jyl

I don't think it is a secret to dirty Vino.

B. Carfree

This.

And considering German TV is now considering airing the TdF again because they think cycling has been largely cleaned up, if Astana lines up, I suspect the Germans will reconsider.

German broadcasters mull airing Tour de France - VeloNews.com

I still think it sucks, though, since I'd really like to see Nibali race next year.

GaIslander

Agreed. Nibali should change Teams. A fifth doping case taints his victory in the Tour. I think he was clean and his team was limited help, but still a fifth case makes a very bad reflection.

HigherGround

Apparently there may (and I emphasize "may") be bad news for Enrico Gasparotto due to the investigation of Dr. Michele Ferarri. If so, that would be another mark against Astana.

Jed19

Maybe, just maybe Nibali isn't that clean.

Report: Banned doctor Ferrari spotted with Astana riders in 2013 - VeloNews.com

The countdown to ignominy begins!

We'll see.

jyl

Widespread doping claimed at Astana, based on police investigation of years 2010-2011.

Astana accused of systematic doping | Cyclingnews.com

Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport have revealed many of the riders implicated in the Padova police investigation as clients of banned doctor Michele Ferrari. The newspaper lists 38 professional and Under 23 riders, going onto suggest that 17 Astana riders have links with Dr. Ferrari.

The full 550-page Padova investigation documents the results of phone taps, house searches and the seizure of bank records, which were apparently handed over to the Italian Olympic Committee's doping investigators before the weekend.

List of riders allegedly implicated as having "links with" Ferrari:

Leonardo Bertagnolli, Simone Boifava, Diego Caccia, Enrico Franzoi, Marco Frapporti, Omar Lombardi, Fabrizio Macchi, Marco Marcato, Andrea Masciarelli, Francesco Masciarelli, Simone Masciarelli, Daniele Pietropolli, Morris Possoni, Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Proni, Michele Scarponi, Francesco Tizza, Giovanni Visconti, Ricardo Pichetta, Andrea Vaccher, Mauricio Ardila, Volodymyr Bileka, Borut Bozic, Maxim Gourov, Vladimir Gusev, Valentin Iglinskiy, Sergei Ivanov, Vladimir Karpets, Aleksander Kolobnev, Dimitri Kozontchuk, Roman Kreuziger, Denis Menchov (Rus), Evgeni Petrov, Yaroslav Popovych, José Joaquin Rojas (Spa), Ivan Rovny, Egor Silin, Alexandre Vinokourov.

Nibali joined Astana in 2013. If Astana loses its WT spot, probably his contract allows him to leave, but I'm not sure where he can go - who can afford him and has space left?

gsa103

Ah the Velo news headlines:

First headline is about Astana getting a WT license.

Second headline is about 17 current or former Astana riders contacting Dr. Ferrari.

Let's face it, the UCI has no more interest in a clean sport than the NFL does.

hueyhoolihan

i agree. they proved that to me, years ago, when they let you-know-who off the hook.

bici_mania

+2

UCI has no credibility. Nibali has a serious credibility issue too, in my mind. At this point, anyone on the podium is highly suspect and I think that is probably being foolishly optimistic on my part.

jyl

After some reading, it seems the problem is that the License Commission does not yet have the report of the Padova investigation, all they have is La Gazetta articles which count for nothing, and under the rules the ProConti doping cases cannot be counted against Astana, so basically they have positive tests from 2 riders and 1 stagiare at Astana.

The UCI denied Katusha a WT license and Katusha took them to court and won, so UCI is being careful to have a very strong case before trying again to deny a WT license. The License Commission is trying to get the Padova files, the UCI is waiting for another Astana positive, one would hope testers are concentrating on the team's riders, and it sounds like if the UCI can find a reason to do so, it will send the case back to the License Commission for another decision mid-season.

For now Astana is on a sort of probation. I won't be putting Nibali on my fantasy cycling team for 2015, because I can't be sure he have team to race with for the whole year.

CliffordK

From the VeloNews Article:
Nibali goes on the attack after fourth Astana doping positive - VeloNews.comThis is one of the things that concern me... A 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] string team member may not have much to do with a TDF win, but it shouldn't be considered "ok" to start out doping to build muscle, then convert to "clean" as one starts making a name for oneself.

One of the riders, Maxim Iglinskiy apparently rode in the TDF, so while not the team leader, he likely allowed Nibali to draft from his bike. Do the team dynamics taint the way the "win" was achieved?

jyl

A little, yes, but Iglinsky could have crashed out and Nibali would still have won, guys like Pinot, TVG, etc are not in his league really.

He has to be thinking this is a nightmare. Here he is stuck in a team that is probably one more dope positive away from losing its WT license or at least getting blocked from some races, he's getting grilled on doping every time a reporter sees him, his own reputation is getting hurt, and he can't get out. I doubt his contract lets him walk just because other riders are getting popped, and the money isn't exactly pocket change to him and his family.

CliffordK

One rider... probably not. But there are very few "solo" riders that could place high in the TDF without a "team" to ride with.

I have no idea what these contracts are like. But, if Nibali could prove that the doping was being done with any knowledge or support of the management, then he could probably walk. This purported asssociation between the team and Dr. Michele Ferrari might be enough to give him a free pass.

jyl

But how is he supposed to prove that? Like, with actual evidence admissible in court?

I mean, he can probably walk, in the sense that if he makes it clear that he won't ride to win, the team would probably rather release him than pay him $4MM to soft pedal. But then he doesn't get his money.

Leinster

I don't think Nibali wants to bring the Ferrari argument into it; if there are "2 Astana teams" as has been suggested, it would appear to be the Italian one (ie, Nibali's) that has been in touch with il doctore.