Team Astana's shameful legacy

[Granville57]

I don’t mind a little bit of Ferrari, he has a sense of humor with those waffles!

‏@dnlbenson
Waffles are not dangerous, it's the abuse that is. It's also dangerous to eat ten waffles.

https://twitter.com/dnlbenson/status/542052050897743872

...............

 

[thehog]

Sky didnt start any arms race. Doping has been continuous for the entire period. There was no pause and then restart.

Well they did amp it up a notch or two and picked two of the most unlikely riders to ever win GTs as their lab rats. Probably didn’t help with the clean gospel being spread by Walsh/vaughters etc. which just made it all the more gnawing.

 

[TailWindHome]

Have Sky managed to place a rider ahead of Nibali in a GT since his switch to Astana?

 

[DirtyWorks]

Hahaha. If that is true that is hillarious. They just said 2 weeks ago the positive tests were bad apples that had nothing to do with the org.

And maybe this Ferrari revelation is the 'why' behind the whole Astana sanction events. It put the UCI vaguely ahead of the story.

 

[the sceptic]

Have Sky managed to place a rider ahead of Nibali in a GT since his switch to Astana?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Nibali was doping in 2012 too.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

2011 TdF was at least believable with our lil Aussie battler. A consistent performance throughout his carer with maybe a 1% improvement.

2011 Vuelta was a joke, imo.

Blown completely out of the water in 2012 with 6 months of Wiggo peak ending with the Tour / Olympics double.

Continued in fine tradition in 2013 by the Dawg.

I would have to check the CQ or similar site to see when riders consistently stomped the racing as much as Sky did in 2012/2013, but to me it definitely looked like they took it up a notch.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

It's very interesting looking at raw stats for 2008-2011.

My guess is Astana started using Ferrari in 2012.

 

[thehog]

It's very interesting looking at raw stats for 2008-2011.

My guess is Astana started using Ferrari in 2012.

I tend to agree..

 

[deValtos]

Just had a quick look to remind myself what unlucky riders signed for Astana at the end of this year ...

Lars Boom
Dario Cataldo
Laurens de Vreese
Davide Malacarne
Paolo Longo Borghini
Diego Rosa
Luis Leon Sanchez
Rein Taaramae

Quite an assortment there.

 

[B_Ugli]

Just had a quick look to remind myself what unlucky riders signed for Astana at the end of this year ...

Lars Boom
Dario Cataldo
Laurens de Vreese
Davide Malacarne
Paolo Longo Borghini
Diego Rosa
Luis Leon Sanchez
Rein Taaramae

Quite an assortment there.

Unlucky or well informed?

 

[pastronef]

Just had a quick look to remind myself what unlucky riders signed for Astana at the end of this year ...

Lars Boom
Dario Cataldo
Laurens de Vreese
Davide Malacarne
Paolo Longo Borghini
Diego Rosa
Luis Leon Sanchez
Rein Taaramae

Quite an assortment there.

I feel very much for Taaramae, and Boom too.
Luckily Jani signed for UHC

 

[ray j willings]

Have Sky managed to place a rider ahead of Nibali in a GT since his switch to Astana?

Did Sky not dominate when they had the services of Leinders and then quickly let him go to show that they only hired him to stick plasters on cuts


Do you think Bertie his doping? what about Talansky ? or any one else who kicks Sky's a%%e What about Horner did he dope when he beat Nibs?

Sky don't dope but anyone who beats them does?

 

[keeponrollin]

Did Sky not dominate when they had the services of Leinders and then quickly let him go to show that they only hired him to stick plasters on cuts


Do you think Bertie his doping? what about Talansky ? or any one else who kicks Sky's a%%e What about Horner did he dope when he beat Nibs?

Sky don't dope but anyone who beats them does?

And that in a sentence is the knot Sky have tied themselves in.

If the only way someone can beat Sky, is to dope; then what is the explanation they'll use when Sky riders start winning again ?

 

[Benotti69]

Just had a quick look to remind myself what unlucky riders signed for Astana at the end of this year ...

Lars Boom
Dario Cataldo
Laurens de Vreese
Davide Malacarne
Paolo Longo Borghini
Diego Rosa
Luis Leon Sanchez
Rein Taaramae

Quite an assortment there.

Wonder how many signed because Astana worked with Ferrari........

 

[Benotti69]

Have Sky managed to place a rider ahead of Nibali in a GT since his switch to Astana?

If Nibali was working with Ferrari since Liquigas what does it matter what team he was riding for?

Sky were beating all Ferrari's riders.

 

[Digger]

Sky fans are clutching at even more straws. Froome is the greatest cyclist of all time. Beating all these dopers.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

If Nibali was working with Ferrari since Liquigas what does it matter what team he was riding for?

Sky were beating all Ferrari's riders.

HE wasn't working with Ferrari, his COACH was working with Ferrari...

What's funny too is that one of these Sky guys was suggesting that Nibali's rise in form was sudden and dramatic...kinda' like the winner of the 2012 Atomic Jock Race?

I sincerely hope Digger's prediction is correct...but it seems to me that we are in an era of UCI now picking out the big bad eastern block, and somehow the island team will remain safe and sound.

 

[Benotti69]

HE wasn't working with Ferrari, his COACH was working with Ferrari...

What's funny too is that one of these Sky guys was suggesting that Nibali's rise in form was sudden and dramatic...kinda' like the winner of the 2012 Atomic Jock Race?

Yes you are of course correct counsellor and I withdraw my allegation

 

[Race Radio]

If Nibali was working with Ferrari since Liquigas what does it matter what team he was riding for?

Sky were beating all Ferrari's riders.

But haven't you heard? Clean riders can beat doped riders as long as the lay off the Nutella. Nibali is Italian so there is no way that he can stop eating Nutella.

 

[thehog]

HE wasn't working with Ferrari, his COACH was working with Ferrari...

What's funny too is that one of these Sky guys was suggesting that Nibali's rise in form was sudden and dramatic...kinda' like the winner of the 2012 Atomic Jock Race?

I sincerely hope Digger's prediction is correct...but it seems to me that we are in an era of UCI now picking out the big bad eastern block, and somehow the island team will remain safe and sound.

I agree. The long name syndrome is upon us... I'm going to have to get out my VHS copy of Rocky IV.

Only JV can save us now... I think there needs to be a reconvening of the "Change Cycling Now" committee to come up with a new playbook of why cycling is clean... and why Sky and Garmin are leading the way.

Cameras on bikes, selfies from Cookson and tests for crazy adaptive physiologies to explain *** performances.

 

[The Hitch]

And that in a sentence is the knot Sky have tied themselves in.

If the only way someone can beat Sky, is to dope; then what is the explanation they'll use when Sky riders start winning again ?

Same ignore and deflect questions they and all dopers have used since time immemorial.

What does Usain Bolt say everytime another one of his "challengers" who he beat by the length of a lorry, gets busted.

- Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And then 5 months later when some wide eyed tv presenter gets to interview him he will say he trains harder than everyone else, looks into the camera and say he would never dope. And the tv presenters and commentators and journos will say that you can trust Bolt because everyone knows hes a trustworthy guy.

And thats exactly what Sky and Tinkov and the rest will do. None of them will have to answer any questions. Any journo who could ask something like that isn't going to get a whiff of an interview. Brailsford will release some bull**** to one of his brown nosing allies in the Guardian or Times or wherever, that contradicts **** he said before about how Sky train etc, and they will all vouch for Sky's credibility but they NEVER answer any actual questions.

 

[Samson777]

Same ignore and deflect questions they and all dopers have used since time immemorial.

What does Usain Bolt say everytime another one of his "challengers" who he beat by the length of a lorry, gets busted.

- Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And then 5 months later when some wide eyed tv presenter gets to interview him he will say he trains harder than everyone else, looks into the camera and say he would never dope. And the tv presenters and commentators and journos will say that you can trust Bolt because everyone knows hes a trustworthy guy.

And thats exactly what Sky and Tinkov and the rest will do. None of them will have to answer any questions. Any journo who could ask something like that isn't going to get a whiff of an interview. Brailsford will release some bull**** to one of his brown nosing allies in the Guardian or Times or wherever, that contradicts **** he said before about how Sky train etc, and they will all vouch for Sky's credibility but they NEVER answer any actual questions.

Which is probably the smart move. I mean what the **** could he say, that would do him any good..

Well back on topic; Astana.

It will be super interesting to see how things will go down, also where their top riders go from here. Should Astana be nuked and their top guys surrender, which does not super unlikely at this point.

As a Dane, I am also looking forward to watching a bull**** interview with Jakob Fuglsang about this particular topic And I wonder if he is ****ting himself right now, perhaps calling the chicken, for advice on how to do damage control

 

[neineinei]

Kessiakoff has already given an interview, he was at the training camp but didn't see Michele Ferrari. In fact he's never seen him or had any dealings with him.

http://www.eurosport.se/cykel/astan...ets-samling-forra-aret_sto4506175/story.shtml

Is there any information about which Astana riders were at that camp at Montecatini Terme in November last year? Was it for the whole team or only parts of it?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/gallery-astana-go-kart-racing-in-montecatini-terme/
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.595640913823747.1073741949.108407849213725&type=3
http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raiSp...ini-5c3e5e89-2a69-456b-814e-4f63d45d4740.html

 

[42x16ss]

Have Sky managed to place a rider ahead of Nibali in a GT since his switch to Astana?

Did CSC, T-Mobile, Once, Kelme, Cofidis or Liberty Seguros manage to place a rider ahead of Armstrong after he switched over to USPS/Discovery from Cofidis?

Oops.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

I agree. The long name syndrome is upon us... I'm going to have to get out my VHS copy of Rocky IV.

Only JV can save us now... I think there needs to be a reconvening of the "Change Cycling Now" committee to come up with a new playbook of why cycling is clean... and why Sky and Garmin are leading the way.

Cameras on bikes, selfies from Cookson and tests for crazy adaptive physiologies to explain *** performances.

The sad thing is that I'll watch next season to see how all of the doping plays out, and not for the races...In all sincerity, I can't find a positive internal reason I will do so, but I'll watch anyway...maybe I just like to watch car crashes or something?

The second stage of the ToC starts here next year...maybe I'll try to get on TV?