flahute » Johan Bruyneel

Team RadioShack called before UCI Disciplinary Commission

flahute — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:33:43 +0000

The International Cycling Union (UCI) wishes to announce that disciplinary proceedings will be opened against Team RadioShack, for breaching the regulations governing riders’ clothing.

The UCI regrets that an initiative for a cause as worthy as the fight against cancer was not coordinated beforehand with the Commissaires and organisers of the event. This could have been done whilst remaining within the rules.

Team RadioShack’s incorrect behaviour led to a 20-minute delay to the start of the final stage, which could have disrupted the televised coverage of the race, placing the Commissaires under the obligation to impose a fine on each rider and the team managers.

Team RadioShack subsequently breached the regulations by wearing an incorrect uniform on the podium for the protocol ceremony having been instructed not to.

The UCI also deplores the declarations made by Mr Johan Bruyneel who gravely offended all the Commissaires working in cycling. His remarks are utterly unacceptable, and Mr Bruyneel will be called upon to answer for his comments before the UCI Disciplinary Commission.

As the action of Team RadioShack was inspired by the desire to raise public awareness of the breadth of the global fight against cancer, the UCI has decided that any fines levied as a result of this matter would be donated to the Ligue suisse contre le cancer.

via Union Cycliste Internationale.

I have mixed feelings about this whole situation … part of me is saying, “What a joke! The UCI doesn’t have anything better to do?” and part of me is saying, “Finally, Team Radio Shack is being taken to task for their arrogance!”

Look, I’m not a big fan of Team Radio Shack (or rather, of Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel), but this little imbroglio seems a bit ridiculous no matter how you look at it.

What about all those years in which the US Postal Service team changed their kits for the final day’s ride into Paris? I don’t believe for a minute that those uniform changes were “coordinated beforehand with the Commissaires and organsisers”, especially not the retro grey U.S. Mail jerseys they wore on the final stage in 2003(?).

Why is the UCI choosing THIS year to get heavy-handed with this particular rule violation, instead of just handing out the fines on the spot like they have in the past?

On the other hand, Team Radio Shack (and the Astana/Discovery Channel/USPS teams before it) have always seemed to have this “the rules only apply if they are in our favor, and it’s okay to ignore them if they aren’t” attitude in the past.

This was really evident earlier this year when, despite being a ProTour registered team which carries an obligation to racing all three of the Grand Tours, Team Radio Shack opted before the season even really started to forego racing the Giro d’Italia … even going to far to emphasize that when the team selection was announced:

“Interesting 2 read that @teamradioshack not selected 4 the Giro,” said Armstrong on Twitter. “Unrelated – guess they got our letter Jan 23 saying we wouldn’t be coming.”

Then, after snubbing the Giro d’Italia organizers in a very public manner, the team got all hissy when the Vuelta organizers decided to snub them back “for sporting reasons”.

Team Radio Shack and its supporters tried to argue against that reasoning by pointing out that the team is one of the top-ranked squads in the rankings this year.

I guess they forgot that sportsmanship is also a “sporting reason” to invite or exclude a team from participation; and Team Radio Shack’s management and organization does not have a history of displaying good sportsmanship; not even within the team itself … and certainly not with regards to rules being enforced, as evidenced by Bruyneel’s mid-race tweet.

But Team Radio Shack’s lack of good sportsmanship within the team is fodder for another post altogether.

Wah wah wah! Team RadioShack crying about Vuelta exclusion

flahute — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:36:45 +0000

Team RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel has called for a shake-up in the running of professional cycling following his team’s exclusion from the Vuelta a España.

Bruyneel was angered that his team, co-owned by Lance Armstrong, did not receive one of the six wildcard places on offer from organisers Unipublic for the 22-team Spanish tour, despite moving up six places to eighth in the world rankings released on the same day as the list.

They also have the 11th- and 12th-ranked riders in the individual rankings: Janez Brajkovic, who rose 39 places from number 50 after winning the Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré on Sunday, and Christopher Horner, who won the Tour of the Basque Country. And Levi Leipheimer was victorious in the Tour of the Gila.

Bruyneel feels the time is now right for changes to the way the sport is run and that he is the man to take on the International Cycling Union (UCI).

"It is high time for professional cycling to become professional," he said. "The structure of our sport needs to change towards a model of other successful professional sports like soccer, tennis, formula one etc.

via Angry Team RadioShack demand cycling shake-up after Vuelta exclusion | Sport | guardian.co.uk.

Look Johan … Team Radio Shack has a ProTour license, which carries “the right and obligation to participate in all UCI ProTour events,” which includes all three Grand Tours.

Do you know what an obligation is? Let’s check the definition:

ob·li·ga·tion: A social, legal, or moral requirement, such as a duty, contract, or promise that compels one to follow or avoid a particular course of action.

See those words “duty, contract, or promise”? By accepting a ProTour license, Team Radio Shack agreed to fulfill the terms of that license, which is a contract.

Team Radio Shack snubbed the Giro d’Italia, foregoing their obligation, and thus breaking the contract … so the team shouldn’t whine about being snubbed in return by the organizers of the Vuelta a España.

It’s a two-way street, and once the contract is broken … it’s broken, and in this case, the team is the party that broke the contract, not the organizers of the Vuelta.

But of course, the egos behind Team Radio Shack feel the rules and contracts should only apply selectively, depending on whether or not it’s to the team’s benefit, but that’s not the case.

Either commit to racing all the ProTour events, or race none of them. Personally, I think it would serve the team right if the UCI revoked their ProTour license, and the Tour de France rescinded the team’s invite to the Tour de France as well.

But alas, I doubt that will happen.

Leipheimer out …

flahute — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:09:34 +0000

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Leipheimer pulls out of Tour
By Agence France Presse
Published: Jul. 17, 2009

American Levi Leipheimer has withdrawn from the Tour de France with a broken wrist, his Astana team announced on Friday.

The 35-year-old American sustained the injury in a fall 2km from the finish line of Thursday’s 12th stage.

He crossed the line at the back of the peloton but still sat in fourth spot in the Tour’s general classification overnight.

“He was fine last night but in a lot of pain this morning,” Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens told AFP on Friday.

The Californian, who was also left with bruising to the right side of his back and road rashes on his right shoulder, lower back and hip, went to hospital earlier Friday to undergo an x-ray which confirmed a broken wrist, Maertens said.

Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said the loss of Leipheimer may force the team to rethink its tactics in the final week.

“It’s definitely not a good thing,” Bruyneel acknowledged. “After the crash, I thought there might be something. You hope there won’t be and in the first instance we didn’t think there was something broken.

“But he had a fairly bad night and we took him to hospital and saw the fracture.

“Obviously he’s out and that changes a lot for us,” said Bruyneel. “He was in fourth place and could have potentially won the Tour. We’ve lost an important option and this will motivate other teams to attack us.”

Vino’ says he will be on Astana … or heads will roll

flahute — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:47:39 +0000

Vino’ says he will be on Astana … or heads will roll – VeloNews

Alexander Vinokourov said Wednesday he intends to ride for Astana later this year or there will be serious consequences for those who keep him from riding on the Kazakh-financed team.

In a press conference held in Monaco in advance of Saturday’s Tour de France start, Vinokourov, whose suspension for homologous blood doping ends on July 24, said there’s no possibility that he would ride for any team other than the one he helped establish in 2006.

Vinokourov assembled a coalition of Kazakh sponsors to take over the ProTour license of his old Liberty-Seguros squad after that team folded on the heels of the then-breaking Operación Puerto scandal.

“I will resume my career as a professional on July 24,” he said. “I cannot imagine being on a team other than Astana. The Kazakhstan cycling federation wants me on team, I am currently negotiating with Johan Bruyneel and I think we will reach agreement in the next week.”

Later in the article:

Vinokourov suggested on Wednesday that Bruyneel has little choice but to respect the wishes of his Kazakh sponsors.

“This team was created for me and thanks to my efforts,” Vinokourov said. “I have served my suspension and I do not see why I could not return. If Bruyneel does not want me, it will be Bruyneel who is leaving the team.”

Part of me is looking forward to seeing Vino come back, because his attacking style of racing is a flat-out joy to watch.

Part of me is thinking, “man, this guy’s got a lot of nerve thinking he’s gonna come back to a ProTour team and possibly have the director fired when he’s been banned for two years from racing … and whatever happened to the additional two-year ban from the ProTour?”

I’m looking forward to the cyclo-politics at the end of the month … there’s gonna be fireworks!

Oh, hell no!

flahute — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:34:33 +0000

Armstrong to return for ’09 Tour – More Sports – SI.com.

Lance Armstrong will end his retirement and hopes to compete in the 2009 Tour de France, according to a cycling journal report.

The 36-year-old seven-time Tour de France champion will compete in five road races with the Astana team in 2009, the cycling journal VeloNews reported on its Web site Monday, citing anonymous sources.

Armstrong’s manager Mark Higgins did not immediately respond to a voice mail left by The Associated Press.

The move would reunite Armstrong with Johan Bruyneel, now the team director for Astana.

VeloNews reported Armstrong also will compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia and the Dauphine-Libere.

The Astana team, however, was not allowed to compete in this year’s Tour after Alexandre Vinokourov was kicked out of the 2007 Tour for testing positive and the team quit the race.

VeloNews, which said Vanity Fair will publish an extensive article detailing Armstrong’s comeback, said the cyclist will race for no salary or bonuses and post his internally tested blood work online.

Okay … what the fuck does Armstrong think he’s doing? I’m guessing that he’s stepped up from EPO to crack. Does he really think that he’ll be helping cycling by attempting a comeback?

Even if he does come back and does well at the Tour de France (or any other race he enters), does he think it’s really going to put to rest the question of whether or not he doped throughout his career.

Does he think that Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador will willingly step aside so that he can lead the team again? Does he expect us to believe that he’ll be the super-domestique that Bernard Hinault promised that he’d be to Greg LeMond in 1986?

This is bad news for cycling. It might be good news for those of us who want to watch it on Versus, but bigger picture, this is NOT a good thing.

I can only hope that this is a wicked rumor.

Levi gets a ride …

flahute — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:00:40 +0000

Astana invited into Giro lineup – Cycling – Yahoo! Sports

GENEVA (AP)—Giro d’Italia organizers have invited the Astana team to compete in the race, reversing an earlier decision to ban it because of doping scandals.

Astana officials confirmed Saturday they are hurrying to get elite American rider Levi Leipheimer from California to Palermo, Sicily, for the start of the three-week race next Saturday.

“It is a good moment for us. When we were told in February that we were not invited it was a disaster,” Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens told The Associated Press.

Alberto Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour de France, will also be at the starting line for Astana. The had been shunned by cycling’s biggest events this year, including the Tour, for involvement in doping scandals. It was asked to leave the 2007 Tour after team leader Alexander Vinokourov tested positive for a blood transfusion.

The Kazakhstan-backed team brought in Johan Bruyneel, the Belgian who guided Lance Armstrong to seven Tour victories, as director to overhaul its image and operations. It also signed Contador.

Astana’s rebuilding work was rewarded late Friday, when Giro organizer RCS Sport called Bruyneel to offer his team a place.

“We are hurrying now to arrange everything. We must have a truck and a bus down to Sicily—it is not the perfect preparation,” Maertens said. “Levi was still in California and Alberto was on holiday in Spain because he had a dental operation two weeks ago. Everybody is happy.”