Astarloza suspended

[Escarabajo]

Never the guys with the "more moneys". So riders are still on EPO?

 

[manolo]

http://www.fundacioneuskadi.com/pag...ar=1&ocultarp=1&Id=1589&cboanyo=2009&cbomes=7

"Mikel is innocent because our internal controls detected nothing, blah blah blah, we'll stand by him all the way, blah blah blah, B sample. blah"

Thanks for the link:

"Tras el desagradable comunicado de la Unión Ciclista Internacional en relación a la potencial violación del reglamento antidopaje en un control fuera de competición el día 26 de junio de Mikel Astarloza, el equipo comunica que, tras no encontrar ninguna anomalía en todos los controles internos del conjunto, y el ciclista declararse inocente, permanecerá siempre junto al ciclista apoyando su inocencia mientras no se demuestre lo contrario. Asi mismo, el ciclista Mikel Astarloza se declara totalmente inocente de esta potencial violación del reglamento antidopaje y confía en que la 'muestra B' le de la razón y haga justicia en este caso tan desagradable."

More like:

"After the unfortunate statement from the UCI... the team states that after having found no anomalies in the team's internal controls, and with the cyclist declaring himself innocent, the team wull continue supporting his claim of innocence unless it is proven otherwise.... Mike Astarloza declarse himself totally innocent and trusts the B sample will confirm this..."

Maybe has naturally high levels of EPO in his body! : )

 

[manolo]

http://www.fundacioneuskadi.com/pag...ar=1&ocultarp=1&Id=1589&cboanyo=2009&cbomes=7

Official statement by the team (paraphrased, obviously)

Mikel is innocent because our internal controls detected nothing, blah blah blah, we'll stand by him all the way, blah blah blah, B sample. blah...

Thanks for the link. Here's their statement:

"Tras el desagradable comunicado de la Unión Ciclista Internacional en relación a la potencial violación del reglamento antidopaje en un control fuera de competición el día 26 de junio de Mikel Astarloza, el equipo comunica que, tras no encontrar ninguna anomalía en todos los controles internos del conjunto, y el ciclista declararse inocente, permanecerá siempre junto al ciclista apoyando su inocencia mientras no se demuestre lo contrario. Asi mismo, el ciclista Mikel Astarloza se declara totalmente inocente de esta potencial violación del reglamento antidopaje y confía en que la 'muestra B' le de la razón y haga justicia en este caso tan desagradable."

More like:

"After the unfortunate statement from the UCI... the team states that after having found no anomalies in its internal controls, and with the cyclist declaring himself innocent, the team will continue supporting his claim of innocence unless it is proven otherwise.... Mikel Astarloza declares himself totally innocent and trusts the B sample will confirm this..."

Maybe he has naturally high levels of EPO in his body! : )

 

[jerryz]

Here is the link

Kind of supports what Gerard Vroomen said about some teams when their riders get caught doping:

"Some teams will handle it well and other teams just protect the rider, going through ridiculous excuses, basically telling the cycling fans that they are idiots, making up the most *** stories and getting away with it"

Sorry, don't know how to link text to the site.... not a techie!

Here you go.

Popularity adds up for Cervélo's boss Vroomen

 

[jerryz]

More from Gerard Vroomen

Gerard Vroomen is right. Pro forma support is just pro forma excuses. All that being said, let us wait for the process to finish. I am going to wait and see. If I were Euskaltel, I might start reviewing internal controls right now.

Here is the full statement from Gerard.

GV: It was one of the reasons to start our own team. Yeah, we don't have full control over the riders, but we have more now. We can tell them what we want and we know that when we leave the room there's not a different message coming through.

We know that we determine what the mission of the team is. That starts with trying to choose the right riders and knowing that you don't know everything but a rider like Di Luca, if you want to have serious attempt to have a clean team then you don't hire him so those are easy choices to make.

Of course it's always possible that you make mistakes with [signing] someone, but we've done a good job with picking our twenty five riders and it's a constant job of reinforcing what we like to see and that the winning isn't that important for us. Our riders understand that and live with that philosophy. Sometimes that's the big problem, if you're just a bike sponsor of a team. ...

It's not so much that we can prevent everything, but if something was to happen we can take action and if you're a sponsor and not an owner of a cycling team then you have to watch as the team handles it.

Some teams will handle it well and other teams just protect the rider, going through ridiculous excuses, basically telling the cycling fans that they are idiots, making up the most *** stories and getting away with it. I don't think we'd consider keeping someone if we were in that situation.

It's been made so clear that if a rider still didn't understand the message then we'd never get through to the rider.

Here is the link: Popularity adds up for Cervélo's boss Vroomen

 

[Krebs cycle]

Internal doping controls? pffft more like internal checks to make sure you're doping program hasn't left behind any tell tale signs.

 

[Izoard]

Internal doping controls? pffft more like internal checks to make sure you're doping program hasn't left behind any tell tale signs.

And another one bites the dust. I don't think their PR strategy is very sound ... if he ends up guilty then their internal testing gets the crap kicked out of it in the public eye.

 

[Laszlo]

Internal doping controls? pffft more like internal checks to make sure you're doping program hasn't left behind any tell tale signs.

Yep. You hit the nail on the head with that one.

I wonder if he even told his team that he had an out of competition test so they could prepare themselves...probabaly not though; he still wanted to gamble on doing something in the Tour and getting away with it.

 

[craig1985]

Says it all really.

 

[issoisso]

Thanks for the link. Here's their statement:

"Tras el desagradable comunicado de la Unión Ciclista Internacional en relación a la potencial violación del reglamento antidopaje en un control fuera de competición el día 26 de junio de Mikel Astarloza, el equipo comunica que, tras no encontrar ninguna anomalía en todos los controles internos del conjunto, y el ciclista declararse inocente, permanecerá siempre junto al ciclista apoyando su inocencia mientras no se demuestre lo contrario. Asi mismo, el ciclista Mikel Astarloza se declara totalmente inocente de esta potencial violación del reglamento antidopaje y confía en que la 'muestra B' le de la razón y haga justicia en este caso tan desagradable."

More like:

"After the unfortunate statement from the UCI... the team states that after having found no anomalies in its internal controls, and with the cyclist declaring himself innocent, the team will continue supporting his claim of innocence unless it is proven otherwise.... Mikel Astarloza declares himself totally innocent and trusts the B sample will confirm this..."

Maybe he has naturally high levels of EPO in his body! : )

In theory that translation is correct, but the language they use is quite a bit stronger

 

[wpsracing78]

Hey guys, first post, site old-timer tho!

This is terrible for me because unfortunately, Astarloza was pretty much my favourite rider, as is Euskaltel my favourite team. So this is a huge kick in the nads!
I've only just recently delved into the world of 'the clinic' and finding out about the sports history, strangely it hasn't caused a bad reaction in me, I guess that just proves how much i love the sport.
But this one hurt a bit!
And Stupidly, I fell for the old "he rides tempo, looks absolutely wrecked, and has no explosive acceleration, HE MUST BE CLEAN!"
....well, I don't beleive that one anymore!

While I disagree with some of the more aggressive posters that every cyclist is on something, A solid, underdog pro-rider coming 11th and then testing positive, arguably hurts more than a Di Luca or...AC..

But meh, I'll move on and will never ever not love this sport! I've taken the biggest blow a cycling fan can take, my fave rider for almost 2 yrs, DONE, GONE! and I still love the sport! however I would've prefered if it didn't happen!

 

[elapid]

And another one bites the dust. I don't think their PR strategy is very sound ... if he ends up guilty then their internal testing gets the crap kicked out of it in the public eye.

Yep. Internal controls = PR + Internal checks. The UCI is no different with the biological passport. It will nail some athletes, mostly those too poor to afford a good doctor, but the vast majority will escape undetected.

 

[Izoard]

Hey guys, first post, site old-timer tho!

This is terrible for me because unfortunately, Astarloza was pretty much my favourite rider, as is Euskaltel my favourite team. So this is a huge kick in the nads!
I've only just recently delved into the world of 'the clinic' and finding out about the sports history, strangely it hasn't caused a bad reaction in me, I guess that just proves how much i love the sport.
But this one hurt a bit!
And Stupidly, I fell for the old "he rides tempo, looks absolutely wrecked, and has no explosive acceleration, HE MUST BE CLEAN!"
....well, I don't beleive that one anymore!

While I disagree with some of the more aggressive posters that every cyclist is on something, A solid, underdog pro-rider coming 11th and then testing positive, arguably hurts more than a Di Luca or...AC..

But meh, I'll move on and will never ever not love this sport! I've taken the biggest blow a cycling fan can take, my fave rider for almost 2 yrs, DONE, GONE! and I still love the sport! however I would've prefered if it didn't happen!

Thanks for your post! And I am truly happy to hear you won't give up on the sport. I know it can be pretty difficult when it was someone you admired, but it is a beautiful sport!

 

[Izoard]

Yep. Internal controls = PR + Internal checks. The UCI is no different with the biological passport. It will nail some athletes, mostly those too poor to afford a good doctor, but the vast majority will escape undetected.

I am not 100% in the same place you are with the UCI, but I am getting there fast! Unless a really big name gets popped, then the passport will not really be seen as effective.

 

[dgodave]

Thanks for your post! And I am truly happy to hear you won't give up on the sport. I know it can be pretty difficult when it was someone you admired, but it is a beautiful sport!

I no longer get attached to any particular cyclist or team.
.
I just like "cycling"... the race itself more than the racers... and the hilltowns, chateux, coastlines, mountains, etc. I dont get too bent up when a cyclist is ejected for doping; but I do hate it when they crash out.
.

 

[afpm90]

I no longer get attached to any particular cyclist or team.
.
I just like "cycling"... the race itself more than the racers... and the hilltowns, chateux, coastlines, mountains, etc. I dont get too bent up when a cyclist is ejected for doping; but I do hate it when they crash out.
.

The same here. I watch cycling because I love the sport, and not because of the cyclists or teams. I learned a long time ago that if I did that, I would be constatly disappointed. I already accepted that doping is common and will stay in the sport for a long time, as long the sport is practiced by humans there will allways be cheating. That's life. I would love to see clean cycling, but I known that it's almost impossible.

 

[wpsracing78]

The same here. I watch cycling because I love the sport, and not because of the cyclists or teams. I learned a long time ago that if I did that, I would be constatly disappointed. I already accepted that doping is common and will stay in the sport for a long time, as long the sport is practiced by humans there will allways be cheating. That's life. I would love to see clean cycling, but I known that it's almost impossible.

Yeah of course I watch it because I love the sport. But even tho people say that, ur naturally going to like some riders more than others. But again, like you said, its a trap and sadly, not many can be truly trusted now...

 

[dgodave]

Yeah of course I watch it because I love the sport. But even tho people say that, ur naturally going to like some riders more than others. But again, like you said, its a trap and sadly, not many can be truly trusted now...

Oh for sure. I have riders I prefer. But its nothing like the partisanship people get over, say, football teams. Its a very light relationship, easily blown away.
.

 

[wpsracing78]

yeh thats true. I've been watching cycling religiously since about 2005/6/7? as in, reading cyclingnews, watching the races, every race result, etc. and very quickly started to like lots of riders like you would in tennis or f1. and puerto was a bit of a shock for a new fan!
But like I said, i've only sortof realized the actual real deal with doping mid-tour this year! when I read articles and came on this forum! not a huge shock to be honest, but the first stage I watched post.DR (doping realization) i will call it haha, I had an odd sortof feeling like "hmmmm, do i really trust him, him and him!" the majority of the answers were, "he's probably doping but, oh well.. this stage is awesome" and I quickly got over it! So i've got over that hurdle and I guess I'm untouchable now like most of the veterans here!

But imagine if, say, football again, a fan woke up one day and the headline would read, 'Manchester United fails A-Sample, banned for 2 years'. hehe theyd freak out

 

[EdvaldBoasson]

Is it just me or did Astarloza look like an alien when he crossed the finish line on his stage "win" in this years Tour de France?

Don't know if it is allowed to post pictures here, but I posted it on another forum. Take a look

http://movietrailersociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32

 

[Wergeland]

I read an interview with Kurt Asle Arvesen today, and he said that he had never seen a tdf stagewinner as happy as Astarloza was and he couldn't understand how he could react like that, knowing he had cheated.

Some rideres and teams (and perhaps even nationalities) definitely have different mentality towards doping than others.

 

[issoisso]

I read an interview with Kurt Asle Arvesen today, and he said that he had never seen a tdf stagewinner as happy as Astarloza was and he couldn't understand how he could react like that, knowing he had cheated.

Some rideres and teams (and perhaps even nationalities) definitely have different mentality towards doping than others.

Many riders have said very similar things, only to test positive themselves. At this point in time, it's good for your public image to shake your head "shame on you" at anyone who tests positive.

I'm not accusing Arvesen of anything, but there's just as much chance that he means it as there is that he's just saying that for PR, to "look clean". It's very normal for doped riders to say that kind of thing.

 

[blaxland]

Is it just me or did Astarloza look like an alien when he crossed the finish line on his stage "win" in this years Tour de France?

Don't know if it is allowed to post pictures here, but I posted it on another forum. Take a look

http://movietrailersociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32

Great picture and yes i can see the simularities...HaHaHA

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Uh, anyone remember how happy Flandis was after the stage to Morzine..? He was happy because he won, and beat the other dopers in the process.

....and BTW the phrase "innocent until proven guilty" translates to professional athletes as "denial until proven guilty"

Actually, denial after proven guilty is equally popular.

Internal doping controls? pffft more like internal checks to make sure you're doping program hasn't left behind any tell tale signs.

Hey, that was my presumption/claim a few months ago. I recall some thought I was being overly jaded.

I've only just recently delved into the world of 'the clinic' and finding out about the sports history, strangely it hasn't caused a bad reaction in me, I guess that just proves how much i love the sport.

Good for you. That's how I feel. I grow a little weary, of the doping/cheating at times but my flame burns eternal for the sport, so the passion is always there (boy, that sounds like an old Air Supply song!? )

 

[saxe_coburg_gotha]

The UCI once again breaks it's own rules of anti-doping testing and notification.

Well the UCI bossman is surrounded in allegations of corruption so why think anything else..........