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

How independent is Damsgaard?

Big questions are being raised in the Danish press about Rasmus Damsgaard and whether his new company, Radar, which provides anti-doping testing programs to teams such as Saxo Bank and Astana, can be relied upon to be unbiased, ethical, and trustworthy despite being paid directly by the teams. Previously Damsgaard was employed by Bispebjerg Hospital and was paid a salary by the hospital, and was never paid directly by the teams, which gave a greater sense of his independence from possible team influence. Now Damsgaard has gone out on his own by forming his separate personal anti-doping business, and he is paid directly by the teams. Berlingske Tidende has strongly criticized the credibility of Damsgaard's new business model, derisively calling his for-profit anti-doping programs "a fig leaf." They have also indignantly reported that Saxo Bank directly gave Damsgaard a team bike as a gift, and Damsgaard unfortunately accepted it, which they see as a breach of ethical integrity. Meanwhile Bispebjerg Hospital's head Bo Belhage has said that the hospital withdrew from its role in Damsgaard's anti-doping programs due in part to concern over recent issues involving Armstrong's return and Frank Schleck's Puerto links. Belhage questions Damsgaard's credibility, and has claimed that Armstrong is not being tested as part of Astana's Damsgaard-run anti-doping program, but rather is only being tested by Catlin. For further details, see the full translations of Berlingske Tidende articles available at Podium Cafe.

Saturday update

Must-read new article with Damsgaard as co-author: Strategies to combat doping in cycling. Via Science of Sport.

Interesting interview with Aldo Sassi: "The main solution to the doping problem is the mentality within the team. If the rider is in a team where the management is against [doping] then the athletes will be much less prone to indulge. However, if the management is only interested in winning, no matter what the means, then the problem will remain." While this view may seem rather self-evident, the more prominent people that say this and keep on saying it over and over, the better, because there are still sadly way too many teams who do not care one bit about taking active steps to promote an anti-doping culture within their ranks.

Bill Strickland riffs on the peanut butter Clif Bar recall, with funny results.

This is news?

Good news. Dr. Carlo Santuccione is now on trial in Rome for his role as architect of the huge Oil for Drugs doping network. Eighteen other people are also on trial in this case, including fellow doctor Simone Giustarini, and all are charged with violating anti-doping laws. Let's just hope that the outcome of the trial will not follow the Operacion Puerto trend.

Most ridiculous headline of the week.

DZ interviews are never boring. Keep an eye out for Sport Depends, coming to a store near you.

Floyd speaks. You know, when he claims that "I'm not out to prove anything to anybody," I just find it very hard to believe him. He has always seemed to me to have that stubborn edge to his personality, where he wants to emphatically prove his doubters wrong.

USA Track and Field takes hard aim at the dark side of the supplement industry: "Performance-enhancing drugs are threatening to choke the life out of the sport....and in many ways, the supplement industry has been assisting in braiding the noose." Never heard any cycling bigwigs say that, have we?

New legal challenge to whereabouts rules. Sounds scary if they win...

In an important ruling, CAS denies Rasmussen's appeal and confirms his two year ban. This is another example of the growing and encouraging trend of non-analytic positives resulting in lengthy bans, despite no actual positive test. Even those riders who used to happily spout the pathetic "never tested positive" mantra endlessly must now fully realize that the lack of a positive test is no protection from a ban and no proof of any degree of cleanliness. Consider the recent non-analytical positive cases of Rasmussen, Kayle Leogrande, Australian track cyclist Andrew Wyper, fellow Australian Mark Roland, Danilo DiLuca, Ivan Stevic, and many other Oil for Drugs cases. It is also an encouraging precedent that CAS has dismissed appeals of several of these bans.

New Toto: "Does everyone love cancer?"

Sergio at Ciclismo 2005 is not pleased with the myopic Lance-mania of the TDU, and complains that the Astana jersey just makes him think of Kessler, Vinokourov, Kashechkin, Gusev, and Mazzoleni. About the 2009 season, he laments, "Bienvenidos a un año de pesadilla." A nightmare year...

Not all Aussie journalists like pro cycling: "A drug festival on wheels..."

Lionel Birnie speaks his mind on the Second Coming's TDU opening chapter.

You really have to wonder what exactly is going on at AFLD with the slow prosecution of the Schumacher case. What the heck are they waiting for? Don't they realize the importance of this case and how their delay is making them look terribly unprofessional? Lefevere sounds enraged with the situation, and attacks Bordry angrily. I hate to say it, but I have started to be a little scared that Schumacher's test results may not be clear-cut enough to be ironclad or legally defensible as a definite positive, and maybe AFLD knows it and is delaying to avoid the big possible embarrassment of having their test result overturned somehow. Just imagine if Schumacher is cleared, and Lefevere is forced to honor his contract. That is a horrifying prospect which makes me curious whether there is anyone out there with enough inside info to get Schumacher convicted for a non-analytic positive, and who would actually be willing to come forward to testify. Do you think he and Kohl might have talked about it together in their room? Could Kohl rat on Schumacher and make all of Lefevere's problems disappear?

Been watching a bit of the TDU when I can, although I have to sort of squint and hit the mute button rather often to avoid the constant threat of all-Lance-all-the-time nausea syndrome. Since it is mainly a sprinters' race, I was hoping to see Garmin's Aussie sprinter Sutton win something, but no dice for that idea. And, miserable whiner that I am (according to a recent disgruntled emailer), you knew this was coming, so: I really do hate Quick Step with a passion and thus am not exactly cheering over the race's overall outcome. And I guess I really should just not mention that whole Allan Davis and Operacion Puerto thing.

Wednesday update

Graeme Brown weighs in on the TDU: "Astana aren't in Adelaide to lick stamps."

Things you won't read about on Twitter: Ronny Scholz says that Armstrong was booed at the TDU presentation. Guess all the reports of a total lovefest between Armstrong and the Australian fans may not be the whole story.

Sastre admits that he and the Schlecks are not best pals.

Blindness.

In a new book, Museeuw describes how easy it was for him to buy EPO.

Bettini has photos from the Tour de San Luis, showing off the new season's kits.

Three part interview with Vaughters (scroll down). Interesting comments about Danielson in there.

In the category of cycling on TV, A&E is said to be planning a follow-up series of shows on Chad Gerlach, who previously was featured on Intervention, and is making a comeback to cycling with Amore & Vita/McDonalds this season.

Joe Parkin: "I definitely learned how to work the guys that were doped to my advantage as much as possible."

Acqua & Sapone rider Stefano Cavallari gets 2 years for EPO. Meanwhile, CONI recommends 4 years for CSF's Matteo Priamo, and Sella's 1 year ban is being appealed to CAS as too short. Interesting to consider the discrepancy in punishment between Priamo and Sella. Who deserves a longer ban, the user or the supplier?

The CAS website states that "The CAS has also recently reactivated a case concerning the cyclist Alexandr Vinokourov. The UCI filed an appeal with the CAS in early 2008 requesting that the one-year ban imposed on Vinokourov by the Kazakstan Cycling Federation be increased to two years following a positive test for a homologous blood transfusion during the 2007 Tour de France. However, as Vinokourov had announced his intention to retire from the sport of cycling, the procedure was suspended. Shortly before Christmas, the UCI, having learned of the athlete’s intention to compete again, requested that the proceedings be resumed." CAS also has ruled on the Caruso and O'Neill cases, while the Rasmussen case has strangely still not been decided after a very long and unexplained delay.

Are cracks appearing in the UCI's pro-Armstrong stance?

Werner Franke says that internal controls are a big joke.

Rasmus Guldhammer was invited to join the Saxo Bank training camp as a young guest rider, and made his mark by taking third place in their informal climbing TT, beaten only by Frank Schleck and Chris Anker Sorenson.

Bonnie Ford on the Second Coming. Goes way too easy on the dark side, if you ask me. And why is Doug Ellis actually going out of his way to try to become friends with Armstrong? That is a bit scary.

Just about every cycling forum in the known universe has a thread about how ugly the Columbia kit is, and rumor has it that the jersey design was created by none other than Stapleton himself. Is that even possible?? If so, that is right up there in his list of dumb decisions, right along with his previous inexplicable attempt to hire Valv.Piti.

The revolving door in Spain keeps on turning. How much longer is this pathetic charade going to be allowed to drag on? By now, any semblance of justice is long past gone.

The long wait for the UCI to announce the bio-passport results seems destined to go on and on, with no explanation forthcoming. I can't help but wonder why, and the main possible reason that comes to mind is that the UCI is too scared of the collateral damage and has basically chickened out of naming the names. Maybe they think if they wait long enough, we'll all just forget about it. If they didn't dare to re-test the samples from the Giro for CERA, why would they want to publicly announce the potentially damaging bio-passport results? After all, who would want to cast the dark shadow of reality over the saintly glow of the cherished Second Coming? Or maybe the experts just can't make any sense whatsoever out of certain riders' blood value graphs that have bigger peaks and valleys than the Himalayas.

Tuesday update

Transparency, at USA Cycling? Is this supposed to be a sick joke? Please, please stop insulting our intelligence. USA Cycling's idea of transparency is about as backwards as Armstrong's. (Er, has anyone seen Catlin lately?) Just read this, and then tell me if USA Cycling will ever actually be interested in real transparency. The answer is no, regardless of what useless PR pablum pours forth from Steve Johnson's mouth.

New Toto: Katie Couric interviews Piepoli.

Rabobank clamps down, and the riders are restless. They should all send a thank you note to Michael "Don't forget the GPS" Rasmussen for their newly restrictive working conditions.

My feelings exactly.

An example of why Chipotle has to be among the cooler cycling sponsors ever.

"You don't want to be the guy who beats the guy who beats cancer. That would be awkward."

Versus schedule is updated.

The next CERA?

It seems something odd is going on in the Annalisa Cucinotta case.

Video from Australian championships here. Sort of unexpected results, but that's cycling for you, always unpredictable.

Just be glad that you don't have to race in brutal 105 degree temperatures. Whoever decided that the Tour Down Under ought to be a big deal forgot to check the weather.

Friday update

The Guardian posts a grudging clarification to the disputed Lance interview story. I'd guess that the lawyers have been busy.

Training in Hawaii is all the rage these days.

Hincapie tests out a jersey in the new mind-bendingly hideous Saunier-Duval Columbia design. Is this jersey some sort of devilish stratagem to force us to think constantly of Ricco and Piepoli's eternal perfidy every time we see a Columbia rider? Can I just say to whoever idiotically agreed to this vile jersey: I HATE IT!! I mean, what are those things, painted-on ab muscles? A faux six-pack for the muscularly challenged cyclist? An attempt to imitate Skeletor? Does Scott have so much influence that they can push a Saunier-Duval version 2.0 jersey on Columbia, a team which ought to know better? And on the topic of Scott, I hate that the bike is called The Addict. Really, in the sport of cycling, that is not funny. I guess we should look forward to their upcoming new models, The Junkie, The Mainliner, and The Dope Fiend. Forget painting a Cobra on the frame, why not just put a nice big syringe right on there.

Mask-gate fallout continues.

Is it just me, or does Cedric Vasseur's latest call to action take some inspiration from the Wobblies? Quite a grand and sweeping pronouncement. Too bad the CPA is apparently permanently cowed into submission by the hard-handed control of the UCI.

Rejoice, for thee are not alone in anti-twitter cycle-fandom.

Fuji-Servetto jersey. And Bettini says no way to taking on any role with this team.

Elephant in the room....

Piepoli actually attempts the patented "I only did it once so you should feel very sorry for poor despairing me" defense, and miserably fails to stir even a wisp of sympathy. You could diagram this oft-used, deluded excuse like the predictable plot of a bad melodramatic and formulaic novel: The hero acts heroic. The hero faces terrible temptation. The hero tragically falls from grace. The hero nobly faces his failure and is redeemed. The only problem is that all of this only happens inside the twisted mind of the so-called hero. He wants to pretend he is sorry that he doped, when really he only regrets that he was caught. The part of this charade that I find inexplicable is that so many fans fall for this faux-remorse head over heels. Look at the cooing hordes of Basso devotees, France's hypocritical undying affection for Virenque, the legions who proudly announce their favorite rider is a doper and then shrug.

Doping in soccer? Never!

An actual anti-doping comment at Pez! About as rare as a woolly mammoth.

AS drags the Cofidis scandal back into the spotlight, with special mention of Stilnox and Viagra.

Another day, another unwelcome planned comeback. CAS seems to be stalling.

The sad sagas of the Puerto refugees never end.

Upon his signing, new Saxo Bank rider Jakob Fuglsang was expressly forbidden by squeaky clean Bjarne Riis from continuing his previous friendly habit of training with his dirty dope-tainted neighbor Michael Rasmussen. However, according to Rasmussen (a truly credible source who would never lie!), Fuglsang has not heeded the quarantine decree. If this is true, poor Fuglsang could now be facing the infamous and dreaded Wrath of Bjarne. Beware the lightning bolts from on high.

John Devine has seemingly disappeared from the Columbia roster. Wonder if he will surface on another team?

Tuesday update

Survivor: Toto edition.

Bordry interview.

Beware the propaganda machine. And beware another liar in US politics, as if we don't have enough already.

Check out the sponsor list at OUCH. How appropriate, partly sponsored by a law firm.

Usually I like Kimmage articles, but this one strikes a bad note.

And you think USA Cycling has problems...

Is Rui Costa CdE's new budding star? I might actually be interested if I had any clue whether he is clean.

A strange social visit...Basso and Fanini??

Old school cycling used in advertising.

Cadel Evans supports the Amy Gillett Foundation.

Craigslist rant: "I give bikers a bad name."

Sam Abt has trouble figuring out who is left to cheer for.

A look at some possible upcoming events in the world of cycling in 2009. Funny.

Fuji-Servetto has enlisted the Mapei Center to run an anti-doping program for the team. A good step, I guess, although the saying "too little, too late" comes to mind. Meanwhile Prudhomme passes judgement on Gianetti, never a good sign.

The sort of press cycling gets lately. Very sad.

HGH test update.

Video interview on Darren Lapthorne's return to cycling after suffering a family tragedy.

Sounds like Milram is just one positive test away from losing their sponsor. Let's hope it doesn't happen.

"Le cyclisme est moribond..."

Gérard Bulens wonders about the bio-passport. He's not the only one.

Update on Priamo case. Is it just me, or do his excuses sound terribly familiar? Terminal denial gets old.

Sinkewitz claims that young riders can learn from him. Hmmm...

For some reason, every time Basso opens his mouth all I can hear is blah, blah, blah. Must be because I don't believe a word he has to say.

A new French book on doping: L'épreuve du dopage: Sociologie du cyclisme professionnel

A few 2009 jerseys

Had a request for an overview of the new jerseys, so these are a few that I could find so far. Add a comment if you find others. There seems to be a bit of a trend for yellow and black, and that Columbia one is dire! Perhaps it is not the official new jersey, just an intermediate one, like they had last year? I guess we will have to wait for the first races to see for sure.

OUCH

Columbia

ISD

Katyusha

Silence-Lotto

Vacansoleil

Cervelo

Agritubel

Friday update

L'Equipe expands slightly on previous reports that the doctor in charge of the bio-passport testing for pro-continental teams has left. I can't help but wonder if this might have anything to do with the apparent delay in announcing any sanctions to result from the bio-passport last season. You really have to wonder why the promised November announcements never materialized.

Pro and con on blood doping. Strange to think that there are actually people who go around supporting blood doping...other than Ferrari or Fuentes, that is.

You can see partial photos of the new Cervelo jersey here (scroll down), along with the full roster.

Why exactly is Michael Rogers training in a plain all-black kit? Not exactly a smart move. And what would Stapleton have to say about it? Men in black and all that...

Will Fuji-Servetto be invited to any of the big tours this season? The long shadows of Piepoli and Ricco linger, nevermind the presence of Gianetti, who is no doubt still shocked that anyone was doping on his team.

Fraud in the registration of Portuguese teams. I guess that Rock Racing is hardly the only team with problems meeting the average age rules.

The Australian championship races are coming up soon. Not exactly sure of the start list, but I would like to see Adam Hansen beat Michael Rogers in the TT.

I really can't figure out what to think about articles like this. You have to admit that it gets pretty confusing, wading through all the talk of "credibility" coming from ex-dopers.

Baden Cooke says he may sue Michael Ball.

Italy considers hiring a new central anti-doping prosecutor to handle all doping cases. This could help to improve the current fragmented system where many different prosecutors handle various doping cases, and there is a lack of communication and coordination between prosecutors. Meanwhile Italian prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello wonders why Italian soccer players have refused to cooperate with an investigation into the prevalence of Lou Gehrig's disease among their colleagues. Not hard to guess why. Omerta above all.

Has ASO decided to capitulate in the anti-doping fight? Consider their actions lately. Patrice Clerc fired. Sudden truce with the UCI. The UCI given back control of the Tour's anti-doping. AFLD and Bordry left out in the cold. L'Equipe's investigative reporting on doping nixed. Meanwhile, the UCI comes out publicly against retro-active testing, LA announces he will ride the Tour, and the bio-passport seems stalled. All of these things put together hardly seem unconnected. Actually, it looks like one big fat whitewash. Doping? What doping? Perhaps most troubling is that Verbruggen's name is still whispered behind the scenes. An emailer sent in this translation of the recent article from Les Dessous du Sport:

"There are new guidelines within the Amaury group and within L'Equipe in particular: from now on, the journalists are not supposed to talk too much about doping. They must be content with the bare minimum, which is only to transmit the official announcements from the federations or anti-doping agencies without digging further.

The time where L'Equipe could take on the untouchable Lance Armstrong, like they did on August 23, 2005 when they announced on the front page of the paper that he doped in the 2005 Tour, is gone. Marie-Odile Amaury, who owns L'Equipe and the Tour, has opted for a political union with the UCI, the same organization who considered Patrice Clerc (the former president of the ASO who was fired) the devil incarnate. It is impossible to have new disagreements with Lance Armstrong, one of the best friends of Hein Verbruggen, who happens to still manage the UCI behind the scenes. When Lance Armstrong announced his return to the next Tour de France, the journalists from L'Equipe didn't even risk any talk of the "hidden side" of the cancer miracle. Nothing was even mentioned about the famous "scoop" of 2005 which was devastating for Armstrong.

This new policy is creating a lot of disagreements within the company of L'Equipe where the people who are opposing this new vision are becoming more and more isolated within the company. Let's be reminded that only one journalist out of 290 at L'Equipe will be occupied with doping affairs.

Michel Moulin, just before launching his new sports magazine "Le 10 Sport" also announced he didn't want to talk about doping because he doesn't want to break the dreams of the public. Obviously, L'Equipe looked down on this same editorial path which they have now taken as their own. Good news for the cheaters and a catastrophe for the public."

Meanwhile, sources in the Belgian media suggest that L'Equipe's new policy "is the result of an agreement with Lance Armstrong."