Bobke on Beltran and Le Tour!

by Bob Roll


Tour '08 Report #1

After a great opening week of racing where the yellow jersey changed hands between 4 riders in only 6 stages, and sprint finishes were won by Valverde, Hushovd and Cavendish, and generally speaking a fantastic opening week of this year’s Tour….some rather disturbing news has come to us this evening.

A Spanish rider, on the Italian team, named Manuel Beltran has tested positive for EPO during the first stage. This is a stage where Mr. Beltran did not finish in the top 100 riders and is not a rider that anyone has picked to win a stage or finish well in the overall standings. As is often times the case, it’s the bad news that grabs all the headlines. And justifiably so or not, this Tour will not be free from the infamy that cycling has gone through recently.

To imagine any rider could be so conceited and have such total disregard for his teammates, his sponsors, the fans, the Tour itself and, most importantly, for himself is another sad chapter in the continuing degradation of a beautiful sport.

One would presume that all of the riders are under such intense scrutiny that their transgressions would be exposed before they came to the Tour and would never be allowed to compete. But, in the ongoing battle between the ASO and the UCI it has become, this year, more difficult to scrutinize the athletes adequately. In this case of the “feuding, divorcing parents” (ASO and UCI), the “kids” (the riders) are the ones that are free to do bad things that they might not do otherwise.

Since Beltran is not one of the top riders and no rider on his team, Liquigas, was forecasted to be an overall contender, let’s hope this is another incident that will blow over and we can resume paying attention to the race itself.

One side note, a recent signing to the Liquigas team for next year should give us an idea of the increased scrutiny that will be on this team. That would be Ivan Basso.

The ASO, organizers of the Tour de France, can not be asked to send a clearer message and every rider, no matter what station of the hierarchy of the sport, must race clean or never race again!

Foul Mood - Caution Rant Ahead

If you are a reader of this blog, y'all know that I've been at the Dealer Expo this week so I haven't had a chance to follow the build up to the Tour of California. Yesterday I did get in a short post wishing my friend Tyler Hamilton well in his return to US racing. Last night when I went to look at the results I couldn't find him and then I had an email from a friend saying that she saw he was left off the roster. That was curious, but I knew that it was really early in the season for him and maybe he just wasn't ready.

Oh no....after a little reading this morning I find that he was left off the roster because he and two others "were not approved entry because of a possible open doping investigation." Excuse me? Because they might be investigated again. Ok, I've had enough. Finally. I'm done. I love the fact that Cipo is back. I truly love the sport and if Tyler is racing somewhere that I can get to, I'll go and support him 100%, but as for the rest of it, I'm done.

From Michael Ball, team owner of Rock Racing about this whole thing..."This is not a decision governed by the agreement. There is no open investigation. AEG is acting irrationally to the detriment of the sport."

Let me preface all of this with I want clean cycling. Very clean. I have no issues with logical, legal methods to getting cycling clean.

I wrote about this last month when I was appalled at the new regulations at the Tour of California. According to the ToC organizers we do not live in the United States where you are innocent until proven guilty. According to the ToC organizers, they are dictators and decide who should be able to race and who shouldn't. Not the governing bodies of sport, but them. That is just WRONG! Can I make that any more clear? Yes, ok, disclaimer again, I consider Tyler a friend. However, I can make the same argument here for Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla who were also banned from this "event" without ever having met them.

This Operation Puerto "investigation" has reared its ugly head conveniently before a major tour more times than I care to count. After the tour is over, it goes away. They have some "evidence", but nothing they have been able to prove for YEARS now people. If it's there, then go after those riders. Please. Do. If it isn't, let's get this gone and move on. YEARS have gone by with this now. When does this one "investigation" end? Or will it loom for Tours for YEARS more to come?

So, they might open the investigation again...and they MIGHT find someone guilty of doping. MAYBE. But, it has been YEARS and the folks they are talking about in Cali haven't been charged with anything. Now, a lot of you say "yet" at the end of that sentance. And, you may very well be right, but the fact of the matter is that WE DO NOT KNOW. So...why shouldn't they race? Seriously.

Yea, ok, go ahead and tell me that Tyler has been banned before and that it "proves" he "probably" had something to do with Operation Puerto. Again, United States here people. Don't forget that. Tyler did his time, just like David Millar. Tyler is cleared to race by the governing body. Tyler is still cleared to race by the governing body. So are Oscar and Santiago. Who is the ToC to say differently? Because they "MIGHT" have "something" to do with a years old investigation? Really? Well, any one of those guys in that field "might" have an infraction at some point in their career - even this year. But nobody knows....just like we don't know if any of those guys kicked out of the ToC, before it even started, will. Their name is on a list. There might be some evidence that is years old, maybe, but not proven. Yet, they can't race. That is WRONG.

And then there is the whole Astana mess with the Tour de France. Yea, that works for me, too...

I'm done. Done. Give me family cycling. Give me riding with my friends. Give me kids cycling. Give me rides for charities. Do not expect me to get behind pro cycling until this ridiculousness ends. Skull and Crossbones for the Rock Racing team? Good deal - get me some of that gear!

My very own bike racing RANT

USA Today's Sal Ruibal is a great supporter and reporter of cycling and I always enjoy reading his articles. He's a very fair reporter and knows how to get a scoop. Today he's got some information on the Tour of California's new drug testing protocols. Give it a read.

(note: rant about to start...)

I'd heard through the grapevine last week about some of this information. I wasn't happy about it then and I'm not that happy about it now. Now before you run off and say that I want to stick our heads in the sand and have less testing that's not it. I have no problems with the extensive testing they are going to be doing in Cali this year. Actually, I stand up and applaud it. Way to go!

They are actually going to have testing before the race to get a norm reading, if you will. If that varies during the race...well...chances are you've been a bad boy. I'm all for that as long as normal bodily production is taken into account. I'm not a doctor so I have no idea if that last sentence is feasible or not, but just wanted to put it out there.

As they go through the race, each day's winner will be tested and the overall leader will also be tested (I think that's what they do in Le Tour, too). In addition, three random riders will be tested very single day. Bravo! Way to go Tour of California! Much better than last year's plan.

Now comes the part I, personally, am not happy about. I don't want to paraphrase, so I'll use Sal's words here because he's seen the plan and I haven't.

Teams have agreed to guarantee that all members, including coaches, trainers and support staff, are clear of any open doping investigations. The team's roster of riders will be submitted to USA Cycling (the national governing organization) and UCI to confirm that there are no "open investigations."

Sal goes on to write...
That exclusion rule has some teams worried. USADA guidelines say a rider can only be suspended if an offense is established. But without a clear definition of "open investigations" at the Tour of California, teams are concerned that overzealous officials could restrict riders without due legal process.

I bolded that last bit because it is exactly what concerns me, too. It concerned me last week when I heard it because the last I checked we were in the United States where, in theory, you are innocent until proven guilty. This last bit does not allow for that. It shuns people that could be truly innocent and doesn't allow them to make a living doing their job.

Yes, more times than not, it seems like in the last couple of years if you are accused of doping you've done it. BUT, there are a few times that this hasn't been the case at all. Riders have been cleared. Whether you choose to believe them or not is a personal choice, but some riders have been cleared. So, under this new rule in Cali, if you are under suspicion you are, in their mind, guilty and they do not want you at their race. Wow. Judge & Jury out there in Cali without knowing any facts.

I absolutely, without question think that drugs do not have any place in sport. I absolutely, without question think that there needs to be better, more consistent systems. I absolutely believe that those who have gone through the system and been proven to cheat should be suspended and not be able to ride in sanctioned races. I absolutely applaud Tour of California for most of their stepped up efforts in the fight against performance enhancing drugs.

However, I do not condone making potentially innocent men sit on the side lines because someone accused them of something. Maybe there is basis to that accusation, maybe not. It's also a very grey area. What constitutes a legitimate allegation being investigated by the "authorities"? Oy...this could be very messy.

I think that the whole sport has been so damaged recently and that races and officials need to find more consistency in their testing and rules. I don't think that keeping potentially innocent men out of competition is the way to do it. We saw that in Le Tour in 2006 - whole teams were kept out of Le Tour and then a few weeks later, "oops, we made a mistake". Seriously? Who compensates them for the wages lost and the sponsors' dollars lost?

Yes, sponsors are walking away from pro cycling because of the doping. But, let's face it, there have been false accusations. So now we are in the situation where a sponsor believes in their riders, but someone says they aren't clean so they are investigated and during that investigation races start excluding them from riding. The sponsor loses chances to promote their brand and their team during that time. Low and behold, that rider is cleared a few weeks or months later. The rider isn't the only one who loses out.

If this becomes the norm at races, you may see additional sponsors walking away.

We are in the United States, people. Innocent until proven guilty.

End of rant...