[DRB]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/jun07/jun21news2

UCI goes after the "Men in Black"
The UCI has targeted "six or seven" top riders who are suspected of using doping products, by subjecting them to extra unannounced doping controls. Some of these riders have already produced "non-negative" results, according to Anne Gripper, director of the UCI's anti-doping program. "We have picked out six or seven riders who are considered high-risk cases because of their suspect behaviour and subsequent good performances in the Tour de France," she told the press agency Belga. Some of these riders "have already had three or four unannounced doping controls," although the UCI only requires one per rider per year.

Gripper said that "We have information that they train in strange places." The controllers refer to the riders as the "Men in Black", because they were neutral clothing on their training rides, rather than their team kit, which helps them avoid attention by the UCI controllers.

"Some of the results may well be announced before the start of the Tour de France," Gripper said. "Several abnormal results have already come in. We are busy with those results and not all of them are negative," she said, "but it will take time, because we have to respect the process, the analysis of the B samples, before we can make any announcements."

Why make this announcement now? Why not wait until you have the ducks in a row and then make the announcement with names and results?

 

[golgiaparatus]

Just boot them now... why does the start alwasy have to be full of drama.

Anyone want to guess who the "men in black" are?
I'm gonna to guess (among others):
Vino
Kash
Kloden

Possible: Valverde

My guess is that if these guys are training together then they are part of the same team. And all these Astana guys are ex: T-eam Syringe riders, their entire team was suspect last year... and, well, I already said all this in another thread.

As for Valverde... I know they (the UCI) have been hunting him pretty fiercely.

I think that right now any rider that is going into the tour on the sh!t is really risking it. I know everyone is going to say, "whatever... everyone is on it, it has always been like that, blah, blah, woof"... I just think that with things going crazy like they are, a lot of riders that were on it are now off it for the sake of avoiding the sh!tstorm.

 

[Alpha Kenny Body]

**** EPO, love Bacon... i say

 

[LordOpie]

Why make this announcement now? Why not wait until you have the ducks in a row and then make the announcement with names and results?

Simple. They hate their own sport and are looking to destroy it.

The UCI is the worst run group evah.

 

[sanjuro]

Simple. They hate their own sport and are looking to destroy it.

The UCI is the worst run group evah.

I think cheating is so pervasive, that ridiculous methods of control have to be used.

The NFL is an example of a sport with much stronger controls, ala Pacman Jones.

They should just toss out anyone they think is doping. This isn't the World Court.

 

[jacksonpt]

I think cheating is so pervasive, that ridiculous methods of control have to be used.

I agree, assuming they really do want to clean up the sport. I think they've gotta do something like test EVERY rider EVERY week until things turn around. These periodic unannounced tests are dumb. Tell people they are going to be tested, test them, then don't fck up the test results. If people know for sure that they are going to be tested, they are going to stop doping in a hurry.

The NFL is an example of a sport with much stronger controls, ala Pacman Jones.

They should just toss out anyone they think is doping. This isn't the World Court.

I think the situations are a little different. The NFL has a "personal conduct" policy which allows them to punish players *basically* for doing things that tarnish the image of the league, teams, etc. Cycling, to my knowledge, doesn't have anything like that. Besides, in cycling it's about suspicion... and it's sketchy to punish based on suspicions.

 

[sanjuro]

I think the situations are a little different. The NFL has a "personal conduct" policy which allows them to punish players *basically* for doing things that tarnish the image of the league, teams, etc. Cycling, to my knowledge, doesn't have anything like that. Besides, in cycling it's about suspicion... and it's sketchy to punish based on suspicions.

You're right. There is no proof but it is becoming common knowledge that many riders cheat. As more and more cycling fans turn away from cycling, this will be impetus to clean up racing.

Maybe similar to the Black Sox scandal where Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .375 and made no errors yet he still received a lifetime ban because he did accept money. More importantly, gambling was invading baseball and they brought in a hanging judge to preside over the sport. Today, who thinks gamblers affect the outcome of games?

If you are dirty, you're gone. But I am confident racing is clean, if circumstantial evidence indicates you are dirty, you should be gone too.

 

[DRB]

If you are dirty, you're gone. But I am confident racing is clean, if circumstantial evidence indicates you are dirty, you should be gone too.

You must be kidding. In essence anyone that wins a race will end up with the spectre of guilt and therefore gone from the sport.

Or some guy purposely tanks a race or stage so that folks won't look at him too closely. But since he didn't do well than he must be hiding something so he is dirty and gone from racing.

 

[MtnbikeMike]

Well, Lance used to not ride in his team kit. Does that mean he was trying to avoid the UCI as well?

 

[sanjuro]

You must be kidding. In essence anyone that wins a race will end up with the spectre of guilt and therefore gone from the sport.

Or some guy purposely tanks a race or stage so that folks won't look at him too closely. But since he didn't do well than he must be hiding something so he is dirty and gone from racing.

Is Mark McGwire clean? Sammy Sosa? Ivan Gonzales? None of them ever failed a drug test. Ken Caminiti also never failed a drug test but he did admit after his playing career to taking steroids.

Can you tell me which riders are clean? How about every top 3 rider from the last 5 tours has the stain of drug abuse, with the only exception of Lance.

You see, whether I am right or wrong, the sport slowly dies as more suspicion there is that every successful rider cheats. You probably don't believe me, but in a few years when even the Tour is no longer shown on American TV or is a punchline on the Daily Show, you might believe me then.

 

[DRB]

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/12456.0.html

Tour de France favorite Alexandre Vinokourov blasted UCI officials for insinuating that Astana riders are trying to avoid anti-doping controls and said he would not be distracted before the July 7 start of the Tour in London.

The UCI earlier this week made suggestions that a half-dozen "suspect" riders were being targeted with increased anti-doping testing and dubbed a few of them as the "men in black" because they were riding in anonymous jerseys to avoid possible controls ahead of the Tour.

Many jumped to the conclusion that officials were referring to Astana riders Vinokourov and others who train along France's Cote d'Azur without wearing their emblematic team jerseys. The Astana team issued a statement Thursday saying the team had "nothing to hide."

In an interview published in the French sports daily L'Equipe, Vinokourov said he was angered by the implication.

"Stop the rumors! If I train in a black jersey it's only on the Cote d'Azur, where I live, and it's because I want to be avoided be recognized by cycling tourists," an angry Vinokourov said. "It's not ideal to train for the Tour when I have 20 riders on my wheel for hours at a time. I'm not the only one who does it. Bettini doesn't train in his rainbow jersey."

On Wednesday, UCI anti-doping manager Anne Gripper told AFP that it was tracking "six or seven" suspect riders ahead of the Tour and subjecting them to extra out-of-competition controls.

Vinokourov told L'Equipe he's already been tested three times, once ahead of Fléche Wallone, another time while training in Tenerife in April and once again in early June in his home in Monaco.

"If there had been an anomaly, I'd be the first to know, but there's been nothing from the UCI, no mail," Vinokourov said. "They are trying to scare us a little, but I am calm. I have nothing to hide."

Well guess Astana is going to get the hook..... again. Shoot they should just throw the entire team out of cycling for life.

 

[sanjuro]

Well guess Astana is going to get the hook..... again. Shoot they should just throw the entire team out of cycling for life.

FRANKFURT, Germany: Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich insisted he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs.

Asked by the mass-circulation newspaper Bild in an interview published Tuesday if he had ever doped, Ullrich replied: "Never. Very clearly."

Bobby Julich talking about Ivan Basso: This is a sad moment again. Here we are, back again in the headlines for a negative thing. There seems like there was an investigation down in Spain that was going on during the Giro [d'Italia], and during that time there Ivan was, destroying the competition. Somehow, his name got involved with this investigation, and I asked him point blank [Thursday] in front of the team, when we had our team meeting, if he had anything to do with this, and he said he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Bjarne Riis, who retired in 1999 and now manages Team CSC, issued a statement Monday denying the allegations.

"I have never had a particularly close relation with Jef d'Hont and he has no validation for the allegations he is making. There will always be some one out there trying to make money by talking about the past and in my opinion that is probably, what he is trying to do here," Riis said. "This is probably not the first nor the last time these kinds of stories surface. To me, it's all in the past and I do not wish to be held accountable every time some one finds it interesting to bring up some ten-year-old story. I truly believe the future is much more important than the past. I want to be judged on the work I'm doing with my team today, and the results we achieve - that is what's important to me."

Could you tell me what difference between Ullrich, Basso, and Riis's denials and Vinokourov's? One is innocent and the other 3 were not?

That's the problem with allowing cheating: now no one believes the innocent are innocent.

 

[DRB]

A week later and still nothing from the UCI. I guess they are going to wait until the day before the tour and just throw the whole thing into an f'ing mess again just like last year. Or just leave what they said hanging over everything....

 

[Jeremy R]

Its lose lose situation for Vino.
If he realizes his life long goal of winning the Tour this year in his Astana jersey, most people will see him as dirty as Marv Albert.
Actually whoever wins will be suspect.
The whole sport is in the crapper.

 

[Westy]

I have to say that I am following road racing a lot closer this year than in years past. Not because of the racing but for the trainwreck rubbernecking aspects.

And in the latest news (from velonews)

JUNE 29 - The Astana has dropped Italian rider Eddy Mazzoleni from its nine-man Tour de France team due to doping allegations

 

[LordOpie]

First year in several that I have no interest in the TdF. I'm not even sure when it starts.

 

[Westy]

This could be good. Jasche supposedly is going to spill the beans.

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/12503.0.html

 

[DRB]

This could be good. Jasche supposedly is going to spill the beans.

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/12503.0.html

It would be good if he dropped trou and showed everyone the old brown eye. That would be a revelation.

 

[blue]

First year in several that I have no interest in the TdF. I'm not even sure when it starts.

Same.

Sad.

 

[loco-gringo]

Why, when there are so many dangers to others from other drugs, did this deal get to be the "World Anti Doping Agency"???

Stupid.

 

[DRB]

I guess the UCI got what it wanted....

Rasmussen promises cycling world can ‘trust me'
It wasn't exactly the kind of rest day questioning Michael Rasmussen would have expected a day after riding into the yellow jersey for the first time of his career.

The Tour de France leader patiently defended himself Monday against tough questioning from journalists who queried him about rumors he was one of the UCI's infamous "Men in Black."

"It's strange that the UCI says I am training in neutral colors. The only ‘Men in Black' I know of are Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones," Rasmussen said in a rest day press conference. "It's true I sometimes train in neutral colors to respect my privacy. When I ride in my Rabobank jersey, people follow me home, they hang out of cars, stop me and ask for autographs. I don't like that. That why I sometimes train in neutral colors."

UCI anti-doping coordinator Anne Gripper raised doubts about several riders she dubbed as "Men in Black" who she insinuated raced in non-team jerseys ahead of the Tour to allegedly try to avoid detecting from pre-race doping controls.

Rasmussen roared into the yellow jersey in a dramatic display Sunday that have many wondering if the climbing specialist can hang on to win the Tour.

But journalists seemed more interested in asking him about rumors of training practices, particularly his penchant to go to far-away Mexico for high-altitude training camps. Rasmussen's wife is Mexican, but some suggest riders go to Mexico because the Latin American nation would seem a safe haven for dubious training practices.

"I've been using high-altitude training methods since we went to Colorado in 1994 with the Danish national mountain bike team," the former world mountain bike champion said. "After that experience, I've always believed in high-altitude training."

Rasmussen didn't flinch when one Danish journalist asked him point blank if fans should trust him following the damaging revelations from 1996 Tour champ Bjarne Riis.

"Yes, you can believe me," Rasmussen answered. "Unfortunately, this is what we have to deal with now in cycling. Fans can believe me."

Controversy aside, Rasmussen said he enters the second half of the Tour with ambitions of racing for victory.

"Lance Armstrong once said to win the Tour you need one good mountain stage and two good time trials. I have to win with a few more good climbs," he said. "I believe I have enough of an advantage on the others to keep the jersey after the time trial at Albi. I'm not a time trialist, but with all due respect, there are no Lance Armstrong or Jan Ullrich in the race."

Finally, Rasmussen admitted that he is getting some added juice.

"This yellow jersey feels like doping to me," he said. "It motivates me more than anything. I will fight to keep it."

 

[MtnbikeMike]

The UCI needs a swift kick to the nuts...or ovaries.

 

[LordOpie]

The UCI needs a swift kick to the nuts...or ovaries.

Approved!

And... wow, just wow

 

[luelling]

The UCI needs a swift kick to the nuts...or ovaries.

No doubt, they accuse people in the press without solid evidence. It would be one thing if they had hard evidence, like when they caught David Miller with empty vials of EPO.....hard to deny cheating in that situation.

 

[MtnbikeMike]

No doubt, they accuse people in the press without solid evidence. It would be one thing if they had hard evidence, like when they caught David Miller with empty vials of EPO.....hard to deny cheating in that situation.

They seem no better then a tabloid. In fact, I think they're worse; they actually have(had?) credibility, so when they go about doing and saying tabloidish things, those statements carry more weight.

lthumbsdown: