Stairs wrote:


No way.

t-baum wrote:
Who's back?

After a troubled season, highlighted by the positive doping test of Ricardo Riccò, the team once known as Saunier Duval has lost its second title sponsor in as many months.

Scott Bicycles announced Wednesday that it will discontinue its sponsorship of the re-labeled Scott-American Beef cycling team at the end of the 2008 season.

“Scott has been a partner with Mauro Gianetti’s team since the beginning in 2004,� said Scott Sports vice president Pascal Ducrot. “In all the past years the team could celebrate some remarkable victories. We would like to thank the team for the cooperation in the past years and we wish the team and new sponsors all the best for the future.�

Contacted by VeloNews, company spokesman Adrian Montgomery said the decision was a direct result of the scandal surrounding Riccò and the simultaneous withdrawal of the team from the Tour de France.

Saunier Duval, the German appliance manufacturer and title sponsor of the team pulled out of the sport within days of Riccò’s positive for a variant of EPO, known as CERA.

Montgomery said the U.S.-based bicycle manufacturer moved quickly to support the team, moving into the position of title sponsor after the Mexican meat-packer American Beef signed on as a co-sponsor.

“Initially our plan was to support the team,� he said. “We were – and remain – convinced that the actions involved were those of individuals and not reflective of the team as a whole.�
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Montgomery said that position had to be reconsidered after organizers of the Vuelta a España announced earlier this month that the team would be barred from participation in that, the third of the season’s grand tours.

“The team wasn’t invited the Vuelta and it’s a Spanish team,� Montgomery said. “That indicates to us that they won’t be riding in any of the three grand tours next year. Our sponsorship depends on working with a professional team that will be riding our bikes through the full UCI/ASO schedule.�

Montgomery said that the Scott bike line “particularly our carbon product, has directly benefited from that sort of working relationship with a professional team and professional riders working with us to improve and refine our designs. Our approach is to cooperate with professionals. At this point, we don’t have any strong belief that we’d get the same benefit from our sponsorship next year.�

Montgomery confirmed that Scott is looking for a new team and said that there would be “a better indication of where we are going in coming weeks.�

“It’s much like a divorce,� he added. “You divorce first and then decide where your next relationship will be.�

issoisso wrote:



Bjorn "ooh look, a 4 minute gap between the break and the pack which is doing 110% trying to catch it....I'll try to bridge alone right about now" Leukemans

AKA "bob" or "happy-go-Leuke" for those who don't like the longer nickname

Crommy wrote:
Gerolsteiner have officially announced they have been unable to find a replacement, so the team will disband at the end of the year

Bernhard Kohl, third this year in the Tour de France, announced Thursday that he has signed for the coming year, with the name of the team to be announced September 8. "I think that where I signed will be a surprise," he said.

All 170 riders in the Vuelta a España have been tested by anti-doping authorities on Thursday, two days before the race starts in Granada. The organiser, Unipublic, also indicated that the race would be the first Grand Tour to make use of the UCI's 'biological passport.'

The Tour de France, which was not sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and did not receive access to the passport data, used comparisons between values taken before the start of the race and those taken during the event to look for indications of doping. Riders with suspicious values were subjected to additional testing during that race. Those additional controls resulted in two of the four doping positives during the Tour.

The Vuelta, on the other hand, is being governed by the UCI and will require that all teams have their passport data up to date. "All riders will have to have their biological passports in order," stated Vuelta managing director Victor Cordero. "The laboratory in Madrid also has the capability to test for CERA." CERA, or its trade name Mircera, is a new type of EPO for which Riccardo Riccò tested positive for during the Tour de France.

Aquarius wrote:
But are all present teams subject to that passport ? It wasn't case for the Giro.

doddy13 wrote:
i'm happy that all 170 riders have been tested. But i'm happy. Biological passports are here!