How many strikes does the UCI allow before a team is suspended??

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ridiculous.

Their license was up for renewal but with the already shrinking peloton who knows if the UCI will kick them out of the ProTour.

IMHO, Brian Cookson will be a failure and no better than McQuaid or Verbruggen if he doesn't.

Cycling is a joke. Any sport that allows someone with Vino's history to continue making a mockery of the doping rules deserves ridicule.

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Formerly DrD

Whats the likelihood that Nibali didn't dope? 5 team members have been nailed and he had the biggest margin of victory at the tour in 17 years. What do you guys think?

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The margin is because he was the last top-tier GC contender standing. The rest is speculation. But he wears the kit, and he's a team leader, so he bears responsibility even if he's not a doper.

From my perspective the doping rules are making a mockery of Vino. They're kicking his ass.

I never understand why anti-doping criticism increases whenever it actually works.

Most prefer the sgt schultze approach for the sport they care about

No chance. It's pretty much a repeat of what happened with Katusha/RusVelo in 2012 and that didn't go the UCI's way at the CAS, I doubt they want a repeat of that.

Euro-blog The Inner Ring had an excellent write up of it after Davidenok's hit, well worth a read:

http://inrng.com/...ce-review-davidenok/

Zero.




.

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The point isn't that the riders are getting caught (which is great), it's that an unrepentant and proven doper (not to mention cheat who has paid for race wins) was allowed to run a cycling team in the first place and is still there. Also says a lot about the owners of Astana and their values that they hired him and keep him, but we knew that already from their history as a team.

Vino and the whole Kazak cycling federation are basically saying FU to the UCI and the doping rules. This is nothing different from how Vino himself behaved throughout his whole career. He was involved with the three biggest doping doctors in cycling throughout his career and it's certainly business as usual for him running the team today.

If the UCI is serious about doping they need to impose some sort of sanction on the team. That might be a downgrade to pro-continental, that might be a 1 to 2 race ban, that might be a fine - but to do nothing would only re-inforce the Omerta of pro-cycling. No one can seriously believe that 5 riders linked to the same program all choose to dope independently with no help from team staff or management. It's an impossible argument to make.

The team's sponsors should also take a very hard look at the people they are choosing to give their money and product too. Since most of the sponsors are part of the Kazak government (aka dictatorship) those won't go away - but I'm talking about Specialized, Campagnolo and Cormia. it's a tough decision to walk away from the Tour de France winner - but this lack of taking responsibility and lack of consequences for team ownership has to stop.

This is pure bullshit. Everyone stopped doping in 2006. It's a proven fact.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

who do we know in the triathlon community that has social network connections with Astana cyclists?

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I see what you did there.

I disagree. It's 5 positive tests. Do you think they only doped 5 times? Vino is an unrepentant doper and cheater. He's running one of the biggest, most successful teams in cycling. How is that kicking his ass? Unless he is kicked out of cycling, he is winning. Period.

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Formerly DrD

"Cycling is a joke. Any sport that allows someone with Vino's history to continue making a mockery of the doping rules deserves ridicule. "
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Baseball, football, NCAA, even soccer have as big or bigger issues - there is just way more money involved and therefore at risk. Very disappointing really.

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David
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I'm not disagreeing with you but that's not part of this discussion. Vino running a team is like having Jose Canseco being a manager with ARod as hitting instructor.

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Formerly DrD

I don't disagree with you either. It's just that cycling, deservedly, gets picked on a lot when the big money sports don't . . . just a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Not trying to derail your points.

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Well I see the system as having clearly exposed him and his cylists as dopers and cheaters. The process caught him. Like it should have. Now, I admit the ball is clearly in UCI's court. If they take no action other than suspending the riders then I'll agree with you. But I'm waiting to see. This is definitely Cookson's chance to make a statement.

Paying to win races is totally legit.

I agree the ball is in UCI's court. My statement was predicated on my assumption that Cookson hasn't played his hand yet. If my assumption is false, pass me the pitchfork.

Time will tell. Cycling to this point has not shown it wants to exclude characters like Vino.

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Formerly DrD

This is one of those stories that just makes you laugh in shock. This is the last thing the sport of cycling needed... I don't see how a person can rationalize such actions, if anything the only person they're cheating is themselves.... Steroids though, really? wow.

What I saw during the 2014 Tour reminded me of Basso and the 2006 Giro.