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…)
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.
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.
Landis: It All Begins Today May 14, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentToday, Monday, three arbitrators will convene their hearing on Floyd Landis’ case in a moot-court auditorium at Pepperdine University, pitting the one lone cyclist against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) who has alleged the cyclist used illicit performance- enhancing drugs, with a possible two-year suspension and loss of his Tour title hanging in the balance.
At the hearing, Landis will argue — as he has publicly — that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) testing lab in France made numerous errors in handling samples and interpreting test results. For the first time since the anti-doping enforcement system was created seven years ago, one of its hearings will be open to the press and public — subjecting its quasi-judicial process to public scrutiny like never before.
Dozens of journalists from around the world, as well as many other (more…)
What Don’t I Know? May 9, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a comment
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?
“Let The Drug Free Chess Games Begin” November 30, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , add a commentFrom humble beginnings in 1951, the Asian Games have blossomed to become the second largest sporting event in the world, only superseded by the Olympic Summer Games themselves. The 15th Asian Games, held in Doha, Qatar, will host more than 10,500 athletes from 45 countries and regions.
My favorite part? The drug-free environment mandated in the chess matches! Yes, Dick Pound would be proud of this ruthless focus on stopping the doping of chess players!
In its official press release, the organizing committee of Doha 2006 trumpets that chess players, like athletes in any of the other sports at the Asian Games, will be required to undergo doping tests in Doha. “The chess athletes will be treated exactly the same as any other sport,” said Julian Hocken, the manager of the venue where the chess competition will be held.
All the blog readers at Trust But Verify will get a huge kick out of this one…….
Tour de Farce? November 15, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Tour De France , add a commentONLY IN FRANCE (AP) - The French anti-doping lab that tested American cyclist Floyd Landis’ urine samples told a newspaper it had made an “administrative error” when reporting its findings on his backup “B” sample, the French newspaper Le Monde reported Wednesday. The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory gave the wrong number in its report about Landis’ second sample. Tests on the rider’s two samples indicated that Landis had elevated levels of testosterone in his system when he won the Tour de France in July.
In a letter sent to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in September, Jacobs said the positive finding on the “B” sample came from a sample number not assigned to Landis.
“It’s incredibly sloppy,” Jacobs said at the time. “It has to make you wonder about the accuracy of the work.” On Sunday, Landis said in a French television interview that the lab made crucial errors in his tests. “Even the best people make mistakes,” he said. “I can’t say that the lab is always a bad lab, but I can say that in this case it made some mistakes I did not take testosterone.”
And predictably, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Dick Pound says he has complete confidence in the French laboratory that handled the drug tests on Tour de France champion Floyd Landis despite lapses in security and procedure. The French anti-doping laboratory (LNDD) in Chatenay-Malabry, on the outskirts of Paris, has come under intense scrutiny after its computer system was breached and French daily Le Monde reported that an error was made in the handling of Landis’s samples.
BBC Radio 4: Are There Statistical Weaknesses in Drug Testing? November 8, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , 1 comment so farWhere is the WADA when you need a comment? On November 6, BBC Radio 4 casted doubts on today’s testosterone testing, having investigated statistical weaknesses in the testing regime for drugs in sport. One athlete interviewed for the program who had initially been suspected of taking testosterone was finally cleared last week.
The presenter, Andrew Dilnot said “The cyclist Floyd Landis is also contesting the allegation that he too took testosterone to enhance his apparently winning performance in the Tour de France. “While we (BBC) have no idea of Landis’ guilt or innocence and would not speculate, is there anything in the argument that testosterone can reach suspicious levels for natural reasons? “What we found in our investigations was reason to concern us both about the plight of the innocent and our chances of catching the guilty.”Apparently they sought comment from the WADA about these problems in testing for thier show. The reponse?
“No one is available” said the WADA– can you believe it? Quite amazing after “shoot from the hip” Dick Pound erupted every other day after the Tour de France to blast Landis and Tour organizers.
Stern: Can’t Take Dick Pound Seriously November 7, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Tour De France , 4commentsFinally, some respected sporting officials are speaking out about the lack of credibility and professionalism of Dick Pound.
A couple of days ago, NBA Commissioner David Stern criticized the World Anti-Doping Agency on Friday, saying “the organization has lost respect in the international community”. Stern jabbed WADA head Dick Pound for his treatment of Floyd Landis, the Tour de France winner who tested positive for testosterone.”(WADA) is actually getting harder to take seriously,” Stern said before the Bucks-Raptors game. “Whenever an organization which purports to be even-handed and fair announces that a `B’ sample isn’t necessary, then they lose an enormous amount of respect.”
It is about time people begin to look at Dick Pound and see what a loose cannon he is, saying stupid stuff from the hip that makes him lose respect in the international community and shows him to be non-credible in his role at WADA.
