Cycling news: "Italian convinced he has a chance as sport becomes cleaner"
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cunego-back-in-the-hunt-for-the-maglia-rosa
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cunego-back-in-the-hunt-for-the-maglia-rosa
The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
issoisso said:I think his fluctuations in performance show he's telling it as it is. I, for one, really do hope he's telling the truth, and I do respect him quite a bit more for this.
Libertine Seguros said:Damiano is awesome. The fact that he's gone out and said this is something pretty good in the first place. A top tier pro with an enviable palmarès is coming out and saying that it's getting easier to win clean, and saying that dopers should be banned for life?
This is a good step. Now, what will be interesting to see is what happens to him. Will omertà 'crush you, Little Prince'?
santacruz said:he has an anti doping tattoo, so I know he's for real!!
I think his fluctuations in performance show he's telling it as it is. I, for one, really do hope he's telling the truth, and I do respect him quite a bit more for this.
As much as I like Cunego, and I do, you should remember that was an anti-doping temporary tattoo, which isn't quite the same thing.santacruz said:I love Damiano, he is very outspoken about doping, and that's how you have to be!! you can't be silent and not saying anything like so many pros who act like everything is fine... he has an anti doping tattoo, so I know he's for real!! I can forgive him what he may have done in the past, he did what he felt he had to.. but now is the time to embrace the change. Lifetime ban for the serious A-Hole dopers like Vino.
Ferminal said:Alternatively he's come to the conclusion that it's only possible to win a GT with dope, thus has got back on the horse as such.
ludwig said:Ridiculous. Dude, boxers use EPO for months in preparation for one 30 min bout....why wouldn't Classics riders make use of the same prep? Even though it is repeated here ad nauseum, there remains not a shred of evidence to indicate that Classics riders are any less doped than GT riders. I challenge you to name the Classic that has been won by a clean rider in recent years.
Devils advocate would say that, alternatively, Vino and others (but not all) are only up at the Cunego/Evans/Basso level because they - call them the Vino's for convenience - are doping, ie if everyone were clean, the Vino's wouldn't be at the same level as Basso and Cunego and Evans. I think that was Cunego's basic point.ludwig said:Bingo. Notice how he is defending Basso of all people.
Cunego arguing that the Giro must be clean because he is up there is like arguing that the Tour must be clean because Wiggins was up there.
Sorry...ridiculous on its face.
The idea that Cunego and Basso are clean while others in the Giro aren't flies in the face of all available evidence on the effects of oxygen-vector doping.
So naturally the next step is to claim everyone is clean lol! Good business decision for Cunego, who wins plaudits from the media...until he gets busted.
ludwig said:Bingo. Notice how he is defending Basso of all people.
Cunego arguing that the Giro must be clean because he is up there is like arguing that the Tour must be clean because Wiggins was up there.
Sorry...ridiculous on its face.
The idea that Cunego and Basso are clean while others in the Giro aren't flies in the face of all available evidence on the effects of oxygen-vector doping.
So naturally the next step is to claim everyone is clean lol! Good business decision for Cunego, who wins plaudits from the media...until he gets busted.
Michielveedeebee said:Paris-Roubaix - FC
Vlaanderen - FC
Bernardus said:Is FC some kind of code word?
France '96-Cecchini or something like that?
ludwig said:Anybody else ****ed at CN for publishing this crap? This is Velonews-level propagandizing CN.
If anything, stuff like this just makes the anti-doping crowd even more irrational. They become convinced that someone like Cunego is clean and is getting cheated out of wins by his competitors... Nobody knows who is 'dirty' and who is 'clean' so speculation reigns supreme...
This kind of interview is not real people....it's show biz nothing more. Look, if Vino needs dope to finish with the best on the Terminillo then so do Cunego and Basso. There is no difference in the sense that they are all on the program. Yes, all 3 of them dope. Of course they do. There might be some differences in dosage and degree, but ultimately these are all professional riders and all 3 know how to prepare for a Grand Tour.
I can understand people defending Cunego by saying he has to say these things, professionally he has no choice etc. Arguably, a cyclist stating he is clean is no less a part of being a professional cyclist than a boxer trash-talking his opponents.
But to jump on his bandwagon is sheer naivete. Worse, supporting this kind of thing encourages more lies, more deception, more fraud... Is this what you want cycling to be? A circus and a fraud?
Ridiculous. Dude, boxers use EPO for months in preparation for one 30 min bout....why wouldn't Classics riders make use of the same prep? Even though it is repeated here ad nauseum, there remains not a shred of evidence to indicate that Classics riders are any less doped than GT riders. I challenge you to name the Classic that has been won by a clean rider in recent years.
VeloCity said:Devils advocate would say that, alternatively, Vino and others (but not all) are only up at the Cunego/Evans/Basso level because they - call them the Vino's for convenience - are doping, ie if everyone were clean, the Vino's wouldn't be at the same level as Basso and Cunego and Evans. I think that was Cunego's basic point.
....
For my own part, I tend to believe that Cunego and Basso are both former dopers who have seen the light and are now trying to race clean, but trying to race clean against dopers like Vino, who, without doping, wouldn't be able to hold their wheel. And I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if I am completely wrong about Cunego and Basso and Evans et al. But I don't believe for a moment that Vino is clean.
Von Mises said:Why do you think that position "they are all doped" are more objective than some other position? Or more neutral?
ludwig said:It's more consistent with the facts on the ground. The nature of the sport. The nature of oxygen-vector drugs and doping. As well as the testimony of the whistleblowers. The persistence of those who have facilitated and been instrumental in doping scandals at the top levels of the sport. It's more consistent with omerta, and the attitude of the peloton towards known dopers.