Euros to US Athletes: You call that doping?!?!

[noel]

Sucks, but as far as I'm concerned (and we're early in the allegation process) this is credible... I'd add that I think the entire sport of cycling is dirty despite being the most tested sport on the planet. I'd also add that it's fucking sad.

Papers charge Armstrong admitted doping
By Staff and wire reports
This report filed June 23, 2006

Two French magazine stories slated for distribution this weekend charge that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong allegedly admitted taking banned doping products after being diagnosed with cancer. The stories are based on evidence given under oath to a court in Dallas in late 2005 and early 2006.

The charges appear in Saturday's edition of French daily Le Monde and in this weekend's edition of L'Equipe magazine.

According to former friends of the American cyclist, Armstrong, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October of 1996, allegedly told a doctor in Indiana University Hospital later month, after undergoing brain surgery, that he had previously taken several banned substances including EPO, testosterone, growth hormones and cortisone.

The magazine stories are based on evidence given under oath in a Dallas court by Betsy Andreu, wife of Frankie Andreu, a former friend and teammate of Armstrong, who claim they were both present when the cyclist told the doctor of his past doping. The incident was originally described in the 2004 book, "L.A. Confidential," by Sunday Times of London sports reporter David Walsh and former L'Equipe cycling writer Pierre Ballister. Testimony by both Andreus is consistent with Walsh's description of the hospital conversation.

Frankie Andreu made the same statement in a late-2005, deposition, according to documents acquired by VeloNews. Both Andreus previously told the same story during a arbitration hearing between Armstrong and his insurance company SCA Promotions. Armstrong sued SCA after the company declined to make a $5 million payment to the cyclist after he won his sixth Tour de France. The company indicated a reluctance to make the payment after doping allegations were raised in Walsh's 2004 book. According to sources near the case, both parties reached a settlement in the case after the court indicated that the SCA contract contained no provision to negate the payment, even if cheating had occurred.

Betsy Andreu testified that the doctor asked Armstrong whether he had ever taken doping products, and that the cyclist replied "yes."

"He asks which ones. And Lance replies, 'EPO, growth hormones, cortisone, steroids, testosterone,"' Betsy Andreu said in sworn testimony in January.

Another Armstrong friend, Oakley representative Stephanie McIlvain, who was also present at the meeting with the doctor in 1996, denied having heard Armstrong say that he took doping products.

"I stand by my deposition," Betsy Andreu told VeloNews Friday. "I didn't ask to be dragged into this mess...We were served with subpoenas by a Michigan court and we had no choice but to testify."

In his own defense, Armstrong said in a November deposition that no doctor had ever asked him whether he had used doping products and that Betsy Andreu held a personal grudge against him. Armstrong suggested that Frankie Andreu had simply gone along with his wife's account in order to offer her support.

[Kelshara]

As I said in the PM to you: I want blood tests. Hard evidence. This is STILL hearsay to me.

Btw, in 2005 cycling was the sport in the world with most convicted doping users. It is definitely still dirty.

[Animalor]

I've heard from credible sources that Britney's clit is as big as K.Fed's dick.

[noel]

Lol... Continuing the post a PM trend:

I disagree.

If you look back over the last what... 8 years? The only time they ever 'catch' anyone of note is when they fuck up outside of the actual doping/testing. Tyler Hamilton is the possible exception. I love how Frankie Andreu is now saying that he only said what he said under oath to backup his wife. Hilarious to me. He's basically admitting he lied under oath?

I don't believe... short of Lance actually saying he did it publically, that we'll ever know for sure. This however is the first thing that's been pretty credible to me. It's not like Velonews went to her and she said like... I never said that, it's a lie. She's just saying, I never wanted to be involved in this in the first place, leave me alone.

[Adelrune Argenti]

Now granted, I don't know much about cycling or steroids but this is an allegation that he took them prior to being diagnosed with cancer, correct? That was in 1996 and thus the doping happened that year or earlier. However, would that even matter in his 7 wins since those happened after?

Perhaps the earlier use was a catalyst for his cancer. We don't know everything that causes it. And why would it be such a stretch to think that he discontinued use of them forever after once he was diagnosed with cancer? He has tested clean for all these last several years, yes?

[Pherr the Dorf]

Sports are all riddled with doping, I avoided posting this earlier to not seem like quite the basher, personally I could care less what any of em did, they entertained, that was their job

[noel]

Now granted, I don't know much about cycling or steroids but this is an allegation that he took them prior to being diagnosed with cancer, correct? That was in 1996 and thus the doping happened that year or earlier. However, would that even matter in his 7 wins since those happened after?

Perhaps the earlier use was a catalyst for his cancer. We don't know everything that causes it. And why would it be such a stretch to think that he discontinued use of them forever after once he was diagnosed with cancer? He has tested clean for all these last several years, yes?

My thinking is this... It's not really about whether or not he doped during his 7 wins. He might not have for reasons you stated. Unfortunately he's always stated that he's never used performance enhancing drugs. In this case, it appears that he's not stated the truth in the past if these allegations are true.

As far as testing goes, my opinion is this... Testing catches athletes that can't afford the better pharmaceuticals. I base this on the number of athletes who've only gotten caught by documentation, possession or possession by people close to them. Typically that type of thing is only found in a police raid and those don't happen very often. If you want specific situations, I'd be happy to chronicle them but the ones that come to mind off the top of my head are the Festina Affair, Raimundas Rumsas' wife and David Millar. Unfortunately the list doesn't end there.

I'm a huge admitted Lance fanboi, but I've always maintained that if I saw something that looked credible I wouldn't bury my head in the ground and ignore it. To me, especially because of who it is and when they're alleging it, this looks credible.

[Kelshara]

Ok I agree, if you caught his trainer with frozen bags of blood that would be evidence as well. I just have a hard time accepting the word of some person I don't know as evidence against a top athlete.

And this is from somebody who does NOT like Lance heh. But I hold this to be true for all athletes, whether I like them or not.

[Aruman]

All I see is a bunch of allegedly this and allegedly that in that quoted statement.

Like Kelshara said, I won't believe it without hard evidence.

Stating something under oath is not proof. For all I know it's just a notarized lie.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

I see no credible evidence. I see allegations from a jolted ex.

[noel]

1. She's not an Ex.

2. She's not the one making allegations, instead her testimony which I'm sure she was under the impression would never see the light of day is now seeing the light of day and she is stating she wants no involvement in it whatsoever.

3. Both she and her husband Frankie Andreu, who as far as I know has been Armstrong's friend since well before he helped Armstrong win the '99 Tour and afterward when he frequently interviewed Lance for OLN, testified under oath that they heard Lance say those things.

4. Frankie is now saying that even though he did testify that he heard Lance say those things, he only did so to back up his wife's testimony.

5. L'Equipe has somehow gotten ahold of their testimony... likely from the insurance company that was refusing to pay Lance a settlement after he won the '04 Tour. L'Equipe is the French equivalent of Sports Illustrated and as far as I'm concerned they can't be trusted with anything they do in relation to Armstrong. They've been on a witch hunt for years.

6. No one else who was present at that time testified that they heard those things said.

7. Finally, the key difference here from any other 'allegation' that's been directed at Armstrong is that in this case, the person who made the statement has nothing to gain, didn't want to be involved in the first place (she was subpoenaed against her will), and doesn't want to be involved now.

Here's Lance's response:

I recently won a major arbitration, defeating allegations of performance enhancing drugs, after a three week trial. Several accusations made the subject of prior rumors were fully and finally considered by an impartial panel which heard many witnesses under oath. After years of litigation and three weeks of trial, and " having considered the evidence and testimony" the panel ordered the insurance company to pay, not the $5mm owed, but that $5mm and an additional $2.5mm, which confirms the baseless nature of the accusations. The allegations were rejected. It's over. We won. They lost. I was yet again completely vindicated

After having been illegally provided selective items from that trial, and on the eve of the 2006 Tour de France, a French newspaper again publishes stale, unfounded and untrue allegations about me. Any assertion that drug-related issues were not fully and finally considered is false; had the trial concerned only whether the money was owed because of my 2004 victory, the proceedings would have consumed less than an hour.

The latest story, which alleges an admission of using performance enhancing drugs in a hospital in 1996, is today as absurd and untrue as when it was first circulated years ago. It never happened. The hospital allegation was made against me during a trial before three highly astute and respected arbitrators by an insurance company as its basis for not paying a 5mm bonus (and to recover $4.5mm paid for 2002 and 2003 bonuses) for winning the 2004 Tour de France. Not only did I win this trial, but the company was ordered to pay the $5mm plus an additional $2.5 mm in penalty.

The event reported in France never happened and the evidence presented to the panel proved it never happened. The two persons relied upon by the French newspaper had a different story than the other 8 people in the room. Mr. and Mrs. Andreu stated that they left the room right after the statement, could remember no other questions asked before or after, no details of who I was allegedly talking to, whether men or women, whether doctors or residents, or why I would have been asked this information in front of 10 people, including my mother, in a TV room watching the Dallas Cowboys play football on a Sunday afternoon. By that Sunday, I had been in the hospital 11 days, had given numerous medical histories, previously undergone a regimen of intensive chemotherapy, and undergone extensive brain surgery on the prior Thursday. Ms. Andreu confirmed her ignorance of steroids prescribed as part of my post-operative treatment and of EPO also included in my required post-operative regimen, subjects which could conceivable arisen under the circumstances.

In addition to sworn testimony to the contrary by others present, the panel (and the insurance company) were provided certified copies of all medical records by the Indiana cancer hospital. While any suggestion that medical professionals did not take my medical history until three days after conducting extensive brain surgery is, on its face, preposterous, it is inconceivable that the records, which contain a description of every interaction with me, would not reflect such a critical response. There is no suggestion of either such a question or response in over 20 medical histories recorded among the 280 pages of records compiled during my hospital stay. My doctor, one of the premier cancer specialists in the country, also testified no such statement was made by me to him and a statement made to another would have to appear in the records. It's not there because it never happened.

I respected the panel's unconditional prohibition against providing any documents or testimony to others, and made no mention of this complete victory. Others did not, as selected items have apparently been recently released to the press. We have instituted proceedings to determine who did so; ironically, but predictably, our investigation to date has revealed that the only person to whom documents have been provided by any trial participant is Richard Pound of WADA. It is indeed coincidental that the documents provided to the press surfaced shortly after the independent investigator from the UCI released his report which exonerated me and was sharply critical of Mr. Pound's conduct.

My life and all my energy are devoted to the cure and treatment of cancer and cancer survivors. During my professional cycling career, particularly during its last seven years, I have had to repeatedly address this issue, which I have willingly done. Further discussion by me serves no purpose other than to dignify accusations which have been repeatedly investigated and rejected by every body, tribunal and court to consider them. I will not further dignify them, although I have authorized my legal representatives to provide responsive documents when appropriate.

- Lance Armstrong

[noel]

Spanish daily El Páis dropped a bombshell in its Sunday edition, reporting that 58 cyclists - among whom are said to be 15 riders from the Astaná-Würth team and others who competed in last month's Giro d'Italia - are named in police and court documents as part of the "Operación Puerto" doping investigation in Spain.

The story did not name the riders, but described court documents - which still have not been publicly released - purporting to outline a "criminal network" said to be organized and administered by five people accused of involvement in the distribution of banned substances, such as EPO, human growth hormones and anabolic steroids, and running a blood-doping ring.

Spanish doctors Eufemiano Fuentes and José Luis Merino (head of hematology for a Madrid hospital); Manolo Sáiz (the former manager at Astaná-Würth); José Ignacio Labarta (former assistant sports director at Comunidad Valenciana); and Alberto León, a former mountain biker, were arrested May 23 by the doping brigade of Spain's Guardia Civil after a four-month investigation.

No official charges or reports have been released by the Spanish judiciary or other investigating officials. And while the Tour de France earlier this month revoked its wild-card invitation to Comunidad Valenciana following Labarta's detention, the UCI last week approved a ProTour license for Astaná-Würth, basing its decision strictly on banking information and other financial guarantees required by UCI rules.

While El País did not release any athletes' names, its story nonetheless had a prompt and significant impact. On Sunday, following its publication, racers in the Spanish national road championships quit in protest after riding just 3km.

El País's report, said to be based on direct access to court documents, alleged that Fuentes had been treating up to 15 members of the Astaná-Würth team. The newspaper reported that one Excel document allegedly lists names and racing schedules while another document allegedly outlines a doping program said to have been administered by Fuentes, with symbols and codes to outline dosages of EPO, human growth hormones, IGF-1 and HMG, and testosterone patches as well as indications for extractions and re-injections of blood.

According to the newspaper, court documents allege that athletes would pay upwards of 40,000 euros a year to be handled by Fuentes and Merino, who were said to work together to extract blood from the athletes, then clean and treat it to enrich valued red blood cells for later re-injection ahead of competition.

El País reported that the evidence includes scores of phone taps and videos as well as photographs of suspects entering and leaving laboratories and offices used by the alleged network.

Police also uncovered fake names and initials in notebooks to mark such details as payments for services. Nicknames such as "Guri, Jorge, Zapatero and Etxebarria" appear in such books, with "paid" or "not paid" written next to them.

The riders are coded by colors - blue, allegedly for Liberty Seguros-Würth; green, allegedly for Comunidad Valenciana; and "mios," allegedly for private clients of Fuentes - the newspape reported.

Agents also found a refrigerator "filled with 90 bags of blood or concentrates of red blood cells, frozen and identified with a number and date," the newspaper reported. Some transfusions were alleged to have taken place in a Madrid hotel, the report said. El Pais also recounted allegations that Merino, using his position as head of hematology at a Madrid hospital, used hospitals and pharmacies within Spain's nationalized health system, apparently without their knowledge, to obtain materials and medicines to treat and store the blood.

The Madrid prosecutor said those implicated face charges of crimes against public health, El País reported. The five are said to have told court officials that they helped with the network, but argued that doping in sport is not a crime in Spain, El Pais reported. Manuel Moix, the head prosecutor on the case, said any charges could be based on how the blood was conserved.

El País also published a tapped phone conversation, purportedly between Labarta and Fuentes, about how they would split money owed by Saíz, whom the speakers refer to as "El Gordo," or the fat one. On May 23, Spanish authorities detained Saíz, who was said to be carrying 60,000 euros worth of mixed currencies and a "cold bag" containing four packets of the banned product Synacthene - not blood, as previously reported.

In another story, El País recounted parts of Saíz's testimony before a Spanish judge. According to court documents described by the newspaper, Saíz said that Fuentes began working with Liberty Seguros (now Astaná) riders in 2004 after signing Roberto Heras, who insisted on working with him.

Heras was later banned for two years and stripped of victory after testing positive for EPO in the 2005 Vuelta a España. The rider insists he is innocent and attributed the positive test to an error. Other riders alleged to have worked with Fuentes were Isidro Nozal, Angel Vicioso and Marcos Serrano, though Nozal dropping Fuentes after he tested for high hematocrit before the 2005 Dauphiné Libéré, the paper reported. Court documents are said to link 15 riders - more than half the Astaná-Würth lineup - to Fuentes.

There was no immediate reaction from UCI or Tour de France officials, but with less than a week to go before the start of the 2006 Tour, race officials will be under pressure to take action despite the unofficial nature of the news stories.

Meanwhile, those implicated have all denied wrongdoing. Labarta, who stepped down from his position at Comunidad Valenciana in a vain effort to save the team's Tour wild-card bid, said media reports have been "exaggerated" and that he wants to wait to comment until the court makes public any indictments.

Saíz, who also voluntarily stepped down from day-to-day operations but retains his portion of ownership of the team, has also denied any wrongdoing in the case.

Fuentes, who worked as a team doctor at ONCE and Kelme during the 1990s, said he has a "clear conscience."

"My ethics are intact and I believe that I haven't hurt anyone," Fuentes told the Spanish daily Levante earlier this month. "In 28 years as a professional doctor, I cannot remember one case of hurting the health of one of my patients. If something had happened, I would have realized it because they would have told me themselves or filed a negligence suit, which has never happened.

"Just like any doctor, I always try everything to protect and guard the health of my clients."

and finally... Jesus fucking Christ... ><

Hamilton and Ullrich linked to Operación Puerto

Spanish newspaper El Pais has published its next two articles in relation to the 'Operación Puerto' affair, which has implicated 58 people in the world of cycling, including several members of the newly renamed Astana-Wurth team. El Pais is considered one of the top newspapers in the country, and Cyclingnews understands that it is in possession of the full 'Operación Puerto' dossier.

Although it is not known whether the Spanish courts will announce anything officially before the Tour de France, the information that has been leaked will likely put pressure on the UCI and ASO to reconsider Astana-Würth's invitation. ASO has already refused the right of Comunidad Valenciana to race the Tour, and the Spanish teams have been up in arms at what they claim is "orchestrated harassment" after the publication of confidential 'Operación Puerto' files.

Tyler Hamilton revisited

El Pais turned its attention away from Spanish cyclists in its first big article on Monday, "The transfusions and the dollars of Tyler Hamilton". In September 2004, Hamilton tested positive for a homologous blood transfusion after winning the time trial at the Vuelta a España. He also returned a positive A sample for a homologous transfusion after winning the Olympic games time trial a month previously in August. His B sample was inadvertently frozen, and no result could be determined from it. Although he is still in possession of his Olympic gold medal, he was stripped of his Vuelta stage win and suspended until September 22, 2006, despite appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

According to El Pais, the documents seized by the Spanish civil guard during Operacion Puerto show that Hamilton was not as innocent as he claimed. It's alleged that he not only received blood transfusions, but also a full doping program involving EPO, anabolics, growth hormone and IGF-1.

The paper claims that among the files of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes and Jose Merino Batres, are some details of Hamilton's financial dealings in 2002 and 2003, including a copy of a fax sent to his wife Haven to a hotel in Gerona, where he lived. On the fax, it's shown that he had paid €31,200 with €11,840 still owing: €35,000 was for the medical program, and €8,040 was for the medication.

The doctors' files allegedly consisted of two pages. In the first, a calendar of the racing season is laid out from November to October, with the races that the rider wanted to do well in being marked along with the medication that he should take. The markings were in the so-called "Sanskrit of Eufemiano", a notation system of substances, doses, and procedures. Before the 2003 season, Dr Fuentes indicated that Hamilton should start taking EPO from December 21, with 2000 units daily, up until Christmas Eve, and then on alternate days until January 9. On the 14th of January, before his first training camp with CSC, he was instructed to withdraw blood. On January 24, he was to start with anabolics. In March, after racing had started, he was to take HMG - a hormone used by menopausal women - to mask the anabolics, as well as taking growth hormone and insulin.

The second page of the file allegedly showed that he won Liège-Bastogne-Liège six days after a double transfusion of blood, won the Tour de Romandie shortly afterwards, and prepared for the Tour by not racing in May and taking anabolics and EPO. He then raced only the Dauphiné Libéré in June - completely anonymously, and didn't even start the final stage. At the time, he claimed to be suffering from stomach problems all week, but El Pais alleged that according to Dr Fuentes files, it was during another period of blood extraction. In the final lead up to the Tour, he was to take more growth hormone and re-infuse the blood, as well as doing so on the first rest day of the race.

Ullrich: the 'son of Rudy'?

In the second El Pais article, "The blood of the 'son of Rudicio'", it's alleged that Jan Ullrich and several others were among those earmarked for a blood transfusion. On May 23, when Jose Luis Merino Batres was arrested, he was carrying an accounts receivable book, which had the following written in the back of it:

1 - Hijo Rudicio. 2 - Birillo. 4 - Nicolas. 5 - Sevillano. 6 - Sancti Petri. 12 - Guti. 13 - Serrano (alcalde). 14 - RH. 16 - Vicioso. 17 - Porras. 19 - Oso. 20 - Bella (Jörg). 24 - Clasicómano (Luigi). 25 - Amigo de Birillo. 26-Huerta. 32 - Zapatero. 33 - Clasicómano.

The numbers corresponded to those on the blood bags that were seized from the apartment in Madrid, and the names were allegedly the nicknames of the athletes who owned the blood. Although some were obvious, it was speculated that the 'Hijo Rudicio', or 'son of Rudicio' referred to Jan Ullrich as the 'son' of Rudy Pevenage, Ullrich's long time mentor.

Furthermore, in a page of notes referring to the contents of one of the fridges dated June 26, 2004, it's recorded that on the top level of the refrigerator, there were three units of blood with JAN printed on them. A similar survey taken on May 15, 2006, showed six bags marked with number 1 [corresponding to 'Hijo Rudicio'], two dated 18/09/05, two dated 29/05/05, another dated 22/12/05, and one dated 20/02/06.

According to the doctors' the desk planner, number 1 had three units of blood and half of 'siberias' (frozen red cells) re-infused on May 1, which corresponded to five days before the Giro d'Italia. The next transfusion for number 1 was due on June 20, 10 days before the start of the Tour. That would have involved the removal of two units of blood and the re-infusion of two 'siberias'.

The Ullrich link is still clearly speculative, and T-Mobile's spokesman Luuc Eisenga told Cyclingnews today, "Obviously those accusations are very strong. It's difficult to react to articles in newspapers and therefore we insist on seeing the official documents in the case before we issue any further comment."

[Kelshara]

Holy shit.. damn.

Noel question for you: Think Hushovd has taken anything? He has been VERY outspoken against it and he seems sincere, but I have a hard time trusting anyone in cycling to be honest..

[noel]

Holy shit.. damn.

Noel question for you: Think Hushovd has taken anything? He has been VERY outspoken against it and he seems sincere, but I have a hard time trusting anyone in cycling to be honest..

I don't think so, but it's really hard to tell at this point. Brad McGee is the same way. He's been super critical of doping, and people who have breathed his name in the same sentence as the word doping.

I personally was _shocked_ when Hamilton was caught. Heras was a surprise as well. Both of them swear that there's some error in the testing, but the whole thing is so convoluted now, I just don't know what to believe. At this point, I think the vast majority of the pro peloton are doping, and I think it's been wishful thinking on my part to think anything else. I'm actually pretty disappointed.

Edit: Tour '06 Prediction: This year's Tour is going to be a fucking nightmare. It's not a question of if, but when the police raids will start. This tour will likely make '98 look like a walk in the park.

[noel]

Alexandre Vinokourov seems to be born under a bad sign:

ASO wants Astaná-Würth out of Tour
By Andrew Hood
VeloNews European correspondent
This report filed June 26, 2006

Race officials don't want Astaná-Würth to take Saturday's start of the 93rd Tour de France following damning reports this weekend in a Spanish newspaper that linked as many as 15 of the team's riders to a Spanish doctor under investigation on doping charges.

Astaná-Würth team manager Pablo Anton confirmed to Spanish sports daily AS late Monday evening that officials from Tour organizer ASO faxed the team a letter saying it is no longer welcome to participate in the race despite a guaranteed start position as part of the 20-team ProTour league.

Anton is preparing to challenge the decision to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, AS reported. While no official statement has yet been issued by ASO, officials said the organizer will also seek to settle the issue at CAS if the team tries to attend the race.

Tour officials apparently made the decision late Monday in the wake of newspaper reports in the Spanish newspaper El País, which linked as many as 15 Astaná-Würth riders to an alleged blood doping ring in Spain supposedly headed up by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

Fuentes and former Astaná-Würth team manager Manolo Saíz were among five people arrested May 23 in Spain following a lengthy police investigation.

Reporters from El País gained access to a secret court dossier and have published a string of damaging articles in Sunday's and Monday's editions. On Sunday, the paper reported that as many as 58 names of cyclists are said to be in the court documents. Without printing the names, the paper reported that 15 riders from Astaná-Würth were allegedly implicated.

No riders have been charged or the documents officially released, but even the hint of scandal was enough to force Tour officials' hands.

On June 13, the Tour revoked the wild-card initiation to Spanish continental team, Comunidad Valenciana, after one of its assistant sports directors was among five people detained by questioning by Spanish authorities.

The decision to kick out Astaná-Würth could ultimately lie with the UCI, however, which last week re-upped the team's ProTour license following the departure of former sponsor Liberty Seguros.

Under ProTour rules, all 20 teams in the league are guaranteed start positions in the Tour and other major races.

Astaná-Würth's team captain, Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov, is one of the favorites to win the Tour following the retirement of seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.

There is already speculation brewing that Vinokourov could attempt a last-minute switch to another team if Astaná-Würth is left out of the Tour.

[Kelshara]

Tour would be way less interesting without Vino

[noel]

I totally agree. Looks like the UCI is pushing back on the 500lb. gorilla that is ASO and saying essentially: You can't kick a team out because of a newspaper article. Vino might actually get to ride...

Who knows what's actually going to happen though. This fucking tour is going to be a ridiculous nightmare though.

CAS (Court of Arbitration in Sport) decided not to yank Hamilton's Olympic gold in the TT today. Hope he finds a special place in hell for it.

Comment I saw on the forums from 'Hell on Wheels' (cycling movie):

You should hear the way Zabel talks about Hamiltons stage win with a broken collarbone.

He didn't have a radio on so he didn't know what was going on up front. They tell him that Hamilton is off the front with 60k to go. He says he keeps seeing groups of 8-10 riders go off the front in pursuit, only to come back to the peleton exhausted. Upon hearing that Hamilton stayed away, with a broken collarbone, he refers to Hamilton's ride as "over the top".

Everybody who I showed to the DVD to always mentions the way Zabel talks about the win.

In light of recent developments, it is almost as if Zabel was saying, "Yeah, OK...broken collarbone and all he can do that...sure, happens all the time, NOT!"

[Ashur]

Fuck it. Let 'em dope! I want to see some freaks of nature fighting it out for supremacy next time.