Please don't tell me anybody thought Chicken Dork wasn't doing something naughty, 'cause he just oozed sneakiness and sleaze.Yeah, yeah, I know, he's not the only one, but for the first time in at least fifteen years I have some confidence that much of the TdF peloton is not doped. That makes it all the more crucial to catch those that are still on the program. Snagging Vino was huge; booting Chicken Dork in yellow is even better.
Fry, Chicken Dork, fry...
12 comments:
That photo needs to go on the cover of Velonews for the next issue
I agree that it's a good thing it happened and give Rabobank HUGE props for having the balls to yank him for lying about his whereabouts in June, even though he had basically sewn up the V. This shows me that there's at least one team that will "walk the talk". THAT'S a big change...
But...I do have a problem with giving any sort of props to the UCI (i.e. Mr. McQuaid) on this matter. That "old boys network" is as corrupt as anything...and the current anti-doping system is a farce. If the system was actually being FOLLOWED, we shouldn't have heard about ANY of the A sample positives until the B samples had been confirmed. The people tasked with enforcing the rules need to actually follow the rules themselves to maintain any credibility.
Rabobank is a bit culpable for this fiasco. They needed to be tough on this. Other teams are, and know where there riders are just before they do the biggest race on the calendar. They should not have let him race the tour.
RocketPower- Except for O'Grady, VeloNews doesn't have the cajones to do that. Maybe they're moving in the right direction though ...I mean, they didn't edit the F-bomb out of some of those cool video diaries!
TnA- I agree that the system is still broken, and the UCI doesn't really seem committed to solving the problem. The leaks to the media must stop. But, stepping back a bit, you have to admit it's better now than it was from, say, 1999 to 2005.
Nick Nitro- Yeah, that does seem pretty lame (not knowing Chicken's whereabouts). Can you imagine Slipstream not knowing where Danny Pate is/was a month before having a TdF start? No way.
Is anyone else blown away with the fact that Alberto Contador was able to stay with chicken boy in all his juicing glory? I understand that the TDF isn't over yet, and other riders may still be booted, but I'd like to believe that the Discovery Team is there with clean riders. Contador put him "In a spot of bother" the other day and actually made Mr. McNugget suffer a bit. I'm sure we still have plenty of drama left (both on and off the bike), but for the time being, I'm going to love watching Discovery put 2 men on the podium.
Why would Discovery be there with clean riders above any other team? And put TWO guys on the podium? And win the tour 7 years in a row vs. dopers? Because it's an american team? Because they're nice guys like Tyler? Like Floyd? Perhaps those guys just started doping after they left the team right? Heras too? Only Frankie doped right? There was plenty of support for Tyler because he was american, but no one doubts that Vino is a blood doper. I look forward to seeing racing a couple of years down the road when perhaps the current stock of riders will retire along with the staff. No one has said "witch hunt" for 2 days now so I thought I'd throw that in.
I agree with anonymo. Nobody is above suspicion, no matter where they're from and what team they're on. But there are some teams that seem to take it a bit more seriously than others. I don't put Disco in that camp btw.
Also, I admit a tad bit of guilty feeling having fried Rasmussen in photoshop even though he was never found positive of anything. But come on, where there's that much smoke around a guy, the odds are high there's some fire somewhere nearby.
omg!
i love those pictures.
Thanks lauren! Can I use you as a reference when I apply for a job at the National Enquirer?
the photos are priceless!!! Awesome.
Marco, he deserves to be fried (pun intended). He lied to his team. He lied to everyone when the news broke (still pissed, though, that this did not come out before the Tour), and there is really no excuse for him missing out of competition testing. I rode with a Danish Disco boy the other day, and he was offended by the Chicken's excuse for not being available for OC testing. The Chicken had GC aspirations for the Tour, he needs to be professional enough to keep his schedule up to date. If he can't hire a secretary. The Disco kid I rode with could keep his schedule, and he did not have Tour GC aspiration.
The bottom line is is that he tried to game the system by taking advantage of the three strikes rule (I can't think of another plausible explanation for why he came up with the Mexico lie). He lied to his team, screwing over his team mates who sacrificed any chance of individual glory. Yeah sure, this ain't new, but things are getting better, and hopefully this mess, all the the confessions from the past are a sign of it starting to work. That said, I don't think that it will be completely fixed until the policing agencies start acting professionally.
I want to get to the point where performance does not make someone suspect. I think that the effects of doping have been seriously marginalized, to the point that clean riders actually have a chance against dopers. And fry them when evidence is found, regardless of national affiliation, or how freakish they look.
Marco-
That chicken picture is priceless and my Dad BBQ'd some badas$ chicken on the grill tonight. I didn't eat any. See you guys next weekend. Gary and Steve Douville
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