Friday Roundup
News
The VeloNews reports on the signing of suspended Italian Ivan Basso by Liquigas. Basso's OP suspension for "intending" to dope ends on October 24, and his new contract is for two years. Fears are already being expressed in some circles that this will exclude Liquigas from some big cycling events next year.
The CyclingNews weekly letters column has some interesting comments on Greg LeMond and the other usual topics of discussion.
Blogs
Racejunkie notes the addition of the "angelic", or is that teflon coated, Ivan Basso to Liquigas, and ponders the "put on" fight against doping. You don't mean we're going though all of this Hell just for show, who knew?
MTBReview Forums note timing complications and a very controversial DQ of Will Black, the men's single-speed winner at Cohutta, days after the race and 15 minute protest period. This probably has something to do with why the results weren't posted until yesterday.
Will Black has his story and a followup.
The resulting declared winner, DJ, has his own race story, never mentioning WB, and talking about coming in second.
It seems from here to be a travesty, and a reason to have someone who understands the rules capable of enforcing them -- like a sanctioning body, perhaps. Hmmm, this swords cuts both ways. The rules seem to allow what he admits openly having done, getting food support from his wife at aid stations.
Philospher's Playground comes late to the game, and considers the Landis case game theoretically, with some confused facts that make it kind of hard to discuss on his terms.
10 comments:
Reading the comments about WB's disqualification, leaves me with the impression that he got railroaded. I guess that if he intends to continue competing in cycling events, he should get used to being the victim of the selective application of "shadow" (i.e., made up for the occasion) rules - especially if he has the temerity to win. I wonder if some of the Cohutta officials have been taking French lessons.
While things are still relatively quiet, I saw something that caught my eye: it appears the US Congress is passing an anti-discrimination law related to genetic testing. It is HR 493.
I have not perused the bill as thoroughly as I'd like, but for all you bloggers out there, it might be worth a look. It appears "genetic testing" is defined, as are lots of related terms. Since this Act seems to imply that certain things can't be done in an employment context (such as being employed by a pro-cycling temam), I sort of wonder where this might leave USADA's "Project Believe." Or an employer like High Road or Slipstream's own internal testing.
Lots of stuff to digest in the bill. Here's a link:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h493eh.txt.pdf
There do seem to be exclusions aplenty, and maybe (maybe) it is clear that physiological testing would never be considered "genetic testing" or come under the related terminology.
Blog away.
Completely unrelated to anything topical, but I received delivery of a box of packets of energy drink powder for my latest attempt to not recreate the Floyd Landis stage 16 experience.
Anyways, printed on the side of the pack was "guaranteed to not contain any banned substances listed by WADA". Unremarkable, you may think, but I was amazed how clearly I understood that message which, prior to my involvement in this case, would have slid past me without a thought. I thought "I know about WADA. I know what they do and I know how they regulate their labs".
Needless to say, I had to scrap that plan. I'll now compete with a dozen oranges shoved down the front of my shorts and a water bottle containing pure, distilled water. Better safe than sorry.
Ali,
I have to say I find the vision of anyone competing at anything with 12 oranges stuffed down the front of his shorts, what is the word...
Disturbing.
Yes, that is a disturbing image.
If that is what floats your boat, go right ahead, but, ICK!
TBV
Not so fast. There may be method in my madness. I also just ordered a pair of Giordana bib shorts. My confusion over sizing lead me to order a pair of XL (being lead to believe that they covered both my height of 6'1" and my waist of 33").
I can't really believe I qualify for a XL size rating so I'm expecting a set of elasticated lower-body sails to arrive. Utilizing the spare capacity as pannier space is clearly working smart (although the aesthetics may be admittably disturbing)
I can see it now, Ali rolls up to the start, his shorts stuffed, looks over to the guy next to him and says, "What? If Armstrong can do it with one, imagine what I can do with 12."
Gary,
Does that mean Ali will be winning Le Tour for the next 77 years? If so, that's really gonna piss some people across the channel off for a long time to come.
;-)
Hey TBV -- just noticed you're getting soooooo close to 1,000,000 hits! Thanks for all of the great work!
I can't bring myself to comment on Ali's oranges.
Back to the 100, how very "un-single-speed" of the complaining (looks a lot like they made it up) factory sponsored riders.
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