Friday update
One mechanic's extremely unflattering point of view on Columbia's management and the state of wrenching in the ProTour peloton.
Spoiled selfish brat. Must be suffering severe anxiety at the thought of his personal gynecologist perhaps being discovered, eh?
New Toto.
Saxo Bank reportedly had Damsgaard analyze the blood profiles of several potential new recruits to their team, and some were summarily rejected for weird blood values. Apparently this extra post-season work by Damsgaard resulted in Riis giving him the now-infamous gift bike as compensation. Oh course, we will never know for sure who these untouchable riders were. I bet they were just hired by another team instead and are riding along happily. Tranquilo. Their secrets are safe with the UCI in charge of the elusive bio-passport....so far.
Ever get the feeling that looking for a shred of unbiased truth in this sport is simply pure folly?
Jaime Lissavetzky makes laughable claims about so-called progress in the anti-doping fight in Spain. Someone ought to remind this amnesiac about Spain's blatant stonewalling of the Puerto case.
A "softer Lance"? Yeah right, tell that to Simeoni or Bassons or Kimmage or Betsy Andreu or David Walsh.
So if Schumacher rejected the testing of his B sample, is that not akin to waving a white flag? I am lost as to why a guy who strongly claims innocence would not want his B sample tested?
"Liggett is confident the new Armstrong will appeal to French fans, who have treated him with some disdain because of a lack of understanding." Good luck with that idea. A lack of understanding? Really? Could have fooled me. I always thought the French fans understood Armstrong perfectly well, and were simply informed enough to have a reasonable opinion. I am dreading Liggett's slobbering commentary this season. There is only one rider he wants to talk about.
Hopefully you will understand if I do not post as often these days. I find that I do not have much motivation because everything seems in doubt. Is Damsgaard for real, or just hiding Saxo Bank's reality behind fancy charts and graphs? Is the bio-passport of any use to remove dopers from actual races before they compete doped, or is it only a vague utopian panacea that has accomplished nothing at all except creating some flashy PR for the UCI fat cats? Why is Astarloa kicked out of Milram, then allowed to ride for Knauf? Why is Dekker kicked out of Rabobank, then allowed to ride for Silence-Lotto? Is there any real difference between David Millar and Ivan Basso? How can I stand watching Armstrong, Basso, and Landis ride merrily around California? Is there even a point to trying to figure any of this out, when many (most?) cycling fans do not care one way or the other, and some even publicly pine for the good old days of the entertaining, attacking dopers like Pantani. More syringes, more entertainment. Screw ethics. Ethics are for wimps. We just want to be entertained.
And a thought for today:
"Most of American life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the hell you went." --John Updike
20 comments:
seems like the recent wave of optimism got too real and had to be dealt with. the tide definitely has turned back to a see nothing, do nothing era.CFA keeps me from drowning in a sea of propaganda. bravo!
Liggett's comments are the worst kind of xenophobia - he's had no credibility since he sold out to Armstrong and his cronies years ago.
A translation of a Kloeden comment described the Damsgaard programme as a 'doping control programme' - an unwitting truth. These programmes exist to stop riders getting caught and there's no fundamental difference between Damsgaard and the Festina doping programme that was medically supervised. Only AFDL seem concerned about actually cleaning up what they can and they're
stymied by the UCI and its puppet leader. Useless C**ts Incorporated, more like. The sooner Verdruggen is out of the picture, the better.
Apologies for the rant, but I share your pain. Think I'll give this season a miss - at least until we have total transparency and those blood values online. Until then it's all smoke and mirrors and more of the sham that is the 'Myth'
Ah yes the dramatic “Think I'll give this season a miss - bla bla bla”
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard this, so please do me a favor and keep your word. Obsession clouds vision.
I’m continually amazed by the repetitive vitriol spewed towards one man, in forum after forum by the same group of folks. Your agenda is showing and killing this niche sport claimed as your own. There has never been a fair debate of views, it’s an ugly, crass, dung throwing, name calling, cynical way of viewing life and in turn sport.
Isn't it funny how propaganda works both ways.
You know, on second thoughts, I'll be damned if I'll stop watching the sport I love because of one man's mid life crisis. Thanks for making me realise that I need to keep engaging with the important debate about the future of the sport. GP de Marseilles tomorrow - ever heard of that race Gitane, or do you only follow one rider not the sport? Because if those small races in the heartland of the sport start to fold - and enough of them have - then there will be no sport. And they fold precisely because the sport keeps getting dragged back to the bad old days and sponsors walk away. They fold because, yet again, only 1 race really matters. And that's what's detrimental to the sport as a whole - not a sizeable proportion of knowledgeable fans who think the sport is Armstrong uber alles.
no bianchigirl, it's "fans" like you who are killing the sport. You claim to own the sport, yet you keep on rolling in the doping mud, accusing people based on rumors etc., even using childish name calling.
Please do us all a favor and give this season a miss, then we can concentrate on cycling instead of doping.
who don't think the sport is Armstrong uber alles.
This is comical....ignoring doping is the solution? What level of cheating are you willing to accept before you complain? Are motors attached the bike OK?
Face it, this is about one rider who's fans believe in myths and miracles. It is questioning that myth that they hate, they could care less about the sport.
I do not think the mechanic's comment can be classified as an extremely unflattering point of view on Columbia's management." The entire entry of his is pretty vague actually, he laments unprofessionalism but does not give one concrete example.
I don't really have a problem with Nadal's comments. The proposed measures do seem invasive. However, he was one of the non-cyclists part of OP, wasn't he?
And regarding a softer Lance, do you honestly expect him just to take criticism that he is a doper from David Walsh without trying to defend himself? I know I wouldn't.
my .02:
http://saddlepundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/things-i-dont-care-about.html
please stop with the melodrama. why are so many people deluded into thinking that professional "sports" is anything other than entertainment?
big money begets many compromises. if you want "pure" cycling, do it yourself, and go support the local crits and crosses.
CFA blog writer guy,
keep your post going... it's a service to the sport and to the public to see the underbelly of pro biking... Your analysis is spot on and the anger which fuels your efforts finds a subjective clarity in your posts... I definitely agree that UCI et all seem to be moving to a damage limitation policy as a means of saving the sports economic value and future... the TdF is like WWF was in the 80s with a little more sweat and just as many needles... I was laughed at in the 90s when i came home from europe telling stories of being offered EPO while on the national team... it seemed incredulous to them and yet, as they were largely domestic riders and fans, they didn't have their feet in the trenches nor have a firm contextual grasp on the inherently rotten core of cycling culture in europe. You do and have done a great job showing the left hand what the right hand is doing.
Thank you.
anon 11:16
who is talking about ignoring doping? how about paying attention to something other than doping to the exclusion of everything else though.
do I think that lance is full of it? quite possibly.
do I think that a lot of dopers in the peloton haven't been called on their BS? sure I do
does this mean that I will assume any time a rider has an extraordinary ride that doping absolutely has to be behind it? hell no.
I am grateful to CFA and others for pointing out the stories that a lot of the cycling media would like to ignore, but at the same time people's careers shouldn't be ruined by rumor and innuendo.
To velo_23:
This web page rocks! Please do not lose your motivation...more disillusioned fans need to read the truth....you are doing a great job, keep up the good work!
anon 12:18, I hope you're not implying there that Europeans dope & Americans don't - or at least, if they do, it's only because they've been seriously corrupted by the decadent old world?
Don't give up. The truth needs someone who is a fan, and does not take the Ligget view of a perfect world full of perfect people.
The manner in which the sport is being 'stolen' from the fans, needs someone with your informed perspective. Don't listen to those who prefere or want to live in their own dream world. Tell it as it really is.
You have the support of many who wish for a better sport, rid of all those who feel they are able to cheat those who love the sport.
You are doing a great job.
Whose career has been ruined by rumor and innuendo?
I wish I could imply that... if it were true that decadent europa was the source of north american corruption, NA riders could successfully abdicate any moral or ethical responsibility for their actions and walk tall on whatever moral highground there was around to trundle over while pointing a crooked finger at the debauched european corrupters as the instigators of all their doping troubles... that said, if i thought on such terms, i don't think it would be rude to call me an idiot.
Great Updike quote, may he rest in peace.
I agree 100% with what you say. But I do think a large part of the cycling community is now making its peace with omerta. But it's satisfying to note that this strategy will eventually backfire--media and/or police will always get them eventually. Exposing hypocrisy makes great copy.
Keep on keeping on.
while you all ramble on selfishly, another cyclist dies, 2 cyclists dye, a Belgian and the Mountain Bike Champ of 10 years commits suicide and so I think of Pantani.
but go to amazon.fr and check out the french version of "it's not about the bike" then check out "LA confidential" ("From lance to landis") reviews at both amazon.fr and amazon.com and even amazon.co.uk. The favourable or nonfavourable seems to be a bit the same in any country, I think UK actually is most Lance friendly but it could be part of a net campaign as well, after all, most negative reviews of walsh's book at amazon.com seem a lot closer to the date the book first came out.
the reviews seem to show near equality on how fans guage the situation.
i think Lance, well, he's doing this because he craves attention and maybe wants to strike back at the rumours and it helps HIS charity some. Do it like Beckham or Favre, when you are still able to.
@anon 2/3 9:32
"Whose career has been ruined by rumor and innuendo?"
hard to say but just because a journalist writes a story insinuating doping doesn't make it fact and people need to be reminded of that.
you need to critically assess the info provided by journalists the same way you do a press release from a team or the UCI.
you want an example? how about the Le Soir story about CSC at the tour this past year? Obviously we know that there is strong evidence for Frank Schleck doping, but Sastre, Cancellera and O'Grady?
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