CyclingNew had an interview with Denis Menchov where he accused Team Katusha of blowing him off for the 2011 season:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/menchov-pleased-he-chose-geox-tmc-over-katusha
He was particularly displeased with team manager's Andrei Tchmil's attitude. Then today CyclingNews published a letter from Tchmil firing back at Menchov:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tchmil-responds-to-menchovs-criticism
Among other things, Tchmil said:
“There is a lot of discipline in our team for sure, I won’t deny it. We demand to know what is going on in the team. That’s why we agreed to work with the Mapei Centre and why we included in all of our riders’ contracts a penalty clause which demands the payment of five times their salary if they’re find guilty of using doping substances. Lots of agents don’t like this policy, but whoever wants to be part of this team must accept it and all riders are considered equal: Russians, Italians, Spanish, French and Spanish.”
To me that sounds a lot like Tchmil suspected Menchov was doping and wanted to keep closer tabs on him to prevent future transgressions. If this interpretation is true, then I say hats off to Tchmil, one of the few DS's to try to control doping on his team. (And I would also include Jonathan Vaughters among that very, very small group.)
Does this also put Steegman's refusal to sign Katusha's contract in a different light?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/menchov-pleased-he-chose-geox-tmc-over-katusha
He was particularly displeased with team manager's Andrei Tchmil's attitude. Then today CyclingNews published a letter from Tchmil firing back at Menchov:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tchmil-responds-to-menchovs-criticism
Among other things, Tchmil said:
“There is a lot of discipline in our team for sure, I won’t deny it. We demand to know what is going on in the team. That’s why we agreed to work with the Mapei Centre and why we included in all of our riders’ contracts a penalty clause which demands the payment of five times their salary if they’re find guilty of using doping substances. Lots of agents don’t like this policy, but whoever wants to be part of this team must accept it and all riders are considered equal: Russians, Italians, Spanish, French and Spanish.”
To me that sounds a lot like Tchmil suspected Menchov was doping and wanted to keep closer tabs on him to prevent future transgressions. If this interpretation is true, then I say hats off to Tchmil, one of the few DS's to try to control doping on his team. (And I would also include Jonathan Vaughters among that very, very small group.)
Does this also put Steegman's refusal to sign Katusha's contract in a different light?