Once again another rider under Ochowicz for whatever reason they blame it on suspended after testing positive .
I fail to understand why the directors are never suspended / fired.
Ballan had trouble from before his BMC days… They just finally closed in on him now. From *Cyclingnews: “*Ballan’s doping infraction dates from the spring of 2009, when police taps from the Mantova anti-doping inquiry revealed that he had undergone a blood transfusion during his time at the Lampre team.”
not that Ochs isn’t shady, but this has nothing to do with BMC.
Lampre has been a shady-ass team for years. Even wonder how Cunego was once so dominant that he won the Giro and three Lombardia and is now not even an also-run?
not that Ochs isn’t shady, but this has nothing to do with BMC.
Lampre has been a shady-ass team for years. Even wonder how Cunego was once so dominant that he won the Giro and three Lombardia and is now not even an also-run?
Cunego was riding for Saeco when he won the Giro (and at least one of his Lombardia wins, IIRC), not Lampre.
I think it will be interesting to see how many current or ex-Lampre riders get caught in the Mantova investigation. I give Cunego a 50/50 chance of surviving.
I sort of expected that Horner might end up at BMC given that Ballan’s exit would free up money for a contract.
Sounds like he is gonna be at the team on the other end of this tale…i.e. Lampre
Saeco merged with Lampre in 2005. Cunego has been with the same organization for 10+ years.
I think it will be interesting to see how many current or ex-Lampre riders get caught in the Mantova investigation. I give Cunego a 50/50 chance of surviving.
I sort of expected that Horner might end up at BMC given that Ballan’s exit would free up money for a contract.
Cunego will weasel his way out somehow. The other Lampre rider who moved over with Ballan was, of course, Santambrogio… Hope he gets banned for life
Sounds like he is gonna be at the team on the other end of this tale…i.e. Lampre
Ya. You have to wonder if Lampre didn’t sign Horner because they figured Cuenego wouldn’t make it through the season. One way or another it is good to see Horner find a team. He is quite the character, though not as funny as Jens Voight
not that Ochs isn’t shady, but this has nothing to do with BMC.
Lampre has been a shady-ass team for years. Even wonder how Cunego was once so dominant that he won the Giro and three Lombardia and is now not even an also-run?
Och used to be a stockbroker working for lance armstrongs postal patron, Weisel. Och used to invest Verbruggens personal money.
Gotta love it, couldn’t even write fiction this good…
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/verbruggen-had-account-with-armstrong-backer-says-ochowicz
not that Ochs isn’t shady, but this has nothing to do with BMC.
Lampre has been a shady-ass team for years. Even wonder how Cunego was once so dominant that he won the Giro and three Lombardia and is now not even an also-run?
Och used to be a stockbroker working for lance armstrongs postal patron, Weisel. Och used to invest Verbruggens personal money.
Gotta love it, couldn’t even write fiction this good…
http://www.cyclingnews.com/...backer-says-ochowicz
speaking of which, i wonder if Weisel and Ochs will be in the new Lance movie
Saeco merged with Lampre in 2005. Cunego has been with the same organization for 10+ years.
I think it will be interesting to see how many current or ex-Lampre riders get caught in the Mantova investigation. I give Cunego a 50/50 chance of surviving.
I sort of expected that Horner might end up at BMC given that Ballan’s exit would free up money for a contract.
Cunego will weasel his way out somehow. The other Lampre rider who moved over with Ballan was, of course, Santambrogio… Hope he gets banned for life
Exactly! The sponsors come and go and the jerseys change, but the organization that Cunego has worked for since 2003 has been the same one the whole way through, with Giuseppi Saronni playing a large management role. It is very odd how Cunego dominated the Italian races so easily in 2004 and 2005 and has done precious little since.
Saeco merged with Lampre in 2005. Cunego has been with the same organization for 10+ years.
Yeah, I realize that…but the team structure ended up being much more Lampre (which has existed since the early 90’s) than Saeco. Saronni came from the Lampre side of the merger. I would say that Lampre took over Saeco more than they merged.
Saeco merged with Lampre in 2005. Cunego has been with the same organization for 10+ years.
Yeah, I realize that…but the team structure ended up being much more Lampre (which has existed since the early 90’s) than Saeco. Saronni came from the Lampre side of the merger. I would say that Lampre took over Saeco more than they merged.
And i would argue you are off point. Even if we assume the organizations are different, fact still remains that Cunego (and other Saeco holdovers like Manzeliani) were very good from 2005 to 2008, 4 years, that is. Snd then they’ve done jack squat since. An 8th place at the TdF and a 2nd place at TdS. He’s all but disappeared from the hilly classics (Amstel, Liege, and Lombardia) in which he was a perennial fav, all this coming when he is supposed to be at the peak of his career in his early 30’s.
Also, the back of the scene enablers from 2008 are still there. All this supports my point that they’ve been a shady ass team for nearly a decade
I think you can look at doping in about 4-5 year blocks. Initially the teams ran the programs, and this died out around 2005 (with some exceptions). Then the riders wound dope on their own or have a private doctor and there was probably a nudge-nudge-wink agreement between riders and teams. However, probably around 2008-2010 teams started losing sponsors for a positive rider. At this point the business model changed. Once the teams realized the potential cost of doping, they had an incentive to discourage any doping.
The sad thing is that most of the riders that are getting busted for past offenses are from the era where riders were responsible for their own doping with the tacit approval/encouragement of some teams. These guys are now getting busted and team managers aren’t being held accountable at all.
very fair point. Though the Mantua investigation is striking in the sense that the whole damn Lampre team was involved, and the higher ups like Saronni were also involved.
Lampre is indeed shady af. (Although compared to say, Gerolsteiner? They weren’t even the worst of it.) Makes it kinda sad that that’s where Costa chose to go.
Funny you mention Gerosteiner. I liked the story Vaugters told about looking to sign Bernie Kohl. They asked for his blood profile data and kept getting the run around from Bernie and his agent. Needless to say negotiations didn’t go very far. Why someone who seemed like a hard core doper would even consider trying to ride on a team with an internal passport system just boggles the mind.
Funny you mention Gerosteiner. I liked the story Vaugters told about looking to sign Bernie Kohl. They asked for his blood profile data and kept getting the run around from Bernie and his agent. Needless to say negotiations didn’t go very far. Why someone who seemed like a hard core doper would even consider trying to ride on a team with an internal passport system just boggles the mind.
Think when Kohl walked away because he said it was impossible to ride clean,,,,,,,,i think he meant it. I think he really did want to try to ride clean. Thus the try with Vaughters......Never really understood that when Kohl said if he could not compete clean he would walk away, everyone crucified him. At least after busted he came clean
Saeco merged with Lampre in 2005. Cunego has been with the same organization for 10+ years.
Yeah, I realize that…but the team structure ended up being much more Lampre (which has existed since the early 90’s) than Saeco. Saronni came from the Lampre side of the merger. I would say that Lampre took over Saeco more than they merged.
And i would argue you are off point. Even if we assume the organizations are different, fact still remains that Cunego (and other Saeco holdovers like Manzeliani) were very good from 2005 to 2008, 4 years, that is. Snd then they’ve done jack squat since. An 8th place at the TdF and a 2nd place at TdS. He’s all but disappeared from the hilly classics (Amstel, Liege, and Lombardia) in which he was a perennial fav, all this coming when he is supposed to be at the peak of his career in his early 30’s.
Also, the back of the scene enablers from 2008 are still there. All this supports my point that they’ve been a shady ass team for nearly a decade
Where did I say anything in defense of either Saeco or Lamore? I didn’t. My point was that just as ballan was not riding for BMC during his offences, Cunego was not riding for Lampre when he won his Giro.
Lampre was a separate team at the time, so you really can’t say he was riding for the same organization for 10+ years.
Saeco merged with Lampre in 2005. Cunego has been with the same organization for 10+ years.
Yeah, I realize that…but the team structure ended up being much more Lampre (which has existed since the early 90’s) than Saeco. Saronni came from the Lampre side of the merger. I would say that Lampre took over Saeco more than they merged.
And i would argue you are off point. Even if we assume the organizations are different, fact still remains that Cunego (and other Saeco holdovers like Manzeliani) were very good from 2005 to 2008, 4 years, that is. Snd then they’ve done jack squat since. An 8th place at the TdF and a 2nd place at TdS. He’s all but disappeared from the hilly classics (Amstel, Liege, and Lombardia) in which he was a perennial fav, all this coming when he is supposed to be at the peak of his career in his early 30’s.
Also, the back of the scene enablers from 2008 are still there. All this supports my point that they’ve been a shady ass team for nearly a decade
Where did I say anything in defense of either Saeco or Lamore? I didn’t. My point was that just as ballan was not riding for BMC during his offences, Cunego was not riding for Lampre when he won his Giro.
Lampre was a separate team at the time, so you really can’t say he was riding for the same organization for 10+ years.
I’ve always liked you as a poster, but you are arguung on semantics and getting it wrong regardless.
My first post said Lampre has been shady b/c they have riders like Cunego, who was once dominant but is now not even an also run. I did not say that he was riding for Lampre for his Giro win, just that he rode on Lampre when he was really good but strangely lost it when he’s supposed to be at his peak.
You are the one who brought in the side point that Cunego rode on another team, which i contended was an extension. This is evidenced by the fact that for the 2005 Lampre-Caffita team, 17 riders came from Saeco, 6 from Lampre, and 4 from transfers. And if you really want to hang on to the point that Lampre isn’t a continuation of Saeco, fine; i’m not gonna over what’s essentially a red herring of a point as far as this topic is concerned. Regardless, my initial point that it’s a shady team due to the likes of Cunego and a whole bunch of other unsavory characters still stands.