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😀
It's like the good 'ol days never ended, really.
I'd love to see the creative accounting in the Astana expenses policy to cover this one.
Filthy.
There goes any misconceptions that cycling is trying hard to become clean!
Not even a little bit surprised at this!
"But Astana and UCI lawyers met in Geneva on Thursday to agree a deal that sees the team keep its licence".
A deal? Do you think money was involved? Statement please Brian.
Wonder what odds I could get on nibbles winning this years tour by a day, having won every stage by over an hour?
UCi: we're kicking you out
AST: but we're really really sorry.
UCI: it's not that we are mad, just disappointed.
AST: *sobs* but we won't do it again. 😥
UCI: I can't say no to that face. Ok you scamps, but don't do it again! I mean it! On you way with you. Oh you left your briefcase....
AST: you keep it 😉
As is the case with doping in pro cycling it's just getting swept under the carpet yet again after someone waved a cheque book around and said how many zero's to make this go away.
We'll only ever see a few riders punished now and again for some publicity to make it look like the UCI can actually do anything when we all know that they're actually about as much use as a chocolate fire guard.
"are you not entertained?"
Roll on LBL, the most doped single day race in history going on previous winners.
😆 @ the Chef!
I honestly didn't see that coming...like at all...weird...
The only way they'll prove to me that they care about this shit is testing every Astana rider in every WT race for 6 months, they should also make sure one random rider is tested from each team every day in the grand tours as well as the stage winner and jersey wearers. Not sure how I'd get all draconian on their arses for the one day races yet?
I is disappointed
Astana = US Postal
I doubt we will ever have a clean sport
Junky, they're the Posties in part, but are now funded/run by that paragon of virtue that is Kazakhstan.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/24/tony-blair-advice-kazakh-president-protesters
http://www.transparency.org/country#KAZ
Etc.
Not when the UCI really stands for Utterly Corrupt Imbeciles
The most annoying thing is that I'm cross with myself for actually believing that something would actually happen this time.
no mention of uci here ... (mind you it is the daily fail)
just the license commission ... so which is it, uci backing down
or the license commission standing up !
the only way this crap is going to stop is if people turn off their TVs and go to the beach in July and not stand at the side of the road cheering on a bunch of drug cheats. As that's not going to happen any time soon, the sport will remain in the sewer, hell, there will still be cheerleader threads on here no doubt. All hail to the needle.
When the Kazakh squad finally officially received the UCI’s communiqué, less than half a dozen reporters were present at the [u]hotel-cum-health[/u] resort,
[url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/all-quiet-on-astana-front-as-uci-communique-ends-deadlock-over-licence ]STOP THIS FILTH! [/url]
Shh and just enjoy the cricket will you
Remember how good they were when we were kids eh
Independent review board, no?
Awe shit.
I was hoping they'd lose it, in reality it was not only going one way..
Wasn't it?
Nice tweet from Greg Henderson
Sad to see @fabaro1 "sick". Mate make sure next time u come back to our sport "healthy". Aka. Clean! #biopassport! Or don't come back!
UCI going after riders now not the team?
Bloody hell! That's strong, I've seen some of Greg Henderson's Tweets in the past, almost makes me join!
Notice the later apology!
Oh bollox! Not what I wanted to hear
The only way this doesn't look like pressure from sponsors/race organisers/politicians is if they publish the entire transcript of the hearing and all the evidence. Otherwise... farce
Kazakh mafia holding a gun to the UCI's head?
That's about the only scenario I can think of right now which wouldn't be a major disappointment in the UCI.
Or UCI lawyers advising that Astana will take them to CAS and win, just like what happened with Katusha?Kazakh mafia holding a gun to the UCI's head?
As usual, the Inner Ring has a well informed and insightful piece on this. Certainly helps to iron out a few common misconceptions (such as the assertion in the thread title).
http://inrng.com/2015/04/astana-licence-hearing-saga/
EDIT: I realise that same assertion, that the UCI are 'backing down' is in the BBC report too. I think the situation is a little more complex than that implies.
Yeah (and I reckon that's the most likely scenario as much as it's not as exciting as briefcases of cash), but that won't prevent disappointment - that would say that yet again the UCI has failed to plan ahead/properly to ensure that it can remove the license from teams that have failed to play by the rules.
Glad they're back in, it'll be more fun with Nibbles competing as well.
Nibbles would have been competing regardless - he'd have got out of his contract if they'd had their license removed.
Road cycling really is an embarrassment to all the other disciplines. And oddly the only one the BBC seem to cover. Never a mention of the World Cup DH despite having numerous UK world champions.
That's coz DH is boring 😉
And FWIW, I'm pretty sure that doping was rife in XC.
And FWIW, I'm pretty sure that doping was rife in XC.
Not to mention DH, although that was more herbal than pharma...
Prepared to give the UCI a chance. Cookson seems to want to ensure that rules and procedures are followed transparently, regardless of outcome. I'd rather see that happen than have someone ride roughshod over the rules just to get a result that suited the demands of public and media.
I agree - I reckon that Cookson has the desire to do things right. The problem is either that he is not very effective or the UCI as a whole isn't and it's taking a long time to sort out - quite possibly because not everyone is on board with the clean up.
I was thinking about this the other day, by the liability shifting from teams to riders for doping infringements, this surely incentivises teams to 'encourage' their domestiques to dope.
Say, hypothetically, a fictional rider, lets call him Nicenzo Vibali, who is perfectly clean, paniagua and all that, get's tempoed up climbs, dragged along cobbled sections, and protected from the wind by different doped up domestiques on different days, and then goes on to win a grand tour, even if one or two of these guys got caught Vibali's result would still stand. 😕
That's hardly a new theory.
If only riders take the blame then the culture will never change. teams can do a huge amount to prevent or incentivise their riders not to dope. Very few really do.
It's precisely why the Astana case was so important. Teams/managers need to be sanctioned not only the riders.
Reading between the lines it seems that Cookson is making sure he has a cast iron legal case. He is following due process. The last thing he needs is for any sanction to be challenged in the courts.