Vuelta a España 2011

[Duartista]

mosquera is allowed to ride. you do know that right? only reason he isn't racing is vacansoleil not letting him. the stuff he took isn't illegal to take as long as it's through the nose I believe? which is what happened. mosquera will for sure be acquitted in a hearing just like sevilla was. the only thing they can do is retest samples but as long as nothing illegal is found they can't suspend you

I know he is allowed to ride. But my understanding was that if his B sample matched his A sample he will probably be banned. The UCI belatedly handed over his file to the RFEC in the expectation that the RFEC open disciplinary proceedings against Mosquera.

Are you sure Sevilla has been acquitted? I don't think there has even been a hearing yet.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

they tested his b sample which was also positive, but like I said the substance isn't on dopinglist. they knew it was a substance to mask epo or transfusions, and for sure he had a transfusion but good luck proving that without a bio passport. mosquera's bloodvalues weren't even strange and perhaps he had microdose of epo but impossible to detect. a little less than his teammate who was caught on epo after some retests. they tried same with mosquera with no luck

 

[Duartista]

they tested his b sample which was also positive, but like I said the substance isn't on dopinglist. they knew it was a substance to mask epo or transfusions, and for sure he had a transfusion but good luck proving that without a bio passport. mosquera's bloodvalues weren't even strange and perhaps he had microdose of epo but impossible to detect. a little less than his teammate who was caught on epo after some retests. they tried same with mosquera with no luck

Ok, thanks. I guess we'd better stop discussing this in this forum.

 

[hrotha]

You're the half basque so you will know this situation better than me

(...)

So they need him. they helped him, now he helps them and as a result he becomes their greatest and most important member, and they love him for it.

I'm half Basque by blood, not by culture - which in my opinion means I'm not Basque at all, except as a joke.

I agree with you, of course they love Samu and he's one of their own, but still, he's not Basque. There's no problem with that because they owe him a lot, but the potential conflict is there.

 

[The Hitch]

Mosquera unfortunately wont be able to do much. His best chance was last year. Hes almost 36 now, and going 1 on 1 with Nibali last year was a heck of a lot easier than having Anton, Scarponi, Menchov to boot.

Were they Lithuanians, or Poles born in Lithuania (one is Pilsudski, right?)
.

Yep. the other is Adam Mickiewicz.

Neither could be born into Poland because it had lost independence, so it was all Russia, but both were born deep into what is present day Lithuania. Also Pilsudski was a protestant, which should put him further at odds with the most devout Catholic country in Europe, and yet they call him the Father of the nation.

but i digress.

 

[Duartista]

Mosquera unfortunately wont be able to do much. His best chance was last year. Hes almost 36 now, and going 1 on 1 with Nibali last year was a heck of a lot easier than having Anton, Scarponi, Menchov to boot.



Yep. the other is Adam Mickiewicz.

Neither could be born into Poland because it had lost independence, so it was all Russia, but both were born deep into what is present day Lithuania. Also Pilsudski was a protestant, which should put him further at odds with the most devout Catholic country in Europe, and yet they call him the Father of the nation.

but i digress.

I see what you're saying. Everything was more mixed then though. You had Poles, Jews, Russians, Lithuanians, Belarussians all living in the same area, so where someone was born doesn't really indicate their nationality.

Sorry for the somewhat pedantic digression...

Back to the Vuelta - I read yesterday an interview with Matxin in which he said that Geox are going to attack for all their worth in the Vuelta. He seemed quite embarassed by their Giro performance. That should be fun, although I'm not sure how happy Menchov will be with that strategy...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

menchov won't be sole leader anymore this vuelta. matxin and gianetti were angry after and during the giro with performances of sastre and menchov.

 

[Duartista]

menchov won't be sole leader anymore this vuelta. matxin and gianetti were angry after and during the giro with performances of sastre and menchov.

Yep. Here's the interview I was talking about if anyone is interested (in Spanish):

http://www.marca.com/charlas/matxin/07072011.html

hola,joxean ¿que equipo llevareis a la vuelta? Enviada por yuriy31 (06/07/2011 16:05)
No está decidido todavía. Tenemos 14 corredores para el plantel. Está claro que la base son Sastre y Menchov. Luego buscaremos los mejores corredores con opciones de ganar, creo en ellos. No vamos a correr como en el Giro sino mucho más agresivos. Al ataque.

He says they have a pre-selection of 14. The team will be built around Menchov and Sastre, but other riders will have freedom to attack.

 

[The Hitch]

Considring Geox 2 best riders are guys that ride their own tempo up climbs, I think what Matxin means with that is that they are bringing Fabio (and i dont mean Feline).

He alone justifies a "attack for all its worth" prediction.

Maybe Blanco does something too. Maybe.

 

[ridewithheart]

Samu is Mowgli. He was born a man but raised a wolf. And as a result he has skills not available to the wolves (descending, time trialing, staying on 2 wheels etc.)

So they need him. they helped him, now he helps them and as a result he becomes their greatest and most important member, and they love him for it.

This is superb, well played, sir.

 

[theyoungest]

Considring Geox 2 best riders are guys that ride their own tempo up climbs, I think what Matxin means with that is that they are bringing Fabio (and i dont mean Feline).

He alone justifies a "attack for all its worth" prediction.

Maybe Blanco does something too. Maybe.

Duarte would be a good bet for a stage win. BTW where the hell has he been since dropping out of the Giro?

 

[Duartista]

Duarte would be a good bet for a stage win. BTW where the hell has he been since dropping out of the Giro?

He only got back on his bike at the beginnning of July to do some light training. He was supposed to start hard training last weekend.

 

[Duartista]

Considring Geox 2 best riders are guys that ride their own tempo up climbs, I think what Matxin means with that is that they are bringing Fabio (and i dont mean Feline).

He alone justifies a "attack for all its worth" prediction.

Maybe Blanco does something too. Maybe.

Blanco is also kind of a diesel. Sastre loves his long range attacks, so that will be his role I think. Then Duarte, Valls, Duran to go for stage wins. Cobo will be the wildcard.

(07/07/2011 12:32) Cobo ha recuperado el nivel a principio de temporada. Lo que pasa es que ha recuperado el nivel en carreras donde no se le ha visto y como no se le ha visto, parece que no existe. Cobo es una cuestión de cariño y motivación. Tengo mucha confianza en él y creo mucho en él. Necesita una motivación extra y el no ir al Tour de Francia pues le perjudica y no se entrena igual pensando que su calendario es el Tour de Eslovenia, con todos los respetos. Es una excelente persona y me gustaría que la gente lo conociera.

This is Matxin on Cobo. He says that Cobo needs love and motivation, but that he believes in him. Cobo doesn't really train if his objective is the Tour of Slovenia rather than the Tour de France, as he needs extra motivation.

He finished 12th in Ordizia yesterday, so maybe he will actually be in shape for the Vuelta.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

cobo is physically a talent of gigantic proportions, but mentally the "weakest" rider in the peloton. it always angers me when they say his 2008 giro was done with epo when he was never caught unlike ricco and piepoli and the reason he rode so well was because he was so motivated with ricco and piepoli as his leaders winning stages left and right, when they were caught it was a huge blow mentally to cobo

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Blanco is absolutely a diesel. More of a Bruseghin.

Movistar, lest we forget, are based in Egüés, Navarra, are the team to which some of the great many amateur teams in the Basque-Navarrese scene feed (the main one being Lizarte of course, from which Amador, Herrada and Iriarte have all come recently), and are the team of Miguel Indurain.

The Fundación Euskadi sponsor a lot of teams down there, and occasionally riders from outside find themselves moving through the Fundación's ranks - Samu is the most notable, but also at the moment we have the impressive-looking Victor Cabedo coming through the ranks, who is from Comunidad Valenciana but has been coming to Euskal Herria to ride for several years now and whose girlfriend is Dorleta Zorrilla, who is Basque, and who races for one of the women's teams tied to the Fundación.

Others are Basques born outside the modern "Euskal Herria", of course; then it comes down to which team has them, who backs them etc. - though many still find their way back to Euskaltel in the end. Mikel Nieve, for example, rode for the Caja Rural amateur team, which was a feeder for Abarcá Sports (Caisse d'Epargne/Movistar) at the time, before moving to Orbea-Oreka in 2008, a feeder for Euskaltel. Nieve was born in Leitza, Navarra, so you could make the argument that Movistar is more his local team than Euskaltel is, in fact. Beñat Intxausti started in a junior team linked to Iberdrola (the amateur team that Alberto Contador rode for, and which was a feeder to ONCE/Liberty Seguros) then moved to Seguros Bilbao, a Fundación Euskadi backed team.

I don't think Intxausti has ever really settled at one location, and the pressure at Euskaltel was something he struggled with.



As for who will lead Movistar? It's a good question. Before the season started we said they had an awesome support squad but looked light on actual leaders; they had plenty of riders who could do a very good job but not many that could threaten to win. Over the year, however, they've lost Bruseghin to internal suspension (though he is now back and could convincingly fill the role of leader, though he's not one for the super steep stuff, and is old), Plaza had his leg near shorn in half in early March, and has only just got back on the road now, Intxausti has probably been traumatised for life, while Soler and Tondó need no exposition.

They have been linked to Rujano, though.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

they tested his b sample which was also positive, but like I said the substance isn't on dopinglist.

It's my understanding that it doesn't have to be on the dopinglist in order to be suspended. Otherwise, there would always be a gap between when a new product hits the market and when it makes the dopinglist, making it "ok" to be tested positive with it during that timeframe. TB-500 wasn't on the dopinglist either when they busted Vansevenant.

 

[Duartista]

As for who will lead Movistar? It's a good question. Before the season started we said they had an awesome support squad but looked light on actual leaders; they had plenty of riders who could do a very good job but not many that could threaten to win. Over the year, however, they've lost Bruseghin to internal suspension (though he is now back and could convincingly fill the role of leader, though he's not one for the super steep stuff, and is old), Plaza had his leg near shorn in half in early March, and has only just got back on the road now, Intxausti has probably been traumatised for life, while Soler and Tondó need no exposition.

They have been linked to Rujano, though.

According to David Lopez, all their riders will have freedom to try and do a good GC or go stage hunting, depending on how the race pans out.

http://www.elcorreo.com/vizcaya/v/20110726/deportes/margen-izquierda/david-lopez-prepara-para-20110726.html

I guess he could make an Arroyo-type transition from mountain domestique to threatening the lower reaches of the top 10, at least if he gets in the right break.

 

[Swede1]

Apparently Wiggins is actually training to do a good GC in the Vuelta. But he will not do any races until the Vuelta, so I don't think we can expect too much. I guess that will be similar for Brajkovic who also broke his collarbone, and probably will not race until the Vuelta either.

 

[DenisMenchov]

You're the half basque so you will know this situation better than me but from my experience, the only thing better than someone born into the cause, is someone who joins the cause from the outside comes to truly believe in it and make sacrifices for it.

Paul the Apostle is the most revered Christian saint.

My countries 2 greatest heroes, after whom the major roads and plazas are named, were lithuanians.

The Greatest Russian according to Russians was a Georgian. Serb nationalists worship a Croat.

The Wolves Balloo and even Bagiera defend Mowgli from their own even though he is their enemy.

Samu is Mowgli. He was born a man but raised a wolf. And as a result he has skills not available to the wolves (descending, time trialing, staying on 2 wheels etc.)

So they need him. they helped him, now he helps them and as a result he becomes their greatest and most important member, and they love him for it.

WOW, wow, wow, WHAT???

 

[Parrulo]

Apparently Wiggins is actually training to do a good GC in the Vuelta. But he will not do any races until the Vuelta, so I don't think we can expect too much. I guess that will be similar for Brajkovic who also broke his collarbone, and probably will not race until the Vuelta either.

well since the vuelta has his first big GC shake-out on the forth stage i think those 2 can forget about their GC aspirations if they don't bring any sort of form.

 

[just some guy]

It's my understanding that it doesn't have to be on the dopinglist in order to be suspended. Otherwise, there would always be a gap between when a new product hits the market and when it makes the dopinglist, making it "ok" to be tested positive with it during that timeframe. TB-500 wasn't on the dopinglist either when they busted Vansevenant.

It is a masking agent that can only be taken using an IV, so 2 problems masking agent and using the IV .

Sorry for the clinic talk -

 

[El Pistolero]

WOW, wow, wow, WHAT???

I think you're smart enough to realize that the only real difference between the Serbs and Croats was religion. Both countries made their own identity by destroying everything in their borders that they didn't consider theirs. There really is no distinction to be made in the 2 countries except in religion before nationalism spread across the Balkan.

 

[Sophistic]

HES is on the banned list but as its not a performance enhancing substance you will not get suspended until the final verdict, the spanish fed is basically just delaying his suspension.

 

[hrotha]

HES is on the banned list but as its not a performance enhancing substance you will not get suspended until the final verdict, the spanish fed is basically just delaying his suspension.

The Spanish fed didn't get the file from the UCI until not very long ago. Blame the UCI.

 

[Duartista]

The Spanish fed didn't get the file from the UCI until not very long ago. Blame the UCI.

Do you know if the UCI ever sent Sevilla's file to the Spanish fed, or is Ryo correct that he was acquitted?