I see no reason Quickstep should skate on allegations if they are true.

Boonen et al should be prosecuted to the same extent the Puerto riders are.

Considering they haven't won much of anything this year, perhaps its a sign that they're off the juice?

I would agree with the suspicion that they have backed off... but, I reckon Ullrich has quit doping, but they are still pursuing them.

This is not about an amnesty.

Chris t, avenging angel of death! Tell me Chris, why are you so violent and worked up about this? Its only blokes on bikes.

I actually reckon Landis should be free to ride, because he was not doing anything any differently to the other riders in the top half of the peloton. If you want to prosecute Landis, and Millar, and Hamilton, it is only fair the others go for the same behaviour.

Or let them all ride.

I lean to the latter, and if you read all my posts you would understand. I just do not agree with those guys' behaviour when caught, and it is especially unconscionable what Hamilton and Landis did with respect to soliciting public monies.


I am pointing out hypocrisy. Taking Landis out for 2 years, potentially 4 Protour years, yet giving Boonen and cohorts and anyone in the peloton for that matter, a pass for their infractions. Some Australian no name Rory Sutherland got 9 moths or 15 months or something. Ludicruous. I just do not see any mitigating circumstances as it stands under the current system.

I think the system actually penalises athletes too much, so Sutherland sounded about right, but discordant under the current system.

You don't have to think to other dopers but to the few (solo ? or none ?) riders who don't dope. If there is one you have to exclude or to punish all riders caught! That's justice!

I reckon they are.

Note that they have been savaged in the press, just as the puerto riders have.

The difference?

There is evidence in the Puerto case, so the authorities can act. Point to actual physical evidence in the QSI case, and then the authorities can act on that as well. As far as I can tell, they aren't skating, per se, but what charges, exactly, do you suggest they be brought up on? What do you have that will lead to a successful prosecution?

We could treat them the same as the OP riders, but it wouldn't do much good to test their DNA against the Puerto samples if there isn't a reason to suspect their blood is actually in the freezer. The reason the Puerto case is being pursued is because there is physical evidence that can be tied to individual riders.

The breakdown is blinding clear. If there is evedence, investigate. Given the lack of physical evidence, I just don't know what to base an investigation on.

That is speaking officially. Speaking as a fan, there isn't really a compelling reason to treat QSI differently from any other team w/ significant accusations made against them. Lef is an easy target, so there is no reason to support them if you believe the accusations. Just like many have chosen not to be fans of Discovery, CSC, CdE, T-Mobile or any other teams w/ riders/managers who are implicated.

But when it comes to actual official proceedings, they do require there to be actual evidence before handing out bans and punishments.

What allegations are we talking about?

Lefevre's invovlement with systematic doping while as a rider and D.S. There was a report published in a Belgian newspaper a couple of months ago citing Lefevre's involvement in organized doping and that it has been a part of any team he's been associated with as a D.S. Lefevre has categorically denied this and called the accusations completely false and without merit. He has since filed a lawsuit against the newspaper's publisher and journalist who wrote the story. No further word has been issued concerning either the original story or pending lawsuit that I'm aware of and I'm somewhat surprised that no other news outlets are looking into this and dissecting it further.

I'm guessing we'll see more of this. D'Hont's Telekom expose may be the next salvo. In any case, it looks like Euro sports publishers have figured out that broke and disgruntled old soigneurs are a gold mine for tell-all book deals.

Seems like Quickstep has had some suspicion surrounding the team which included their big name.