What about Vino?

[TopCarbon]

While watching the Amstel Gold race this morning(last 30K), there was mention of Vino and others, and the commentator was "not going to say anything about him or the situation. "

What?

I cant find anything and he wasn't saying anything.

Any clues?

 

[mulletCobra]

While watching the Amstel Gold race this morning(last 30K), there was mention of Vino and others, and the commentator was "not going to say anything about him or the situation. "

What?

I cant find anything and he wasn't saying anything.

Any clues?

Harmon was referring to the fact that they doped, got caught, took their lumps and came back without being apologetic or begging for understand.

 

[TopCarbon]

Harmon was referring to the fact that they doped, got caught, took their lumps and came back without being apologetic or begging for understand.

oh, was that it. Geezus, what a bunch of......nothing.

Vino for world ruler!

 

[mulletCobra]

Yes, Notice he didn't mention David Millar.

 

[hrotha]

Because Millar did come "clean", unlike Vino. Although it could be argued that if you're not going to come clean but "clean" a la Millar or Thomas Dekker, you might as well keep saying it's all a conspiracy.

 

[blackcat]

Because Millar did come "clean", unlike Vino. Although it could be argued that if you're not going to come clean but "clean" a la Millar or Thomas Dekker, you might as well keep saying it's all a conspiracy.

what about the 99% of the peloton, that has not been caught. Tell those whackjobs to come clean.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

That is because Harmon is a racist and a hypocrite.

This is the man who will cheer on Contador, Piti Valv, LL, Millar, Frodo, Armstrong, Kloden etc but will happily slag off the likes of Vino.

It's not Vino being a doper or unrepentant that is the problem for Harmon but rather where Vino comes from.

 

[blackcat]

That is because Harmon is a racist and a hypocrite.

This is the man who will cheer on Contador, Piti Valv, LL, Millar, Frodo, Armstrong, Kloden etc but will happily slag off the likes of Vino.

It's not Vino being a doper or unrepentant that is the problem for Harmon but rather where Vino comes from.

MJM, Race Radio, ludwig, the three best poster on all of interwebz and outerspace.

poster podium

 

[hrotha]

what about the 99% of the peloton, that has not been caught. Tell those whackjobs to come clean.

I'm not sure you got the point.

 

[python]

for those who say vino has has to admit ...

technically and legally speaking he did admit.

this comes clear from reading the cas ruling decided in his favour when he refused to pay uci fines...

does not change anything though.

 

[L'arriviste]

I watched the AGR on RTBF with Bruwier and Vasseur. Vino was all present and correct in their commentary. Indeed they were as surprised as I was when he got shelled out on the Keuterberg.

They did kind of go lightly over the Lampre-ISD stuff though. More or less: "Um yeah, it's been a heavy week for Cunego and the Lampre team. Could be a change of management there. The sponsor's been in the sport for such a long time too."

 

[neineinei]

The pelotons blatant hatred for Ricco seems strange compared to the lack of reactions towards Vinokourov. They both botched a blood transfusion, the difference was that Ricco became sick as a dog while Vinokourov became very fit.

 

[L'arriviste]

The pelotons blatant hatred for Ricco seems strange compared to the lack of reactions towards Vinokourov. They both botched a blood transfusion, the difference was that Ricco became sick as a dog while Vinokourov became very fit.

This is my view:

Maybe it's just that Ricco is an easier target. He used to have too much to say. He was in lifestyle magazines. For many, he was Saunier-Duval instead of Gianetti. He ruined a Tour. Easy to split him off, make him separate from the generic problem. Make him a fool, then a fall guy.

Vino pre-dates Ricco. He chooses his words carefully. He's professional in every way. As the French say: il fait le métier. He's clever: the only way he actually stands out is on the bike. Off the bike, and in terms of doping, he's indistinguishable from the rest of the system. He's not at all remarkable. Point the finger at him and you point it at a huge number of people doing precisely the same thing.

In a world where a lot of people are 'getting even' and everything is grey, the discovery of another doper is hardly a shock. Indeed circumstances can even be mitigating when you have an interesting rider. But above all, what people dislike intensely is a flamboyant doper. No redemption in that.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

The best illustration of Harmon's double standards and racism was last year during LBL.

While Vino was riding clear Harmon was screaming for Piti Valv to catch him.

It wasn't 'oh there is a doper beating a clean rider so I am going to cheer on the clean rider'. No, he was cheering Piti ****ing Valverde to beat the evil Vino.

Harmon is the best illustration that having no talent or brains but a monstrous ego and the ability to cheerlead is all you need to get ahead in cycling journalism.

 

[L'arriviste]

The best illustration of Harmon's double standards and racism was last year during LBL.

While Vino was riding clear Harmon was screaming for Piti Valv to catch him.

It wasn't 'oh there is a doper beating a clean rider so I am going to cheer on the clean rider'. No, he was cheering Piti ****ing Valverde to beat the evil Vino.

Harmon is the best illustration that having no talent or brains but a monstrous ego and the ability to cheerlead is all you need to get ahead in cycling journalism.

+1 for the impartiality fail. Blabbing about on your own nationality you could understand, but picking and choosing between who's the nicer doper is ridiculous.

 

[python]

long-time, serious observers of cycling, wont raise an eyebrow when doping cyclists are compared to one another...

but as any human being, they will react to the personal stories or soap operas.

that's exactly where vino and cobra represent day and night.

one with winning tears for his dead friend kivilev and another with betrayal face over a grave of sassi.

one with his three kids and wife and another running away from the mother of his just born baby.

images are important, true or false...

 

[barn yard]

harmon has his favourites, just like everyone else

 

[roundabout]

Supposing that Ricco ruined a Tour how does it make him different to Vinokourov?

Both won 2 stages, both made their teams quit with other riders high on GC, both were big names with Vinokourov arguably the bigger.

Also i don't see how Ricco supposedly being Saunier Duval distinguishes him from Vinokourov - the reason why Astana exists today.

I made this point in the past, but it is worth repeating. Vinokourov isn't your average doper who can run the risk of having to ride ****-small races in Croatia nearly 4 years after not testing positive. He has real clout with the state rushing to keep Liberty Seguros afloat, the natioanl federation blatantly attempting to disregard the rules, having race organizers readily welcome back etc. Compared to him Ricco is just a d-bag with a dorky moniker.

 

[movingtarget]

for those who say vino has has to admit ...

technically and legally speaking he did admit.

this comes clear from reading the cas ruling decided in his favour when he refused to pay uci fines...

does not change anything though.

I thought the fine was not paid because legally it did not stand up and that was the ruling. Would not have mattered who the rider was. Personally I don't care for either rider but I think it is true that Ricco is being judged as much for his personality which is obnoxious while Vino is more clever by not courting controversy and keeping a low profile. The fact that Ricco was caught a second time after claiming that he learnt his lesson also obviously irritates a lot of people. Basso also seems to fly under the radar compared to Ricco.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

harmon has his favourites, just like everyone else

Funny, I always thought the job of a commentator was to describe the race, not to cheerlead for their favourites.

If Harmon does want to cheerlead for his favourites then fine, but he shouldn't throw a hissy fit when people criticise him for his double standards.

 

[markene2]

Harmon has allways been an as*hole after Vino came back. He should look at the list of GT winners from the last decade. Many riders is doping. Though it's not the doping, it's the confession that never came from Vino.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Harmon has allways been an as*hole after Vino came back. He should look at the list of GT winners from the last decade. Many riders is doping. Though it's not the doping, it's the confession that never came from Vino.

It's not even that - he has no problem with plenty of riders who have come back from doping bans who have never confessed, he has no problem in ignoring past doping of other riders, he has no problems with other suspected dopers. It is just that Vino has the wrong passport.

 

[R.0.t.O]

Funny, I always thought the job of a commentator was to describe the race, not to cheerlead for their favourites.

If Harmon does want to cheerlead for his favourites then fine, but he shouldn't throw a hissy fit when people criticise him for his double standards.

Par for the course though unfortunately. Harmon is at least far less biased than people like Sherwin and Liggett, but it's fairly bizarre sometimes. Vino is clearly meant to be the heel and perhaps they feel that adds something to the drama for new viewers, but why it's him and pretty much nobody else seems pretty arbitrary. Maybe something to do with how very popular he was before, maybe to do with the way that he seemed to take the mickey doping-wise from mid 2006 to mid 2007 - the men in black stuff, the Vuelta 06, the rides at the Dauphine 07. Maybe it is that he's the poster boy of 'Eastern bloc' cycling and fits into that lazy and racist narrative.

It will be interesting to contrast the reaction when Valverde comes back next year as on the face of it they're fairly similar riders with fairly similar doping stories.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Vino, Di Luca and Schumacher were the three Harmon mentioned yesterday

He doesn't seem to have a problem with Leukemans but maybe that's simply because he doesn't realise that he served a ban

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

harmon has his favourites, just like everyone else

"everyone else" isn't a commentator. Or did you forget what a commentator's job involves?