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Astana in The Giro

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  • 07-05-2008 8:38pm
    #1
    bunnygreen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 347 ✭✭


    What the f*** is going on with Astana being allowed to ride the Giro,and Liquigas signing Ivan Basso?.What are the rules?.Any opinions?


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    #2
    TinyExplosions
    Registered Users Posts: 6,860 ✭✭✭TinyExplosions


    bunnygreen wrote: »
    What the f*** is going on with Astana being allowed to ride the Giro,and Liquigas signing Ivan Basso?.What are the rules?.Any opinions?

    I'm leaning towards it being a good thing. Maybe it's naive, but the team is set up drastically different from last year, and it always seemed excessive to punish them for what happened last year with what is essentially a different team.


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    #3
    crashoveroid
    Registered Users Posts: 911 ✭✭✭crashoveroid


    Why shouldnt they be allowed its the discovery team with a new name and yes i know astana were around before discovery disbanded but its the same set up as discovery why should Alberto Contador and Levi be punished for vinos mistake F*****ing idiot. As for basso he should on be with a conti team for the next few years. But what can you do he is Mquaids bum chum now


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    #4
    E@gle.
    Registered Users Posts: 1,516 ✭✭✭E@gle.


    bunnygreen wrote: »
    What the f*** is going on with Astana being allowed to ride the Giro,and Liquigas signing Ivan Basso?.What are the rules?.Any opinions?

    why shouln't they be allowed??? They are a completely different team now.

    Brunell is in charge now, he runs a tight show


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    #5
    blorg
    Registered Users Posts: 15,989 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    My understanding is that the only reason the Giro didn't want them is they were worried that they would simply be using the Giro as a "warm up" for the Tour de France. Now they are out of the Tour, they are welcome in the Giro ;-)


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    #6
    Chips Lovell
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Chips Lovell


    bunnygreen wrote: »
    What the f*** is going on with Astana being allowed to ride the Giro,and Liquigas signing Ivan Basso?.What are the rules?.Any opinions?

    You could write a small book about it. To try and keep it simple, Basso's served his name and will be allowed to race in October. Under the rules of the AIGCP (association of pro teams and nothing to do with UCI), people suspended from doping shouldn't be signed by Pro Tour teams for a further two years after a suspension. Liguigas got around this by leaving the AIGCP, something Discovery did last year as far as I recall.

    As for the Giro invite, under Pro Tour rules, Astana would have to be invited to the Tour and Giro. This was one of the reasons ASO (organisers of the Tour) and RCS (organisers of the Giro) pulled out of the Pro Tour. They wanted to be able to invite teams that a.) would mount a serious challenge and b.) wouldn't dirty their name.
    TinyExplosions wrote: »
    Maybe it's naive, but the team is set up drastically different from last year, and it always seemed excessive to punish them for what happened last year with what is essentially a different team.

    You should read what Leclerc said when they decided not to invite them to the Tour. Astana said much the same thing last year, new team, new management, etc. after the previous year's debacle. Then you had Vino, Kasheshkin, Kessler and Mazzoleni all getting nabbed. He said if they keep their noses clean this year, then they're back in.
    E@gle. wrote: »
    why shouln't they be allowed??? They are a completely different team now. Brunell is in charge now, he runs a tight show

    Bruyneel signed Contador right after his old team was involved in one of the biggest doping busts in cycling. He signed Basso after he was implicated in the same incident. What kind of signals does that give off?


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    #7
    tunney
    Registered Users Posts: 12,583 ✭✭✭✭tunney


    TinyExplosions wrote: »
    I'm leaning towards it being a good thing. Maybe it's naive, but the team is set up drastically different from last year, and it always seemed excessive to punish them for what happened last year with what is essentially a different team.

    The problem is Bruyneel. He is and always has been as dirty as f*ck. All the teams he's worked with have been as dirty as f*ck. If he is there then the team is, guess what? Dirty as f*ck.


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    #8
    zzzzzzzz
    Registered Users Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭zzzzzzzz


    tunney wrote: »
    The problem is Bruyneel. He is and always has been as dirty as f*ck. All the teams he's worked with have been as dirty as f*ck. If he is there then the team is, guess what? Dirty as f*ck.

    +1

    I can't believe they've let astana in. Junkie c*nts!

    And what about the wild-card that were let in in astana's place??? They've obviously been training specifically for the Giro for the last however many months and now, after a meeting with the Kazakh sponsors astana are back in the Giro and the wildcard is told where to go???? Eh, brown envelope???? I think so.


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    #9
    crashoveroid
    Registered Users Posts: 911 ✭✭✭crashoveroid


    tunney wrote: »
    The problem is Bruyneel. He is and always has been as dirty as f*ck. All the teams he's worked with have been as dirty as f*ck. If he is there then the team is, guess what? Dirty as f*ck.

    Yeah but the one thing about Bruyneel he has never been caught. now everyone that has left the team have nearly been caught IE flandis and Heras


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    #10
    Raam
    Registered Users Posts: 14,317 ✭✭✭✭Raam


    I wonder what the chances of them going to the Tour are now?


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    #11
    Caroline_ie
    Registered Users Posts: 5,400 ✭✭✭Caroline_ie


    I am a mqssive fan of the pro tours ... but I think at this stage, we won't find anyone who will be able to say ... 'I never took drugs', or it was against their will ( think Virenque a few years back ) they're all probably 'junkies'... they take everything they can get away with ... a friend of mine was telling that for ie, there is a way to hide certain type of drugs in your system by getting hair growth medicine ... so now you see more and more hockey player trying to get a fuller head of hair ...

    Anyone wants to try?:pac:


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    #12
    Chips Lovell
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Chips Lovell


    Raam wrote: »
    I wonder what the chances of them going to the Tour are now?

    Still minimal I'd say. ASO strike me as the kind of guys who don't like to back down.


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    #13
    bunnygreen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 347 ✭✭bunnygreen


    If you look at the way the Classics have panned out this year,i think we'd all agree its been one of the best in memory,its a fact they have been slower,the type and make up of the breakaways has been far more varied and no one can tell me that was'nt one of the best finishes ever at The Paris-Nice.It all points to a cleaner racing culture,lets see what affect the introduction of The Biological Passport has.Cycling is throwing out a lot of mixed messages at the moment and is really in danger of shooting itself(pardon the pun) in the foot as it struggles to re establish some kind of credibility.:confused:


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    #14
    Chips Lovell
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Chips Lovell


    bunnygreen wrote: »
    If you look at the way the Classics have panned out this year,i think we'd all agree its been one of the best in memory,its a fact they have been slower,the type and make up of the breakaways has been far more varied and no one can tell me that was'nt one of the best finishes ever at The Paris-Nice.It all points to a cleaner racing culture,lets see what affect the introduction of The Biological Passport has.Cycling is throwing out a lot of mixed messages at the moment and is really in danger of shooting itself(pardon the pun) in the foot as it struggles to re establish some kind of credibility.:confused:

    I wouldn't go by the classics to judge the season in terms of doping. If you look back over the last few years, its always with the grand tours that the doping busts start.

    UCI said they already have 23 riders under suspicion from ongoing testing and Patxi Vila has already tested positive for testosterone. There's also a rumour going around that a certain young rider who shone at Paris Nice is one of the 23.


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