General Cycling Thread

Glad Ricco has named names.
Former Saunier Duval-Scott rider Riccardo Ricc has named Carlo Santuccione as the supplier of the EPO that he used during the Tour de France, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Ricc who won two stages before being thrown off the race for a doping violation, told that he paid 700 Euros for the third generation EPO named CERA.

ā€œI have not paid, naturally,ā€ said Ricc. ā€œSantuccione assured me you could not be found positive. So I did not give him the money.ā€

Santuccione is widely known in professional cycling as ā€˜Ali de Chemistā€™ and in the late '90s the former doctor was suspended for his involvement in a doping affair. In 2004 he was also arrested after the prescription of the performance-enhancing drugs anabolic steroids, growth hormone and EPO.

This year the doctor was relieved from his post for life. Santuccione is the former doctor of Danilo Di Luca and former professional Rodolfo Massi, who was discredited during the Festina-Affair in 1998.

American Rock Racing arenā€™t a team who will be invited to the Tour soon I imagine,
Hamilton: Landis welcome at Rock Racing
Tyler Hamilton has welcomed Floyd Landis to join his American Rock Racing squad, once his ban from competition ends next year. The American tested positive for testosterone after the Tour de France in 2006.

ā€œFloyd is welcome to join us immediately,ā€ 37 year-old Hamilton said, according to Belgian publication HLN. ā€œI know what he is going through, we can help him return to the top.ā€

Landis is suspended until January 30, 2009 after having his Tour de France title stripped from him following a drawn-out legal battle.

Hamilton was also suspended for two years for a foreign blood population. He made a turbulent re entry into the professional peloton at the beginning of the 2007 season with Tinkov, before moving to the Rock Racing team in 2008. Last month Hamilton claimed his first stage race victory since returning to the sport at Chinaā€™s Tour of Qinghai Lake.

Larry, has Contador been targeted much for testing, given that Ricco and now Sella who he beat at the Giro have tested positive? There seems to be a consensus on a cycling forum Iā€™ve ben reading recently that he is definitely still doping. Schumacher was apparently targeted for testing after his aggressive performances in the Tour.

Isnā€™t publicised who they are targeting and who they arenā€™t but Contador has a shady history so Iā€™d certainly say he is someone they are going after. His team Astana have an anti-doping programme in place but personally I find it very difficult to believe in. Anytime that Bruynell is involved with I would have difficulty believing in. Good thing is now it appears to be far easier to recognise who is suspect and who isnā€™t as so many more riders are riding clean. Sella for instance appeared very dodgy as he was a fairly average rider who came out of nowhere to win mountains classification and a few stages in the Giro.

I think Ricco also said that he had never taken EPO before the Tour. Hard to imagine him just rolling up to Chemical Ali for his first shot just before the race. The reason he was caught was because the drug producer put a marker into the product which meant it could be detected by the testers. Riccoā€™s comments before the Tour about how he had taken it easy post Giro and taken a relaxed approach like Contador had done before the Giro (taking part at short notice allegedly) were definitiely tongue in cheek. Ricco could do the sport a big favour and continue to talk. He is young enough to have a career after his ban.

Yeah he has been talking about Contador quite a bit and heā€™s effectively accusing him openly of using the same methods he used. The testing in Le Tour was obviously more stringent than in the Giro so Contador might have dodget a bullet this year.

Olympic Road Race tomorrow morning and it promises to be a cracking race.

Course is 80km flat, then loops of a circuit with a decent hill in it - 4% gradient but parts of 10% and itā€™s 11km long in the 24km circuit.

The field is very interesting - all the big names are there and the nationality divisions create some strong teams.

Spain have Valverde, Contador, Freire, Sastre and Sanchez in an incredibly strong team. Problem is they have no leader and Valverde said that theyā€™ll decide who feels strongest going into the second half of the race to decide on tactics. Thatā€™s a recipe for disaster and while Sastre will probably be content with his recent win on Le Tour itā€™s hard to see Freire, Valverde or Contador giving way to eachother out of national loyalty.

Italy also have a good squad. Bettini is their main man and Cancellara will be decent support. (though heā€™ll save himself for the TT on Wednesday). Rebellin won Paris-Nice this year and is a proven classic rider, probably the best one-day reputation in the field but heā€™s getting on now.

Luxembourg have a cracking little team with Kim Kirchen and the Schleck brothers all in with a chance.

The fact that the course is more difficult than usual suggests that it might be difficult for these stronger teams to control the race but itā€™s very hard to tell how the national boundaries will influence things. Has all the makings of a great race with the climb to break things up and then the big names contesting at the end. Iā€™ve a feeling for Valverde - this is the sort of stage he was loving in the Tour.

Bettini hasnā€™t won much this year so I would discount him. Kirchen impressed me in the tour. Valverde after winning San Sebastian has obviously got good form but I think Iā€™ll go for Freire. Schumacher a slightly dark horse.

Would be great to see Deignan or Roche get a top 15 finish. Course will suit them both will be interesting to see if they can form some kind of an allegence with some of the other countries.

Iā€™d imagine Schumacher will have half an eye on the Time Trial on Wednesday. Think heā€™s well capable of doing well but heā€™ll really have to choose between the two events. Depends on medal prospects obviously but I donā€™t see him doing anything solo tomorrow.

Freire is the best climbing sprinter and if it sticks together reasonably well with the Spanish in control then I think he has a cracking chance. Valverdeā€™s win last week has me convinced - not sure what went wrong in the Tour for him but he looked capable of winning every hilly stage and I reckon heā€™ll have enough tomorrow.

Hope to see some prominence from Deignan and Roche too - great chance for them to be free from the shackles of domestique work so itā€™s a chance for them to showcase their talents as riders in their own right.

what time is the road race tomorrow lads?

4 am as far as I know.

oh thats lovely

Yeah but it will be about six hours long. Not much will happen until the last hour .

Looks like quite an interesting situation developing in this race. Patricio Almonacid (Chile) is out in front and has been from early on. Shouldnā€™t have a chance though. Behind him isa group of 26 with following riders: Jens Voigt (Germany), Bert Grabsch (Germany), Carlos Sastre (Spain), Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg), Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic), Marzio Bruseghin (Italy), Stef Clement (Netherlands), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Belgium), Simon Gerrans (Australia), Serguei Ivanov (Russia), Ryder Hesjedal (Canada), Jonathan Bellis (Great Britain), Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia), Rmi Pauriol (France), Jan Valach (Slovakia), Vladimir Miholjevic (Croatia), Murilo Fischer (Brazil), Matija Kvasina (Croatia), Radoslav Rogina (Croatia), Borut Bozic (Slovenia), Gatis Smukulis (Latvia), Aleksandr Kuschynski (Belarus), Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark), Vladimir Karpets (Russia). They are 4.10 behind the Chilean rider. The peleton are 4.24 back on the group of 26 and it includes the big names who arenā€™t in the group of 26 and Deignan and Roche. They are doing their second lap of circuit now. Coverage is on BBC interactive and Eurosport. RTE have shown a couple of hours of it but now have moved onto something else before returning later. That group of 26 includes some possible contenders in Sastre, Karpets, Voigt, Kreuziger, Bruseghin and Kirchen so it is vital that they are closed down for countries who arenā€™t represented.

Two Eastern European lads out in front, a chase group with a couple of big names but thatā€™s disorganised and then a peleton thatā€™s getting its act together. Think Roche may have been dropped earlier - think he was going backwards earlier.

Well that was wrong. Roche has jus attacked!

Tis Deignan who was struggling but heā€™s still in contact at the back of the peleton which caught the chase group. Rocheā€™s attack didnā€™t get away but itā€™s been years since Iā€™ve seen an Irish cyclist attack on tv.

Nicely setup now. Schlecks are prominent, Valverde is ominously quiet.

Dangerous attack with Andy Schleck, Gerens, Contador, Vandervelde and others involved.

Spain and Italy in control. Sastre leading the bunch with Contador, Sanchez and Valverde behind. Then itā€™s Pelizotti, Rebellin and Bettini just behind. Sastre is doing all the work - reverse roles from the Tour for him. Heā€™s really putting the hammer down.