Trek Founder Passes Away at 73 March 14, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France, Breaking News, Cycling , add a commentThe sport of cycling has lost a true pioneer. Richard Burke, a founder of the Trek Bicycle Corporation, which capitalized on the luster of Lance Armstrong’s victories in the Tour de France to reshape the way top-of-the-line bikes are manufactured, died Monday in Milwaukee at 73.
It was on a $6,500 carbon-fiber Model 5500 bike built by Trek that Mr. Armstrong won his first Tour de France in 1999, the first of his seven straight Tour titles. With that, Trek became the first American bike company to win the Tour and the first to build a carbon-fiber bike that won the Tour,” John Bradley, a senior editor and the cycling expert at Outside magazine, said Wednesday. “It was a watershed moment.”Racing bikes must be as light and stiff as possible. Before being made of carbon fiber, which has the best stiffness-to-weight ratio, the bikes were made of steel, titanium or aluminum. (more…)
Let Levi Ride — Will You Help? March 12, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France, Cycling , 2commentsOn February 13th, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) barred Team Astana from competing in any race or event organized by the ASO in 2008. The ASO owns premiere cycling events like Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours, and the famed Tour de France. By barring the entire team from competing in ASO events, outstanding athletes like Levi Leipheimer, who was not a member of last year’s Astana team and who has never been implicated in any doping affair, are forced to sit on the sidelines while their life’s work passes them by.
“When I saw the Tour de France on TV when I was young,” laments Leipheimer, “I knew that someday I wanted to do that race. I sacrificed my life to participate. After finishing on the podium last year I want to do even better. Now I’m a victim of an illogical decision and have been excluded from the race.” “Where’s the consistency?” asked Leipheimer. “By taking action now it looks political. It looks like the ASO has a grudge against a team that can win its races. (ed. Americans being discriminated against again!) My hope is that this campaign will encourage the ASO to reconsider its decision.”
The ASO cited the doping scandals of last year’s Tour de France as justification. Check out the outrage to the decision here.
Be Heard
Would you help put Levi’s dreams back on track by signing the petition at Let Levi Ride?. Petitions will be sent directly to Christian Prudhomme, Director of the ASO, as well as to VS, the official US media partner of the Tour de France.
There can be no comparison between the Astana team of 2007 and the new Astana. The entire organizational structure has been rebuilt under the direction of the team’s new General Manager, Johan Bruyneel, (more…)
Cycling: UCI…Bring It On! March 9, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France, Cycling , add a commentI am a HUGE cycling fan and we are now experiencing the fallout of a blood feud between the ASO and the UCI. The ASO controls the Tour de France race and the UCI controls the season-long Pro Tour. So now we get to this week’s Paris-Nice cycling race and both sides refuse to budge and the ASO has basically said, “UCI…Bring it on!”. Can someone please reign in these 2 year olds for the benefit of the sport?
The Paris-Nice race is set to start Sunday even though teams that participate face sanctions from cycling’s governing body, which says it is fighting for its “survival” and ability to regulate the doping-marred sport. International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid has urged riders to boycott the season’s first major stage race, calling it “illegal” because the race organizers—the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO)—are holding it under French laws and outside UCI rules.
McQuaid has threatened teams with six-month suspensions, fines of up to $9,700, and bans from the track world championships this month, which would affect cyclists (more…)
CAS: “We’ll Hear Landis Case” January 13, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentReuters reports that Floyd Landis’s appeal of a doping ban that cost him the 2006 Tour de France title is scheduled to be heard by a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel on March 19, the rider’s attorney told Reuters on Saturday.
“We are really looking forward to appealing the (U.S.) decision and optimistic the CAS panel will view favorably for Floyd,” Maurice Suh said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. The New York hearing is the American cyclist’s final attempt to overturn a two-year doping ban. Last year, a U.S. arbitration panel upheld findings by a French laboratory that Landis had used synthetic testosterone in winning the 2006 Tour.
“We will prove, once again, that the French laboratory’s work violated numerous rules and proper procedure, rendering its results meaningless and inaccurate,” Suh said last year in announcing Landis would appeal the U.S. panel’s decision to CAS.
Happy New Year: Ready to Ride? January 1, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentHappy New Year to all of you, whoever you are (let me know with a comment). As I get ready to think about the new year, I noticed that cyclists are already geting a jump on the new year with the annual New Year’s eve mountain bike snow race, where cyclists ride bikes on the ski slopes in the alpine resort of Villars, Switzerland. This year, nearly 100 cyclists rode the 5 km track on snow. Seems a little crazy and over the top to me — what do you think?
Curtain Call August 11, 2007
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Wow! What a difference 750 days or so makes….Looking back just two years ago, we go from total euphoria in watching Lance Armstrong, one of the premier athletes in the world, win his seventh straight Tour de France to the announcement yesterday that the Discover Channel cycling team would disband at yearend.
I am sad and disilllusioned by a sport that I love so much. It is painful to watch some of these athletes tarnish the sport so greatly, that no sponsor will step in and take the reigning tour de France championship team. Cycling is at a new low. Can it recover?
I Share His Feelings July 25, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentThe Summit (CO) Daily New (Devon O’Neil) sums up my feelings on the Tour de Farce:
In parting, just to take stock: We’ve got an entire sport (cycling) teetering on collapse yet again, we’ve got a superstar NFL quarterback charged with killing animals for money, we’ve got an NBA referee facing a game-fixing probe, and the greatest record in sports is about to be broken by a steroids user.
Thank heavens for college softball (I would substitute college football).
HT: Trust but Verify
Tour de Farce: Rasmussen Out — What the Heck is Going On? July 25, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentTour de Farce leader Michael Rasmussen was removed from the race by his team after winning Wednesday’s stage, the biggest blow yet in cycling’s doping-tainted premier event. “Michael Rasmussen has been sent home for violating (the team’s) internal rules,” Rabobank team spokesman Jacob Bergsma told The Associated Press by phone.The expulsion, which Bergsma said was ordered by the Dutch team sponsor, was linked to “incorrect” information that Rasmussen gave to the team’s sports director over his whereabouts last month. Rasmussen missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28. The 33-year-old rider, who won Wednesday’s stage, had looked set to win the race, which ends Sunday in Paris. But Tour officials had questioned why he was allowed to take the start on July 7 in London, England.
“We cannot say that Rasmussen cheated, but his flippancy and his lies on his whereabouts had become unbearable,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme told the AP. The leader of cycling’s governing body applauded the decision. “My immediate reaction is, why didn’t they do this at the end of June, when they had the same information,” Pat McQuaid said. “The team decided to pull him out; that’s their prerogative. I can only applaud that. It’s a zero-tolerance policy, and it’s a lesson for the future.”
With Rasmussen out, Spanish rider Alberto Contador of the Discovery Channel team moved into the race lead. “It’s in no way a celebration on our end. It’s the third piece of bad news,” said Discovery Channel spokesman P.J. Rabice. “It reflects badly on our sport.” After the Tour’s upbeat start in London, when millions of spectators lined the streets, bad news - nearly all of it related to doping - quickly claimed the spotlight.
On Tuesday, star cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood transfusion, and his team pulled out of the race. Wednesday, it happened again when the Cofidis squad confirmed its rider Cristian Moreni of Italy had failed a doping test, prompted the withdrawal of the entire squad. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 104-year-old Tour ever had lost its leader in such fashion so close to the finish. “In the very old history of the Tour de France, I don’t know, but the recent past - never,” said Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres.
Can It Happen Again? Say It Ain’t So! July 24, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France, Breaking News , add a commentWhat a debacle AGAIN! After he bonked then showed the world he could grit his teeth, and win a tough mountain stage, Alexander Vinokourov was found guilty of blood doping. This disgusts me….I really thought this would be a clean ride this year but again my legs are whacked out from beneath me.
In a scene eerily parallelling last year’s Tour winner Floyd Landis‘ remarkable “bonk one day then win the next“, Alexander Vinokourov was found guilty of blood doping and immediately sacked by his team, who also pulled out of the Tour de France. “The doping test carried on Alexander Vinokourov after last Saturday’s time trial in Albi has returned positive,” the Swiss team backed by Kazakh companies said. “There is the presence of a double population of haematids (blood corpuscles), which implies there has been a blood transfusion with homological (the same type of) blood.” “Tour organisers have asked Astana Cycling Team to leave the race, which has been accepted spontaneously.”
Vinokourov has asked for the B sample to be tested. “I cannot comment on this until the result of the B sample’s analysis,” International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid told Reuters over the phone. Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said the cheats should now be worried. “I told the riders before the start that this was a fantastic opportunity for renewal,” he said at a news conference.”That has failed. But the cheats must understand that they are playing Russian roulette. We are utterly determined”. Vuelta champion Vinokourov was one of the pre-race favorites for this year’s Tour but injured his knees in a crash during the first week of the race.
The 33-year-old then blew any hopes of victory when he bonked and finished almost half an hour down on stage winner Alberto Contador and overall leader Michael Rasmussen on Sunday. Vinokourov, who won Monday’s 15th stage, was 23rd in the overall standings, 28 minutes and 21 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Rasmussen of Denmark. The biggest loser of all of this blood doping? Andreas Kloeden, who was Astana’s best placed rider in the standings. The German, second in 2004 and third last year, was fifth overall, 5:34 down on the leader.
Still Waiting on Landis Ruling from Last Year
Last year’s Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is still awaiting a ruling from a United States arbitration panel after testing positive for testosterone during the 2006 race. The American has protested his innocence but if the decision goes against him, he could become the first Tour winner to be stripped of his title. Check out all the latest Floyd Landis updates at Trust but Verify.
McEwen Wins…Will He Continue? July 8, 2007
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Wow! Does Robbie McEwen have a gear that no one else has? Robbie produced a stunning come-from-the-back-of-the-peleton finish to win yesterday’s first stage of the Tour de France. McEwen once again produced his trademark burst of power to finish a bike length ahead of Norwegian Thor Hushovd at the end of a dramatic 203km of racing from London.
McEwen, 35, looked to be out of contention when he had to stop for repairs after a crash as the race approached Canterbury towards the end of the 203km stage from London. With 12 miles to go, McEwen was forced to brake because of riders ahead. He was hit from behind by a cyclist and sent sprawling to the road. “The fall itself was on a small road,” the Australian continued. “They [the other riders] were braking in font of me and almost stopping. I also went hard on my brakes. I had almost stopped but whoever was behind me wasn’t paying attention and just ran straight into the back of me. It flipped me over the handlebars. I tried to keep flipping over to land on my feet or maybe my back but my hand was the first thing to hit the ground and then my knee. Straight off, he feared that he might have to stop. “I initially thought that I had broken my wrist, as I couldn’t move it and it was very sore. I will have to go and get it looked at by the doctor.” Pressing on despite a sore right wrist and cuts on his right knee, McEwen was at the back of the peleton with 7 km to go but was escorted by his Predictor Lotto teammates back up into the leaders group for the final all-out sprint.
Will He Continue?
However the crash has left the 34-year-old Predictor-Lotto star nursing a sore wrist - and with major doubts for the coming days. “When it happens you’re not really thinking too much about it, you get back on your bike you don’t feel anything,” said McEwen, whose team-mates battled to bring him back into the race for the finale. “But now I’m starting to feel the pain, in my hand, my wrist and my knee. “It was a great day for me, but now I’m starting to get a bit worried for the rest of the Tour.”
As the 2007 TdF starts, let’s not forget about our friend, Floyd Landis, who will be here in Chicago at Borders at 830 N Michigan Ave on Tueday evening at 7pm to sign his book. As always, stay up with all the Floyd Landis progress at the Trust But Verify blog — they have the best info anywhere on the matter.
It’s Almost Tour Time! June 26, 2007
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As we get close to the Fourth of July, I begin to get excited for the Tour de France, the toughest three weeks in sport. I love to watch the race highlights each night, as the riders cover more than 3, 550 kilometers. The race runs from Saturday July 7th to Sunday July 29th 2007. This is the 94th running of the Tour de France and the race course will be made up of a prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,550 kilometres, as the riders encounter 11 flat stages, 6 mountain stages,1 medium mountain stage, and 2 individual time-trial stages.
This year, the Tour is mired in doping muck, but race leader Christian Prudhomme is putting down the hammer to ensure this is a clean race this year. He commented to Reuters, “The Tour de France has been wounded by doping scandals and must now work to restore its image. Yes, the Tour has been damaged, but it is strong. What other event could resist what’s happening the way it has?”
Last year, American Floyd Landis tested positive for testosterone on his way to victory and is unlikely to learn the outcome of his doping hearing before this year’s Tour, in which he will not take part, starts from London on July 7. The Tour also suffered another blow last month when Dane Bjarne Riis, the 1996 winner, said he had used banned drugs between 1993 and 1998.
“The Tour must regain its credibility and its dignity,” Prudhomme told Le Monde. “Today, the will (to fight doping) is there because doping is the enemy of the Tour.” Tour organizers have urged teams not to enter any rider involved in the doping investigation in Spain known as Operacion Puerto. Prudhomme said only riders who fully accept the anti-doping rules would be allowed to compete. “We will oppose the presence at the start of the Tour of any rider who will not have signed the International Cycling Union’s anti-doping charter,” he said, adding that race organizers would take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if needed.
Lemond Enters Stage Left May 16, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentI am a big cycling fan and am watching with interest the Floyd Landis doping hearing….For total coverage of the Landis affair, check out the #1 internet source …Trust But Verify
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Here comes Lemond, stage left….I ask myself, what sort of media circus we will see as the USADA brings Greg Lemond up to testify?
1.. Will he testify that he talked to Landis after the announcement last year?
2. What would have been said in THAT conversation?
3. What can Lemond possibly add to the proceedings?
4. Does Greg Lemond believe in his own mind that HE is the only athlete ever to win multiple Tour de France races without doping?
Tomorrow we see as 3-time Tour winner Greg LeMond is expected to (more…)
Can I Get a Witness! May 15, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentFor you non-cycling fans, join us as we review the day to day deliberations inthe Floyd Landis “doping” hearing…..catch all the best and timeliest Landis updates at Trust But Verify
Is he guilty and a cheater whose time is up? Or is he innocent and is being railroaded by an out-of-control authority? Stay tuned right here….
In Tuesday’s deliberations on the Floyd Landis case, a number of potential witnesses names’ were released (more than 40 in total-mostly technical witnesses about lab procedures and analysis procedures), including Eddy Merckx, Allan Lim (a Landis coach), Greg LeMond and John Eustice (retired cyclist). Lemond will be the most interesting and potentially provide the most fireworks, IMHO. You will remember that LeMond has been openly skeptical about Lance Armstrong’s statements that he was able to win seven straight Tours without doping. LeMond also is believed to have spoken with Landis by phone in the days after his positive tests became public. In addtion, the USDA will likely call up retired cyclist, Joe Papp, who is expected to testify how he benefited from testosterone usage during his racing career.
HOW DOES IT ALL WORK IN THE HEARING AT PEPPERDINE?
The San Jose Mercury News states that the hearing is set up with a three-member arbitration panel that will conduct the hearing under the commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrators are Richard McLaren, a Montreal lawyer appointed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency; Bay Area lawyer Christopher L. Campbell, who was picked by Floyd Landis’ attorneys, and Patrice Brunet, a Canadian lawyer chosen by McLaren and Campbell as a neutral arbitrator. The format loosely follows U.S. court procedures. Both sides will make opening arguments and then present evidence and expert witnesses. All witnesses must answer questions from arbitrators and the other party. The panel is expected to rule in June. Many expect the ruling to be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, whose decisions are binding.
What Don’t I Know? May 9, 2007
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Another day — another suspension of some guys whose cycling teams less than 10 days ago denied reports in the Italian press that the team had sidelined it key riders. Is there something I don’t know?
Have the team’s managers been worn down by the authorities’ juggernaut or do they really know something about Operacion Puerto that nobody is talking about?
In a press release today, their Tinkoff Credit Systems team announced that Tyler Hamilton and Jörg Jaksche will not race the 2007 Giro d’Italia and have been suspended indefinitely “until the competent authorities … have finally sorted out all the implication of the riders in Operación Puerto“. Team management said the decision was aimed “at relieving pressure created around the Giro … and on the team itself” after statements made by other squads that decided to deny Giro starts to riders thought to have been implicated in the Spanish blood-doping inquiry. In addition, German sprinter Danilo Hondo has also been suspended, although Tinkoff vows to “fully support” the fight against doping pressed by UCI president Pat McQuaid and race organizers.
This was a HUGE u-turn for Tinkoff, which on April 30 denied reports in the Italian press that the team had sidelined Hamilton and Jaksche, when the GM told Velo News “For me, Tyler and Jörg can start the Giro. Stories that they are suspended are not true.” “Tinkoff has a list of 12 riders that can go to the Giro. Tyler is on that list and we expect him to race.”
Hamilton also held out great hope, saying “Everything is for the Giro. I want to be on the podium in Milan,” at the Tour de Georgia.
What is happening here…Is the dam about to break? What do you think?
Hero to Zero May 8, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , 1 comment so farI am a big cycling fan and another hero of mine has fallen. After watching Ivan Basso for so many years and seeing Discovery Channel hire him, I thought for sure he was clean and honest. I thought that Discovery Channel would have grilled him and done every test in the book before hiring him so I thought that was a good indicator of truth and honesty. But no.
Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso said on Tuesday he had never used illegal substances or blood transfusions but was guilty of attempts at doping. “It is only attempted doping. my career I have never used doping substances or transfusions,” Basso told reporters at a packed news conference in Milan. On Tuesday, he declined to give details of what attempted doping meant. Italian media said his blood had been discovered in bags during the Spanish investigation. Basso emphatically denied that his 2006 Giro victory was fuelled by illegal methods and said he was keen to return to a sport which has been badly tarnished by a number of doping allegations in recent years.
Another hero falls to zero. Please Floyd….please be telling the truth about your innocence. Thank God there is one hero who held the truth above all else and did what he said he would do.
Landis Bankruptcy? April 27, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , 1 comment so far
AP — Yikes! Say it ain’t so Floyd.
Floyd Landis said he’s lost almost $10 million in potential earnings and might need to declare bankruptcy since being accused of using drugs to help win the Tour de France last year. He faces a two-year racing ban and would be the first cyclist in the Tour’s 104-year history to lose his title for doping after testing positive for inappropriate levels of testosterone. (more…)
Cheat or No Cheat? April 16, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , 10commentsCheat or No Cheat — What do you Think?
A French lab began analyzing Tour de France champion Floyd Landis’ “B” urine sample today. The tests, which were requested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, were taking place at the Chatenay-Malabry lab outside Paris to see if any showed traces of testosterone. You’ll recall that this is the same lab that indicated Landis’ positive test after he won the 17th stage of last year’s Tour. The analysis process should last about 10 days, with the results sent directly to USADA.
In total, Floyd Landis was tested eight times during the 2006 Tour de France — the other seven tests he took throughout the three-week race showed no abnormally high levels of testosterone. What do you think? Is he a cheater? Let’s do a poll here by leaving a comment and we’ll see together (I’ll post the totals in a couple of days).
Meanwhile, Landis was spotted in Austin, Texas on Monday night for a town hall meeting and fund-raiser, as he seeks to defray costs of his legal defense. Landis will have a public hearing next month as he contests the drug test results from last year’s race.
Whoa - Ullrich Begins Long Media Ride April 4, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentIf you follow my blog, you know I am a big cycling fan. I especially love the Tour de France and think it is the ultimate trial of endurance. I was interested in the following story, knowing the way this will play out in the media before it ever gets into a formal process. I don’t think Ullrich is definitely innocent — I am just against a sensationaized media process.
April 4, 2007 A DNA sample taken from former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has been matched to bags of blood found during the Spanish Operacion Puerto anti-doping investigation last May, according to the Associated Press (AP). Now he begins the long ride played out time and time again in the media. It should be a wild and painful ride for Mr. Ullrich.
“We found nine blood samples that we were able to compare with the blood samples,” Friedrich Apostel, the investigating prosecutor in Bonn, told the AP. “We were able to establish the identity of Ullrich.”
Ullrich has repeatedly denied using any banned substances, but the T-Mobile team dropped Ullrich on the eve of last year’s Tour de France after he and several dozen top cyclists were implicated with allegations of doping. Ullrich announced his retirement from cycling in February, delivering a 43-minute monologue in which he accused the International Cycling Union (UCI) of jumping to conclusions in Operacion Puerto.
