Read this this afternoon on VeloNews:
Garmin team’s management says its riders are free to cooperate with Landis investigation They also had an article on how Floyd could be protected under Federal whistleblower laws. This one could get even more interesting. How “transparent” will the team’s riders get?? Tom
Interesting
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I read this as Vaughters giving permission for Zabriskie to 'fess up for any past transgressions (and also an implied threat of being released if he lies to any investigation).
Is Zabriskie past the statute of limitations for what Landis described? That could be a key determinant to Zabriskie coming clean, as well as any potential amnesty offer.
If any one rider comes clean, it could create a snowball effect.
Incredibly arrogant of Mr. Vaughters; as if anyone needed permission to cooperate to begin with. The cooperation was already happening whether he “gave them permission” or not. It’s WADA and USADA who’ll provide ammunity, not team management. One more week (maybe two), and it will all break wide open. Hold on tight, we’ve only finished the first chapter of this novel. Watch the Wall Street Journal closely.
I didn’t take that as “permission”, but more as “expectation”. He expects that his riders will adhere to the law. If questioned by authorities, they will answer truthfully. They have never said that all Slipstream (whatever sponsor name they are using at the time) have been clean their entire careers, only that they have been clean as long as they have been at Slipstream.
Incredibly arrogant of Mr. Vaughters; as if anyone needed permission to cooperate to begin with. The cooperation was already happening whether he “gave them permission” or not. It’s WADA and USADA who’ll provide ammunity, not team management. One more week (maybe two), and it will all break wide open. Hold on tight, we’ve only finished the first chapter of this novel. Watch the Wall Street Journal closely.
umm…first off, the statement isn’t necessarily from Vaughters, it was a press release from Slipstream Sports. Remember that Vaughters is one of the people who will end up being questioned. While this could be Vaughters supporting his team, it could also be Doug Ellis supporting Vaughters.
Contrast the Slipstream press release with Team Sky director Brailsford here.
On the one hand, Slipstream is saying “we’ll support you, no matter what you’ve done in the past, as long as you’re truthful now”. Brailsford basically is saying “fess up and your down”. Bit of a contrast, don’t you think?
I think Slipstream should be applauded. I don’t see any arrogance in this at all.
Good response roady.
Slipstream is saying if you doped before you got here, you still have a position on the team. More likely someone will come clean.
Sky is saying if you doped before you got here, you are out. This attitude is part of the problem.
I think anyone would be foolish to think that doping wasn’t rampant during the same time that of the current 30 something pros were cutting their teeth in Europe. The guys who were successful during that period were most likely forced to do what everyone else was doing. Those who didn’t never made the grade. Nevertheless, the people that tend to be the most critical also seem to be the same ones who criticize someone like Zabel, Sinkevitz or Riis for coming clean. Let’s face it, weather it is pro cycling, BP, or Masey Energy, the need to provide for yourself or your family forces people to make unsavory choices .
I respect the riders who jumped ship from big Euro teams to try JV’s experiment at Slipstream. These were obviously guys who were willing to cash in on a sure thing just to be free of the need to dope. You should think twice about critisizing these riders. How many of you can honestly say all your deeds and actions, at the ripe old age of 21, were truly virtuous?
The statement is somewhat empty for me, as most, if not all, of the Slipstream riders and management implicated by Landis have already had their initial interviews, and it is now clear to everyone involved that, believe it or not, there will very shortly be a “Landis bandwagon” everyone will be fighting to get on. I cynically view this as their first step so they can claim they always wanted clarity, even though “they” begged Floyd not to come clean just two short weeks ago.
Now, I have always believed that Vaughters has done everything in his power to run a clean team based on his previous experiences as a professional, and I have little doubt Slipstream is one of the cleanest, if not the cleanest, Pro Tour teams in the sport. Maybe I’d have just prefered him to admit his transgressions, and then explain that Slipstream was his way of changing the sport. Maybe he should have been the whistleblower many years ago instead of waiting for someone else to do it. Maybe he should have supported the truth long before it became quite clear to him through a federal investigation, and through the cooperation of riders on his own team, that the truth will finally be the popular road to take. Perhaps then I’d respect Slipstream sports “backing” their riders and encouraging them to come forward. I’m sorry, “You first.” doesn’t work for me.
A guy like Vaughters blows the whistle and he’s out forever, no chance to change things for the better.
He establishes Slipstream and tries to change things from the inside by taking the lead. I would argue that without him “going first” a guy like Floyd never, ever comes forward because the climate of cycling never would have accepted what he’s admitted.
Vaughters “went first” by talking about the fact that there was a doping problem in cycling and his team was going to have no part of it.
I think anyone would be foolish to think that doping wasn’t rampant during the same time that of the current 30 something pros were cutting their teeth in Europe. The guys who were successful during that period were most likely forced to do what everyone else was doing. Those who didn’t never made the grade. Nevertheless, the people that tend to be the most critical also seem to be the same ones who criticize someone like Zabel, Sinkevitz or Riis for coming clean. Let’s face it, weather it is pro cycling, BP, or Masey Energy, the need to provide for yourself or your family forces people to make unsavory choices .
I respect the riders who jumped ship from big Euro teams to try JV’s experiment at Slipstream. These were obviously guys who were willing to cash in on a sure thing just to be free of the need to dope. You should think twice about critisizing these riders. How many of you can honestly say all your deeds and actions, at the ripe old age of 21, were truly virtuous?
I couldn’t have said it better.
"One more week (maybe two), and it will all break wide open. Hold on tight, we’ve only finished the first chapter of this novel. Watch the Wall Street Journal closely. "
Cyclingfansanon seems to think Ivan Dominguez knows something’s coming:
http://twitter.com/cyclingfansanon/statuses/14872172774
Maybe we’ll have the US version of Zabel/Aldag et al admitting past doping?
"One more week (maybe two), and it will all break wide open. Hold on tight, we’ve only finished the first chapter of this novel. Watch the Wall Street Journal closely. "
Cyclingfansanon seems to think Ivan Dominguez knows something’s coming:
http://twitter.com/...statuses/14872172774
Maybe we’ll have the US version of Zabel/Aldag et al admitting past doping?
Maybe. Landis says he doped his whole Pro career. Zabel- admitted to doping- to a one week time. I think it was a very weak admission of guilt (since he was still riding as a pro- I think there was a chilling affect to his true honesty about his past doping).
Zabel said Zabel won the green jersey for best sprinter at the Tour de France six times.
He admitted to using EPO before the Tour de France in 1996, saying he stopped after a week due to side-effects.
Aldag was much more forthcoming- basically saying he doped his entire career.** **ala Landis
Zabel’s former Telekom colleague and the current manager of the T-Mobile team which succeeded Telekom, Rolf Aldag, confessed at the same press conference that he had taken doping products between 1995 and 2002.
Aldag admitted he had lied in the past when he had denied doping.
“I am sorry, I lied to the press and the TV because I said to myself I would not be caught. “In 1994, I discussed with several teammates what was happening in cycling and I decided to actively seek out doping products. I began taking EPO in 1995.
“I began to get a bad conscience in 1997 when I had to get up at 5:00 a.m. to measure my haematocrit levels so that I wouldn’t get caught,” Aldag said.
Despite the revelations, Aldag will keep his job at T-Mobile. Team boss Bob Stapleton said he had rejected Aldag’s offer to resign.
“We want to keep working with him,” Stapleton said.
Now- Riis was also much more forthcoming- basically gave a Landis admission-
“Riis ended months of speculation by admitting he had used EPO, or erythropoietin – a synthetic hormone that stimulates the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells – in his 1996 Tour win.” Riis said he had used banned substances between 1993 and 1998 – among the most successful years of his career.
"One more week (maybe two), and it will all break wide open. Hold on tight, we’ve only finished the first chapter of this novel. Watch the Wall Street Journal closely. "
Cyclingfansanon seems to think Ivan Dominguez knows something’s coming:
http://twitter.com/...statuses/14872172774
Maybe we’ll have the US version of Zabel/Aldag et al admitting past doping?
Maybe he was referring to this?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/misery-for-missouri-as-race-likely-cancelled
Read this this afternoon on VeloNews:
Garmin team’s management says its riders are free to cooperate with Landis investigation They also had an article on how Floyd could be protected under Federal whistleblower laws. This one could get even more interesting. How “transparent” will the team’s riders get?? Tom
Read more: http://velonews.competitor.com/...118885#ixzz0pBFvjqv7
Having not researched whether such a whistleblower statute exists, unless there is a statute expressly addressing the conduct described, then he is NOT protected. However, that does not mean that he will be prosecuted.
"One more week (maybe two), and it will all break wide open. Hold on tight, we’ve only finished the first chapter of this novel. Watch the Wall Street Journal closely. "
Cyclingfansanon seems to think Ivan Dominguez knows something’s coming:
http://twitter.com/...statuses/14872172774
Maybe we’ll have the US version of Zabel/Aldag et al admitting past doping?
Maybe he was referring to this?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/...ace-likely-cancelled
No, he even tweeted it was not about the ToM
Odd to think of the Wall Street Journal as one of the leading newspapers to break doping stories in cycling.
This is the article from May 26 on the whistleblower info.
Tom
I agree the Slipstream position is martginally more helpful than Sky’s w/r/t getting to the truth but if you’re implying that Brailsford and Sky are deliberately perpetuating the cycling omerta then I have to challenge that. Brailsford has been as anti-doping as anyone, including Vaughters, since starting Sky - the only real difference is their attitude to past indiscretions. Brailsford has taken a totally bright line approach to anyone involved in a drug scandal of any sort to the point where he couldn’t allow his good friend Millar to ride on the team.
He’s not saying he wants people to stay silent. On the contrary I expect he wants them to talk - he’ll just fire them afterwards.
Brailsford has taken a totally bright line approach to anyone involved in a drug scandal of any sort to the point where he couldn’t allow his good friend Millar to ride on the team.
What’s your source for this claim? I read here that Millar did not ride for Sky because he has an ownership stake in Garmin and therefore would never leave. I’m not sure whether he was offered a contract by Sky or not.