"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Doping alert; Quickstep next?

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Belgian police detained 13 people for questioning Thursday after seizing banned substances during raids on homes of cyclists and their associates.
The manager of Belgian team Quick Step-Innergetic confirmed his club was involved.
Tom Janssens, a spokesman from the state prosecutor's office, said the morning raids occurred in 10 locations across Belgium. He refused to name any of the people taken in for questioning or the teams involved.
"There were important amounts of banned products found," he said at a news conference.
Patrick Lefevere, manager of the Quick Step-Innergetic team, which includes former world champion Tom Boonen, told VRT television that one team aide had been questioned by police. Other media reported that the team member was an aide to Boonen.
The team has frequently faced doping allegations, but has denied any wrongdoing.
"I think we have nothing to worry about," Wilfried Peeters, the team's sporting director, said on the Web site of La Derniere Heure newspaper.
Janssens said police had been investigating allegations for months against certain cyclists and others suspected of dealing doping substances to cycling teams.
In Paris, Pat McQuaid, the head of the International Cycling Union, said details about the raid were "sketchy," but it showed the fight against doping was making headway.
"The cyclists need to get this into their heads that it is no longer an a-sample positive and a b-sample positive which gets you caught on drugs -- there are lots of other ways ... including police action," McQuaid said.
The raids come after Lefevere issued lawsuits in January against a newspaper, journalists and Belgian lawmaker Jean-Marie Dedecker for alleging that the team was involved in doping.
Dedecker forwarded information from unnamed sources to judicial authorities, which led to the police investigation and Thursday's raids.

Just read it on Velonews. When will it ever stop:mad:

So will Bettini be good to his word and walk away when they ask him for a DNA sample?

Who here is surprised anymore?

I for one am QUICKLY loosing interest...

I don't care anymore...really.

Ditto...growing numb to the whole thing

Just read it on Velonews. When will it ever stop:mad:


Never

I don't care anymore...really.

I don't know....I used to think that, but deep down inside I guess I DO still care because I feel like cycling is MY sport. And for whatever reason, I'd prefer my sport of choice had a better reputation in the public eye.

I've been trying to get on board with the whole idea of the fact that at least MY sport is doing something about the problem and cleaning up...which is why so much negative stuff is coming out now.

To fix an inflamed boyle you have to pop that sucker and let the puss out.

So will Bettini be good to his word and walk away when they ask him for a DNA sample?

Who here is surprised anymore?
I thought that was Pirero.

Pro cycling is in a bad place right now...

I thought that was Pirero.


They both said it.

Can't wait for this to start in baseball & the NFL. I'm glad to see it happening in cycling.

I thought that was Pirero.


From a cyclingnews article (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/dec06/dec08news2)back in December. See the section Bettini questions Bassos DNA stance:
Bettini, continuing on the subject of DNA testing, said that he would retire before he would be subject to DNA testing.

I say air the dirty laundry, otherwise it will never get clean. As far as I'm concerned, all this raises my esteem for cycling, because we're actually hearing about it and it's a big controversy, with riders confessing, Operation Puerto, etc.

Whereas football, baseball - you know those guys are juicing and no one cares. It's not even an issue to the average American.

I like to watch a spirited ride every now and then .. thing is, it's the ride at THAT moment that's important. For example, I was super geeked watching Floyd rip it up last year on that stage. I was thrilled. Excited. Jumping for joy etc. I was happy for the moment.

That he may have cheated? Yeah, I'm disappointed, but nothing can take my thrill of said moment away. I'll watch pro cycling still for the exciting races with riders who have not yet been caught doping or who have not yet confessed to doping; and I'll BE excited (Contador's last win was exciting, for example) .. for that moment; I'll take my thrills when I can get them.

Personally, I enjoy riding my bike since my main purposes for riding are:

Maintain some level of fitness
Build a calorie deficit so I can eat
get outside and have fun
meet other people
challenge myself
push myself
buy bike shtuff
ride a bike that I build


Ultimately, I don't care what pros do to their bodies. They have to feed their families, they have egos and materialistic needs .. just like the rest of us, so they do what they feel they need to do to achieve their own personal goals (and sponsors' goals too, to be completely fair) .. so *shrug*

I'll echo this: Who here is surprised still at the level of doping that is now being revealed?

Whereas football, baseball - you know those guys are juicing and no one cares. It's not even an issue to the average American.
It's not just an American thing. The average bloke in a pub pretty much anywhere around the world will turn a blind eye if doping helps his team win at rugby, soccer, cricket, swimming, track/field, baseball, american football, whatever.

I like to watch a spirited ride every now and then .. thing is, it's the ride at THAT moment that's important. For example, I was super geeked watching Floyd rip it up last year on that stage. I was thrilled. Excited. Jumping for joy etc. I was happy for the moment.



my problem now is that every time one of those moments is occuring i cant help but start wondering if the guy is doping or when the accusations will start.

Repeat after me - they all dope. That is all.

Repeat after me - they all dope. That is all.

Couldn't you tell everyone was having "a moment" What a troll :D

I'm wondering about the over / under until something breaks with Discovery. None of their riders have been implicated for jack (while riding for Discovery). Are they the only team that didn't go to the Fuentes PED clinic? Are they just part of the 60 unnamed riders? Or, could they be clean? :rolleyes:

my problem now is that every time one of those moments is occuring i cant help but start wondering if the guy is doping or when the accusations will start.+1
I'm not going to mention names so as not to jinx anyone, but everytime a race gets exciting or any rider does something extraordinary, I feel like it's a countdown to the doping accusations. Except maybe at the top of the mountain in some of those Giro stages, where the guys were hanging on to the barriers beyond the finish line, looking like they were fixing to puke...

Except maybe at the top of the mountain in some of those Giro stages, where the guys were hanging on to the barriers beyond the finish line, looking like they were fixing to puke...
Not to cast any more doubt, but those guys hanging onto the barriers after the finish had to wake up the next day and do it all over again for a few mountain stages.

I'm betting they are all just eating Wheaties and drinking their EP-No supplements and Gentelman Jack to revive their legs each day....

I'm betting they are all just eating Wheaties and drinking their EP-No supplements and Gentelman Jack to revive their legs each day....

You don't win the Tour de France by eating sandwiches and drinking mineral water.

The only good news is that Bettini will finally be outed for the fraud and petulant whiner that he is. I hate that guy more than almost any other rider due to his absolutely intractable position on doping. The other good news is the Quickstep hopefully will be removed from the TdF this year. Specialized, great sponsorship pick-up.

Also – how funny is it that Specialized just spent 500,000 EURO building the special mold for Boonen and he is most likely going to be banned for 2 years. He now has unofficially the most expensive club bike ever made. It is not like Specialized can market a Boonen special bike to recoup their costs now.

Quickstep removed from tdf?? how? only one of their riders was found to have doping materials... Boonen will be there to kick Petachi's ass no matter what.

Also – how funny is it that Specialized just spent 500,000 EURO building the special mold for Boonen and he is most likely going to be banned for 2 years.

Where do you get this stuff.. you're a funny guy. Boonen wasnt involved in this, he does not live in Belgium, where the searches took place.

Excellent point. I go on a 100 mile ride into the mountains here, and my legs are shot the next day. Sure, I do recovery rides, and could probably, if I pushed myself do the same ride over again at a much slower and painful pace. But Schleck, Di Luca and Pipoli (sp?) were on their bikes the next day, racing.

My only caveat is that prior to doping, racers did the above. And these guys are in such amazing physical conditioning, that using our own experiences riding as some sort of litmus test to the pros is ignorant. Also - they typically have a flat ride or flatter ride after each huge mountain stage to allow the riders to draft along the Peleton and ease up on the legs until the next big stage.

Quickstep removed from tdf?? how? only one of their riders was found to have doping materials... Boonen will be there to kick Petachi's ass no matter what.

I am somewhat speculating for sure. But when one of the assistants questioned was a Boonen aid, that does not raise any red flags? And the fact Boonen does not live in Belgium does not really matter. In fact, any athlete that would actually keep illegal PED’s in their own home is an idiot. You do what I suspect Boonen does: keep it with assistants and trainers to add one more degree of separation.

This may very well only entangle one trainer, but based on all that has happened recently, I have a feeling this raid occurred after lengthy surveillance and monitoring of these locations. In addition, they most likely would not have raided the houses unless they knew they were going to get a high number of indictments and arrests. If all they had a 1-off assistant or rider, they would have waited and monitored the rider/assistant in order to see how deep the doping went within the team.

When a team manager states:
“I think we have nothing to worry about," Wilfried Peeters, the team's sporting director, said on the Web site of La Derniere Heure newspaper.

The fact he said THINK versus "I have been given complete confirmation from the police that this raid does not involve any Quickstep riders or personnel and we are completely innocent" says a lot.

I say air the dirty laundry, otherwise it will never get clean. As far as I'm concerned, all this raises my esteem for cycling, because we're actually hearing about it and it's a big controversy, with riders confessing, Operation Puerto, etc.

Whereas football, baseball - you know those guys are juicing and no one cares. It's not even an issue to the average American.

A lot of people have made the point that with all the $$$ involved, these other sports wouldn't get blown apart like cycling is.

A lot of people have made the point that with all the $$$ involved, these other sports wouldn't get blown apart like cycling is.
With cycling it's the direct SPONSOR money involvement that makes it so different.

US major team sports are owned by billionaires and billionaire coalitions as play toys these days, They make plenty from TV deals, gate receipts, and revenue sharing and understand that owning a franchise doesn't exactly equal a profit. Sponsorship money is peripheral, at best.

For UCI level cycling, the race purses are paltry and teams rely directly on sponsors for almost all financial support.

With cycling it's the direct SPONSOR money involvement that makes it so different.

US major team sports are owned by billionaires and billionaire coalitions as play toys these days, They make plenty from TV deals, gate receipts, and revenue sharing and understand that owning a franchise doesn't exactly equal a profit. Sponsorship money is peripheral, at best.

For UCI level cycling, the race purses are paltry and teams rely directly on sponsors for almost all financial support.


It is good and bad news that cycling is set-up in this manner. The bad is that it does make the future of the professional sport more sensitive to scandals. I mean, baseball has a roid-head (literally his head grew in his mid-30’s) about to break the most hallowed record in all of sports, and it is a minor controversy at best. The reason this has less of an impact is because (a) the SF Giants are not sponsored by anybody directly; (b) they have a loyal fan base that PAYS to see them play; (c) any sponsors advertising at PacBell park are not directly identified with Barry Bonds. Cycling has none of this.

But the good news, is that cycling is going to lead the rest of the sports in cleaning itself up. Eventually, the doping scandals of baseball and football (and basketball - have seen the size of these guys? You do not develop arm muscles and bulk running up and down the court like some of these players) will come to light. It is one thing when it is localized to a specific team, because (a) that team’s fans support their players no matter what and the rest of the fans can hate that team; but it is another thing altogether when everyone’s players are involved. It will hurt those sports.

Why are they singling out cyclists? All the news reports on Operation Puerto talked about cyclists but they actually found a lot of soccer players blood, etc at Dr. Fuentes' lab too. What gives?

Why are they singling out cyclists? All the news reports on Operation Puerto talked about cyclists but they actually found a lot of soccer players blood, etc at Dr. Fuentes' lab too. What gives?



WORLD CUP YO!!!

For VT Biker


One of Quick Step's trainers, Johan Molly, whom private TV station VTM claim is a relative of Quick Step's former world champion Tom Boonen, was taken in for questioning.

However team spokesman Tegner added: "Johan was quickly released, and the police had nothing to charge him with. And nothing was found at his home."

For VT Biker



This may very well play out to be nothing. However, until based on how every other investigation has developed, I think assuming Quickstep is out of the woods is a naive.

Plus: I hate Bettini with a passion for his fighting steps that would clean the sport up, all so he can dope, cheat and make away with money while the sport dies.

http://contagion.dayport.com/viewer/viewerpage.php?Art_ID=894&tf=contagionviewer.tpl&PreloadContract_DefID=1&Contract_DefID=2

This is a great interview on Velonews of how these scandals are impacting the sport here in the United States.