2013 Cycling Thread

[Smallville22]

Albasini signs new deal with Orica-GreenEDGE

Michael Albasini has extended his contract with Orica-GreenEDGE for two years.
The Swiss rider, who has three victories this year since joining the Australian team, was delighted to have extended his deal for two more seasons.
“I know I could have had options with other teams, but when it came time to sign, I realised that I don’t want to leave this one,” said Albasini.
“As our music video shows, we have a really good team spirit here. It’s nice to work where you can also have fun.”
“Michael is one of the stalwarts of our team,” said the team's sport director Matt White.
“He is a very reliable rider in nearly every terrain. He’s a winner, but he’s also a super teammate.
"We’ve seen that here at the Tour, and we’ve seen that at every race he starts. He gives as much to his teammates as he does to his personal goals.”

 

[Smallville22]

Kittel ends Cav's Paris reign as Froome wins Tour

Marcel Kittel ended Mark Cavendish's dominance in Paris by winning the final stage of the Tour de France as Chris Froome secured overall victory.
Argos-Shimano sprinter Kittel won his fourth stage on the race by winning a thrilling sprint on the Champs-Elysees and in the process denied Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) a fifth straight triumph in the French capital.
Cavendish could only finish third in the stage as Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) took second place with the world's three best sprinters bursting clear of the peloton in the final 500m as the Tour enjoyed it first ever evening finish.
"Once again thanks to my team mates, it's a collective effort," said Kittel.
Cavendish conceded he was beaten by a stronger rider.
"Kittel was faster. I did 1,500 watts and usually when I do 1,500 watts I win by a few bike lengths," he said.
Froome was untroubled on the 21st and final stage of the three-week race, a 133.5-km ride from Versailles to Paris.
The Kenyan-born rider led Colombia's Nairo Quintana (Movistar) by four minutes and 20 seconds in the overall standings, with Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) third, a further 44 seconds back.
The 28-year-old Briton follows on from compatriot and team mate Bradley Wiggins, who sat out of this year's race for health reasons.
He built his success on awe-inspiring attacks in the mountain climbs as well as his time-trialing ability. It quickly became clear that his rivals would have to fight for the other podium positions.
"This is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time," Froome said in his podium speech, in a reference to the doping scandals the sport has struggled with.
Froome sipped ********* with Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford and sports director Nicolas Portal as the peloton left the Chateau de Versailles in the late afternoon at a leisurely pace.
He finished arm-in-arm with his Team Sky team mates, who had dropped back from the main bunch and crossed the line in unison.
"Crossing the line with the guys brought tears to my eyes. I expected it to be big but this is something else," Froome said.
"I think it is going to take a while to really sink in. This has been a spectacular race," he added.
Quintana claimed both the polka-dot best climber's jersey and the white jersey for the best young rider.
Rodriguez became the second rider to finish on the podium on all the grand Tours (France, Spain, Italy) without actually winning one.
Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff), the 2007 and 2009 champion, finished fourth after cracking on Saturday's penultimate stage.
France's Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale), who won the spectacular l'Alpe d'Huez mountain stage, was named the most aggressive rider in the race.
Peter Sagan (Cannondale) of Slovakia retained the green jersey for the points classification.
Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) became the first rider to abandon the Tour on the Champs Elysees since 1977.

 

[Smallville22]

Out of Africa to Tour champion, Froome completes journey

As softly-spoken off the bike as he is ****** on his machine, Chris Froome completed a long journey out of Africa to claim his maiden Tour de France on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.
As much as **** from Kilburn, London, are not supposed to win the Tour, as 2012 champion Bradley Wiggins would say, **** from Kenya are not supposed to prevail on the French roads either.
"I'd like my performances here to help inspire a lot of youngsters, especially young Africans. They have to believe they can get out of Africa to make it to European teams," the 28-year-old Froome said.
This is exactly what Froome, born in Kenya of British descent and schooled in South Africa, did.
He started riding at 17 with local cycling coach David Kinjah in the highlands of Nairobi and in 2006, took part in the Under-23 world championships representing Kenya.
It was hardly an auspicious beginning - crashing into a policeman on the first bend of the time trial event.
Froome joined the Barloworld team in 2008 and rode his first Tour de France, finishing 84th and with little hope of one day winning the world's greatest cycling race.
"The first time that I thought that 'ok, realistically I could become a GC (general classification) rider to contend in grand Tours was during the 2011 Vuelta," said Froome, who joined the well-oiled Team Sky in 2010.
"Up until then I was finding it difficult to keep my performances high for three weeks. The Vuelta 2011 gave me the confidence that I do belong to the group of riders who belong in front of the general classification."
Froome, first described by Sky principal Dave Brailsford as "a rough diamond, in need of shaping and polishing", worked for team leader Wiggins at the Vuelta in 2011 and still managed to finish ahead of him.
"When I very first joined Team Sky they asked me what my aspirations were," said Froome.
"I set goals. Short, long-term goals. Being able to target the Tour was one of the long-term goals.
"I work pretty well within Team Sky's system. I'm independent but I also enjoy structure, routine, that's what team Sky is about. They offer a structure for the riders. They have everything planned."
Froome, the first man since Eddy Merckx in 1970 to win at top of the iconic Mont Ventoux with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, was made to wait as he matured as a rider in the shadow of Wiggins, who last year became the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
Behind him was Froome, who expressed frustration in the mountains, where he seemed able to beat his leader. But team orders are team orders, and Froome reluctantly obeyed.
With no Wiggins this year, the Briton absent as he recovers from illness and injury, Froome quickly set about making his mark.
On the first summit finish at Ax-3-Domaines in the Pyrenees, Froome soloed to victory in awe-inspiring fashion and never surrendered the yellow jersey, despite suffering in the queen stage to l'Alpe d'Huez.
"The worst moment was on l'Alpe d'Huez when I could feel I was completely flat on energy and it's a horrible feeling," he said.
"When you have no more fuel left in your body and you see the sign 5 kilometres to go and you know it's uphill, it's something tough to get through mentally but thankfully I had (team mate) Richie Porte with me."
Froome is eager for more glory.
"Personally I think the Tour de France has to be the pinnacle of our cycling calendar, it's the most sought-after victory," he said.
"Having said that the decision would be very much based on the parcours, on how suited it is to me, to my other team mates. But I'd love to come back targeting the tour every year."
A fantastic climber and an excellent time trialist, Froome will most likely be pleased with the route of the 2014 Tour, which will start from Leeds.
"It has been a fast progression for me. I've learnt so much but I still have improvements to make in my climbing, my time trialling, my descending," he said.
"But I can't tell you what the future holds. I have been a pro for five years only."

 

[Smallville22]

Spectre of Armstrong still hangs over Tour

Chris Froome can take immense satisfaction from securing his first Tour de France title but the spectre of disgraced Lance Armstrong and the sport's fight against doping still hangs over the race.
The Briton, emulating compatriot Bradley Wiggins last year, smashed the field in awe-inspiring fashion - his two ****** ascents in the Pyrenees and up the iconic Mont Ventoux reminiscent of dope cheat Armstrong's Tour dominance in the early 2000s.
While his rivals were left battling it out for second place long before the end of the three-week race, the Team Sky rider was facing questions over the sport's tainted past.
Froome's curse is that he is the first rider to win the world's greatest bike race since American Armstrong was stripped of his seven titles for cheating.
"It's probably the worst Tour to try to win, the one where all the Armstrong thing comes out, the lids taken off and everybody realised what was going on," said Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford.
"You come to the first Tour after that... You would expect that the public who trusted in this sport for a long time to be a bit angry and a bit frustrated with what they found out. It's understandable."
Froome appreciates that any Tour champion has to deal with the inevitable suspicion.
"I think whoever was going to wear the yellow jersey would come under the same amount of scrutiny and I accept that," Froome told a news conference on Saturday.
"I'm also one of the guys who have been let down by the sport. We're willing to do everything it takes to show people things are changing."
Facing increasing scrutiny and doping allegations, Team Sky have been trying to ease the pressure.
They released Froome's data to sports daily L'Equipe - owned by Tour organisers ASO, who had them analysed by French biomechanics expert Frederic Grappe.
The FDJ.fr team coach concluded that the Briton's performances did not look suspicious.
An offer by Brailsford to have the World Anti-Doping Agency appoint an expert to look into all of his team's data in order to prove they are riding clean was turned down.
According to Jonathan Vaughters, the Garmin-Sharp manager who built his team on a strong anti-doping stance, it was bound to happen.

INDEPENDENT BODY

"It's anticipated that this would happen. This is a symptom of the greater issue. The fundamental problem is that there is no belief in the fact that the systems controlling the rider are trustworthy."
Vaughters, who himself cheated as an Armstrong team mate before coming clean last year, believes the International Cycling Union (UCI) is not up to the task of fighting against doping.
"You have to address that problem or it will be the case for every other Tour de France winner," he added.
Vaughters suggested that the experts - or self-proclaimed experts - who have been analyzing Froome and others' performances, are brought together around a table to help reshape the fight against doping to make it more credible.
Armstrong, after all, ****** a couple of hundred ***** tests.
"Has the leadership of the UCI ever asked the experts to come together and figure out a method, to come up with a solution? They could sit down and research a plan of action, come up with a new anti-doping strategy," Vaughters explained.
"The irony is that Brailsford did not send his data to the UCI - it is not trustworthy."
The UCI launched the biological passport in 2008 as part of a big push to eradicate doping, but its failure to bring down Armstrong has been weighing on president Pat McQuaid.
"That's sad because if Brailsford were to send the data to the UCI everybody would laugh. That's such an extreme loss of credibility," said Vaughters, who like British federation president Brian Cookson, running against McQuaid in September, has been calling on for an independent body to take charge of anti-doping.
"There is a need of change in the leadership of the UCI. That new leadership has to move anti-doping into an independent body, which needs to be properly funded and needs to bring in these experts who are throwing up ideas but are not coming up with a solution."

 

[Smallville22]

Fast learner Quintana makes immediate Tour impact

Watch and learn - that was the directive Nairo Quintana received when he was included in his Movistar team's Tour de France roster.
The diminutive, swarthy-faced Colombian climber did more than just that on his Tour debut, surpassing expectations with a brilliant three-week display to secure second place overall.
Quintana, 23, reached the Champs Elysees in Paris having won a stage and claimed both white and polka-dot jerseys for the best young rider and the best climber.
On Saturday, he won the 20th stage at the top of Semnoz after a final 11-km ascent - nothing intimidating for a rider who would descend 16 kilometres every day to go to school on a 20-kilo mountain bike.
"And I had to come back every evening," he says with a smile.
He caught the eye of Movistar manager Eusebio Unzue when, aged 20, he won the Tour de l'Avenir - the most prestigious young riders' race.
Unzue was looking for Colombian riders for his Spain-based team.
"Finding a Colombian rider who climbs well is easy," said Unzue, referring to the 'Beetles', the Colombian climbers of the 1980s.
"But finding one who climbs well and who is also a good time-trialist is more rare."
Quintana, however, is not just a physically talented rider. He is also a clever one.
"The other thing that struck me is his character," said Unzue.
"He's got a lot of self-confidence and he analyses a race very well. When you listen to him debrief his day, you understand right away that he is not just a fast rider."
Quintana showed during the Tour that he is a fast learner.
Starting the race with the task of helping team leader Alejandro Valverde secure a podium finish, the Colombian found himself thrust into the role of leader after the Spaniard lost considerable time on a flat stage following a mechanical problem.
"Everybody in the team believed in me. Everyone helped me, especially psychologically, to achieve this. At 23, I was not prepared for that," he said on Saturday, sobbing between sentences.
"When they asked me if I was up for it (after Valverde's hopes were dashed), I said 'yes, sure, I'm ready to be team leader but I hope you will forgive me if my legs don't respond at some point'."
His legs responded well as Quintana finished second behind Tour champion Chris Froome of Britain in the stage finishing up the iconic Mont Ventoux, although he briefly lost consciousness after crossing the line.
That day, he probably attacked too early. On Saturday, he showed that he had learned his lesson, waiting for Froome to ****** on the slopes of the Semnoz before countering him in the final kilometre to take the stage.
The win capped years of hard work, Quintana said, still shaking his head in disbelief.
"I worked very hard and I had the support of my parents, my team. A year ago, when I turned professional, it was difficult to imagine that I would be here today," he said.
"As a *** I didn't ***** this could happen to me. I was taking things on a daily basis."
Quintana has emulated compatriot Luis Herrera, who won the King of the Mountains title in 1985 and 1987, but he is setting his sights higher than the polka dot jersey.
"These performances give me a lot of confidence for the following years. In 2015 I could be gunning for yellow. I will continue to work every day to achieve that," he said.

 

[Smallville22]

BMC Racing sporting director quits after Tour flop

BMC Racing sporting director John Lelangue has quit his post after more than six years at the helm in the **** of the team's dismal showing at the Tour de France that concluded in Paris on Sunday.
"John Lelangue is leaving the BMC Racing Team for personal reasons - effective immediately," the team said in a statement on Monday.
Australian Cadel Evans, the 2011 Tour champion, finished 39th behind British winner Chris Froome, while his American team mate Tejay van Garderen was six places further back just a year after claiming the best young rider's jersey.
Although BMC finished 12th out of the 22 teams that took part in the 21-stage race, the performance of Evans, with his worst finish in nine attempts, and Van Garderen, who took fifth place overall on the Tour last year, surprised many.
"We respect John Lelangue's decision," team president Jim Ochowicz said of the Belgian. "He will be pursuing other opportunities and challenges.
"We thank him for his contributions to the development of our team and wish him the best in the future."

 

[Smallville22]

O’Grady announces retirement after 'truly special' Tour

Australian Stuart O’Grady has retired from professional cycling a year earlier than planned.
O’Grady, Australia’s first Classics champion and a six-times Olympian, said he had always wanted to end on a high note – and that the team time trial victory of ORICA-GreenEDGE at the Tour de France allows him to do that.
“I’ve always wanted my career to end with something truly special and this year’s Tour de France has given me that,” he said.
“We’ve had a great race, and I’m really proud of what we accomplished. Winning a stage and standing on the podium with all my team-mates after the team time trial in Nice was a ***** come true for me this late in my career, and to be able to defend the yellow jersey for Simon [Gerrans] and Daryl [Impey] was special.
“I’m extremely happy to have had a chance to do that one more time before I retired.
“Originally, I wanted to keep going, but I’ve kept thinking that this is the year. We reached big goals as a team at the Tour, and I’m proud to finish my career after an amazing experience with an incredible team.
“I’m turning 40 very soon, and I’ve realised there are things in my life that I want to prioritise. My ****** has helped me make this decision. It’s been 23 years of top-level performing and 19 years of professional racing, so it’s time to move on.”
O’Grady has appeared in every Tour since his debut in 1997.
He has three stage wins and nine days in yellow to his name.
“I have a lot of great memories to look back upon, and I’m happy to pull the pin at a point where I still feel strong, healthy and competitive,” said O’Grady.
“I’ve had some bad crashes along the way, but it’s the great moments – like this year’s Tour de France – that I’ll always remember.”

 

[Smallville22]

Froome: Cycling is cleanest sport of all

Stringent **** testing means cycling is now probably the cleanest sport, Tour de France champion Chris Froome has said.
Froome is the first rider to win the Tour since American Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven titles for cheating and, perhaps unsurprisingly given cycling's ****-tainted past, the Briton found the finger of suspicion pointing at him during the race.
"The way the sport is now and the way the testing is, it is so, so strict. Each rider has a ***** passport where almost on a monthly basis, readings are taken," Froome said in an interview with Reuters TV the day after his triumph.
"People don't realise the amount of testing we actually go through. I am confident to say that cycling really must be one of the cleanest sports, if not the cleanest, just because of the way it's policed and controlled."
The Team Sky rider had to endure the inevitable questions about doping from the media during the three-week race.
"That did add an aspect, a different aspect to our race that not only were we thinking about the race and the challenges that presented but also that aspect off the bike of having to answer questions about our legitimacy and what we did to get to this point," the 28-year-old said.
"I completely understand those questions, it's normal given the revelations from Lance Armstrong's era. I am just happy that I have been able to answer those questions and to show people that the sport really has changed," Froome added.
Kenyan-born Froome now has his sights on September's world championships in Italy but believes this year's Tour win could be the first of many after he dominated the 100th edition of the race.
He became the second successive British winner of the Tour after Bradley Wiggins when he crossed the finish line on the Champs Elysees on Sunday to finish four minutes 20 seconds ahead of Colombian Nairo Quintana in the overall standings.
The mountainous route on this year's race suited Froome, who is a fantastic climber and a good time trialer, and he finished with three stage wins to his name.
"It is still a little bit early to be talking about that but the Tour de France is a beautiful race, it is the pinnacle of our cycling calendar and I would love to be back again to try and target future editions," he said.

 

[Smallville22]

Brailsford eyes 2014 Wiggins/Froome ***** team

Sir Dave Brailsford has backed Chris Froome and Sir Bradley Wiggins to ride together in next year's Tour de France.
The pair, who between them have now won the last two editions of the race, both have claims on being the lead rider at Team Sky.
There are rumours of tensions between the two, something Brailsford played down when asked if they could appear together on the same team again.
“They can definitely ride together again,” he said.
After Froome served as a domestique in Wiggins' successful 2012 Tour, they were split in 2013 so Wiggins could focus on the Giro d'Italia and Froome could concentrate on France.
Wiggins' Giro campaign was derailed by an injury and it subsequently ruled him out of riding the Tour de France as planned. Froome managed to win the 100th edition of the race without him.
The 101th Tour begins in Yorkshire, and Brailsford says he wants both men to ride in next year's event.
“On a personal level, I’d love to see them do the Tour together next year because they’re such great talents," Brailsford added. "If we said we’ll just try to win the Tour de France next year and put in the nine absolute tip-top guys, that’d be a strong team. So maybe we will do that.
“I’m not interested in [their personal relationship]. Everyone goes on about ‘can they be friends?’ but I don’t spend a nano-second worrying about whether they get on or not.
“People talk about having team unity and team harmony. In my experience, I don’t buy that at all. Most of the best teams I’ve been with, they’re not harmonious environments.
“This is not a harmonious environment. This is a gritty environment where people are pushing really hard. Same with the Olympic team. There are agitators, and it’s a hard environment to spend a month in.
“But what you do need is goal harmony. And there’s a big difference between the two. You can have the best friends, the closest knit group, but if they’re not 100 per cent aligned behind the goal, it’s not going to work.
“Likewise, it doesn’t matter if there’s agitation amongst the group as long as when there’s a goal there, everybody aligns behind that goal and does absolutely what’s expected of them to achieve it.”

 

[Smallville22]

Schleck brothers to return to Trek

Brothers Andy and Frank Schleck will reunite under one team banner in 2014 after the duo signed for Trek Bicycle.
Trek, who agreed terms with Fabian Cancellara last month, added the Luxembourger ******** to their stable after RadioShack-Leopard announced earlier this month they would not be renewing Frank’s contract.
Frank was suspended in 2012 after testing positive for ****** substance diuretic xipamide, but his subsequent treatment by the team left both he and his ******* fuming.
The Schleck brothers were key components in assembling the Leopard-Trek team before its change to RadioShack-Leopard this year.
“We’re very excited to add two riders that bring the race experience and professionalism that Andy and Frank both have,” said Trek VP Joe Vadeboncoeur.
“We’ve built a strong relationship with them in the past few years, and we can’t wait to see what we’ll be able to accomplish together next season.”
Frank Schleck said: “Andy and I feel very similar about Trek. We have a good relationship and we hold Trek in our hearts.
“They supported me throughout the rough period I have been through - from the people on the road to the top management.
“We wanted to return this confidence and trust by signing on to their new project.”
Andy Schleck added: "I'm happy to re-sign with the Trek ****** and be a part of this project. The jersey of the team may be different but I'm happy that a large part of this team will remain intact.
“I'm really looking forward to the future with this team."
Trek is currently in the process of building the 2014 team roster and have confirmed that additional riders and team partners will be announced in due course.

 

[Smallville22]

US got what bargained for, Armstrong lawyers say

Lawyers for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has said he should be able to keep the sponsorship money he got from the US Postal Service during his record-breaking victories, despite his admission to using performance-enhancing *****.
In papers filed in US District Court in Washington, Armstrong's lawyers said the Postal Service benefited from the sponsorship and they asked a judge to dismiss the federal government's fraud lawsuit demanding its money back.
"The government wanted a winner and all the publicity, exposure and acclaim that goes along with being his sponsor. It got exactly what it bargained for," the lawyers wrote. The Postal Service is an arm of the federal government.
The once-revered athlete is fighting to hang on to what remains of his reputation and his earnings after he was stripped last year of his seven Tour de France titles and ****** for life from cycling.
In February, a month after Armstrong admitted to doping, the Justice Department said it was joining a fraud suit filed in 2010 by Floyd Landis, a former Armstrong team-mate. Landis filed the suit under a federal law that allows whistle-blowers to report fraud in exchange for a reward.
The Postal Service paid $40 million from 1998 through 2004 to have Armstrong and his team-mates from Tailwind Sports wear its logo during record-breaking wins. At least $17.9 million of these fees went to Armstrong, according to the government.
The sponsorship contract included promises to obey cycling rules. In arguing those rules were broken, the government is asking for triple damages.
"The Postal Service contract with Tailwind required the team to enter cycling races, wear the Postal Service logo and follow the rules banning performance-enhancing substances - rules that Lance Armstrong has now admitted he ********," Stuart Delery, an acting assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, said in February.
Armstrong's lawyers wrote that despite intense international attention on doping and a French investigation, the US government never suspended the cycling team. Instead, the government renewed its sponsorship.
"It is now far too late for the government to revisit its choice to reap the benefits of sponsorship rather than investigate allegations of doping," they wrote.
The filing argues that the six-year statute of limitations under the anti-fraud False Claims Act expired in 2010, nine days before Landis filed his suit, barring the government's claims.
While the court papers argued that the suit was filed too late, Armstrong's lawyers separately asked US District Judge Robert Wilkins, who is overseeing the case, to dismiss Landis' complaint against his former team-mate.
Landis won the Tour de France in 2006 but was stripped of the title a year later after testing positive for synthetic testosterone.
The fact that Landis, like Armstrong, used performance-enhancing ***** should prevent him from suing under the False Claims Act and getting a reward, Armstrong's lawyers wrote.
"Landis defrauded his fans and other donors in order to amass a fund to pay the legal fees he racked up litigating his false denials," they wrote. "Now he would like to be paid for casting the first stone."
The False Claims Act, which dates to 1863, allows whistle-blowers to sue over suspected fraud involving US government money and, if successful, get a percentage of whatever the government recovers.
Landis' lawyer Paul Scott has said that Armstrong's "false victories" forever hurt the Postal Service. He said on Tuesday that he was still reading through the new legal briefs but that he disagreed with the conclusions of Armstrong's lawyers.
Armstrong's doping scandal led to a cascade of difficulties for the cancer survivor, including the loss of sponsorships, private lawsuits and the end of his affiliation with the Livestrong Foundation, the cancer charity he founded.
Justice Department officials have said they have no plans to bring a criminal prosecution against Armstrong.

 

[Smallville22]

Jacky Durand: Yes, I did EPO, but believe in current stars

Jacky Durand's name was on the list of positives for EPO from the 1998 Tour de France that was released by the French Senate on Wednesday.
Now a commentator for Eurosport France, he admits that he did indeed dope during the infamous race but says that fans can believe in current cycling stars like Chris Froome.
In his own words:
"You have to take responsibility for your own actions. I have always said that for many years whether it was to young riders, journalists or my employers.
Anyway, I don’t think anybody is fooled by the revelations that most of the peloton doped in 1998. The press, supporters, spectators and racers know the difference between current and traditional practices regarding EPO.
But of course, I can understand why the general public may be confused between what happened in 1998 and what is happening now.
The next generation must not pay the price for our crap. Today I am not thinking of myself, but of them. My career is in the past.
Now I'm thinking of the *** that could be a breakout star during the Tour who has to listen to people say: 'You're ******* up like all the others.'
I think of somebody like Thibaut Pinot, who finished 10th in the Tour at age 22, or a Romain Bardet who finished 15th at the same age.
I don't want these cyclists to be discredited just because everyone from my generation was full of bullshit.
Our sport is much cleaner now, I want people to understand that.
At the time we the riders could hear the alarm bells sounding. We all agreed that our samples could be retained for a time when there was enhanced research regarding the detection of EPO.
In the late 90s the peloton was a shooting gallery. Everybody was doping and nobody knew how to get out.
Why do you dope? When you want to live your passion but despite working like a madman you are streets behind the competition when clean you analyse the situation. You want to live your passion, you want to succeed in the Tour de France, so you take the plunge.
I hope that the naming of all of us who doped in 1998 brings through new doping reforms.
Otherwise these statements will have no effect other than to discredit our sport."

 

[Smallville22]

Wiggins to return at Tour of Poland

Sir Bradley Wiggins has been named in the Team Sky team for the Tour of Poland which starts on Saturday.
After dropping out of the Giro d’Italia and missing the Tour de France with a knee injury, Wiggins will be keen to make an impact in Poland as he prepares for the UCI World Road Championships in September.
Every stage of the Tour of Poland – which runs until August 3 – will be broadcast by Eurosport.
Wiggins will be supported by Sergio Henao, Danny Pate, Luke Rowe, Ben Swift and Rigoberto Urán,
Last year’s race was won by Cannondale rider Moreno Moser, beating the likes of Michael Kwiatwoski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Sergio Henao (Team Sky).
Hot prospect Kwiatowski will be keen to win in front of his home crowd this time around and will enter as one of the favourites.
The 70th edition of the Tour of Poland will be made up of seven stages, covering a total distance of 1,227 kilometres. The race starts at Trentino, in Italy and comes to an end on in Poland’s capital city Krakow.
Previous winners include Peter Sagan and Ireland’s Dan Martin.

 

[Smallville22]

Tests show Pantani and Ullrich used EPO during 1998 Tour

1998 winner Tour de France winner Marco Pantani and runner-up Jan Ullrich both used EPO during the race, a report released by the French Senate has revealed.
The report released the results of samples collected during the race that were then retested in 2004.
A test to detect the presence of EPO was introduced in 2000. Four years later, France's anti-doping agency decided to retest ***** samples from the 1998 and 1999 Tours using the new technology.
Eighteen riders were found to have tested positive for EPO while a further 12 were said to have suspicious samples.
Contrary to earlier reports, American Bobby Julich, who finished third in the race, was not on the positive list but was listed as suspicious.
Green jersey winner Erik Zabel was another who tested positive while French cycling legend Laurent Jalabert, who twice won both the points classification and the mountain classification on the Tour, was also on the positives list.
Jalabert withdrew with his team from the 1998 Tour after protesting that all riders were being labelled as cheats following the Festina doping scandal when large quantities of doping products were found by police.
As expected, Britain's Chris Boardman, who wore the yellow jersey at the start of the race and is a strong anti-doping spokesperson, is not on either list.
Even before the report was released it had drawn criticism from the professional cyclists' union the CPA.
"Publication of a list amounts... to an accusation of doping without any means of defence," they said last Friday.
The union is unhappy because none of the samples can be reanalysed because they no longer exist.
In October 2012 Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins by the UCI for using performance-enhancing *****.
The medical stubs enclosed in the 918-page report, when compared against a separate list of test results, revealed that Armstrong tested positive for EPO in 1999.
Pantani, who also won the Giro d'Italia in 1998, died of a ******* overdose in February 2004 aged 34.
His career was overshadowed by doping scandals. He was thrown out of the 1999 Giro while leading the race for failing a ***** haematocrit test - an indicator, though not proof, of the use of performance-enhancing *****.
In 2002 he was suspended for six months after a syringe containing insulin was found in his hotel room during the 2001 Giro.
Last month Jan Ullrich finally admitted to ***** doping but remains adamant that it was not cheating.
"I did not take anything that the others did not take. Cheating starts for me when I gain an advantage. That was not the case. I wanted to have equal chances," he said.
Pantani is still officially listed as the winner of the 1998 Tour and Ullrich the 1997 edition.
Just three days after the end of the recent 100th Tour, an event that was dogged by persistent speculation about doping, the 21-member parliamentary group said a "truth and reconciliation" commission should be created to lift the veil of silence on ******* practices.
The group recommended that the French government finance studies about the extent of doping, its risks and the range of ***** used.
"We cannot properly fight something that we don't understand," parliamentarian Jean-Jacques Lozach, the group's spokesman, told journalists.
"Speaking of doping doesn't harm sport but instead contributes in the medium and long term to restore its greatness. Not speaking about it often means not doing anything."
The five-month investigation by the Senate group looked at 18 different sports and interviewed 138 individuals. Not all their names were disclosed.
It recommended that sporting calendars be approved by the sports minister to reduce the taxing schedules that it said created favourable conditions for doping, while ***** and ***** samples should be used to test for more substances at the same time to cut down on the volume of samples and streamline the testing process.
The inquiry revealed an "incredible inability" for different organisations to work together and share information.
Lozach said: "The anti-doping fight would be a lot more effective if the different actors in sports, *************** and justice cooperated."
The World Anti-Doping Agency welcomed the inquiry's findings and said it would "consider the recommendations of the report thoroughly".

The riders named were:

Positive:

Andrea Tafi, Erik Zabel, Bo Hamburger, Laurent Jalabert, Marcos Serrano, Jens Heppner, Jeroen Blijlevens, Nicola Minali, Mario Cipollini, Fabio Sacchi, Eddy Mazzoleni, Jacky Durand, Abraham Olano, Laurent Desbiens, Marco Pantani, Manuel Beltran, Jan Ullrich (twice), Kevin Livingston

Suspicious:

Ermanno Brignoli, Alain Turicchia, Pascal Chanteur, Frederic Moncassin, Bobby Julich, Roland Meier, Giuseppe Calcaterra, Stefano Zanini, Eddy Mazzoleni, Stephane Barthe, Stuart O'Grady, Axel Merckx

 

[Smallville22]

Just-retired O'Grady admits to using EPO in 1998

Australian Tour de France stage winner Stuart O'Grady has admitted using the ****** *****-booster EPO before the notorious 1998 race.
O'Grady, who announced his retirement this week after helping his GreenEdge team to a team time trial victory in this year's Tour, became in 1998 only the second Australian to wear the race leader's famous yellow jersey.
"Leading into the Tour I made a decision," the 39-year-old told the Adelaide newspaper The Advertiser in an interview.
"I sourced it (EPO) myself, there was no one else involved, it didn't involve the team in any way. I just had to drive over the border and buy it at any ********."
O'Grady, a former track cyclist who won medals at three Olympics, including gold at the 2004 Athens Games, took the first of his four career Tour stage wins that year in a race that was overshadowed by the Festina doping scandal.
Festina were kicked off the race after a medical team member was arrested at the French border and customs officers seized ****** substances, including EPO.
The newspaper said O'Grady had been named in a French Senate inquiry into sports doping which looked at the 1998 Tour and found the top three finishers, Italian Marco Pantani, Germany's Jan Ullrich and American Bobby Julich, were taking EPO.
"The hardest part of all this is I did it for two weeks before the Tour de France," added O'Grady who was riding for French team GAN at the time.
"I used extremely cautious amounts because I'd heard a lot of horror stories and did the absolute minimum of what I hoped would get me through.
"When the Festina Affair happened, I smashed it, got rid of it and that was the last I ever touched it.

 

[Smallville22]

O'Grady's Olympic medals under threat after EPO admission

Australian cyclist Stuart O'Grady could be stripped of his Olympic medals after admitting to using performance-enhancing ***** at the 1998 Tour de France.
O'Grady, who retired this week, told a newspaper on Wednesday that he had used the ****** *****-booster erythropoietin (EPO) before the notorious 1998 Tour.
The admission came after a French Senate inquiry named him among riders with "suspicious" test results in a damning report into the 1998 race.
A successful Olympic track cyclist, O'Grady won a madison gold at the 2004 Athens Games, following a team pursuit silver at the 1992 Barcelona Games and a pair of bronzes at Atlanta in 1996.
"It's sad," Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred said.
"He won't be remembered as a fantastic competitor that we all thought he was. Instead he'll be remembered as an athlete who succumbed to the temptation of ***** in sport just to get an edge on his fellow riders.
"In regard to his medals, it's a matter for the international federation, so the UCI will consider the medals and they will then make some recommendation to the IOC."
The AOC had already called on O'Grady to step down from its Athletes' Commission, a 10-member advisory body comprised of respected athletes.
"Members of our London Olympic team ... are entitled to be angry knowing they had supported an athlete who had cheated," AOC president John Coates said.
O'Grady, one of Australia's most celebrated cyclists, could also stand to lose his three national citations, which include an Order of Australia Medal awarded in 2005.
The French Senate inquiry found the top two finishers at the 1998 tour - Italian Marco Pantani and Germany's Jan Ullrich - were among 18 riders who had tested positive for EPO.
O'Grady was among 12 riders whose tests were said to be "suspicious" and the 39-year-old did not waste time confirming he had used EPO to the Adelaide Advertiser, insisting he had acted alone in sourcing it.
He announced his retirement on Tuesday after helping his GreenEdge team to a time trial victory in this year's Tour, his 17th appearance tying George Hincapie's record.
He had been expected to race on in 2014, however, and push for a record 18th Tour.
GreenEdge was rocked by doping revelations last year involving sports director and former cyclist Matt White, who was implicated in the United States Anti-Doping Agency's dossier on disgraced **** cheat Lance Armstrong.
The Australian team sacked White after he admitted to doping with Armstrong's US Postal team, but reinstated him earlier this year after he completed a six-month ban.
GreenEdge said it supported O'Grady "as a person and an advocate for a clean sport".
"Like the majority of the riders in his generation, he was also exposed to the issues and wrongdoings of the sport and made some wrong choices in that environment," GreenEdge general manager Shayne Bannan said.
Cycling Australia also declined to condemn O'Grady, blaming the era and the European "environment".
"The late 1990's was clearly a dark period in cycling's international history," the governing body said in a statement.
Coates, though, said the "everybody else was doing it" line was no defence for cheating.
"This was a shameful period for the sport of cycling which has been well documented, that is no excuse for the decision taken by Stuart O'Grady," he added.

 

[Smallville22]

Armstrong: French findings on doping are no surprise

Lance Armstrong said he was not surprised by a French Senate inquiry's findings that the top two in the 1998 Tour de France took the ****** ***** booster EPO because virtually all riders at that time cheated and told lies.
"I am not surprised," the disgraced Tour winner said. "As I have said, it was an unfortunate era for all of us and virtually all of us broke the rules, and lied about it."
The American, who was stripped of his seven Tour titles for doping, called for cycling to address its doping past in a "collective and co-operative manner".
"If we don't come together, have the conversation and draw a line in the sand and then move on, we're all screwed," he said.
Armstrong admitted having taken performance-enhancing ***** in January and was stripped of the Tour titles he won from 1999 to 2005 after the United States Anti-Doping Agency said it had uncovered a sophisticated doping programme.
Armstrong did not compete in 1998 because he was battling cancer but the French Senate inquiry, published on Wednesday, named him as testing positive for EPO in 1999.
Italian Marco Pantani, who won the Tour in 1998 and died of a **** overdose in 2004, and Jan Ullrich of Germany, who finished second in 1998, were among those named in the 918-page report compiled by a parliamentary group who called for a "truth and reconciliation" commission (TRC) to be created to lift the veil of silence on ******* practices.
Since Armstrong confessed to doping on the Oprah Winfrey show in January he has called for a truth and reconciliation programme on several occasions.
WADA, the world anti-doping agency, the International Cycling Union (UCI) and national federations have been wary of the suggestion, although UCI presidential candidate Brian Cookson has appeared open to the suggestion of Armstrong sharing his past.
Armstrong continued: "I have not been contacted by anyone. I suspect in many ways they (WADA) are afraid of a TRC as it would fly in the face of the now famous talking point 'the most sophisticated doping programme in the history of the world'."
Asked if the Senate's findings would benefit the sport, Armstrong added: "I don't know. I really don't.
"I'd like to think that there is some good in all this but from my perspective, sitting here today, there has been nothing but damage done to the sport."

 

[Smallville22]

Tinkoff to end sponsorship of Contador's team

Team Saxo-Tinkoff owner Bjarne Riis has ended negotiations to extend a sponsorship deal with Russia's Tinkoff Bank, according to a statement released by his company Riis Cycling on Thursday.
Riis's team finished the 2013 Tour de France at the top of the team classification, but Riis said that finding common ground to renew the sponsorship deal with Tinkoff had proved impossible.
"During the course of our extensive negotiations with Tinkoff Bank it has become clear that we are unable to settle on common views and the ideas that are necessary for our partnership to grow and be successful," the statement quoted Riise as saying.
"Most importantly, we disagree on how the team should be run. For all of these reasons, I have decided to explore other possibilities and end the negotiations with Tinkoff Bank."
Reports before the Tour last month said that credit card supplier Tinkoff wanted to become sole sponsor of the team.
Riis thanked Tinkoff for their support which began last year, adding that co-title sponsor Saxo Bank of Denmark would continue.
"We already have a strong portfolio of partners onboard, and our key partner Saxo Bank have told us that they are ready to continue their sponsorship in 2014," the statement said.
The team's leading rider is Spaniard Alberto Contador who finished fourth in the Tour.

 

[Smallville22]

Laura Trott backs women's Tour de France

Olympic champion Laura Trott has backed calls for a women’s Tour de France – but not at the expense of the existing circuit.
Trott has joined Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team-mate Dani King and Olympic medallists Emma Pooley and Marianne Vos in championing the return of the event, last held in 2009.
But the London 2012 winner fears racing over the same distance as the men with rides of 200km a day could damage the way women’s cycling is seen in the eyes of the fans and would prefer a shorter version.
“What Chris Froome has done has been absolutely amazing and I can’t believe we’ve had two British winners in the past two years,” said Trott, who has previously ridden for Dutch teams Moving Ladies and Team IBIS Cycles.
“I do think it’s important that we do get a women’s version of the Tour de France but I think it needs to be thought through.
“If we put it on the same time as the men’s then we will lose too many women’s races. I think we need to develop what we’ve got first and build on that.
“I must be top 100 on the road scene out of the women and I wouldn’t finish three weeks of 200km a day, it would be physically too hard.
“Plus we want the racing to be exciting – we don’t want people coming in in dribs and drabs. If we have races of that length it won’t bring any more people in as it’s just boring.”
Trott is in action in the capital on Saturday, August 3 at the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix, where she will take on around 100 of the world’s best women on a closed 1.3-mile loop around some of London’s iconic landmarks.
The Harlow rider is an ambassador for the event, and will start a Guinness World Record attempt to create the longest parade of bikes in the morning before taking to the saddle for the hour-long race.
“I’m really excited about Prudential RideLondon,” she said.
“For me it was about getting involved and inspire as many people as I could to get out on their bikes and be the face of mass participation cycling, and it’s a great weekend.”
Prudential RideLondon takes place on 3 & 4 August.

 

[Smallville22]

Gallopin soloes to Clasica San Sebastian win

Frenchman Tony Gallopin celebrated a stunning solo victory in the Clasica San Sebastian, the first major classic win of his career.
RadioShack-Leopard rider Gallopin, 25, unexpectedly attacked close to the summit of the final Cat.2 Alto Arkale climb out of a leading group of 10 riders.
Six of the group gave chase but could not close the gap and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) pipped Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) to finish second.
The peloton was split on the penultimate Cat.1 Jaizkibel climb, with Kreuziger then breaking clear only to be caught by seven other riders on the descent.
That group of eight became 10, with two others bridging the gap to the main pack, on the flat section between the two climbs.
When Gallopin jumped it took the others by surprise, with pre-race favourite Valverde, Kreuziger, Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Euskaltel-Euskadi pair Mikel Landa and Mikel Nieve eventually taking off after him.
Gallopin - whose lead had reached a maximum of 25 seconds - led by 16 seconds with 2km remaining and so the chasers backed off to prepare for a sprint for the podium places.
That allowed him to coast to victory on the 232km one-day race in northern Spain by a 28s margin.
Nieve was fourth ahead of Roche and Landa.