Ricco back, again?

[washedup]

Wow. I have never liked Ricco. Not a fan of dopers in general. But you have to give it to AV for the proposal. "Listen boy, you are going to straighten up. You are out of hand."

Isn't this the same team that hired the recovering drug addict from the TV show?

If it is any excuse, I can imagine the current financial situation & mental status of Ricco is much different than other famous dopers currently in the press. A diamond tooth? WTF, maybe financially he is OK?

Hopefully he can figure out an honest way for his innocent kid to live.

 

[Fester]

The biggest favour anyone could do for Ricco is keep him away from a racing bike. And somehow put his ego in check.

 

[thirteen]

good for ricco. he never tested positive the last time. the way the whole issue was handled was pathetic. people just make ricco look like the biggest doper ever. . . . i honestly hope he gets back and completely destroys all those hypocrites that don't speak out about their own doping or armstrong's doping or even contador's doping but were ready to make a party when the news were saying ricco was at the risk of dying

i'm with you on this!

the look on their faces will be priceless

 

[Chuffy]

good for ricco. he never tested positive the last time. the way the whole issue was handled was pathetic. people just make ricco look like the biggest doper ever. . . . i honestly hope he gets back and completely destroys all those hypocrites that don't speak out about their own doping or armstrong's doping or even contador's doping but were ready to make a party when the news were saying ricco was at the risk of dying

Really? I thought that he was doing a pretty good job all by himself. Perhaps the other riders hate him because he's an arrogant tw*t?

Fanini's rules look good on paper, but I seriously doubt that he'll get Ricco to stick to them.

 

[Stingray34]

Fanini and his Amore e Vita squad have been around forever. Always had a stringent anti-doping policy even before the term was invented. Not that the riders necessarily pay much attention. A bit like Linda McCartney Foods, "yeah, sure, we're all vegetarians..."

Also, Matt White rode for Amore e Vita in the mid-late 90's. Nuff said.

This is Italy.

 

[luckyboy]

Ah well, Meridiana Kamen it is.

 

[saganftw]

he will sign now with some small team so...

any bets on when he gets busted again? i think before the end of season

 

[Chuffy]

he will sign now with some small team so...

any bets on when he gets busted again? i think before the end of season

Apparently he's signing for Meridian-Kamen http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ricco-to-sign-for-meridian-kamen

 

[Benotti69]

Apparently he's signing for Meridian-Kamen http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ricco-to-sign-for-meridian-kamen

well there goes any idea that he has changed his ways

 

[Archibald]

he will sign now with some small team so...

any bets on when he gets busted again? i think before the end of season

yep, move this to the gaming forum and we can start the book on how long til it goes t1ts up again.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Rule #4

4. He must come to live with his wife and son in a villa on my property

now that is what I call Amore & Vita.

 

[Markyboyzx6r]

Every day seems to bring pennies from heaven when it comes to cycling stories. It's like some poorly written satire - Ricco to return? Who in their right mind would want their brand to be associated with that guy, he's more toxic than the blood he stored in his fridge for 25 days.

Think about how this looks to the person who is interested in cycling but not obsessed, the casual viewer in other words. This is just another episode in the history of doping that (literally) has gone from farce to tragedy. Casual viewers must be looking at cycling and thinking 'why bother, I'll go and watch x y z instead', the sport has zero credibility.

Ricco is a sick young man. Cycling is so poorly policed that there's the possibility he will come back into the sport, he needs the money (obviously), he knows what's required to compete (a fridge containing milk, pickled onions, Ginsters pasties, a scotch egg and some mouldy spuds. Oh, and a bag with 500ml of blood) and he will do what needs to be done to compete - even if kidney failure/death is less a possibility, more a likelihood.

And this is okay is it? This is acceptable? I used to hate Ricco, now I'm starting to see this guy more as a victim of circumstance, he must not have a shread of dignity in his body. He's a junkie, yet he's going to be paid to continue being a junkie - just so long as he loses the piercings to look more like a nice young man and less like a junkie, then everything will be grand.

Get up that hill son, give it bags of swagger, there's my little champion. Remember to zip your maillot for the cameras.

Mark

 

[Mainerider]

Every day seems to bring pennies from heaven when it comes to cycling stories. It's like some poorly written satire - Ricco to return? Who in their right mind would want their brand to be associated with that guy, he's more toxic than the blood he stored in his fridge for 25 days.

Think about how this looks to the person who is interested in cycling but not obsessed, the casual viewer in other words. This is just another episode in the history of doping that (literally) has gone from farce to tragedy. Casual viewers must be looking at cycling and thinking 'why bother, I'll go and watch x y z instead', the sport has zero credibility.

Ricco is a sick young man. Cycling is so poorly policed that there's the possibility he will come back into the sport, he needs the money (obviously), he knows what's required to compete (a fridge containing milk, pickled onions, Ginsters pasties, a scotch egg and some mouldy spuds. Oh, and a bag with 500ml of blood) and he will do what needs to be done to compete - even if kidney failure/death is less a possibility, more a likelihood.

And this is okay is it? This is acceptable? I used to hate Ricco, now I'm starting to see this guy more as a victim of circumstance, he must not have a shread of dignity in his body. He's a junkie, yet he's going to be paid to continue being a junkie - just so long as he loses the piercings to look more like a nice young man and less like a junkie, then everything will be grand.

Get up that hill son, give it bags of swagger, there's my little champion. Remember to zip your maillot for the cameras.

Mark

Good post. Creating a marketplace for DBs like this guy to make a living is exactly what's wrong with cycling. It destroys any credibilty to the notion that the sport is being cleaned up.

 

[isayic]

Where is Ricco's lifetime ban. After what he did he hasn't a place in pro cycling anymore.

 

[luckyboy]

jeez talk about scapegoat

 

[staubsauger]

Well as much as I would love it to see him back at the top blasting the asses of all those hypocrites I have to say as somebody who cares about him, it would have been better for him to sign with amore i vita and riding clean as an amateur just because of his love to cycling! he would even have won enough races than as he's just better than his competitors.

 

[El Oso]

The biggest favour anyone could do for Ricco is keep him away from a racing bike. And somehow put his ego in check.

It looks like they're at least trying to get the later.

 

[damookman]

First post guys.

I came to cycling late in 2009 so missed Ricco's exploits and have only seen him in you tube vids (his brief return notwithstanding).

It just seems worrying that Ricco is almost exactly following Pantani's footsteps. Everyone wants to "help" him but there is always this whiff of someone just in the background trying to use his infamy to help themselves. I really, really hope I am wrong.

Whatever his deal maybe, I don't think he needs to pay the same price the Pantani did.

 

[skippy]

I AM laughing so hard that it is hurting ! Some of the comments should be on the Jay Leno show as they would boost his ratings thru the ceiling !

That said , some of you guys are following my Heavy handed approach to Dopers , heavy suspensions and life time bans !

Yes Matt White was with this A. & V. team before Vini cal-whatever with casagrande and missed the TDF because Casa was "persona non Grata " with JM and moved on to Cofidis with Stuey .

The image make over is a "You jump thru my hoops" routine jst as move in next door whee i can see you ! Fact is his new "boss " does't trust that even these pathetic rules will keep Ricco on the straight and narrow !

Amazing that the Dauphine Libere is about to start and i was in Avignon for the grand depart one year and rode a training ride with the Saunier/Duval team that included Ricco & Peipoli , have the caps and bidons autographed to show for the happy go lucky occasion . Friendly guys without a care at that time !

Marzboyx6r has written an excellent post about image and i wonder if the Sponsors wee consulted about having their hard earned commercial image sullied by a person who is perceived to be the embodiment of ALL THAT IS ROTTEN IN PRO CYCLING ?

Surely Ricco could go out and start a new career as a " Old Bangers Sales flake " or selling "ice cream in hell" BUT PLEASE no more headlines about "health issues" !

BY the by i am ****ed about Wouter being mentioned with Xavier(whoever) ! Best if part of that comment was deleted by a moderator .

 

[thirteen]

<snip>
BY the by i am ****ed about Wouter being mentioned with Xavier(whoever) ! Best if part of that comment was deleted by a moderator .

what do Weylandt and Tondo have to do with this thread???

 

[Libertine Seguros]

what do Weylandt and Tondo have to do with this thread???

Either the post was deleted already, or they've just caught something in somebody's sig and not spotted that it isn't related to the rest of the post.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Every day seems to bring pennies from heaven when it comes to cycling stories. It's like some poorly written satire - Ricco to return? Who in their right mind would want their brand to be associated with that guy, he's more toxic than the blood he stored in his fridge for 25 days.

Think about how this looks to the person who is interested in cycling but not obsessed, the casual viewer in other words. This is just another episode in the history of doping that (literally) has gone from farce to tragedy. Casual viewers must be looking at cycling and thinking 'why bother, I'll go and watch x y z instead', the sport has zero credibility.

Ricco is a sick young man. Cycling is so poorly policed that there's the possibility he will come back into the sport, he needs the money (obviously), he knows what's required to compete (a fridge containing milk, pickled onions, Ginsters pasties, a scotch egg and some mouldy spuds. Oh, and a bag with 500ml of blood) and he will do what needs to be done to compete - even if kidney failure/death is less a possibility, more a likelihood.

And this is okay is it? This is acceptable? I used to hate Ricco, now I'm starting to see this guy more as a victim of circumstance, he must not have a shread of dignity in his body. He's a junkie, yet he's going to be paid to continue being a junkie - just so long as he loses the piercings to look more like a nice young man and less like a junkie, then everything will be grand.

Get up that hill son, give it bags of swagger, there's my little champion. Remember to zip your maillot for the cameras.

Mark

I will bet my bottom dollar that Meridiana-Kamen cycling team have got more exposure for their sponsors today than they could ever have done before signing Riccò. They signed an overweight, out-of-shape Salvatore Commesso last year too. Gimmick signings, grab a few headlines. Do people want their brand associated with Riccò? Perhaps not. But they would rather their brand be talked about from that association than not talked about at all. Christina Hembo has had her product talked about way more than anybody else in a similar situation (Danish domestic teams) because of the link to Rasmussen and the media furore surrounding him.

As Oscar Wilde said, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

The reason Riccò is reviled is not because he's a doper but because he's an A-hole. Plenty of dopers have been able to return without too much trouble. But because he's an A-hole, he gets thrown to the wolves far more when he's caught, because he's not popular and people want to see him get his comeuppance.

 

[Markyboyzx6r]

I can't agree with the 'all publicity is good publicity' idea. Yeah... if you're Tiger Woods or Eric Cantona and you're sponsored by Nike, then you can turn a negative situation into something - I hesitate to use the word 'positive' - but 'defiant' at least.

Here we have an obviously deeply troubled young man being encouraged to return to a situation and a lifestyle that has come very close to killing him in the very recent past. If that's his choice, then I suppose you can argue that he's welcome to take that choice, but a situation like this looks very much like his vunerability is being exploited for the good of selling a few more of whatever the hell it is this sponsoring company sells. It's patently obvious Ricco will never change - he will always be a doper, and will always cheat to compete. But he'll get caught and banned again - or he'll end up accidently killing himself like he damn near did the previous time. Yeah, a few column inches have been generated, but the sponsors are complicit in the possible destruction of a young father's life. The post on Pantani was spot on - this could be the sequel.

If someone is standing on the Golden Gate bridge and they are thinking of jumping, do you ask them to put a T-shirt on saying "EAT AT JOES!!!" in big letters? He was jumping anyway, so why not use the opportunity to advertise your good friend Joe's restaurant? The sponsors of Ricco are pinning branding onto a sick young man. This may be the tipping point that sets him on a course to his eventual demise. If they want to do that, that's fine - but the average fan doesn't want to see that. The average fan would be dismayed by the sordid spectacle and move away from the sport.

Would the bosses at the world's major brands want their riders riding next to that? No. They'll go to another sport with another set of values. Cycling isn't the only sport, if it wants to be sponsored by Italy's 8th biggest coffee machine maker rather than Coca-Cola or Apple or Audi then keep doing what you're doing. Stories like this one (Ricco's) are death by a thousand cuts for the sport. Truly.

Mark

 

[lancaster]

There are plenty of a holes in cycling.
There are plenty of dopers in cycling.
There are plenty of over inflated egos in cycling.

The sport does not need more of any of the above.

That being said, the apparent joy in the pro scene when this man was close to death was disgusting and despicable (JV, Cav and others iirc).

I hope he is healthy, clean and jumping clear of groups of elite climbers soon, while keeping his ego in check.

 

[thirteen]

Mark,

it's sweet that you are so idealistic and seem to care so much for Riccò's psychological welfare.

i am with Libertine Seguros and his Oscar Wilde quote: the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

Meridiana-Kamen doesn't even have a working website. any publicity is good publicity for them.

as for Riccò being a doper who will always be a doper, lol! do you realise you're speaking about a majority of the peloton?