posted Jul 26, 2007

andrewj100 "I don't a gree with a lifetime ban, 2 years is enough"


Well, it patently isn't.

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posted Jul 26, 2007

The way Rasmussen has been treated is disgusting. They knew about this before the race so why did they let him start?
The team sponsors Rabobank placed pressure on the team management to withdraw Rasmussen. He hasn't failed any tests & he has ridden magnificently this tour. I have disagree with the guy who says he has come out of nowhere as he won the king of the mountains last year.
It's interesting to hear the views of many cyclists who are talking of their 'suspicions' about him and others on the tour, so why don't they speak out? A few years ago a rider Simeoni made some accusations toward Lance Armstrong & the peleton seemed to back the American.

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posted Jul 26, 2007

The Tour de France is the highest profile event on the cycling calendar. It's a pity that these doping revelations are coming out during the race. Tyler Hamilton was found guilty of blood doping and because it wasn't in July there was no brouhaha about it. This is very much a double-edged sword in that, because it is highest profile event on the cycling calendar, the cyclists want to win more than any other event and because of it's difficulty may find it easier to be tempted by doping. Rasmussen missed tests earlier in the season and it is only because he is winning the Tour de France and the spotlight is on him that a big deal is being made of it. Testing must be uniformly carried out all year round and standard bans applied irrespective of when and where the positive test was obtained.

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posted Jul 26, 2007

i know nothing about the sport, but i knew it was riddled with drugs and other testing problems, just ask "the flying scotsman"?

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posted Jul 26, 2007

Remember the old saying
"its only cheating when you get caught".

Because of this, some are willing to try plus they know of others who have beaten the system.

For one caught there must be a higher number not!!!!!

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posted Jul 26, 2007

Many journalists tend to confuse Rasmussen's situation with those of Moreni and Vinokourov. Rasmussen is being blamed to be a doping convict and they applaud his Tour exit. But reflecting on the facts, there is no connection between de Dane and doping. He has been publicly hanged by not the Rabobank team but by the journalists, his colleage riders, the ASO and the UCI. The thing he has done wrong is falsely reporting where he was during the 3 weeks period he was supposed to be in Mexico. Rabobank did a brave step to fire him immediately, but did so on the basis of their internal sources and conduct.

The false whereabouts report is imho used to explain why he has been that strong. This is not new; we all now how Lance Armstrong has been targeted over and over again by French journalists, who organise this witchhunting in order to explain why the French riders have underperformed throughout the last decade. It seems like this time, the Rabobank team has given way to the pressure.

You gotta feel sorry for Rasmussen, I don't think that he'd imagined his lie would have such a major impact on his position in the peloton. Everything has been blown out of proportions since he got the yellow jersey and has proven to be the best rider of the pack.

Not in the last place you gotta feel sorry for Thomas Dekker, Denis Menchov, Michael Boogerd and his other teammates, who have ridden their ****s off to protect the yellow jersey, which has been taken off at the very moment it seemed sure they had won.

For me it would have been better to wait until the Tour had been over to have a proper look at the facts and explanation of Rasmussen in order to decide what disciplinary actions to take. They would have gotten rid of France, its authorities, who seem to have found a reason to raid the hotel last night, and the craze surrounding the Tour at this moment.

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posted Jul 26, 2007

Mcquaid's role in this must be questioned. He was coming out with comments saying that he should win the Tour long ago, totally irresponsible for a man in his position.

Pat should be the next one for the high jump.

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posted Jul 26, 2007

I think Rasmussen was a sitting duck from the moment the story broke.

I dont believe any of you have been convinced by anything he has said, he even looks guilty when he is talking about it.

Michael 'I have been tested 14 times in the Tour' Rasmussen has not once denied that he has ever taken something.

Even the rider who claimed he got him to smuggle drugs for him wasnt totally denied when he was first asked about it, he just said 'I havent seen him in 5 years'.

What sort of answer is that

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posted Jul 26, 2007

Any chance that Rasmussen is innocent? Could it be that he's simply an insolent ex-mtn biker who likes to rebel against the comprehensive oversight required of TdF caliber cyclists? He's never failed a test. The Mexico - Italy issue seems to be a case of one word against another. Any actual proof? Or just circumstantial evidence? I don't want to be naive, but the slippery slope of such quick judgement of guilt seems to be the inevitable condemnation of an innocent rider someday, unfairly ruining a career and a reputation. Rasmussen might still be a cheater, but I'm still not sure about the "guilty until proven innocent" stance by the TdF and UCI.

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posted Jul 26, 2007

>Your almost saying that taking drugs in cycling is ok.

as devils advocate just remind me why it isn't and
exactly what the problem is.. and 'its cheating' isnt a good enough answer.. i'd like to hear rational arguments on 'why'.. cos some old f*rt at the ctc said so in 1887 won't do.

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