That one we'll never know, but he'll get another shot towards the end of the season.
Good post Epicycle, once again.
Part of Basso's suspension (the politics I mean) also took into consideration that he hadn't seriously raced since May of 2006 - the time riding for Discovery he was buried in the pack in a handful of races with no results. So he was basically out of true competition for nearly three years.
As to who is suspended for 2 years and who a further 2 (4 total from PT races) is also politics. Tyler Hamilton got the 2+2, as did Floyd Landis (so far, though I couldn't see a PT team signing either). Roberto Heras got even worse. After his two years were up not only could he not sign with a PT team, he couldn't get an offer for anymore than minimum with a UCI Continental team! Word was that pressure was put on all teams to not sign him, period. That's what he gets for being a nice guy I guess.
Speaking of. We talked the other day about Oscar and Floyd, is there really anyone though that considers Menchov the true, outright winner of the 2005 Vuelta? 2007, yes (though a dull win), but 2005 he was completely crushed by Heras in the mountains during a time of likely rampant doping by all major contenders.
Epicycle said:The extra 2 year rule is just a commitment made by members of the IPCT, which is a union of the Pro Tour teams. The IPCT is independent of the UCI so it has no binding association with the Pro Tour. A team can be in the Pro Tour but choose not to be in the IPCT.
Good post Epicycle, once again.
Part of Basso's suspension (the politics I mean) also took into consideration that he hadn't seriously raced since May of 2006 - the time riding for Discovery he was buried in the pack in a handful of races with no results. So he was basically out of true competition for nearly three years.
As to who is suspended for 2 years and who a further 2 (4 total from PT races) is also politics. Tyler Hamilton got the 2+2, as did Floyd Landis (so far, though I couldn't see a PT team signing either). Roberto Heras got even worse. After his two years were up not only could he not sign with a PT team, he couldn't get an offer for anymore than minimum with a UCI Continental team! Word was that pressure was put on all teams to not sign him, period. That's what he gets for being a nice guy I guess.
Speaking of. We talked the other day about Oscar and Floyd, is there really anyone though that considers Menchov the true, outright winner of the 2005 Vuelta? 2007, yes (though a dull win), but 2005 he was completely crushed by Heras in the mountains during a time of likely rampant doping by all major contenders.