Rasmussen also pulls a Rasmussen.

[RedheadDane]

Apparently they have a very interesting method of punishment at HTC. Beating him with a wet newspaper!

Article in Danish http://sporten.tv2.dk/cykling/article.php/id-43723489:vi-har-tæsket-alex-med-våd-avis.html

 

[richtea]

Well, even though it is now the tailend of the season, HTC will still not be able to use him in any races. SO they'll be paying him for doing SFA. Not many employers would keep you on payroll for doing nothing.

But I wouldn't call that cynical - like you say, any employer would do the same.

 

[Cimber]

But I wouldn't call that cynical - like you say, any employer would do the same.

Agree. They couldnt and shouldnt have done anything else.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Brian Holm, DS of HTC: "Alex is as innocent as he is stupid" He countinous calling him notorious messy and unorganised.

http://politiken.dk/sport/cykling/ECE1393220/brian-holm-alex-er-ligesaa-uskyldig-som-han-er-dum/
In Danish

Incredible. So at his first whereabouts warning he was actually tested by the UCI (in Berlin), but still got the warning as the Danish federation couldn't get hold of him.

 

[webvan]

Nice detective work by JV here...

Maybe they should equip all the cyclists with a GPS tracker (Garmin makes a nice one, the GTU-10) so that they can do without that time wasting call/fax to say where you are.

 

[roundabout]

He forgot to tell that he was riding a 6-day race in Berlin? Really? A 6-day racer?

 

[python]

a subtle difference between alex and madame with chicken otoh is that unlike them he...has a bio passport record.

perhaps he was targeted but only he and some official would know...

 

[GreasyMonkey]

Unofficial rumours about him also say that he is extremly unorganised and lazy, which could both explain this incident and also explain why both Riis, Holm and others have said that his talent is bigger than what he manages to get out of it (since he is unorganised and lazy)

I can confirm that he was very lazy - to quote a previous coach of his when we were following him on a training ride (in the cold and rain) "Before I took over his training, he wouldn't get out of bed if there was a cloud in the sky, let alone train..."

Don't know what his training ethic is like now, but I guess he has not changed that much. VERY talented, but not wanting to do the hard work needed to be the champion that he could be.

 

[craig1985]

And if Alex Rasmussen spoke Spanish as his mother language?

Either way, looks like he couldn't organize a ****-up in a brewery.

 

[GJB123]

From the Voeckler thread:

There was an item once on Dutch television (related to a hurrdler missing too many OoC-controls) and it isn't as straight forward as you make it out to be. They use a web application that is prone crashing and throwing you out of the system time and time again leaving the athletes unsure whether their whereabouts actually were registered at all (he couldn't get back in to check). They had a guy from the Holland 8 (rowing) do a demo on TV and I must day it was horrendous. Throw into that that you can miss a control by actually not hearing your doorbell (imagine sitting the garden and just miss hearing it) and you are ****ed, because they do not want to call you on your mobile to tell you therey are now at the location where you claimed to be. Or that you might have a last minute change of plans and can't get into the system. The system just sucks.

The athlete they showed was academically schooled, not a stupid guy and by no means someone who was sloppy, but by his accounts you had to be downright never to mess up with the whereabouts.

Regards
GJ

 

[neineinei]

Apparently they have a very interesting method of punishment at HTC. Beating him with a wet newspaper!

Article in Danish http://sporten.tv2.dk/cykling/article.php/id-43723489:vi-har-tæsket-alex-med-våd-avis.html

Holm must have misheard Aldag, It is supposed to be a wet celery.

 

[Willy_Voet]

I love that Rolf Aldag says that Alex broke the rules so will be fired.

Rich. Very rich.

 

[T-Nielsen]

Regarding alex not getting the best out of his talent, I remember Holm telling in an interview, that if Alex where as serious about his cycling as Lars Bak, then he would be as strong as Cancellara.

Personally i can't help but wonder what Mørkøv could have done with just 80% of his natural talent.

 

[Ney the Viking]

It really is incredibly stupid, to go to a 6day race in Berlin and forget to tell DCU, race well, get tested by the UCI, and then at the same time a danish tester shows up at home, resulting in a missed test. I had heard the rumors that he was a dumb**** slob, but this is even by cyclist standards pretty ****ing stupid.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Surely a 'Clean' team does a thorough background check on riders it is interested in before signing them. But as this example shows, HTC and Garmin dont bother which shows how interested they are in cleanliness.

Also extremely convenient for HTC to leave the sport after dumping a rider for missing doping testing. Cynical move from a team that was once T-Mobile not so long ago.

Totally, and I wonder when they really 'knew' about the missed tests. Very convenient to suddenly 'discover' about the missed tests after he's been riding all summer helping the team.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Surely a 'Clean' team does a thorough background check on riders it is interested in before signing them. But as this example shows, HTC and Garmin dont bother which shows how interested they are in cleanliness.

While something doesn't sound right about Rasmussen/HTC (the delay since April) - how would any team be able to obtain private information held by 2 separate groups? Do you think that Pat would answer Bobs calls?

Also extremely convenient for HTC to leave the sport after dumping a rider for missing doping testing. Cynical move from a team that was once T-Mobile not so long ago.

Now you are back to over stretching - wouldn't it be far more 'convenient' to leave before news comes out about doping?

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Rasmussen and the team were only notified of the action yesterday, with the Danish Cycling Union telling them of the third missed control and that they were suspending Rasmussen's licence.

Hard to see how that affects HTC-Highroad's decision announced several weeks ago.

Susan

 

[Benotti69]

While something doesn't sound right about Rasmussen/HTC (the delay since April) - how would any team be able to obtain private information held by 2 separate groups? Do you think that Pat would answer Bobs calls?

while you live in this make believe world of everyhting happening by the book others can find out information very easily and quickly by nefarious routes. It happens all the time. How do they find the doping doctors, how do they know in advance when the 'vampires' are coming etc...not to difficult to find a riders 'history' i would imagine.

Now you are back to over stretching - wouldn't it be far more 'convenient' to leave before news comes out about doping?

Nope, because now Bob can hold his head high about doping by pretending he doesn't accept it in his teams, even if it just a missed test, in case he wants to come back in 2013 with a new sponsor as he is man not scared to kick out dopers.

Wonder how many other HTC riders have missed tests? Let's hope we find out.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

while you live in this make believe world of everyhting happening by the book others can find out information very easily and quickly by nefarious routes. It happens all the time. How do they find the doping doctors, how do they know in advance when the 'vampires' are coming etc...not to difficult to find a riders 'history' i would imagine.

Actually, I asked you a simple question - who would you call and would you expect them to tell you?

Because your world view is contradictory - why would you miss a test if you knew that the 'vampires' were coming?

Nope, because now Bob can hold his head high about doping by pretending he doesn't accept it in his teams, even if it just a missed test, in case he wants to come back in 2013 with a new sponsor as he is man not scared to kick out dopers.

Wonder how many other HTC riders have missed tests? Let's hope we find out.

Ok, so HTC decided not to sponsor any longer and Bob didn't really try and get a new sponsor because he wanted the team to fold because he knew that Rasmussen had missed tests so he could fire him which makes him look tough so he can come back (looking tough) in 2013?

 

[Benotti69]

Actually, I asked you a simple question - who would you call and would you expect them to tell you?

as i am not part of the pro cycling circus, i cant answer that, but in my profession there are plenty of avenues to persue as there are in every profession. I am sure Bob knows these avenues having worked for T-Mobile.

Because your world view is contradictory - why would you miss a test if you knew that the 'vampires' were coming?

Because i had just taken a shít load of dope, dude. and i got my dates mixed up....

Ok, so HTC decided not to sponsor any longer and Bob didn't really try and get a new sponsor because he wanted the team to fold because he knew that Rasmussen had missed tests so he could fire him which makes him look tough so he can come back (looking tough) in 2013?

Only Bob knows Bob's motivation.
Bob folded the team a while ago. Not relevant to what i said. What i said is he saw this as a possible opportunity to raise his clean status. Nowt more. If he can get his stuff together for another team in 2013, well this will look good on his CV.

edit; ask yourself this medicboy, how come l'equipe have access to the missed tests on Longo and Voekler? I suppose you think they went through the right channels or maybe as i said there are ways and means of finding the info. If l'equipe can get it, well the omerta knows it well in advance.

 

[zigmeister]

Totally, and I wonder when they really 'knew' about the missed tests. Very convenient to suddenly 'discover' about the missed tests after he's been riding all summer helping the team.

What is interesting, is how right before Worlds, all of the doping, controls etc..are ramping up for whatever agenda.

Longo, now Rasmussen and the list goes on.

Either they are seriously trying to combat doping and taking a zero tolerance policy and truly busting people left and right. Or they are conveniently releasing information they have had access/knowledge of for a long time, and use it when it benefits them the most for whatever payoff they get out of it. We know for a fact with Longo, this information has been around and available for 4yrs, and is now just being released right before Worlds...hmm...

This same thing can be applied to Rasmussen apparently.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

as i am not part of the pro cycling circus, i cant answer that, but in my profession there are plenty of avenues to persue as there are in every profession. I am sure Bob knows these avenues having worked for T-Mobile.

You admit you cannot answer the simple question and yet keep asserting that there is some intent by all parties to keep this information secret (and yet they will leak it quietly to each other?).

I actually think you are giving the DCU and UCI too much credit there of being able to pull off such a scheme - to me it sounds like neither know what the other is doing.

Because i had just taken a shít load of dope, dude. and i got my dates mixed up....

So, you go to all the trouble of getting advanced notice of testing - and then forget the date?

Only Bob knows Bob's motivation.
Bob folded the team a while ago. Not relevant to what i said. What i said is he saw this as a possible opportunity to raise his clean status. Nowt more. If he can get his stuff together for another team in 2013, well this will look good on his CV.

Well you appeared to have a stab at questioning his motivation.
Maybe they sacked their rider because he broke their rules?

edit; ask yourself this medicboy, how come l'equipe have access to the missed tests on Longo and Voekler? I suppose you think they went through the right channels or maybe as i said there are ways and means of finding the info. If l'equipe can get it, well the omerta knows it well in advance.

Quite simply, because they didn't.
L'Equipe were notified after she had missed 3 tests and an investigation was launched.
Voeckler admitted his own errors (I don't think he said he missed tests).

 

[L'arriviste]

Surely a 'Clean' team does a thorough background check on riders it is interested in before signing them.

Totally, and I wonder when they really 'knew' about the missed tests. Very convenient to suddenly 'discover' about the missed tests after he's been riding all summer helping the team.

While something doesn't sound right about Rasmussen/HTC (the delay since April) - how would any team be able to obtain private information held by 2 separate groups? Do you think that Pat would answer Bobs calls?

That would be to assume that a "background check" can be made. I am not aware of such a procedure being available (or, admittedly, not available).

If such a facility does exist, it seems rather prejudicial to an individual to refuse to employ him based on something he hasn't actually done (a third missed test) and up to which point he has not in fact done anything sanctionable. We are not, after all, obliged to declare a police caution in job applications.

So unless he is being sanctioned, that individual's "record", if such a thing exists, ought to remain private. It should be enough that, if he chooses to hide what he could himself have volunteered to his employer and he then screws up again, the consequences - i.e. instant dismissal - are clear enough to both parties.

EDIT: JV seems to confirm that this info is not available

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I find it hard to believe that if Vaughters was serious about 'clean' racing that he could not have done some background checks.

Considering that the UCI has a 'suspicion index' it is pretty obvious that the UCI has to some extent a knowledge of who the more dodgy riders are.

Did Vaughter's not think to ask the rider 'is there anything we should know about doping/missed tests?' when signing the rider? You'd have thought in a sport like cycling where doping is such an issue and so many people have skeletons buried that it would be routine if you were serious about clean racing.

If Vaughters' didn't ask questions then he is either i) incompetent ii) operates 'don't ask, don't tell' iii) doesn't care iv) his anti-doping stuff is bull**** and he is no better than Gianetti, Holm, Aldag, Hog and Riis.

 

[richtea]

We are not, after all, obliged to declare a police caution in job applications. [/U]

But if the prospective employer requests a CRB check, the cautions will be visible (at least in the UK). It would seem sensible to allow managers of cycling teams access to something similar if they wish to make background checks of potential signings - obviously it would be the riders right to refuse, but then equally no employment obligation on the other side.