Lidl-Trek (no longer Radioshack-Leopard Trek)

[cineteq]

Rumours that ASO are considering blocking RaNT from Tour.

Ouch.

Makes sense though now that Andy won't ride. If Andy would ride than I'm sure they wouldn't even consider it.

It won't be fair for some riders, but maybe the best to do to avoid bad Tour press and distractions. RIP RSNT?

 

[maxmartin]

No, CONI can only ban Valverde racing on italian soil, which blocked him doing the tour, because there is a part of the tour go through Italy that year. Valverde can still race everywhere else. And later the UCI and WADA contested the Spanish Cycling Federation's decision not to open a case against Valverde. And it is in Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeals from WADA and the UCI and Valverde finally was banned for two years.

Not quite. USADA have authority to ban any athlete with a US licence, regardless of nationality. The Swiss federation opened a case against German national Jan Ullrich on these grounds.

The Italian and French anti-doping agencies even have banned foreign nationals with foreign licences (Valverde and Landis) from competing.

 

[ElChingon]

Even if they only ban those accused, where will that leave the team, no DS (on the paper to the UCI or not Joe-Han is the DS), no Doctor (that will reduce their ability to ... cough cough ... recover), no Ferrari on the hotline (again no VAM calculations on the fly or other advice), no multi talented multi abled team handler (there go the ... cough cough... refrigerated motobikes).

So in conclusion, no they will be ban (or at least should be). I know they have some pretty cool riders who will be left out but we all saw it and said why would they sign/stay with the team and they did it anyway. Now they pay the consequences of their actions. Live and learn.

 

[ElChingon]

...

Dude, no amount of legal-ease is going to make the ASO turn a blind eye. Legal or not they will be banned, go start a thread on the legality of banning a team as this one and how its illegal. meanwhile they will sit at home watching le Tour, or they should be.

 

[maxmartin]

This is exactly what I said in my post, if you care to read the whole thing. And there is no issue with legality of banning, because there is no banning happened yet except Armstrong. And banning Armstrong is very legit, I don't see any wrong with it.

Dude, no amount of legal-ease is going to make the ASO turn a blind eye. Legal or not they will be banned, go start a thread on the legality of banning a team as this one and how its illegal. meanwhile they will sit at home watching le Tour, or they should be.

 

[T-Nielsen]

You can just feel the Leopard riders love for Becca growing by the minute.

 

[Anonymous]

Dude, no amount of legal-ease is going to make the ASO turn a blind eye. Legal or not they will be banned, go start a thread on the legality of banning a team as this one and how its illegal. meanwhile they will sit at home watching le Tour, or they should be.

I dunno. The charging letter says nothing of the current RSNT structure.

I'm guessing those implicated get provisionally sacked and the team goes to the TdF. Probably with Kim Andersen and probably with Chris Horner.

But I could be wrong.

 

[T-Nielsen]

I dunno. The charging letter says nothing of the current RSNT structure.

I'm guessing those implicated get provisionally sacked and the team goes to the TdF. Probably with Kim Andersen and probably with Chris Horner.

But I could be wrong.

On the Horner thing, yes you are (I think). On the other, it sounds reasonable.

 

[maxmartin]

Agree. There is nothing at this stage make me think RSNT will not ride the tour. JB and a few other people might not be welcomed by ASO. RSNT as the brand new team has every right to race. And Frank finally be with Kim together.
As for Horner I don't know how much he is involved in Armstrong case, maybe that is the real reason of non-selection (that is pure speculation).

I dunno. The charging letter says nothing of the current RSNT structure.

I'm guessing those implicated get provisionally sacked and the team goes to the TdF. Probably with Kim Andersen and probably with Chris Horner.

But I could be wrong.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Surely JB needs a licence to be a team manager, delivered by the UCI diretcly possibly? Can they turn a blind eye? If not ASO will certainly be more than happy to make him a "persona non grata" on the TDF. Can't wait for Horner to tweet about that ;-)

This is the UCI we're talking about. For some, there are no rules. For others, there are many rules and they are enforced with vigor.

For JB, there are practically no rules. Like others have said, the TdF is up to ASO. They will not pay any mind to the UCI.

I'm interested in how it will be handled by ASO for 2012. The Horner/JB angle is interesting too, but it's the purest kind of speculation.

 

[Captain Sensible]

I dunno. The charging letter says nothing of the current RSNT structure.

I'm guessing those implicated get provisionally sacked and the team goes to the TdF. Probably with Kim Andersen and probably with Chris Horner.

But I could be wrong.

Kim Andersen would be a bad choice when you consider his past drug use.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Well, given the latest developments, I'd say that any chance Horner had of replacing Andy S, just went out of the window:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/chris-horner-i-dont-believe-armstrong-cheated

Give that man a beetroot juice.

 

[jens_attacks]

grande horner!
i read that interview with admiration for the old man.
he will be in the tour team,the american fans let their word known everywhere.

back in the game!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Chris Horner knows where his bread is buttered.

He does come across as a total idiot in that interview. Apparently, he doesn't realize that witness testimony has a long history in court proceedings.

He basically spouts off the usual talking points that are, of course, false.

 

[mewmewmew13]

update on RSNT Tour in the other thread from thehog:

"Looks like RadioShack are about to be booted from the Tour: http://www.rmcsport.fr/editorial/266...ire-armstrong/ "

 

[LaFlorecita]

update on RSNT Tour in the other thread from thehog:

"Looks like RadioShack are about to be booted from the Tour: http://www.rmcsport.fr/editorial/266...ire-armstrong/ "

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=903058&postcount=3657

 

[mewmewmew13]

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=903058&postcount=3657

hard to keep up here

 

[cineteq]

Chris Horner knows where his bread is buttered.

He does come across as a total idiot in that interview. Apparently, he doesn't realize that witness testimony has a long history in court proceedings.

He basically spouts off the usual talking points that are, of course, false.

I used to like Horner until few hours ago...
Talk about shooting himself in the foot big time
Unless he's set for life, he just made a huge mistske!!!

 

[DominicDecoco]

Being 40 and raced for a long time I would support Lance as well if you know what I mean....

 

[Mellow Velo]

grande horner!
i read that interview with admiration for the old man.
he will be in the tour team,the american fans let their word known everywhere.
back in the game!

You must be joking. This is a massive mistake.
For once Omerta was the way to go.
Even if Bruyneel maintains any sort of control over team dynamics, no way can he now add Horner to the roster.
It will be taken as pay off for the mouth off.


Imo: Dumber than a bag of spanners.

 

[jens_attacks]

i want to see him racing the tour by any means,that's all.

plus, that "pics or it didn't happen" phrase for me,made him even more of a legend.

if they throw radioshack out of le tour,it will just a big farce,let's throw them all and put the usada guys or whatever to ride the mountains of france to see how easy is that.

 

[Christian]

IMO it is looking bad for Bruyneel to keep his job. I don't know who exactly is in charge of this team but I assume in order to save the team they need to ride the Tour and in order to do that they must fire Bruyneel. Since he is officially only "management consultant" and Guercilena is the official general manager it should not be too difficult

(if the RMC rumours are true)

Also I am looking forward to seeing how Bloemetje will spin this one to match her "ASO is in love with Andy" theory

 

[pastronef]

Also I am looking forward to seeing how Bloemetje will spin this one to match her "ASO is in love with Andy" theory

nice one

 

[roundabout]

IMO it is looking bad for Bruyneel to keep his job. I don't know who exactly is in charge of this team but I assume in order to save the team they need to ride the Tour and in order to do that they must fire Bruyneel. Since he is officially only "management consultant" and Guercilena is the official general manager it should not be too difficult

(if the RMC rumours are true)

Also I am looking forward to seeing how Bloemetje will spin this one to match her "ASO is in love with Andy" theory

look a few posts upthread

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I can't see ASO putting their relationship with UCI on the line over this, after all the difficulties over UniBet and Astana. Their contract is on the basis that all WT teams can, and must, participate. Through that out, and I can see other ASO events (Paris-Nice, Critérium du Dauphiné, La Flèche Wallonne, but probably not Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège) dropped from the WT, and therefore lose a lot of their point chasing high profile competitors. Qatar and Oman Tours could lose any licensed status, and Tour of Beijing, which presumably they are only involved in because of a healthy fee from the UCI, would be removed from their control. UCI wields too much power over ASO for them to risk this.