Tour de France 2006

[Ironsight 1]

Weird start of the tour this year

Quote[/b] ]Top duo Ullrich, Basso out of Tour

Friday, June 30, 2006; Posted: 8:13 a.m. EDT (12:13 GMT)

STRASBOURG, France -- Tour de France favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso are both out of the race after being suspended by their teams because their names appear in a doping investigation in Spain.

T-Mobile team leader Ullrich, along with Oscar Sevilla and team manager Rudy Pevenage, and CSC team leader Basso -- the Giro d'Italia winner, are on a 58-name list which Spanish investigators claim have been involved in blood doping.

CSC team manager Bjane Riis, the Tour winner in 1996 when he finished ahead of Ullrich, said: "It's my responsibility to make this decision and suspend Ivan from the race.

"I have to think about the team, that is now the most important thing. I trust Ivan, but now it is up to him and his lawyers to show he has nothing to do with this," added Riis of last year's runner-up

German Ullrich, who won the Tour in 1997 and has been placed five times including third last year, Spaniard Sevilla and Belgian Pevenage were banned by T-Mobile after the German team were notified by race organisers ASO that their names had appeared in the probe.

"At first we had no reason to doubt the riders's statements. Therefore we couldn't make any decision merely based on speculations, rumours and guesses", said Christian Frommert, director of sports communication for T-Mobile International.

"This situation has now changed profoundly. Accordingly we will now live up to our responsibility towards making cycling a clean sport."

"There was clearly contact between the Spanish doctor involved (Eufemiano Fuentes) and Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla and Rudy Pevenage, which all three had previously ruled out as having taken place," said T-Mobile media spokesman Stefan Wagner.

"There was concrete evidence that (what Ullrich, Sevilla and Pevenage said about contacts with the doctor) was not the truth. We said we would take the consequences if that were the case and that is what we did."

Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, said all 21 teams had decided unanimously to ban all those involved from the race.

With last year's fourth Francesco Mancebo also on the doping list, that means the top four from 2005 will not be on Saturday's start line in Strasbourg following the retirement of seven-times winner Lance Armstrong.

The doping scandal erupted last month after the Spanish Civil Guard raided a number of addresses to find large quantities of anabolic steroids, laboratory equipment used for blood transfusions and more than 100 packs of frozen blood.

Earlier, ASO announced it was in possession of the list of riders involved in the probe after being handed a 37-page document by the Spanish Cycling Federation.

"The Spanish Ministry of Sport handed the file to the cycling federation who passed it on to UCI (Unione Cycliste International) and Tour organisers," ASO spokesman Philippe Sudres said.

Tour organisers congratulated T-Mobile on their bravery in tackling doping, which has dogged cycling for years.

"I think this is normal. I think it is a brave move and a good example sent to the other sport directors. Today, we can do only one thing: be brave," said Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc.

T-Mobile said Ullrich and Sevilla would be replaced in the Tour by German Stephan Schreck and Italian Lorenzo Bernucci.

However, Prudhomme said Ullrich and Sevilla could not be replaced.

Meanwhile, Fuentes, who has worked with a number of cycling teams, and Jose Luis Merino, the head of a clinical analysis laboratory, have been released on bail after being questioned by Spanish police.

The assistant director of the Comunidad Valenciana team Jose Ignacio Labarta and the sporting director of the former Liberty Seguros team Manolo Saiz were also detained for questioning by Spanish police and then released.

Both men have since left their posts. Insurance giants Liberty Seguros withdrew their sponsorship of the team who have now changed their name to Astana-Wuerth.

Comunidad Valenciana have had their invitation to take part in the Tour withdrawn.

But Astana-Wuerth, Kazakhstan rider Alexander Vinokourov's team, have been allowed to participate after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

In 1998, Festina were kicked out of the Tour following the discovery of a large supply of drugs in a car belonging to the team. Top rider Richard Virenque was banned for nine months.

Any ideas of who's going to win this year now Ullrich and Basso are out?

[ran 0]

Louison Bobet .... or not heh

[Mr_Tea 0]

They are all on dope.

The only question is, will the right tests be made?

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

What a farce so far

[j w 0]

Indeed.

Damn cheaters

[SPQR 0]

As only the weakers & slowers are competiting, we'll have more time left to admire the landscape  

[j w 0]

True

But. To be serious, it's not good when all ppl is doping around..

Sucks major ***

[sanctuary 19]

Ah, finally the Tour de France directors got some guts and hunted some of those cheaters despite all their fanboys.

Good thing in my agenda, maybe one of the 1st "clean" Tour de France since 1903

[der bastler 0]

Today I got my new bike:

[JdB 151]

As only the weakers & slowers are competiting, we'll have more time left to admire the landscape

I wouldn't call them "weaker & slower", just because they aren't using drugs to improve their performance doesn't make them any weaker or slower, imo that makes them the REAL champions.

If these cheaters wouldn't have been using drugs constantly then maybe they wouldn't have been so high on the ranking. If they get convicted I hope they lose all their titles, and give them to someone that didn't cheat (or at least someone that used drugs that were so new that the test didn't detect them yet...).

[EiZei 0]

ust because they aren't using drugs to improve their performance doesn't make them any weaker or slower

Then why are athletes using those in the first place?

[Garcia 0]

ust because they aren't using drugs to improve their performance doesn't make them any weaker or slower

Then why are athletes using those in the first place?

Because they who use them are weak and slow, and use them to catch up. I gotta agree with JdB. I mean, there's a lot of people that ended quite high last year that's still there, and they'd probably be very close, if not better than those who's been on the top lately.

Too bad they didn't take all the druggies when Lancy boy still was in the game. I doubt he was clean.

Good thing all the cheaters was caught, now there's at least a bigger chance that the one who win won't be drugged...

[Mr_Tea 0]

For example:

EPO makes the blood transport more oË›, and it`s destroying the health.

For some time it gives the athlete more power, but it would be better to train in high altitutes.

[berghoff 11]

Too bad they didn't take all the druggies when Lancy boy still was in the game. I doubt he was clean.

Why did you think he only was taking part in the Tour.

[Garcia 0]

For example:

EPO makes the blood transport more oË›, and it`s destroying the health.

For some time it gives the athlete more power, but it would be better to train in high altitutes.

Yes, but a combination of drugs and right training makes a person perform a lot better. Of course drugs isn't very good for a persons health, but as long as drugs make you perform better, people will use it to increase their chances of winning.

Quote[/b] ]Why did you think he only was taking part in the Tour.

Sadly, drugs are big buisness. There's probably beeing used more money on finding new ways of getting drugged without getting caught than on finding the drugged people...I bet Lance had good connection with some drug lab Same goes for Ulrich and Basso (I like Basso, but I'm not suprised he's drugged ).

Damn...I just realized...the word 'drug' is kinda funny...

[Vectum 0]

Ah, finally the Tour de France directors got some guts and hunted some of those cheaters despite all their fanboys.

Good thing in my agenda, maybe one of the 1st "clean" Tour de France since 1903

It had nothing to do with the Tour de France directors. The teams suspended their players by themselves after hearing about their involvement.

[Ironsight 1]

I was there.

We were on the route from Beziers to Montelimar in Anduze a small town near Ales. It was the hottest and longest ride of the tour, I believe around 230 KM.

The first promotional LCL car with babes on top, they were a bit early:

Some cooldown:

The first group, notice the chopper hanging in the background:

The best photo I made that day:

Rabo:

Insane ammount of goodies:

Overall a good day except for the heath. It was around 40 degrees and it was very humid. Lots of people fainted and one girl had to be put on a respirator and hartmonitor.

[Garcia 0]

Landis is fried

He said that Pereiro Sio wasn't any threat and some other bull, and now he's like 8 mins behind

Though, I feel a bit sorry for the guy. Can't be fun

[Ironsight 1]

Quite a stunt Landis pulled of today

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Landis is fried

He said that Pereiro Sio wasn't any threat and some other bull, and now he's like 8 mins behind

Though, I feel a bit sorry for the guy. Can't be fun

Could you repeat that, please ?

[Ironsight 1]

Unbelievable....

Quote[/b] ]Landis tests positive

Phonak: Tour winner had high levels of testosterone

LONDON (AP) -- Tour de France champion Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race, his Phonak team said Thursday on its Web site.

The statement came a day after cycling's world governing body said an unidentified rider had failed a drug test during the Tour.

[Garcia 0]

Landis is fried

He said that Pereiro Sio wasn't any threat and some other bull, and now he's like 8 mins behind

Though, I feel a bit sorry for the guy. Can't be fun

Could you repeat that, please ?

Landis is fried

Actually, I'm not that suprised...for one, it would almost be too good to be true that a person can break down like that and then come back the next day. Second, US people tend to at least getting caught using drugs more than others...if this is because they're crappy using it or because they're simply cheating more than people from other countries, I don't know, probably a bit of both... Though this is just making the cycling sport look bad...yet again.

Though it is possible that he naturally got high levels of testosterone...but most likely it's drugs...

[JdB 151]

Second, US people tend to at least getting caught using drugs more than others...if this is because they're crappy using it or because they're simply cheating more than people from other countries, I don't know, probably a bit of both...

They want to win at all costs, at ALL costs

[kavoven 4]

And I bet that Armstrong cheated, as well... Stupid...

These people are a shame for every form of sport!

[Garcia 0]

And I bet that Armstrong cheated, as well... Stupid...  

These people are a shame for every form of sport!

They did find proof of Armstrong using EPO, though they managed to mess up the test or something, so they couldn't use it, even though it showed use of drugs. So yes, Armstrong probably did drug himself I just hope they give Oscar Pereiro Sio the Tour de France victory.