Wow. Had no idea that I’ve been gone from this space for almost six months until I stopped by to check something in WordPress for a friend.
I was going to post a video of the Tour going by my grandparents’ house in Leeds back in July, after one of my cousins sent me his footage. Unfortunately, the file was too big to load onto the blog. Having recorded the race on NBC Sports Network, I managed to see the parade through my dad’s hometown, and amazingly enough spotted my grandparents’ house not only in street footage, but in aerial footage, too. Really. You’ll have to take my word for it.
So, I’ve been following the goings on in the world of cycling and doping in sports, even though I haven’t had much to say. But one thing jumps out at me right now. Astana has five riders who recently fell afoul of the anti-doping rules. And, while I don’t like presuming guilt, I do have to say that there seems to be a whole lot of smoke there. Especially so, if the connections to Dr. Michele Ferrari are true.
You’d think this might be enough to cause a team to lose their World Tour license. But from what I understand, the Astana license has been renewed with some conditions. According to Neal Rogers on the VeloNews web site:
The license committee granted Astana a WorldTour license, however, under two conditions: First, that the team is audited by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL), and second, that the team adheres to new UCI internal operational requirements, which will be compulsory for all UCI World Teams from 2017.
Well, at least there’s that. But it does make me wonder: What does a team need to do to lose their license?
Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.
First thing Rant, WELCOME BACK! I was wondering if you had fallen off the planet or something!
As to Astana and their renewed liscense…I hate to be judgmental, but the fact that Vino is STILL the GM (considering his background w/ doping) and now these doping positives….well…all I can think of is that maybe it’s a kinder-gentler UCI than in years past w/ their new boss Cookson.
To use the old saying “where there’s smoke there’s fire”…I’d have to say that Astana is fully ablaze (IMHO). Good thing this is the new CLEAN peloton (since the devil was cast-out). Nope…no doping going on in cycling now…move along.
Nope. Haven’t fallen off the planet … that I know of. 😉 Been spending a lot of time playing guitar and reading and following the occasional doping scandal. I’ll be posting again semi-irregularly now. Don’t want to be going quite so long between posts.
Rant, has there been any changes to your site at wordpress? I’m asking cuz I can’t see the comments any more…all I show is that there are some…just not visible, and when I click on “comments” it just takes me to the bottom comment block, and above that is says “2 comments….read them below or add one”.
I might be my computer…can’t say…it’s been SO LONG since you’ve posted and I’ve got a new work computer since then…I’ll have to check at home and see if I have the same prob. Anyway, welcome back!
Matt,
It’s fixed now. Turns out the old theme for the site (the files that control its appearance) needed to be updated for compatibility with the latest version of WordPress.
I think we’re all good at this point.