Friday, June 30, 2006
Speechless
Like most Tour de France fans, this was my reaction to today's news of the eruption of one of the biggest doping scandals in the history of sports.
From Cycling News, the list of riders implicated so far (31 riders) (not all are on the starting lists for the Tour):
Astaná-Würth: Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, David Etxebarria, Joseba Beloki, Angel Vicioso, Isidro Nozal, Unai Osa, Jörg Jaksche
CSC: Ivan Basso
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears: Constantino Zaballa
Saunier Duval: Carlos Zarate
AG2R: Francisco Mancebo
T-Mobile: Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla
Phonak: Jose Enrique Gutierrez, Jose Ignacio Gutierrez
Comunidad Valenciana: Vicente Ballester, David Bernabeu, David Blanco Rodriguez, Jose Adrian Bonillla, Juan Gomis Lopez, Eladio Jimenez, David Latasa, Javier Pascual, Ruben Plaza, J.Luis M. Jimenez
Unibet.Com: Carlos Garcia Quesada
Retired/suspended riders: Roberto Heras, Angel Casero, Santiago Perez, Tyler Hamilton
The status of Astaná-Würth rider Alexandre Vinokourov remains questionable. I'll believe he's riding when I see him roll down the Prologue starting ramp. (Update: Yeah, the whole team pulled out, including Vino).
The only rider that I think whose name has come up in our Lanterne Rouge discussions is Constantino Zaballa, who was the first abandon of the 2005 Tour due to a knee injury. I'd like to think that the other riders we have talked about have been working in the peleton simply doing their jobs and keeping their noses clean. But the extent of this scandal makes a person wonder.
From Cycling News, the list of riders implicated so far (31 riders) (not all are on the starting lists for the Tour):
Astaná-Würth: Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, David Etxebarria, Joseba Beloki, Angel Vicioso, Isidro Nozal, Unai Osa, Jörg Jaksche
CSC: Ivan Basso
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears: Constantino Zaballa
Saunier Duval: Carlos Zarate
AG2R: Francisco Mancebo
T-Mobile: Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla
Phonak: Jose Enrique Gutierrez, Jose Ignacio Gutierrez
Comunidad Valenciana: Vicente Ballester, David Bernabeu, David Blanco Rodriguez, Jose Adrian Bonillla, Juan Gomis Lopez, Eladio Jimenez, David Latasa, Javier Pascual, Ruben Plaza, J.Luis M. Jimenez
Unibet.Com: Carlos Garcia Quesada
Retired/suspended riders: Roberto Heras, Angel Casero, Santiago Perez, Tyler Hamilton
The status of Astaná-Würth rider Alexandre Vinokourov remains questionable. I'll believe he's riding when I see him roll down the Prologue starting ramp. (Update: Yeah, the whole team pulled out, including Vino).
The only rider that I think whose name has come up in our Lanterne Rouge discussions is Constantino Zaballa, who was the first abandon of the 2005 Tour due to a knee injury. I'd like to think that the other riders we have talked about have been working in the peleton simply doing their jobs and keeping their noses clean. But the extent of this scandal makes a person wonder.
Monday, June 19, 2006
One returning Lanterne Rouge
The Tour de France provisional riders list has been posted! We have many familiar riders back, but many who regretfully will be unable to attend.- Jimmy Caspar (winner of the 2006 Tour de Picardie), who will be riding for Cofidis, was the 2001 and 2004 Tour de France Lanterne Rouge.
- Iker Flores, the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider and ultimate 2005 Tour de France Lanterne Rouge, will not be riding
- Leonardo Piepoli, the amazing mountain climber on the Saunier Duval team and Lanterne Rouge for the first three stages of the 2005 Tour will not be riding
- Janeck Tombak, the Cofidis rider who was the Lanterne Rouge for two stages in 2005 will not be riding
- Steve Zampieri, the Swiss Phonak rider who was the Lanterne Rouge for Stage 6 of the 2005 Tour will not be riding
There will be a whole new roster of media star personalities and - our focus here - incredibly important supporting players and unsung heroes in the upcoming 2006 Tour de France. It promises to be an exciting one!
