SB Nation User Blog: NE Observer

Bobby J's piece on ESPN today

NE Observer — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:24:49 -0000

Bobby writes about the time trial and Carlos and says he is humbled, but I can't quite make out why. That he got Carlos wrong and in fact the laid back non-leader prove-it-with-your-legs leadership worked? That he is at home and not with the team and thus reduced to fan status?

I always enjoy Bobby's posts, but for this Tour I've been struck by the fact that he didn't pick up more on the incredible work done by his friend Jens! Maybe infra dig? Too much like boasting?

I'm also curious about what he's referring to in this quote:

"I''ve always respected Carlos, but now, I have a newfound admiration for him. I honestly think he's had a hard time dealing with the controversies over the past few years at the Tour, where positive tests have popped up and contributed to keeping Carlos off the podium."

What positive tests have kept Carlos off podiums? Seems to me that they've put him ON podiums (2006 Tour) or moved him up a step (Heras Vuelta, forget the year) Anybody have an idea?

Oh, my. Cannes, Monaco, Kate, Lance

NE Observer — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:27:42 -0000

Oh, my. Cannes, Monaco, Kate, Lance

I seem to have taken responsibility for keeping the Podium Cafe informed.

Paolo the super-domestique

NE Observer — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:08:22 -0000

Paolo the super-domestique

Lance alert

NE Observer — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:25:18 -0000

I knew you'd all want to keep current with his dating life....

(Wish I knew how to post a picture. For those too impatient to click I'll give it away: it's Kate Hudson.)

Hm. A message telling me I'm twenty words short. Well, she's yet another blonde. Doesn't look too much like his mother or his first wife though. And she's more famous than he is.

Link here!

Beloved soigneur a spy?

NE Observer — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:45:26 -0000

From cycling fans anonymous:

04 May 2008
Eule a Stasi spy?

German media is reporting that long-time T-Mobile soigneur Dieter "Eule" Ruthenberg, who was masseur to riders such as Ullrich and Zabel, is under suspicion of being a spy and informant for the Stasi, the notorious and hated East German secret police. Ruthenberg is said to have worked for the Stasi from 1976 to 1989. Ruthenberg is well-known to American cycling fans due to his prominent and compelling role in the Tour de France documentary Hell on Wheels. Apparently doping was hardly the only thing going on behind the scenes at T-Mobile.

Basso in southern California?

NE Observer — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:00:33 -0000

Check out cycling fans anonymous http://cyclingfansanonymous.blogspot.com/

(I have no idea what a Seven is. A bike. But whose? What does it mean?)

Two diaries in a day? I've got to get out more.

Ullrich fined

NE Observer — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:24:47 -0000

VN Link

He pays a million Euros in the sporting fraud case against him in Germany. Why would he do that? Just to make it (expensively) go away? I don't understand how it could possibly have been found to be fraud if ... any one of the following is true: a) the team was managing or directing or requiring it (evidence not yet complete, as far as we know), b) the team knew about it (a strong probable), or c) others on the team were also doing it (known). Why didn't the suit include Aldag or any of the other Telekommers who've actually confessed?

Who was being defrauded? The public? Why by Ullrich alone? The sport of cycling? Same question -- plus, Give me a break! ARD? I read they paid Ullrich a hefty retainer, maybe a million Euros a year. They've been pretty prickly on the subject, yanking their coverage in mid-TdF after the 2007 doping scandals. Are they behind that professor who mounted the suit? And why wouldn't they have just sued Jan directly?

On another note -- yet another German rider has now had an epithet permanently attached to his name in the "rosy-fingered dawn" mode. Joing "the ever-popular Jens Voigt," we now have "disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich." VN always says this! They don't say "Disgraced former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis," do they? Of course, Bjarne confessed and can therefore be labeled "Confessed doper and former Tour winner Bjarne Riis." Plus, he has had a second act.

Where oh where is poor Ulle getting his advice from?? I worry about him.

Truly terrible news for Ullrich

NE Observer — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:11:00 -0000

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/nov07/nov12news

More from Jef D'Hont, the former Telekom soigneur whose book published earlier this year brought confessions from Aldag, Zabel, Riis and a couple of others.

D'Hont claims to have many CDs filled with taped telephone conversations with Rudy Pevenage, whom he wanted to confirm allegations in his book, especially against Ullrich. The quoted portions show an appalling dance of betrayal. Pevenage says that if he testifies that Ullrich used EPO he will be throwing Jan to the wolves: "They will hang him in Germany." D'Hont's counsel is that his choice is either to do it or be thrown to the wolves himself, because when Jan confesses everyone will blame him because they knew he "did everything" for Jan. In the end Pevenage refused to confirm the charges in writing -- not knowing that D'Hont had taped the conversations.

Anquetil's sex life

NE Observer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:04:17 -0000

on cycling fans anonymous, copying from the Amazon blurb for a new book on same

<"Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" is an astonishing biography of French cycling star Jacques Anquetil that pieces together, for the first time since his death in 1987, the story of his extraordinary life. On its own, Anquetil's list of 'firsts' makes him worthy of a place in the cycling pantheon: he was the first man to win the Tour de France five times; the first to win all three grand tours (the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia); and the first to win both the Tour and Vuelta in the same year. As well as dealing with Anquetil's considerable achievements as a cyclist, this book also explores his complex, unconventional and shocking private life. Among the many revelations, we learn how he seduced his doctor's wife; how he acted as stepfather to her children before asking his stepdaughter to bear him a child; how, after his blood-daughter was born, he maintained a menage a trois with his wife and stepdaughter for several years in the same house until the 'family' eventually fell apart; and how, in a bid to inspire jealousy in his two former lovers and encourage their return, he seduced his stepson's ex-wife and had a child with her. Containing exclusive contributions from Anquetil's family, friends, teammates and rivals, "Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" unveils the real truth about one of cycling's great legends.>

Oy.

Astana signs up with Dr. Damsgaard!

NE Observer — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:45:22 -0000

Bruyneel announced as Astana GM with Gallopin as lead DS. Biver paid off (apparently) and gone away. They'll use Dr. Ramsus [oops, Rasmus] Damsgaard as doping consultant -- the phrase was "will work with."

Kazakh Cycling Federation says the team will have no dealings either directly or indirectly with "any of the implicated team members." Vino, that means you.

Roster to be announced later.

http://velonews.com/race/int/articles/13508.0.html