"Bad Day" for Giro d'Italia

[Benotti69]

Michele Acquarone, Managing Director at RCS Sport which owns the Giro d'Italia, tweeted "Bad day" in reference to today's suspension of Alberto Contador and the retroactive stripping of Contador's 2011 Giro d'Italia victory.

"Tomorrow we’ll have a committee meeting and we’ll discuss if there’s anything we can do and how to work to protect our races."

How about RCS introduce a new regulation that states any team caught doping (or rider on said team) from 2012 on will not be invited to participate for a minimum of 10 years and that rider will be banned forever from participating in RCS events.

I bet that would put the scares on DS and riders.

 

[El Pistolero]

Yeah, that way the Giro would die and nobody would give a crap about it.

 

[Ferminal]

How about RCS challenge the decision, and refuse to disqualify Contador?

 

[scribe]

The risk was obvious when they invited contador. Can't see why they are upset about anything now.

 

[Fetisoff]

Oh, yeah, some exciting Zoncolan show-downs between Europcar and Sky that would give us

 

[Fetisoff]

The risk was obvious when they invited contador. Can't see why they are upset about anything now.

I don't think they had a choice. They had to invite his team, so he received an invitation. I think when Valverde was barred from riding before his suspension, he was not allowed to ride in Italy all-together

 

[tdiethe]

I don't think they had a choice. They had to invite his team, so he received an invitation. I think when Valverde was barred from riding before his suspension, he was not allowed to ride in Italy all-together

Really? Do they not have any leeway over this?

 

[Nick C.]

Couldn't they have refused Contador as being under investigation? The real problem is the way the suspensions work. IMO the only result taken away should be from the race you tested positive in. The suspension should be from the day the verdict comes out ... jail "time served" doesn't = time spend livign life as usual waiting for the trial etc, only time behind bars. The worse thing is w/o Contador the Giro would have been raced totally differently, there would be no Scarponi blowing himself up trying to follow Contador nor would Rujano, if he made the same attacks, have had Contador to work with and so on.

 

[Fetisoff]

Really? Do they not have any leeway over this?

World tour teams are guaranteed a stop in all world tour events, so there's no leeway that way.

 

[Benotti69]

World tour teams are guaranteed a stop in all world tour events, so there's no leeway that way.

Under current UCI agreements they are.

If RCS and ASO want to keep their events drug free and 'bad news' free it is time to start taking the anti doping seriously.

Pro cycling does not get it yet. When will they all from riders to UCI to event organisers cop on and start demanding an end to doping?

 

[Benotti69]

Yeah, that way the Giro would die and nobody would give a crap about it.

Cycling is a big sport in Italy and RCS is a big player in the sporting arena.

No way would it die.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Under current UCI agreements they are.

If RCS and ASO want to keep their events drug free and 'bad news' free it is time to start taking the anti doping seriously.

Pro cycling does not get it yet. When will they all from riders to UCI to event organisers cop on and start demanding an end to doping?

Just the opposite. As it is, RCS has some control over anti-doping testing by sheer fact they provide the budget for the tests. So what's a lab going to do first, please their customer's requests for compliant testing and bias towards false negatives? Or actually test with intent to issue AAF's?

The RCS promised releasing samples for CERA testing years ago when it was discovered that the Giro wasn't specifying a CERA test and it never happened. I can't imagine why....

 

[Benotti69]

Just the opposite. As it is, RCS has some control over anti-doping testing by sheer fact they provide the budget for the tests. So what's a lab going to do first, please their customer's requests for compliant testing and bias towards false negatives? Or actually test with intent to issue AAF's?

The RCS promised releasing samples for CERA testing years ago when it was discovered that the Giro wasn't specifying a CERA test and it never happened. I can't imagine why....

RCS is no more interested in a clean sport than McQuaid, but then the media dont put it to them.

RCS/ASO part of the omerta.

Cycling media have no pelotas when it comes to talking to these organisations.

FFS cycling media cant even call out McQuaid and he is a sitting duck of a target for anyone with a 10th of a brain.

My OP was tongue in cheek about what a joke it is for RCS to call it 'bad news'. They let him compete. They played russian roulette with Contador and i am glad that there was a bullet in the chamber when they pulled the trigger.

 

[Fetisoff]

I didn't notice "from 2012 on" in your original post, so I assumed you meant retrospectively, meaning there would be almost no teams available to ride the Giro

I guess you might have a point there. Maybe 10 years is a little too harsh, at least start with a year or two (like Astana was banned from riding TDF in 2008 for example) and go from there.

Would you also bar the teams taking back convicted dopers after the suspension?

And by "caught doping" you mean convicted of doping, correct?

 

[Benotti69]

I didn't notice "from 2012 on" in your original post, so I assumed you meant retrospectively, meaning there would be almost no teams available to ride the Giro

I guess you might have a point there. Maybe 10 years is a little too harsh, at least start with a year or two (like Astana was banned from riding TDF in 2008 for example) and go from there.

Why is it harsh? Want to end doping make the bans harsh enough to make people decide it just is not worth it. And make it harsh for everyone involved not just hang the riders. They are the stars of the sport yet sit in the bottom rung.

Why are the RCS/ASO waiting for UCI. Why not take it upon themselves to keep their own houses in order? The same old bullshít blame others.

Would you also bar the teams taking back convicted dopers after the suspension?

And by "caught doping" you mean convicted of doping, correct?

Start with a blank sheet from this year. Anyone caught, riders, soigneurs, drivers etc associated with a team and it is a 10 year ban. The person caught also receives a 10 year ban. Why not? They cry about the bad new do something about it instead of toothless PR stories.

I'll let the RCS decide what they mean by doping. Let them decide who is 'bad news', why wait for CAS to take so long to decide?

 

[DirtyWorks]

My OP was tongue in cheek about what a joke it is for RCS to call it 'bad news'. They let him compete. They played russian roulette with Contador and i am glad that there was a bullet in the chamber when they pulled the trigger.

I got the tongue-in-cheek part, but it will be a "whooosh!" moment for many when they don't get it. So, I threw something in there for the sake of clarity.

 

[Benotti69]

I got the tongue-in-cheek part, but it will be a "whooosh!" moment for many when they don't get it. So, I threw something in there for the sake of clarity.

lots of "whooosh!" moments for many in here

 

[Fetisoff]

Why is it harsh? Want to end doping make the bans harsh enough to make people decide it just is not worth it. And make it harsh for everyone involved not just hang the riders. They are the stars of the sport yet sit in the bottom rung.

Why are the RCS/ASO waiting for UCI. Why not take it upon themselves to keep their own houses in order? The same old bullshít blame others.



Start with a blank sheet from this year. Anyone caught, riders, soigneurs, drivers etc associated with a team and it is a 10 year ban. The person caught also receives a 10 year ban. Why not? They cry about the bad new do something about it instead of toothless PR stories.

I'll let the RCS decide what they mean by doping. Let them decide who is 'bad news', why wait for CAS to take so long to decide?

Well, because frankly I'm not quite sure how systematic the doping is in the teams right now. While I'm not naive enough to think that someone like Vino and Kash were doping in Astana without the management being aware, someone else for a different team might be doing it on their own.

And banning the team from the biggest events for 10 years basically means killing a team off, so now you legal ramifications of riders trying to break their contracts and looking for a new team, just because of one doper on their team. And imagine, if a rider gets convicted in the off-season, when most of the teams rosters are already set.

I don't know, as I said there is definitely something to your idea, but I just think you might be taking it a bit too far. But yet again, maybe that's what we need to stop the doping.

 

[Benotti69]

Well, because frankly I'm not quite sure how systematic the doping is in the teams right now. While I'm not naive enough to think that someone like Vino and Kash were doping in Astana without the management being aware, someone else for a different team might be doing it on their own.

And banning the team from the biggest events for 10 years basically means killing a team off, so now you legal ramifications of riders trying to break their contracts and looking for a new team, just because of one doper on their team. And imagine, if a rider gets convicted in the off-season, when most of the teams rosters are already set.

I don't know, as I said there is definitely something to your idea, but I just think you might be taking it a bit too far. But yet again, maybe that's what we need to stop the doping.

The purpose is that RCS are *****ing about Contador and the 'bad news' it brings to the sport. Blaming the riders again.

But what are they doing about? Nothing but passing the buck.

What could they do about it? Lots

It was to throw it open to, if the federations dont want to clean it up, why not the event organisers?

One of the problems is that DS and teams get off when a rider gets caught.

The teams are part of the problem.

Look how many DS are doping DSs.

Martinelli - Astana
Bruyneel - RadioLeopard
Riis - Saxo
Rihs - BMC
Breukink - Rabobank
Lefevere - OmegaPharmaQuick

can think of the others of the top of my head.

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't think they had a choice. They had to invite his team, so he received an invitation. I think when Valverde was barred from riding before his suspension, he was not allowed to ride in Italy all-together

You might be right but the risk was still there. So no way they were surprised.

Having said that, I remember Zomegan being very excited about having Contador in the race, anybody remember that?

So no time to cry now.

 

[Fetisoff]

Having said that, I remember Zomegan being very excited about having Contador in the race, anybody remember that?

Yeah. Doesn't he make for a perfect scapegoat in this scenario?

 

[Escarabajo]

+1. LOL.

Now that you say so.

 

[Escarabajo]

Yeah. Doesn't he make for a perfect scapegoat in this scenario?

+1. LOL.

Now that you say so.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yea, cos barring any doper or team harbouring a doper would go down SO WELL in Italy. Arrivederci & Sayonara, Acqua e Sapone! Auf Wiedersehen Androni! Laters, Lampre!

 

[Benotti69]

Yea, cos barring any doper or team harbouring a doper would go down SO WELL in Italy. Arrivederci & Sayonara, Acqua e Sapone! Auf Wiedersehen Androni! Laters, Lampre!

My Op was to call out the BS on RCS blaming riders when they have the power to change the sport.

They have just banned Acqua&Sapone because they signed Di Luca why not make it all the teams.

They could have signed an agreement with UCI where this was possible.

UCI needs the TdF and Giro more than RCS/ASO needs UCI.

Most fans dont give a shít about UCI but care about the TdF, Giro and the monuments.