Crapola!!!....P.E.D's in Cycling

[Strydz]

On the day that it's announced that Astana gets to keep its licence, rumours circulate about Fabio Aru doping. Has someone hacked Greg Henderson's Twitter account?

@Greghenderson1:
2015-04-23 21:17:53 UTC
Sad to see @FABARO1 "sick". Mate make sure next time u come back to our sport "healthy". Aka. Clean! #biopassport! Or don't come back!

Don't think his account was hacked as this is a pretty strong rumour, he wasn't the 1st to say it as it was mentioned on one of the foreign language coverages of Flèche Wallonne. If it's true then there is no coincidence that it comes out right after Astana get to keep there licence, could be the UCI trying to not look weak.

[biker jk]

On the day that it's announced that Astana gets to keep its licence, rumours circulate about Fabio Aru doping. Has someone hacked Greg Henderson's Twitter account?

@Greghenderson1:
2015-04-23 21:17:53 UTC
Sad to see @FABARO1 "sick". Mate make sure next time u come back to our sport "healthy". Aka. Clean! #biopassport! Or don't come back!

Don't think his account was hacked as this is a pretty strong rumour, he wasn't the 1st to say it as it was mentioned on one of the foreign language coverages of Flèche Wallonne. If it's true then there is no coincidence that it comes out right after Astana get to keep there licence, could be the UCI trying to not look weak.

Perhaps Cookson is a smarter cookie than he's given credit. It looks like there's was significant pressure on the UCI to not withdraw Astana's licence. Cookson likely saw the writing on the wall and perhaps accepted the "we'll give Astana one last chance" decision knowing there was a biological passport case against Aru.

[biker jk]

Looks like Henderson has egg on his face.

Greg Henderson
‏@Greghenderson1
When you are sick. You are sick. Jumping to conclusions helps nobody. My mistake @FabioAru1. I should shut my mouth. Sincere apologies.

[toolonglegs]

If people in the public eye know that they are quick to fire up then they should also know that having a Twitter account is a bad idea…

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Perhaps Cookson is a smarter cookie than he's given credit. It looks like there's was significant pressure on the UCI to not withdraw Astana's licence. Cookson likely saw the writing on the wall and perhaps accepted the "we'll give Astana one last chance" decision knowing there was a biological passport case against Aru.

If there is any substance to suggestion that the UCI has (or has had) foreknowledge of such things and uses this knowledge at their discretion, then I would find that more disturbing than doping.

[trailgumby]

Perhaps Cookson is a smarter cookie than he's given credit. It looks like there's was significant pressure on the UCI to not withdraw Astana's licence. Cookson likely saw the writing on the wall and perhaps accepted the "we'll give Astana one last chance" decision knowing there was a biological passport case against Aru.

If there is any substance to suggestion that the UCI has (or has had) foreknowledge of such things and uses this knowledge at their discretion, then I would find that more disturbing than doping.

+9.99x10^6

I'm disillusioned enough about the integrity of road cycling as it is. That would just destroy it for me forever.

[toolonglegs]

More likely the UCI did its research and decided that it was better all round to be able to keep a close eye on Astana rather than to go into the legal mine field which it would be trying to revoke their license. Workers rights and all would not make it a simple task me thinks.

[ldrcycles]

No surprises here- Aru to pursue legal action.

[herzog]

Workers rights and all would not make it a simple task me thinks.

Weren't they considering demoting them to the continental series?

Similar happens in football (soccer) with promotion and relegation. They seem to be able to deal with it.

Ultimately for the good of the sport, there has to be the ability to strip the accreditation of a team in extreme, systematic cases (eg: Festina type scenario).

[toolonglegs]

Workers rights and all would not make it a simple task me thinks.

Weren't they considering demoting them to the continental series?

Similar happens in football (soccer) with promotion and relegation. They seem to be able to deal with it.

Ultimately for the good of the sport, there has to be the ability to strip the accreditation of a team in extreme, systematic cases (eg: Festina type scenario).

Demoting them would be denying them their work that they were originally promised... workers rights are extremely well protected in many European countries. It would be appealed to whomever and like has been reported it would just get held up in a legal mess which would no doubt allow riders to still ride out the rest of the season anyway. Not ideal but that's the way it is.

[herzog]

So how does football deal with relegation to second division?

[toolonglegs]

So how does football deal with relegation to second division?

Isn't relegation at the end of the season if they don't preform well enough in the leagues?. I am sure if the "whomever looks after football" said to Man U in the middle of the season that they were going to be dropped out of the premiere league for some offence of one of their players that the lawyers would be very quickly involved. I know nothing about football though and would like to keep it that way .

Similar situation has happened a few times already when riders ( and other sports people ) have been denied entry etc into events with cases pending ... they have appealed that their right to work has been denied. I suppose this would just be on a team scale.

[Xplora]

I do not think there is much right to work when your employer is a proven corrupt cheater, surely? It's like saying a mafia family should be allowed to continue their import business despite proven issues with smuggling.

[herzog]

I do not think there is much right to work when your employer is a proven corrupt cheater, surely? It's like saying a mafia family should be allowed to continue their import business despite proven issues with smuggling.

A few years back, in the Italian Football league, some teams were found to have engaged in Match Fixing.

The entire Juventus team was demoted to second division. Lazio was banned from the UEFA cup, and a number of other teams were stripped of ladder points for the subsequent season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Itali ... ll_scandal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why is it so hard for Cycling to get tough for once?

[warthog1]

Well it is a matter of perspective I spose.
Have a look at the recent afl doping circus with essendon.
No meaningful penalty at all

[toolonglegs]

I do not think there is much right to work when your employer is a proven corrupt cheater, surely? It's like saying a mafia family should be allowed to continue their import business despite proven issues with smuggling.

If you worked at a bank and your co-worker swindled the bank out of a few million, then they said to you that your not allowed to work anymore because you work at the same bank... I don't expect you would just leave quietly.

[herzog]

If you worked at a bank and your co-worker swindled the bank out of a few million, then they said to you that your not allowed to work anymore because you work at the same bank... I don't expect you would just leave quietly.

Not a great analogy. If a team was suspended or demoted, they would still need to pay their contracted riders (or pay out their contracts with a full release).

Essentially, the riders are contracted to the team and compliance with labour law is the team's responsibility. This should not be a consideration for the UCI.

[toolonglegs]

Yeah probably not ... still if the UCI wanted to bin them and had good evidence they probably would of.
Anyway not super interested to tell the truth, prefered to go out for a mtb ride than watch la doyenne on telly this arvy. Yet another dopper wins so was a good choice!

[biker jk]

Yeah probably not ... still if the UCI wanted to bin them and had good evidence they probably would of.
Anyway not super interested to tell the truth, prefered to go out for a mtb ride than watch la doyenne on telly this arvy. Yet another dopper wins so was a good choice!

Yes, his win is a real "piti".

[Xplora]

herzog has summed up my understanding of the situation quite well. Astana can still train, and they can still race in any federation that will have them. My understanding of the Cycling Australia code is that it is 100% voluntary, and that comes with obligations like not cheating. If Astana was pushing other riders off their bike, or chopping in the sprint, would we question their presence in the peleton?

It's more complicated than that, of course, but cheating is cheating and drugs are dangerous just like sloppy riding which is why both are against the rules. Sanctions against the team are simply an escalation.

[ldrcycles]

Yeah probably not ... still if the UCI wanted to bin them and had good evidence they probably would of.
Anyway not super interested to tell the truth, prefered to go out for a mtb ride than watch la doyenne on telly this arvy. Yet another dopper wins so was a good choice!

Yes, his win is a real "piti".

+2, exciting final kms but i was pissed when that scumbag won. Then i perked up when i saw SBS were playing the final kms of Fleche Wallonne (which i had missed) and the mongrel won that too!

[biker jk]

Yeah probably not ... still if the UCI wanted to bin them and had good evidence they probably would of.
Anyway not super interested to tell the truth, prefered to go out for a mtb ride than watch la doyenne on telly this arvy. Yet another dopper wins so was a good choice!

Yes, his win is a real "piti".

+2, exciting final kms but i was pissed when that scumbag won. Then i perked up when i saw SBS were playing the final kms of Fleche Wallonne (which i had missed) and the mongrel won that too!

I found this summary of Valverde's "performance" in recent years.

Valverde has podiumed all but 1 major hills race he has done since the turn of the decade. The only one he didn't was his first one back from holiday when a crash took him out of contention.

Podium 4 out of 5 Liege
podium 3 out of 3 World championships
Podium 2 out of 2 Giro di Lombarida.

Total - 9 out of 10.

He has also podiumed 3 out of 3 Vueltas.

The consistency is insane.

[Chuck]

Did you get permission from The Hitch to republish

[biker jk]

Did you get permission from The Hitch to republish

No, but I doubt he would object. So what do you think of piti's post-Puerto performances?

[Chuck]

Did you get permission from The Hitch to republish

No, but I doubt he would object. So what do you think of piti's post-Puerto performances?

You've seen my posts on CN before they stopped people commenting on the stories you know exactly how I feel. Unfortunately all the comments in the world won't change anything.