Monday, November 12, 2007

Monday Roundup

News
Reuters posts a piece about outgoing WADA president Dick Pound noting that few will shed tears at his exit, including Floyd Landis.

The CyclingNews covers Rabobank's independent investigation of Michael Rasmussen's dismissal from the team and the Tour de France last summer. The report notes that Rasmussen did not have personal reasons for the lie about his whereabouts and that he was ostensibly avoiding doping controls by doing so. It also said that he should never have started the Tour de France in the first place which implies some responsibility for the situation by the team itself, and the UCI does not escape the criticism of this committee either:

The International Cycling Union (UCI) also came in for a share of criticism in the report, which said that "The UCI must attain a higher level of professionalism with regard to the formulation, enforcement and monitoring of its own doping regulations."


In other news, the Jef D'Hont Jan ULlrich mess continues with former Ullrich mentor Rudy Pevenage getting into the fray. And Spain's Superior Council of Sports (CSD) president Jaime Lissavetzky comments on the upcoming anti-doping summit to be held in Madrid this week by making a strong statement that WADA needs to not only fight and eradicate doping, but it needs to do so fairly:

"There has been built a very useful model, but sometimes inflexible," he continued on how anti-doping laws have changed in the Iberian Peninsula. "We must find the balance between flexibility and efficiency. It is a relevant discussion beyond the case [Andrey] Kashechkin. We want to be against doping in sport and protect the health of the athlete, but also respect their fundamental rights, as contained in the anti-doping law in Spain."

The VeloNews also notes the independent report on the Rasmussen situation. And in the Monday Mailbag one note reveals biases for and against certain cyclists.


Blogs
Rant has found that the blood values Michael Rasmussen published last week tell a different story than might first be concluded.

JoeSchmo notes the exodus of sponsors from cycling because of doping scandals.

Racejunkie writes eloquently of "inconvenient truths" in the pro peloton, though after reading "Dopers Must Be Stoned" he may want to rethink referring to Floyd Landis as "goofily inarticulate".

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