"The Secret Pro" on Katusha and doping

[thirteen]

No idea.

I actually think it's Menchov, but it'd be hilarious if it was Andy

i know you were just being cute

still, if it *was* the latter, i can't imagine them letting him ride next week... to be honest, though, due to the tone of the actual post i find it highly unlikely.

 

[DirtyWorks]

No idea.

I actually think it's Menchov, but it'd be hilarious if it was Andy

IMHO, Andy is as likely as Menchov. Dad rode with McQuaid and very likely "knows how to score."

To expand on L'arriviste's very informative post, I don't doubt they have a long queue of positive tests from which to choose. Why they are picking a Grand Tour winner out of the scrum is an interesting question.

A potential positive for a Grand Tour winner, and announcing IN ADVANCE they are really, really really, actually going to test at ToC *this* time suggests some very influential stakeholder is not happy until some athletes are sacrificed and 2013 is the "cleanest peloton ever."

 

[L'arriviste]

IMHO, Andy is as likely as Menchov. Dad rode with McQuaid and very likely "knows how to score."

To expand on L'arriviste's very informative post, I don't doubt they have a long queue of positive tests from which to choose. Why they are picking a Grand Tour winner out of the scrum is an interesting question.

A potential positive for a Grand Tour winner, and announcing IN ADVANCE they are really, really really, actually going to test at ToC *this* time suggests some very influential stakeholder is not happy until some athletes are sacrificed and 2013 is the "cleanest peloton ever."

I find it hard to accept that it could be Andy, tbh, if only because I always felt that he might somehow be protected as a representative of nu-cycling. For that, of course, I have absolutely no evidence.

There is no doubt that his poor form is unusual in the length of time it has dragged on (can you think of any remotely similar cases in recent history?) and that, even with an appropriate degree of indulgence, the team's explanations would satisfy none but the most casual of fans.

However, the fact that Andy, as one of the sport's bigger properties, has not been stood down and has continued to make a spectacle of himself week in, week out suggests to me that he is not about to be sanctioned.

We will see, soon enough. That at least seems certain. And May-June is always a ripe period for scandal, just before the transfer window opens.

 

[Netserk]

I find it hard to accept that it could be Andy, tbh, if only because I always felt that he might somehow be protected as a representative of nu-cycling. For that, of course, I have absolutely no evidence.

Same feeling here. That's why it'd be so hilarious.

 

[webvan]

"a Grand Tour winner who might be suspended" ?! Sounds juicy indeed, will read that after today's Giro stage!

 

[Bala Verde]

It would be easy to nail Menchov because a major cycling investor in the form of rabobank has already withdrawn from the sport, as well as the public exposure on the usage of doping within the team when it existed. In a way, it would do no harm to any vested players and Menchov is old enough to retire, i.e discardable. He is part of the dirty past, which would contribute to the narrative of the new, clean era.

 

[The Hitch]

If it was Andy wed know by now. Too big a story.

 

[Benotti69]

It would be easy to nail Menchov because a major cycling investor in the form of rabobank has already withdrawn from the sport, as well as the public exposure on the usage of doping within the team when it existed. In a way, it would do no harm to any vested players and Menchov is old enough to retire, i.e discardable. He is part of the dirty past, which would contribute to the narrative of the new, clean era.

It would also send a shot across the Russians bow after their *****ing about having to fork out 7 million for a UCI tour of Russia. Maybe McQuaid will go the way of many who have tried to treat the Russians with contempt.

 

[webvan]

So I read that post, entertaining, but vague of course...Menchov, Cobo are at the top of my list!

 

[roundabout]

trolling, err, trawling for page views

 

[Bala Verde]

Cobo would be fun, because that would mean froome wins a vuelta (wiggins 2nd). Can only be good news for the development of cycling, profits, and growing the fan base in the "new market."

Also proves that anglosaxons don't dope! Win win for everyone.

 

[Elagabalus]

Since the last activity on this thread was on 02.07.13 (apart from today) I'm not sure if everyone has read the Secret Pro's last installment* which was last month:

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/04/the-secret-pro-the-spring-classics/

It doesn't sound like he's riding the Giro but rather the ToC.

He also says that he's broken his collarbone before. Any clues to his identity?


*probably becuz his February installment was like having him describe how paint dries!

 

[the sceptic]

Cobos vuelta win was so obvious. Makes you wonder how the clean brits could (almost) beat him.

Cobo got dropped today and lost 8 minutes. lol. I wonder why he stopped doping. Or maybe he was on a special program for that vuelta.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Only as long as the irregularities are recent enough to remove the Vuelta. I'd be disappointed if it's Cobo - picking on the obvious easy target again.

Besides, there's also Horner - you guys are forgetting the fourth GT.

 

[SundayRider]

Cobos vuelta win was so obvious. Makes you wonder how the clean brits could (almost) beat him.

Cobo got dropped today and lost 8 minutes. lol. I wonder why he stopped doping. Or maybe he was on a special program for that vuelta.

Was only tactical errors that caused Sky not to win, nothing psychical.

 

[staubsauger]

But Cobo has done nothing since, so there shouldn't have been any irrregualarities since Vuelta 2011 and if they found suspicious values back than, they could've nailed him earlier, couldn't they?

Mensjov would be obvious, but there's the sudden increase in perfomance of Basso in the Giro last year and the sudden jo-jo rise up of Damiano Cunego since 2011.

 

[BroDeal]

Mensjov would be obvious, but there's the sudden increase in perfomance of Basso in the Giro last year and the sudden jo-jo rise up of Damiano Cunego since 2011.

Obviously this is explained by the sport getting cleaner. Now that all the dopers have stopped, honest riders like Cunego have come to the fore, their form steeled with a few marginal gains.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Not sure I'm seeing this massive improvement in Cunego. There's only really 2010 that was a down year for him, the rest of the time he's where he's always been, except for in 2004 when he's all but told us he was doping. And in 2009, when the none-too-subtle points about Life's classifications and Danilo di Luca come from, he scored more CQ points than in his renaissance of 2011, and last year was his second lowest score ever. As he's become more able to pick up lower end top 10 placings in GTs and compete for the win over a week again, so his performance in one-day races has dropped away and his placements in the hilly Classics have fallen away. Also worth considering that this last three years or so ought to have been his physical peak had he followed a "normal" career path.

CQ scores from Il Piccolo Principe:

2004: 2260
2005: 1266
2006: 1388
2007: 1435
2008: 1800
2009: 1291
2010: 673
2011: 1210
2012: 917

Also, the blog entry did say that we could probably guess who it was, which would draw one's attention to somebody who's been off the road (eg Menchov), who's already notorious as a doper (di Luca, Scarponi, Valverde) or whose performances fluctuate wildly or have risen seemingly unnaturally (Cobo, Wiggins). The blog has included ambiguity aimed at minor levels of misdirection before, but I'd say of the active GT winners, Cunego would be one of the last ones that would come to my mind when they talk of it being somebody that we could all guess was doping.

 

[Roadent]

Hmm, English speaking; on a team that runs SRAM (I'm guessing, from his complaints) - Three teams: Cannondale; Omega; Saxo - Wurf or King on C'Dale; no one on Omega; McCarthy; Duggan, Sutherland or Cantwell on Saxo. My guess would be Cantwell, as an Aussie (to the point etc..) and a neo-pro. Over to you folks...

 

[nevada]

Ted king has broken his collarbone, reasonably articulate and on the same team as Basso.

Good chance it's him.

 

[Alpechraxler]

What you expect of Cobo a man struggling with depression ? True dedication all the time ? meticulous training ?

 

[Froome19]

Its Koen De Kort, I am sure I must have said it before in this thread a while back..

But some of those guesses are rather interesting, so by all means carry on..

 

[DirtyWorks]

But Cobo has done nothing since, so there shouldn't have been any irrregualarities since Vuelta 2011 and if they found suspicious values back than, they could've nailed him earlier, couldn't they?

That's the beauty of the UCI controlling every aspect of dope testing. They catch riders when they want them caught.

 

[nevada]

Its Koen De Kort, I am sure I must have said it before in this thread a while back..

But some of those guesses are rather interesting, so by all means carry on..

Could be, Aussie too and broken cb.

 

[Froome19]

Could be, Aussie too and broken cb.

The funny thing about is that he writes his own blog
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2012/12/ask-koen-de-kort/
So it seems like Cycling tips really got their value for money when they decided to appoint him as the "secret pro".