mrlol wrote:


an excuse to leave the giro???

Alberto Contador’s visit to the radiologist today revealed a fissure in the radius head of his left elbow. The fracture without dislocation stems from his Stage 8 crash from Rivisondoli to Tivoli. Though Contador was able to complete the stage and yesterday’s Stage 9, the bruising and discomfort prompted a formal examination on the Giro d’Italia’s first rest day. The x-rays showed that the fracture is stable and the 2007 Tour de France Champion has been cleared to ride tomorrow’s time-trial.

“As all riders know, winning a Grand Tour takes some hard work, luck and health. Unfortunately, having a small fracture does not make the journey to Milan any easier, but I’m motivated and will try to fight through the pain,� said Contador after his afternoon training ride. “I do not intend to leave the race�, commented Alberto Contador at his return to the team hotel. “During my training ride of today, I felt my elbow, but I felt as well that I could do the normal or desired efforts. So, why should I leave the race then? Moreover, this race is one of the big cycling monuments. I am a hard one, I stay. The last days my legs felt better and better. The longer I was in the Giro, the better I felt.“

An extra problem can be that, due to the position of the injury, the aerodynamic position on the time trial bike cannot be fully obtained. “That is a problem for tomorrow�, continues Alberto Contador. “I hope I still make a good time trial. The doctors tell me that it is a small fracture. With a bit luck, I can recover a bit during the “easier� stages of Wednesday to Friday.�

Sports Director Sean Yates recognized that the first week of the Giro was quite a challenge for his Team. “After a week of crashes and Grand Tour style racing, it’s good to have this rest day. We lost Steve Morabito the other day [dislocated shoulder], the Goose [Vladimir Gusev] was banged up earlier in the week and now Alberto has a small fracture. It’s certainly not ideal for any team vying for the Maglia Rosa, but we’ll re-examine the injuries after each stage and hopefully make it to Milan with the remaining eight riders.�

Professional continental team CSF Group-Navigare, which rides in the Giro d'Italia, released a statement, countering the accusations of Astana rider Andreas Klöden, which he made in an interview to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Klöden had said that he is clean and has been controlled 22 times this year. "Seven of those controls came from within my team. I am controlled by five different entities – WADA [world anti doping agency], NADA [German anti doping agency], UCI [International cycling federation], the Swiss cycling federation and PWC [a private German company conducting anti doping tests - ed.] At the Giro, there are only four teams with a tight control system – Slipstream, High Road, CSC and Astana... [Davide] Rebellin and [Riccardo] Riccò, I don't know how often they have controls like me. I don't want to talk about the team of Priamo."

It is the last remark that upset CSF Navigare, referring to its rider, Matteo Priamo, who won stage 6 in the Giro.

Team manager Bruno Reverberi said that "We have already spoken to our lawyer, Claudio Pasqualin, about possible legal actions against what Andreas Klöden had said. He launched accusations against a team – ours – but the German does not know what kind of anti doping controls we do... Our program and our controls do not come [publicly announced], unlike from other teams; even in the recent past, we did everything that we were clean... We will defend the image of society and [the image] of the athletes."

In a brief statement to Cyclingnews before the start of stage 10, Priamo said, "I never had the chance to talk to Klöden. I always thought he was a good person, but that made me change my mind." Stay tuned for more on the matter in the next news edition.

CrueTrue wrote:
Klöden has said that he never wants to represent Germany again. He's done with Germany, he says.

He also says that he has been tested 22 times, all negative - he has always been riding clean.

issoisso wrote:
Kashechkin is about to come back.

The kazakhstani federation says he's free to race since the UCI hasn't sent them any of the files on the case

The UCI says they've already sent it three times.

This, my friends, is what the kazakhstani government does. They're trying all they can to get Vinokourov and Kashechkin back riding.

issoisso wrote:
Turns out Moletta's father was heading to the Giro stage with 82 packs of Viagra.

I don't know why Moletta would need to take it, it certainly can't be very aerodynamic...