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The Giro steps up and lays out the “don’t bother showing up” card. Good on ya, send ’em packing.
Managers of the four ProTour teams excluded from the Giro d’Italia are still in disbelief. Citing a selection process based on “ethics and quality,” Giro organizer RCS told Astana, Bouygues Telecom, Crédit Agricole and High Road they were not invited to the May 10 – June 1 event.
…Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel has tried to contact Zomegnan to find out why his team has been left out, according to Astana press officer Philippe Maertens.
Advertisement“We don’t understand the logic of this decision, especially as everything is in order in our team,” said Maertens. “I don’t think there’s another team that carries out as many [anti-doping] controls as we do.” Read more: beta.velonews.com
I got an email about this one this morning. The subject line was “Believe it, Astanaholes….”
Nice.
How long till Trek starts rethinking their faith in Bruyneel?
More:
beta.velonews.com
cyclingnews.com
Update: Will the Tour de France snub Astana as well?
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…don’t kid yourself, this is as much about the power struggle between the ‘big three’ (giro, tour, vuelta organizers) & the uci, as anything else…
…destabilization tactics…keep everything unsettled for at least another year, until the ‘protour’ looks & smells like shit on a shoe…
…then the monopolies can be preserved & the majority owners of the ‘top’ european races get to dictate how cycling proceeds into the future, as opposed to letting the ‘uci’ create those dictates…
They should be barred from the Tour on the weight of this picture alone
Well, they’re coming to the Tour of California and I might be doing some race coverage and daily updates for a local talk radio station that knows nothing about bicycle racing. I haven’t got the final details yet and it may end up not happing but I’m pretty sure the doping issues will come up at one point or another.
That “Who, me?” look on Bruyneel’s face was priceless.
You mean, how long until Trek reconsiders its faith in road racing period? Bruyneel’s just a cog.
crack down thats all i can say. its like whos cleaner that who.
It’s not about “being clean”, they let in LPR with Di Luca who is under investigation for shits sake, but he’s an Italian hero. It’s just a pissing contest.
Why Crédit Agricol? I mean other than the fact that the Italians hate Look….
First, that pic is so wrong. they all look like they\re on 650c bikes. Gorillas in the circus look.
Second KG, Good job. Two things I learned from radio. First don’t pop your ‘P’s. Second once in a while it’s good to make a sibalence joke. Trust me, enough bike nerds out there will get it, not to mention the sound crew will bust up.
So publicly announcing that your team wants to sandbag a Grand Tour solely as training for another race is going to impact their decision to invite you?