Team Astana's shameful legacy

Page 5 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Jun 5, 2014
883
0
0
Sep 16, 2010
7,617
1,053
20,680
Vino speaks:

“No one can tell how this even happened. It is a shock for all of us. All the cyclers of the Astana Pro Team must unfailingly follow the ethical requirements and obligations of their contracts. Moreover our team's rules clearly say that doping is prohibited!

"I was extremely disappointed and outraged at the fact that Maxim did not understand the importance of following these rules. The rules are for everyone regardless of their position within the team or nationality.

"The team’s physician had repeatedly made tests of the cyclers’ samples and did not find anything that could have warned us about this. In addition, we work with an independent WADA laboratory in Turin, which in case of violations reports straight to the UCI. But, they too had found no violations.

"Each cycler who signed a contract with the team is obliged to follow the rules that forbid use of banned substances. Everyone has to understand that the use of such substances not only affects one’s own health, but also causes an irreparable damage to the image of the team. I repeat, we have very strict rules within the team. We are one of the few teams that has made (anti-doping) rules part of its internal regulations.

"We want to do what we can to soften the disgrace Iglinskiy brothers have fallen into. That is why the Cycling Federation of Kazakhstan has created a committee to investigate this case. The committee will question Maxim and Valentin. I hope, we will get answers to our questions about how they got the EPO without the doctor and team personnel’s knowledge."

Deets
 
Apr 30, 2014
653
10
10,010
fmk_RoI said:
Vino speaks:

snip

Deets

Thanks, interesting.

I don't for one minute believe the team didn't know but Vino seems to be playing the game well; trying to save the teams reputation but not totally hanging his (former) riders out to dry.
 
Sep 30, 2009
117
0
0
Astana manager to answer questions from UCI president

Brian: What currency did you route to my account? This was my checking account, correct?
Vino: Yes
Brian: Should we use Paypal next time?
Vino: I've had problems with emails in the past!
 
Apr 30, 2011
47,161
29,792
28,180
So UCI announce that the rider has tested positive before the B sample is tested, but didn't announce anything in the case against Menchov. :confused:
 
Sep 28, 2010
3,364
329
14,180
It's clear they have an agenda against Astana right now - which I fully support, the sooner this team disappears, the better.
 
Jul 21, 2012
9,860
3
0
It appears so.

However I dont agree that this is necessarily a good thing.

The UCIs favourite dopers will continue to dominate the sport without anything happening to them.
 
Jun 10, 2010
19,895
2,255
25,680
Hell no, of course this is a good thing. They shouldn't stop here, but that doesn't mean I'm going to celebrate when obvious dopers from another team get away with it.

Statistically though, it's weird. Very amateurish for a big team like Astana.
 
Apr 30, 2014
653
10
10,010
the sceptic said:
It appears so.

However I dont agree that this is necessarily a good thing.

The UCIs favourite dopers will continue to dominate the sport without anything happening to them.

Agree. It is interesting that all 3 of the positives are Kazakhs; dirty core of Astana or something more targeted from the UCI?
 
Jun 14, 2010
34,930
60
22,580
the sceptic said:
It appears so.

However I dont agree that this is necessarily a good thing.

The UCIs favourite dopers will continue to dominate the sport without anything happening to them.

Nibali won the Tour this year.

Any action against Astana while Nibali is a "clean era" TDF champion is absolutely a good thing.
 
Mar 11, 2009
748
1
0
58 teeth.. ha.. that is exactly the conversation..spot on.

No more duffel bags full of cash ok,strictly wire transfers from now on.
 
Jan 7, 2010
2,234
233
11,880
BeagRigh said:
Agree. It is interesting that all 3 of the positives are Kazakhs; dirty core of Astana or something more targeted from the UCI?

It's all politics, Someone at Astana ****ed of someone at the top of the UCI. Simple as that. And they pick out a few samples that where positive to use, to small fish and one neither big or small, and all Kazakh, does a good job at tainting them.
 
Apr 30, 2014
653
10
10,010
markene2 said:
It's all politics, Someone at Astana ****ed of someone at the top of the UCI. Simple as that. And they pick out a few samples that where positive to use, to small fish and one neither big or small, and all Kazakh, does a good job at tainting them.

Aye, that's what I was alluding too..
 
Jul 21, 2012
9,860
3
0
The Hitch said:
Nibali won the Tour this year.

Any action against Astana while Nibali is a "clean era" TDF champion is absolutely a good thing.

People who believe in the new generation already find Nibali suspicious. Walsh has made hints on twitter that he is not sure. So Nibali going down in flames wouldnt change anything for them. It would just confirm their suspicious that the sport still has some rotten apples, but nevertheless their favourite rider is cleans.
 
Feb 10, 2010
10,645
20
22,510
fmk_RoI said:
Strike 3 for Astana as stagiare pops a positive - UCI Licence Commission to do something

Shocker! It's like the UCI doesn't want team Astana around or something.:rolleyes:

- No one has still not figured out how it all happened. It is a shock for all of us!

Yes Vino. The 'consulting fees' to the UCI management cleared too.

We also cooperate with WADA independent laboratory in Turin, which is obliged to report the detection of violations of violations of the UCI. But they did not reveal any violations of the riders.

Very interesting if this is real. We know the testing standards vary from lab-to-lab regardless of WADA certification. I'd love to see some documentation from Vino on this point.

The UCI's testing appears to go almost entirely through Saugy's lab in Switzerland.

Does anyone know if Khazakstan falls under Makarov's UCI organization? Maybe they are part of the 'Asia' group? If so, that would make Astana/Kazakhstan a pretty weak player in the UCI.

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://vesti.kz/astana/195668/

The closed door meeting with the UCI might lead to some interesting outcomes.

IMO, it's confirmed that Verbruggen's "I can make anyone positive" threat is still quite real.