[Two_Wheels_Teifke]

Whoa! According to Velonews, Monolo has been arrested on doping charges. Anyone care to guess where Vino will go before the Tour?

 

[DIRT BOY]

And Roberto said we was innocent
Ya right!

 

[dagger]

Somebody squealed and turned evidence. I don't know what is required in Spain to arrest someone but surely it was based on good evidence.

 

[terzo rene]

Could reflect a change in strategy by Heras' defense team, the unknowing victim.

 

[Einstruzende]

I hope Vino and Jorg Jaschke aren't tarnished by this.

 

[zosocane]

If I'm Vino I'm worrying right now. First Heras, and now his boss. If the Spanish authorities take action against the team, it could be no Tour for Vino.

 

[fastfullback]

From velonews:

"At the moment we are unable to confirm anything," a spokesman for the Liberty Seguros team said. "We have not yet been unable to contact the sporting director."

Aside from the humorous double negative, this is not good news. Charges against a DS with such longevity have the potential to tarnish the reputations of cyclists long retired.

I'm with Einstruzende. This casts a cloud over some riders I enjoy watching.

 

[Dwayne Barry]

This casts a cloud over some riders I enjoy watching.

I guess ignorance is indeed bliss, but really doesn't every professional cyclist ride with a cloud over them? The best hope is that over the last few years there might be a few riders actually achieving big things without doping, but before that forget about it. At least now they actually have to work at it to avoid turning up positive, or as in this case getting arrested by law enforcement.

 

[Under ACrookedSky]

I guess the big question is that now that Spain is no longer safe from police doping investigations, where do all the foreign pros that have taken refuge there move to?

 

[Bianchigirl]

Saiz was implicated in organised doping during the Festina scandal, when he was DS at ONCE - interesting to remember he was Bruyneel's DS there...

Dr Fuentes - ex-team doctor of ONCE and Kelme - has also been arrested. And guess which Danish/US team he's been helping to prepare for the Giro? That's right, Riis' CSC squad.

Oh what tangled webs we weave....

 

[Under ACrookedSky]

Dr Fuentes - ex-team doctor of ONCE and Kelme - has also been arrested. And guess which Danish/US team he's been helping to prepare for the Giro? That's right, Riis' CSC squad.

Fuentes also helped Phonak. He got the boot when the team had to clean up to get into the ProTour.

Looks like the investigators tapped phones. There are riders and ex-riders involved. It also looks like autologus blood doping is Liberty Seguros' method of choice these days.

 

[Spunout]

They also implicate someone in the testing lab, who was 'cleaning' blood samples. This runs deep!

This explains why Heras never performed in France for LS, yet would win in Spain. Ya gotta have the whole testing chain bought out!

 

[giovanni sartori]

I wondered how Jalabert was posting his good marathon times....

 

[fastfullback]

A cheating lab worker is potentially so much more damaging than a cheating DS, isn't it? Sure, it would be fun to see Dickie P finally concede that his system is not infallible, but...

 

[atpjunkie]

agreed

cause a cheating lab worker can cheat in both directions. cover up for one team, implicate for another. If he's / she's on the take what's to stop them from tampering with a rival squads results? this is gonna get way weird.

 

[Guest]

Hmm, someone just pulled his finger out of the hole in the damn - me thinks. BAD day for the sport, and I fear it will get far worse b/4 it's over. Btw, maybe this thread should be moved to the doping forum?

 

[Under ACrookedSky]

Btw, maybe this thread should be moved to the doping forum?

On a day where one of the biggest DSes is hauled off to jail, discussing cycling without doping is like discussing Formula 1 without aerodynamics.

With Saiz being the micro-manager that he is, I cannot imagine him not taking charge of all his riders' preparation. Vino has got to be sweating that Saiz might have mentioned him in intercepted phone conversations and it will come out before the Tour. Would the Tour allow him to start if he is implicated? Probably not, especially after the black eye they got last year when Armstrong was found to be juicing.

 

[Under ACrookedSky]

From CNN: "The police are also looking at alleged links between Fuentes -- who is now practising as a gynaecologist -- and Tour of Italy leader Ivan Basso, who rides for the CSC team."

Uh, oh...

 

[giovanni sartori]

From CNN: "The police are also looking at alleged links between Fuentes -- who is now practising as a gynaecologist -- and Tour of Italy leader Ivan Basso, who rides for the CSC team."

Uh, oh...

Basso's in the stirrups?

 

[Dwayne Barry]

cause a cheating lab worker can cheat in both directions. cover up for one team, implicate for another. If he's / she's on the take what's to stop them from tampering with a rival squads results? this is gonna get way weird.

This would necessarily also involve someone in the UCI since the labs don't know who's sample is who's. The more likely scenario is the lab worker simply "cleansing" all samples, which would give one free reign to dope if you knew it was going on. Of course, I'm not sure what "cleansing" means?