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Astana Licence to be withdrawn?

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The Hitch

The Hitch

Jun 14, 2010
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Dr. Juice said:
UCI with a British president promoting "clean cycling" is still furious about an evil doper taking away the gold medal from hard working, marginally gaining British athletes.
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Don't know if this is sarcasm.

Anyway I'll adress the elephant in the room. This is bad news for you know who. They've spent the last 3 years spinning pr that the sport is clean and that their guys wouldn't have been able to win if it wasnt. Both idiots have said that doping ended "10 years ago". The most recent tdf winner or even his team getting dragged through the mud and doping being again in the news is NOT what they want. Might not damage them but it certainly won't help. Besides it's not like Nibali was ever even able to challenge them. They've been able to produce domestiques that could drop him and Nibali only won last year because they had crashes so I really doubt this is because cookson sees him as a threat. If contador falls before July, then, maybe you'll have a point.
 
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Morbius

Sep 23, 2011
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Wow, the clinic really is a place where every silver lining has a cloud.

Instead of a small celebration, we hear that this is bad for sponsors, bad for Sky and british cycling, bad for race organisers, bad for riders, just PR, that Astana can be sacrificed to protect the "big boys" and that this only happened because the UCI's hands were forced by Padua.
 
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MatParker117

Aug 28, 2012
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Eshnar said:
they will find a way. Like "Astana was already meant to race... hotels booked... big damage... blah blah"
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Like I said there insurance providers might have something different to say and the UCI will likely withdraw their officials from any race that tries to invite Astana which would mean no insurance for the entire peloton. Sponsors could pull out as well and TV partners would not be happy either.
 
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BeagRigh

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Morbius said:
Wow, the clinic really is a place where every silver lining has a cloud.

Instead of a small celebration, we hear that this is bad for sponsors, bad for Sky and british cycling, bad for race organisers, bad for riders, just PR, that Astana can be sacrificed to protect the "big boys" and that this only happened because the UCI's hands were forced by Padua.
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Given the UCIs track record that seems reasonable to me :rolleyes:

;)
 
Eshnar

Eshnar

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MatParker117 said:
Like I said there insurance providers might have something different to say and the UCI will likely withdraw their officials from any race that tries to invite Astana which would mean no insurance for the entire peloton. Sponsors could pull out as well and TV partners would not be happy either.
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Which sponsor would pull out? In the Italian scene, on the opposite, I could very well see some sponsors pulling out if Astana don't race... And let's face it, the core market of the Giro is Italy.
 
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MatParker117

Aug 28, 2012
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Eshnar said:
Which sponsor would pull out? In the Italian scene, on the opposite, I could very well see some sponsors pulling out if Astana don't race... And let's face it, the core market of the Giro is Italy.
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But will the other teams potentially risk racing potentially without insurance? The UCI could easily withdraw it's backing from races which invite Astana which would effectively mean no insurance.
 
Eshnar

Eshnar

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MatParker117 said:
But will the other teams potentially risk racing potentially without insurance? The UCI could easily withdraw it's backing from races which invite Astana which would effectively mean no insurance.
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That would be a very serious step that could harm the entire WT system. Not sure the UCI would be willing to go for it. I'm sure they would compromise in some way.
 
Benotti69

Benotti69

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If UCI pull out of races they will be sued by all the other teams, promoters and possibly sponsors.

It will also open the door very wide to teams forming a breakaway league.
 
burning

burning

Feb 29, 2012
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If UCI decides to withdraw from Giro, I think that it will backfire so hard they would have to elect Vino as president. :p

Edit:
The Inner Ring February 27, 2015 at 11:43 am
There is speculation in L’Equipe that Specialized could place Nibali with Etixx-Quickstep given the contractual links.

Well, this is really interesting. I can imagine Lefevre will try to do everything to have Nibali in his roster for free. (I think Specialized will pay the salary if this really happens)
 
Benotti69

Benotti69

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Will Cookson wake up one morning with a horse's head in his bed compliments of RCS? Wonder what the Kazakhs leave behind as a 'message'!
 
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greenedge

Mar 27, 2011
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I think it's terrible for the riders, but the spate of doping positives they had last year in such a short period was ridiculous, so it's great to see the UCI taking a stand.

Hopefully they can still ride some of the bigger races this year as a PC team and then Nibali, Aru and other big name riders can find a team the next year (or even new teams this year- come OGE Nibali :) )
 
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Gaul 58

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Levering Vinokourov out of professional cycling at long last is a plus for me. After Armstrong's departure the two individuals doing most damage are Vinokurov and Riis. Working from the top down is fine by me.
 
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simoni

Mar 11, 2010
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Given Cookson's previous utterances regarding the requirment to follow legal process etc. they must have strong evidence of wrong-doing to be taking this route now.

Fairly significant damage will already have been done to sponsors, indiduals, the whole sport etc. from this initial announcement. It feels to me that they're pretty serious.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. We have to hope that there's enough to shop the key decision makers in the team and not just Vino or else the same monster will just resurface.
 
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Morbius

Sep 23, 2011
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The Hitch said:
So now you guys are telling people how they are supposed to emotionally react to news:eek:
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Not at all. I'm commenting on how a lot of people here instinctively reacted to what many would see as good news.
 
Benotti69

Benotti69

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Morbius said:
Not at all. I'm commenting on how a lot of people here instinctively reacted to what many would see as good news.
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Where is the good news? A team loses is licence but no one gets banned? So Nibali and Aru, 2 top riders will find teams and continue. The docs will get work, they won a TdF last year. I dont really see much change. Vino will still be a part of the sport, but like those banned just less in the public eye.

No this is not a victory for anti doping.
 
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