Astana 2009 - we all know they were clean, now they'll prove it

I'm sure the Astana team will welcome this great opportunity to prove that they won Le Tour fair and square.

For the record, several teams are in focus for their controlled syringe disposals, with Astana singled out at the moment as syringe content is tested. In all likelihood no team would be so - umm, what's the word, stupid? - as to dispose of "foreign" syringes in the safe, controlled disposal system. Of course it only takes one individual to make a mistake.

Alternatively someone - this is the conspiratorial theorist at play now - could be setting Astana up for a fall. Which would be both wrong and diabolical, yes?

Who do you believe?

• Young rising star with much to gain, brilliant climber and self-confessed Pantani fan: Ricco tests positive, yet denies all. Gets sacked, backtracks and admits to EPO use. Denies doping before Le Tour but let's re-check his Giro blood samples just in case...
• Piepoli, climber with long and distinguished career: what could he achieve by doping? To extend his career? A last-ditch superannuation payment? He's Ricco's roommate and is reported to have confessed, is sacked by team to show that it means business, but denies all. From CN: "The 36-year-old Piepoli, who had not tested positive but, as the room-mate of Ricco during the Tour, was sacked by his team for violating the code of ethics "denied everything" after being questioned by CONI"
• Gusev, another rider facing retirement after a good career is caught out by internal team tests and dismissed. He refutes this "guilt" and threatens a lawsuit, raising speculation that the team (Astana) timed this sacking with Le Tour to get in the 'good books' with ASO - as proof they are cracking down on cheats and punishing them. But doesn't Gusev's sacking actually taint Astana, "proving" that cheats lurk within? Why would they bring this to light during Le Tour?
• Bossoni and Carini test positive in June at the Italian national championships: "Two Italian cyclists tested positive for EPO in June, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) announced Thursday. The first, Giovanni Carini (Pagnoncelli NGC Perrel), tested positive after winning the Elite without contract category at the Italian National Championships in Boltiere. The second, Paolo Bossoni (Lampre) the following day after the elite men's road race"
• Sacked Euskaltel rider Pena has been cleared: "Aketza Pena was declared not guilty of doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday, according to a statement by the rider reported in Marca. The Spaniard tested positive for nandrolone at the 2007 Giro del Trentino, and was suspended from his Euskaltel-Euskadi. He had received a two-year suspension by the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) in August, 2007. His contract with Euskaltel-Euskadi was not renewed and he abandoned his cycling career". Ouch.
  
• Does anyone believe any of this? Whole teams (like Astana) are denied access to Le Tour because of past "activites", despite new management. Athletes are sacked without a positive test, and others test positive and are sacked yet later are cleared. Is it all a publicity-driven shambles? Are we jumping to too many conclusions, too quickly? 

 

Ex-rider ex-Astana ex-Disco

Another one bites the dust. Gusev gets cut from Astana because of "irregular blood values".

"Vladimir Gusev has been officially notified that he no longer represents Team Astana," Bruyneel said. "Our Kazakh sponsors have also been made aware of this decision and are fully supportive." Gusev, 26, the now former team-mate of 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, came over to the Discovery Channel team from Team CSC in 2006. He followed Bruyneel from that team to Astana this year. A four-time Russian time trial champion, Gusev was considered to be a Classics specialist, finishing fifth in the 2007 Tour of Flanders. But he stunned the cycling world by taking a mountain stage win and the climber's jersey at the Tour de Suisse that year.

Add him to the growing list of ex-Discovery riders with similar blood problems. Not that it's a causal relationship, mind. Just a correlation.

Astana spend 460,000 Euros on anti-doping - still get dumped by ASO

Bye-bye Le Tour for Astana. Unless ASO does an almighty backflip there will be no invitation this year to Le Tour de France for the Astana team and their star riders. Riders who last year secured both 1st and 3rd, may I add. With stakes so high on either side - ASO desperately wants a drug-free Tour and Astana just want to race on the biggest stage - it may be that this ban gets contested all the way to July.

CN reports: The Astana team was given a resounding vote of no confidence on Wednesday when the Tour de France organiser, Amaury Sport Organisation, announced that the team would not be invited to any of the ASO's events. This means its star, Alberto Contador, will not be able to defend his titles in either the Tour or the upcoming Paris-Nice.

Just my opinion, but who can blame ASO? Whilst Bruyneel may claim - quite rightly - that this is a new Astana with the right attitude and tough anti-doping rules and testing in place, this is also a team that in 2007 fostered the up and down roller-coaster ride that was Vinokourov (blood doper). And Kashechkin (blood doper). And Kessler (testosterone abuser). And a team that has managed to bring into the fold the remains - both key riders and managers - of a fairly tight-knit, successful and at times questionable Discovery team. I say 'questionable' advisedly, however there are enough books and websites written on the subjects of Armstrong, Landis and Basso for you to gather some answers - or simply more questions - for yourself.

When you reflect on Astana's hasty creation from the charred remains of the bloodied corpse of Liberty Seguros - and its dreadfully tarnished image since - you have to wonder if ASO can afford to risk Le Tour's reputation once more. Obviously not, at this stage anyway.

Giro opens a can of worms

What a can of worms the 2008 Giro has opened, by excluding 4 ProTour teams. You'd think that there was something intrinsically "wrong" with these teams, to exclude them in this overtly political way. They are ProTour teams after all, and effectively part of the premier league of cycling. So exclusion becomes a sporting issue, and it matters. The obvious question arises - is it for "drug issues", a taint that seemingly can't be overcome? Or something else?

One such "something else" is the tendency of some teams to use the Giro as training for Le Tour. Surely that includes quiet a few other teams, not just this lot.

Read the CN story here: Angelo Zomegnan, the head of Giro organizer RCS Sport, said that the decision was not simple. "There were many requests and too many problems weighing on the past histories major teams related to doping," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "This has not been an easy decision, and we have had to leave out large teams like Astana and the illustrious Italians Stefano Garzelli [Acqua & Sapone], Marco Pinotti [Team High Road] and Pietro Caucchioli [Crédit Agricole]."

And the UCI reaction is here: UCI President Pat McQuaid reacted Wednesday to the omission of four ProTour teams from the Giro d'Italia start list by race organizer RCS. He said it was like "taking a step back 20 years."

The excluded teams are Astana, High Road (formerly T-Mobile), Credit Agricole and Bouygues Telecom (all ProTour) plus the Professional Continental team Acqua & Sapone of former Giro champion Stefano Garzelli. That's a big chunk of talented riders to remove from contention.

Everyone gets a mention

Swiss cycling enthusiast and Astana main man Marc Biver appears to get a mention in for everyone, from Vino to Ferrari via Rominger... from CN:
Biver defended Michele Ferrari, whom he has known since the "EPO years [90's]." I always found him very direct, honest and nice. Back then he already made great training plans. I can't judge him by anything else, I don't have proof," said Biver, who also pointed out that Vino tested positive, which he didn't think was Ferrari's wrong-doing. Astana's general manager also said that his relationships with Tony Rominger had not suffered. The former professional was a client of Ferrari in the past and managed several riders involved in doping cases, including Astana's Kessler and Vinokourov.

Old dope - Non-doper Kloden rides again

He's clean, but his team suspended itself due to Vinokourov's indiscretion and their bike sponsor withdrew support. But Kloden rides on, in team kit.

From Cyclingnews.com:
"Klöden rides in Germany

Andreas Klöden will return to racing Friday evening at the 16th Bitburger-City-Nacht in Rhede, Germany, his first race after Team Astana withdrew itself from the Tour de France following Alexander Vinokourov's positive doping result.

Race organizer Uwe Hengstermann said that he had received a text message from Klöden's manager Tony Rominger "again confirming that Andreas Klöden will come to Rhede on Friday." On the race's website, central-rhede.de, Hengstermann said, "Andreas Klöden has not ridden any races since Astana's forced withdrawal from the Tour de France and, as far as we know, he will start racing again for the first time in Rhede."

Although the team decided to suspend its activities during the month of August Klöden is able to ride in this race because he signed a personal contract to appear.

It was not clear whether Klöden will appear in his Astana kit and what bike he would be riding. Bike sponsor BMC cancelled its contract with the team as of August 1."

And the kit he used was confirmed, btw.