Rock's not dead

[Alpe d'Huez]

You know, you're right. There are a lot of people like that. But I think all the hiring of ex-dopers had something to do with it as well.

I do think there are plenty of people though that want them out for the reasons I listed.

 

[Anonymous]

i like there attitude, i just think the way forward for teams, is strong drug policies (anti drug, transparent testing) and hiring good young promising riders.. i like the image, nice to see a team with personality..
BUT....

employing a bunch of ex dopers combined with the bad boy/everybodys out to get us image i dont think is good for the sport

 

[Power13]

Wrong. "People" have wanted Rock to fail from the beginning because they were too in-your-face and not wonder bread suburbia. It's better they are gone because the neighborhoods are safe

Actually, some have simply seen this movie too many times before and knew the inevitable conclusion.

See Le Groupment, Coast, Linda McCartney, Mercury et al for starters.

 

[BroDeal]

employing a bunch of ex dopers combined with the bad boy/everybodys out to get us image i dont think is good for the sport

There were fifty some odd cyclists involved with Operation Puerto. Rock hired a small handfull of them. What about the other fifty? Should we classify every team that hired one of them as a team of ex-dopers? I think Bruyneel hired just as many as Ball did.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Come on, that's not quite accurate. Who did JB hire that was involved in OP? Contador is a maybe. Popovych and Armstrong, but this is based on interpreting code, no evidence. Actually, he tried to hire Basso as well. Hmm, maybe you're right!

The crux of your argument is certainly true: A lot of people forget that Rock is just a Continental team. If we look back at the UCI's rules for doping, in theory a rider can come back after 2 years after a doping violation, but must wait 4 years until they can ride for a Pro Tour team. Of course, the Pro Tour doesn't mean anything anymore, but Rock is never going to get an invite to a GT anyway, let alone many other European races. So there's definitely bigger fish to fry with some of the big Euro teams looking the other way as bad as Rock.

Actually, really it's the UCI that isn't enforcing the letter of the rule in this, and other cases. But this is nothing new. Take a look at the anti-doping charter they made every rider sign. What an incredibly powerful took to use as a deterrent to future doping. And yet, not one time have they tried to use it, when there's a slew of riders (Vino, Kashi, Ricco, Schumacher, Rasmussen, Kohl, Valverde, etc.) they could use it on.