blow for cycling."

**Bluebeard** · 10/10/2008, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Dodge

yeah, sorry, kinda skipped over the piece. For those not willing to trawl through cycling news, here's that bit

Good to read. Some distance from PDM being struck down with food poisoning from a "Liquid Lunch" and the peleton going on strike because of the Festina team being done for cheating.

(Yes I oversimplify, but the complexities would lead to the post being much further and not as punchy)

EDIT: Speaking fo PDM, former luminary Raul Alcala is he latest rumoured to be making a comeback on Cyclingnews.com (half way through the second feature). Apparently 44, he may be back with the new incarnation of Scott: American Beef.

**Macy** · 14/10/2008, 8:14 AM

Kohl also positive for CERA in the Tour. Another unbelievable performance turns out to be, well, unbelievable. Gerolsteiner now finished as a team - they won't race their final race.

In other news, Armstrong confirmed for the Giro. Could be an indicator Astana are going with Contador for the Tour.

**Dodge** · 14/10/2008, 9:08 AM

Watched an nterview with the guy behind the gerolsteiner team. Genuinely felt sorry for him as he bawled his eyes out at the cheats ruining his name.

Rock Racing is going to have some team in 2 years time...

**Bluebeard** · 15/10/2008, 8:05 AM

Holczer is the Gerolsteiner guy, and a really good egg. Moreso than CSC and T-mob / Colombia he really put a lot into getting the dopers out. I have huge sympathy for him. I think he used to be a Maths teacher before getting involved in cycle racing in his 40s, with no previous cycling career. I'd great sympathy for him failing to get a sponsor, but cycling in Germany has gone that way. I can see Milram vanishing too when that sponsorship deal comes to an end.

**robertob** · 16/10/2008, 10:43 AM

Yeah!!! Jan Ullrich want to come back! German newspapers wrote it today. Just a few things must be regulated and than could we have Ulle back on the saddle.

By the way: Ullrich was born in the same city like I was born and still live: Rostock!

**Bluebeard** · 16/10/2008, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by robertob

Yeah!!! Jan Ullrich want to come back! German newspapers wrote it today. Just a few things must be regulated and than could we have Ulle back on the saddle.

By the way: Ullrich was born in the same city like I was born and still live: Rostock!

Really? I thought that he had come out and said that there would be no come-back when Armstrong announced his. I liked Ullrich, and his retirement from the sport was not in an ideal fashion. He still maintains that he never doped, I presume?