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[case_insensitive]

Another one bites the dust?
He was on my team.
Darn.

*hug*

[expatinuk]

There needs to be a team from Transylvania.....

[case_insensitive]

There needs to be a team from Transylvania.....

you're funny!

[iomhaigh]

We may be slow, and we may not win many points, but dammitall, we're clean!

[dept_geek]

No, it's not Deja Vu. But I just saw this on the news:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070810/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_discovery_disbands_8;_ylt=AuOdCtOB553EuNuJv2VBfgtlM3wV

Discovery Channel cycling team disbands

PARIS - Lance Armstrong's former team is disbanding. Discovery Channel said Friday it will cease operations at the end of this season because it has been unable to find a new sponsor. Doping scandals have left cycling reeling and made sponsors jittery.

"I do not think you have seen the last of this organization in the sport," Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion and co-owner of the team, said in a statement. "But clearly things need to improve on many levels, with a more unified front, before you would see us venture back into cycling."

Discovery Channel featured the winner (Alberto Contador of Spain) and third-place finisher (Levi Leipheimer of the U.S.) at last month's Tour de France.

On Friday, Contador denied any involvement in doping following accusations he was linked to the Operation Puerto drug investigation in Spain.

"This was a difficult decision, not made any easier by our recent Tour de France success," Discovery Channel general manager Bill Stapleton said. "We were in talks with a number of companies about the opportunity and were confident a new sponsor was imminent. We have chosen, however, to end those discussions."

The team said it will still ride in this year's Tour of Spain and the Tour of Missouri.

Tailwind Sports, which owns and operates Discovery Channel, suggested in its statement that Armstrong's mentor, Johan Bruyneel, will retire. He coached Armstrong through his record seven Tour wins and Contador through his 2007 title, meaning he oversaw victories in eight of the last nine Tours.

"Everybody is really impressed with our program, our team, our results, but the current climate does not allow us to draw in (a sponsor) of the magnitude we are looking for," Bruyneel said on Belgium's VRT network.

"I'm going to miss the staff, riders and the excitement of the races, but not all the infighting between the teams," he said in the tean statement. "This team has become my family and it is very sad to think that we will not be together next season."

Disovery Channel is only U.S.-based elite professional team in cycling. It was previously known as the U.S. Postal Service team. With the decision to fold, Contador will be one of 27 riders looking for new jobs.

[case_insensitive]

Yes, and before that announcement, Contador was in Spain making a public statement that he has never doped.

[helpful]

Can you explain something for me -- the article says DC is disbanded, but the name of the team indicates the Tv network sponsored it? Does that mean the sponsoring network has withdrawn sponsorship (what confuses me is that the article says Tailwind Sports owns the DC team? Does this mean the bike team or is that they arrange for the sponsorshp from DC?).
Thanks.

[case_insensitive]

Can you explain something for me -- the article says DC is disbanded, but the name of the team indicates the Tv network sponsored it? Does that mean the sponsoring network has withdrawn sponsorship (what confuses me is that the article says Tailwind Sports owns the DC team? Does this mean the bike team or is that they arrange for the sponsorshp from DC?).
Thanks.

Discovery Channel is the title sponsor. They told the team some time back they would only sponsor through the end of 2007. Apparently, the difficulty in getting a sponsor made the team owners decide to just stop having a team for now.

[namazu]

"Landis loses
Decision means forfeiture of Tour de France title":
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/09/20/bc.cyc.landisdecision.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

[case_insensitive]

Not a  surprise since no panel has ever NOT found an athlete guilty. I hope he appeals.

[john_proctor]

This was the appeal, right?

[case_insensitive]

There's another (last) level to appeal to.

[case_insensitive]

"The next possible steps in the case involve either Landis accepting his sanction from USADA or appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland -- with the second much more likely."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/sep07/sep21news

[case_insensitive]

So.... the lab in France screwed up and Mayo lost half a season of racing.... Gives us a lot of faith in that lab, eh?

Mayo cleared after B sample comes back negative

Iban Mayo was informed by the Spanish Cycling Federation on Monday that the testing of his B sample from the Tour de France positive test on July 24 has come back negative. The Saunier Duval - Prodir rider was originally declared positive for the blood booster EPO from a sample taken on the Tour's second rest day, but has now been cleared for a return to racing.

According to AFP, the federation confirmed that there had been a mistake in the testing of Mayo's A sample, which was carried out at the Châtenay-Malabry anti-doping laboratory in Paris. The B sample was tested by a separate laboratory in the Belgian city of Gent, and was confirmed by another test done in Australia.

Speaking on Spanish radio station EFE, Mayo said: "During these months I have felt very bad. My professional career was a wreck, but everything has turned out as expected.

"I have not stopped training during this time, although I didn't feel good," he added "A lot of people gave me support to carry on."

Mayo had been temporarily suspended by his team, pending the outcome of the B sample, but is now expected to see out his contract. "I have signed [with Saunier Duval] until 2008 and I hope to finish with them," he said.

Saunier Duval manager Mauro Gianetti told Reuters that the team was yet to receive official confirmation from the UCI. "We have read stuff on the Internet and it seems that this has happened but it is too early to make any comment," he said.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/oct07/oct22news2a

[namazu]

So, do we get his points back now?  ;)

I agree that the testing/reporting protocol could use some tweaking, but I'm not sure what they could do to inspire confidence on both sides.  Any thoughts?