Team Astana's shameful legacy

[MellowJohnny]

No smoke without fire, that's all I have to say.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

No smoke without fire, that's all I have to say.

smoke machine

 

[Hugh Januss]

No smoke without fire, that's all I have to say.

Lots of fires in the pro tour, why is this the only one that is smoking?

 

[search]

Damnit, Davidenok. I liked him, thought him and Lutsenko would be the next Vino & Kash

If Lutsenko follows Kash's example and tests positive two weeks later, that might put the final nail in the coffin...

 

[Hugh Januss]

UCI has had it in for Vino ever since he rubbed their noses in it by winning in London after his ban. Astana winning the "clean" TDF with Nibali was the absolute last straw. Vino must pay!

 

[DirtyWorks]

If Lutsenko follows Kash's example and tests positive two weeks later, that might put the final nail in the coffin...

The only thing that could happen to deny the UCI their goal of ejecting Astana would be if the stagiare takes the nuclear option of witnessing the b-sample test and discovering it was a false positive. That's happened before at the IAAF, so it's not impossible.

It would be unlikely, but another brilliant/glorious win for Vino, just like 2012 London games.

We need Pat McQuaid to publicly comment on the issue to add some more color to the picture.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Well, its not a clean up process, if it was UCI would have popped Nibali, Froome and Contador over the weekend.

 

[fmk_RoI]

The only thing that could happen to deny the UCI their goal of ejecting Astana would be the realisation that the rules don't provide for punishing the teams for the crimes of the riders.

Now might be a good time to re-read the CAS decisions on Phonak and Katusha.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

UCI has had it in for Vino ever since he rubbed their noses in it by winning in London after his ban. Astana winning the "clean" TDF with Nibali was the absolute last straw. Vino must pay!

That was damn amazing though. The whole thing organized around the home triumph, then the loss of control of the race due to small team sizes - was it 3 Spaniards & 4 Swiss who got in the break or vice versa? Then Vino of all people wins right in front of Pat McQuaid. It was beautiful.

Far better race and far more memorable occasion than if Cavendish had won like the UCI clearly wanted.

I expect some kind of "deal" type thing, like happened to McLaren F1 when Ron Dennis "stepped down", then there was the cheating scandal with Hamilton lying to race stewards, then Dennis "officially left his post". Astana aren't the problem for the UCI, cycling in emerging and profitable markets is a good thing. Alexander Vinokourov is the problem for them. As long as he is there, they cannot spin anything the team does as a victory for clean cycling. People like Riis are ingrained, their doping is now long ago. It can be swept under the carpet as "everybody in their generation did it, but it's clean now". Vino is of the generation that was supposed to have been clean but whose ban is still far too recent in the memory for them to be able to justify ignoring it in the same way as Riis. Lots of new fans to the sport will think of Riis as a team owner/director first and only hear of his (doped) TdF exploits after. Vino is another thing.

 

[Benotti69]

If only Vino invested like JV in an internal testing program to keep his riders from testing positive.


Supplying prostitutes obviously was not enough to keep UCI happy.

 

[yespatterns]

I really hope Aru and Nibbs don't get sidelined next season--- that would be a lot of missed racing excitement. That being said, Astana do need to be booted/punished at this point, way way past the mild level of missing the TOB

 

[TailWindHome]

Typically considered piece from Inner Ring.....

http://inrng.com/2014/10/astana-licence-review-davidenok/

A voi la linea Enzo
It’s embarrassing for Vincenzo Nibali. Chances are he’s only met Davidenok a couple of times but there will be calls for him to speak out. But what can he say? Launch into a tirade shaming his employers and Kazakhstan? No, he’s in the impossible situation where anything he says is likely to be inconsequential. Saying he’s against doping is the obvious thing but the act of saying this would only link his high profile image to a story that frankly won’t get much traction. You’d probably never heard of Davidenok.

Nibali could slam his fist down on the table and demand the team adopts stronger anti-doping measures but what, when? Besides he doesn’t have much leverage in the team, this is Vinokourov’s project. Those who visited the Tour of Almaty saw just how much the team is Vinokourov’s vehicle and his status back home. Nibali’s only weapon is nuclear: to resign. But he’s on a big contract and losing, say, a million Euros because some imbecile on an U23 feeder squad went DIY with steroids is what you might call a big ask.

 

[Benotti69]

I really hope Aru and Nibbs don't get sidelined next season--- that would be a lot of missed racing excitement. That being said, Astana do need to be booted/punished at this point, way way past the mild level of missing the TOB

Astana are not doing too much different (apart from obv testing positive) from other teams.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Well, its not a clean up process, if it was UCI would have popped Nibali, Froome and Contador over the weekend.

No! That's too much doping controversy that directly affects ASO.

Maybe they didn't plan for Nibali going like a scalded cat at the TdF? It will be interesting to watch how the UCI handles Nibali in the next few months.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Why should astana be held accountable for the doping of a rider who doped priar to joining them?

 

[grizzlee]

Astana are not doing too much different (apart from obv testing positive) from other teams.

Link?.........

 

[fmk_RoI]

Astana aren't the problem for the UCI, cycling in emerging and profitable markets is a good thing. Alexander Vinokourov is the problem for them.

What about Giuseppe Martinelli? Having your star rider die the way Pantani did is way more damaging to cycling's rep than being caught transfusing someone else's blood.

 

[Benotti69]

Link?.........

What link do you need? Astana have been popped for 3 riders doping, now look at who beat them and tell us how all those riders and teams are clean beating EPO users........even Nibali was lucky that Contador crashed out of TdF and you want a link to other teams.....how about a link to what stopped teams doping?

 

[Benotti69]

Are Astana being scapegoated to prove cycling is now extrA cleanER when they get the boot by UCI?

 

[grizzlee]

I haven't said I disagree with you yet.

Serious question for you, why do you watch cycling? You don't believe anything you see. Do you actually like watching it anymore?

 

[Ricco']

Who's next? Tour of Almaty winner? That would be one serious hit in Astana.

 

[ralphbert]

Serious question for you, why do you watch cycling? You don't believe anything you see. Do you actually like watching it anymore?

I know not directed at me but, I'll give my opinion anyway: I love cycling, all aspects of it. The doping back story give it a cloak and daggers, "hidden race" appeal. It is all part of subterfuge and drama I find enormously enjoyable. Naughty but true, I don't know if I would enjoy cleans cycling more or less.

 

[Hugh Januss]

If only Vino invested like JV in an internal testing program to keep his riders from testing positive.

From Cycling News article.

Vinokourov claimed that the Iglinskiy brothers had been part of the team’s internal testing programme at the WADA-accredited laboratory in Orbassano, near Turin, but said that no anomalies had been discovered.

Apparently they did, it just didn't work?

 

[neineinei]

If any Kazakh riders are reading this and feeling like they might be comming up with a doping positive any day now:

Contact CIRC. If you give them enough information they can keep your positive secret and you get no ban. Then maybe you can get a contract with continental team Vino4Ever. But you must contact CIRC prior to getting the message that you have tested positive, or you wont get the sweet deal.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Typically considered piece from Inner Ring.....

http://inrng.com/2014/10/astana-licence-review-davidenok/

Very unfair on Davidenok. He's not a nobody. He's the national champion and he won Qinghai Lake. He was a proper prospect.

But then, a bit like Vladislav Gorbunov, who was about 12th in the Volta a Portugal despite very little experience in 2013, now we know why.