SB Nation User Blog: callmecayce

Skibby Comes Clean

callmecayce — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 23:44:19 -0000

Cycling star comes clean on doping (InternetavisenJyllands-Posten)

One of the country's biggest cycling stars admits to a long history of using performance enhancing drugs

I suck at cycling history, so I don't know who this guy is, but the article is interesting. And yes, I regularly read Scandinavian news in English.

EPO and other performance enhancing drugs provided 'a golden spring' of energy and strength, cycling star Jesper Skibby, confesses in his autobiography released on Wednesday.
In the 1990s, Skibby joined the pack of rising stars that included Rolf Sørensen and Tour de France winner Bjarne Riiis who helped bring cycling to a larger Danish audience in the 1990s.
His off-the-cuff remarks to reporters and his stage wins in Vuelta a España, Giro d'Italia and Tour de France vaulted him into the sport's elite.
With his autobiography, 'Let me explain', he reveals that a dark secret lay behind his carefree demeanour, however.
In graphic terms, Skibby describes how performance enhancing drugs immediately boosted his performance.
'I pulled down my shorts a bit,' he writes. 'Stuck myself in my buttock and pushed the syringe to the bottom. It hurt a little, but otherwise there wasn't any pain.'
The 42-year-old acknowledged that coming clean could have a heavy price. Other professional cyclists such as Jesus Manzano and Phillipe Gaumont, who admitted using performance enhancing drugs, have seen themselves ostracized by their teammates and managers.
'I'm quite aware that because of this book, I might become a person non grata in the future,' Skibby told daily newspaper Ekstra Bladet, which is printing the book.
He told journalists that the purpose of his book was not to point the finger at team managers or fellow cyclists.
'Some people might consider me weak because I step forward and reveal my mistakes. But I'm doing this for the young guys, so they don't commit the same mistakes as me.'

Haselbacher to Astana

callmecayce — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:23:47 -0000

This shouldn't make me happy, but it does.

Haselbacher to Astana

Rene Haselbacher is celebrating his 29th birthday today with a two-year contract with Team Astana. "After eight years with Gerolsteiner I had the feeling that I was in a rut. My position in the team was not what I hoped it would be. And the pressure from the young German riders has increased in the last few years. I want to say that I am parting on good terms with Hans-Michael Holczer. They were good years, but after all this time, it was time to make a change, in order to get new motivation."

"It is a great honour for me to be on the same team with Alexandre Vinokourov, Andreas Klöden and Andrey Kashechkin. I am convinced that Astana will be the best Pro Tour team next year," he said. "The team's main goal for 2007 is clearly the Tour de France. My job will mainly be to at the front in the sprint stages and in the Classics. I don't yet know whether I will ride the Tour. But it is clear to me: Cycling consists of a lot more than just the Tour de France!"

Astana is expected to make a team presentation next month in Switzerland.

Petacchi Out of Vuelta

callmecayce — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 03:44:41 -0000

Oh, Alessandro Petacchi. You and Zidane sure know how to overreact about things.

Petacchi pays price for tantrum

Alessandro Petacchi has had to withdraw from the Tour of Spain and will miss the rest of the season after punching his team bus at the end of stage 15.
The Milram rider lashed out after failing to win Sunday's stage and broke a bone in his hand.
"I know I've done something stupid but I did it because I was very angry after having a real chance of winning for the first time for months," he said.
"There's no doubt I've made a mistake but I'm a human being, not a machine."
Petacchi fractured his kneecap during stage three of the Giro d'Italia in May and subsequently missed the Tour de France in July.

I have nothing to add, except that this just cracks me up. Oh, and it potentially frees up a spot on the Italians' Worlds squad. I suppose I should be ashamed or irritated by his behavior, but hey, he knows he was stupid and now he's paying the price. What's not to love?

Landis on LKL

callmecayce — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:16:09 -0000

Apparently Landis will be on Larry King Live tonight.

Primetime Exclusive! The Tour De France racing champ, Floyd Landis speaks out about testing positive. Tune in Friday at 9 p.m. ET.

The press conference was interesting. And Landis looks completely (and understandably) exhausted. Um, maybe CNN will have highlights later.

Doping at the Tour

callmecayce — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 19:29:28 -0000

From the BBC:

Tour rider in failed doping test

A rider in this year's Tour de France has failed a doping test, according to the International Cycling Union (UCI).
Neither the rider's identity nor the date when the test was conducted were released by the sport's governing body.
The positive test, carried out by France's national anti-doping laboratory at Chatenay-Malabry, will be the first from the race if confirmed.

I think this is the best route. I never liked the releasing of rider's names, not even in the OP business.

Update [2006-7-26 19:29:50 by Sarah]: As an slightly unrelated update: Astana 5' cleared by Spanish courts.

Five Astan? riders who were forced out of the 2006 Tour de France because of alleged links to a blood doping investigation have been formally cleared by Spanish courts. Joseba Beloki, Isidro Nozal, Sergio Paulinho, Allan Davis and Alberto Contador have all received a written document officially clearing them of any links to the ongoing "Operaci?n Puerto," the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco reported Wednesday.

I'm both pissed off and happy. Happy because Contador and Davis were cleared. But pissed off because Vino could have race.

deadspin covers cycling

callmecayce — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 03:11:36 -0000

Just pointing out Deadspin's post about Landis' win on Thursday.

Also, there's an interesting argument about sports verses competition in the comments.

And since I have to say more (or it won't let me post), I'll just add that I think it's kind of awesome that Deadspin is covering cycling. Although they probably could have done a better job, but hey, at least they tried.

Astana-Wurth are Okay to Race

callmecayce — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 17:45:27 -0000

The Cycling Gods are smiling, at least they're smiling on me. This is from CN.

" Astana-Würth OK to race

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has given the Astana-Wurth team the go-ahead to race in the Tour de France. "CAS has rejected the request of ASO to stop the team Astana-Würth from starting the Tour de France," read the CAS official statement.

On June 26, ASO, the organisers of the Tour, had asked Active Bay, the managing company of the Spanish squad, not to take part in its race. Both parties took their case to CAS, which heard it today (June 29) in the presence of ASO and Active Bay representatives.

CAS ruled that the team of Alexandre Vinokourov will be able to participate in the race. Belgian judge Guido de Croock decided the matter, basing his sentence on the fact that no official information on the team's links to the doping network had yet been revealed.

If you don't trust cyclingnews for your information, Eurosport has the story, too.

Liberty Seguros To Pull Sponsorship

callmecayce — Thu, 25 May 2006 14:01:49 -0000

[editor's note, by chris] Sarah got it first...

Well it's official.

" Liberty Seguros terminate contract

In the wake of Manolo Saiz's recent detention for his alleged involvement in a blood doping program along with four other people, Spanish news agency EFE has just released a newsflash, announcing primary sponsor Liberty Seguros have chosen to cancel their cycling sponsorship from the Liberty Seguros-Würth team, effective immediately. The team's press officer, Jacinto Vidarte, confirmed the annoucement with Cyclingnews.

No doubt, a clause exists in Liberty Seguros' contract with Active Bay SL, the team's holding company, enabling the former to annul their sponsorship contract if a widespread doping situation arises. How this will affect the six riders currently racing the Giro d'Italia or the future of the team is not yet known.

I don't know what will happen, the riders probably don't either. I am kind of at a loss because this team has become my favorite. I also don't know what this means for Vino's Tour de France bid. Or, you know, the rest of the cycling season.

" Liberty Seguros pulls plug on Saiz! (procycling) -- this just has a bit more information.

Photos of Saul's recovery

callmecayce — Thu, 18 May 2006 00:27:25 -0000

Saul recently posted an entry and some pictures of his recovery.

New Pictures

So Here I am still in the hospital in Atlanta, GA... I am progressing a lot every day and on the 23rd I will leave for a rehab center in Atlanta...Where I will be for a couple of months...My spirits are high and I am planning on regaining every thing I have lost...I love every one...Thank you for supporting me in my time of need...Saul
P.S. New pictures of me in rehab posted.
Note from Saul's parents: Saul wants to share his rehab pictures so others will more understand brain trauma and the recovery process.

Here is a link to the pictures: Recovery May 06

stage six

callmecayce — Fri, 12 May 2006 15:24:16 -0000

I don't like Robbie McEwen, but holy cow. I sort of saw it, since cycling.tv doesn't actually work on my work computer I had to use RAI and the stream is inconsistent at best. But, wow. It's too bad about Vaitkus, though. It'd have been nice to see him win and Ag2r.

Also, Pollack, huh? Interesting. I believe he had the Maglia Rosa last year, while riding for Gerolsteiner.

Also, Cyclingnews says it was 71 km/h during the sprint.

Provisional
1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 5.24.13
2 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team
3 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prevoyance
4 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone
5 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
6 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems
7 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
8 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram
9 Axel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
10 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
11 Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
12 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
13 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team
14 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux
15 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank

General classification after stage 6
1 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team
2 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile Team 0.02
3 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 0.18
4 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 0.23
6 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.32
7 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 0.41
8 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.43
9 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 0.45
10 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.50