No barriers for Lance Armstrong, Astana in the Tour de France

June 18th, 2009 by Al Fresco View Comments

There’s nothing holding Lance Armstrong back now. At long last, Johan Bruyneel, the UCI and the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation are all in agreement that all financial guarantees have been paid and that there are no licensing issues that would prevent the team from lining up for the Tour de France.

In a release issued Thursday, the team credited productive meetings between Johann Bruyneel and intermediary Rinus Wagtmans, who served as a representative of Kazakhstan’s government for an accord, “which gives riders and staff of the Team sufficient guarantees for the operation and functioning of the Team for the remainder of the season.”

Bio-Passport News:

Anne Gripper, the anti-doping boss for the UCI says that there were “probably more cases to come”. She went on to warn riders that the UCI’s experts were looking at profiles in real time and that some others were currently under detailed review.
Lampre and Fuji-Servetto, as expected, suspended their riders either permanently or provisionally.
Fuji noted that their internal controls did not show any variation, and that the offending values were in 2008, when Serrano was on another team (Tinkoff Credit Systems).
Lampre’s Pietro Caucchioli says that he is sure that he has not done anything to be in violation and that, before yesterday, he had not received any notification from the UCI about irregular blood values.
The Amica Chips team has not suspended Igor Astarloa, and seem to be the first to challenge the validity of the program. They also say that they did not receive notification from the UCI before the press release about the riders went out.
The only word from the Diquigiovanni team about Francesco De Bonis is that they have examined his 2009 values and found no abnormal values. As with Serrano, they are claiming the offense took place in 2008, when he was on another team. The team is already reeling from Davide Rebellin’s doping positive at the Beijing Olympics and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see this be the final straw for team management.
The UCI is calling for a four year suspension in cases where there is “deliberate manipulation of blood.”
A couple of worries:
- Surely there are some riders that are breathing a HUGE sigh of relief right now as they know that they have been doping. Unfortunately, these riders now have a good model for slipping through the controls that they can share with others.
- What happens when the next out-of or in-competition positive comes along. Even if the UCI comes out and shows the rider’s profile and is able to point to some anomolies, a positive outside of the biological passport program will inevitably cast doubt on its credibility.
- No mention was made of suspicion of riders that were already under investigation for doping. I would have at least expected a footnote mentioning Alejandro Valverde and Davide Rebellin with information that they were being closely tracked but that the UCI was not ready to pull the trigger yet. Alternatively, the UCI should have noted that they were not mentioned because they are already under suspension.

Other News:

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that Astana must pay damages to Vladimir Gusev for his (unfounded) dismissal from the team for suspicion of doping. The verdict will be communicated to the UCI so that Gusev will be able to race again. Astana will have to pay back salary as well as court costs.
In other CAS news, they have ruled that Alexandre Vinokourov will be eligible to race on July 24th. The controversy came as Vino had originally announced that he would retire, but then decided to announce his comeback after sitting on the bench for a year. The UCI cried foul and the CAS backed their assertion that, retirement or not, the Kazahk rider was subject to a two year suspension. Vino has expressed interest in returning to the Astana team, but he’s got a snowball’s chance of that…
Christophe Moreau (Agritubel) will be using the Route du Sud for Tour de France preparation. The race runs Thursday through Sunday.
Robbie McEwen (Katusha) did his first training run on the road yesterday. This comes 20 days after his fall during the Tour of Belgium. He rode for two hours and says that he did not have any pain.
Rabobank has announced their final selections for the Tour de France: Denis Menchov, Robert Gesink (Ned), Laurens ten Dam (Ned), Stef Clement (Ned), Joost Posthuma (Ned), Oscar Freire (Spa), Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa), Juan Manuel Garate (Spa), Grischa Niermann (Ger). Menchov will be going for the overall, Freire for the green jersey and Gesink for best young rider.
Luis Leon Sanchez is on track to captain the Caisse d’Epargne squad for the Tour de France if Alejandro Valverde is not allowed to race.
Doping of a different kind: Former world downhill champion Melissa “Missy” Giove and two alleged co-conspirators were arrested in New York Tuesday, charged with plans to distribute some 400 pounds of marijuana.
Christian Vande Velde is back in competition at the Tour of Switzerland. Despite a crash yesterday, he is “very excited with how things are going.” He’s still hoping for a good GC showing at the Tour de France.
Andreas Henig, last year’s U23 time trial for Germany is the latest addition to the Kuota-Indeland team.

Results:

Niki Terpstra won the prologue of the Ster Elektrotoer. The Milram rider was the strongest in the 6.9 km time trial. Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Piet Rooijackers (Skil-Shimano) rounded out an all Dutch podium.
Andre Greipel (Columbia-High Road) won the sprint for Stage 1 of the Ster Elektortoer. Niki Terpstra remains in the lead.
Jose Rujano (Gobernación del Zulia) won the 10th stage of the Vuelta a Columbia for his third stage win of the race.
Nicolas Rousseau (Ag2r-La Mondiale) won the first stage of the Route du Sud. He was part of a four man breakaway. Fumiyuki Beppu (Skil Shimano) and Carlos Castano (Xacobeo) completed the podium.
Mark Cavendish (Columbia High Road) won the sprint for the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland over Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre).