Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Contador's lawyer explains ban U-turn

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With just over 4 months to go until the start of the 2011 Tour de France, Spyns Clients may now get to see the always interesting and exciting Schleck/Contacor Duel!  I guess only time will tell.

Alberto Contador's lawyer has told The Independent how his client's suspension has been lifted despite him being found with the banned substance clenbuterol in his system when he won last year's Tour de France after eating contaminated steak.

Andy Ramos said the defence team's default position in the case was that Contador had strayed across the boundaries of anti-doping law without being aware he was doing so. "The [anti-doping] legislation states that a rider is responsible for any banned substance in his body," Ramos says. "But there's a clause that frees him of that responsibility if he can demonstrate there was no intentional negligence. We proved that, and that was the key to his defence. From day one his defence was based around that clause."

The other confusion surrounding Contador's proposed ban was the length, which was just a year, but Ramos explains this "was no more than a prosecutor's proposal". "It was wrongly thought that a year's ban was an actual sentence, and that the Spanish cycling federation was then influenced by political pressure in Spain [to reduce it]. But that proposal was not legally binding."

As for those who believe that a banned substance in an athlete's body is a positive under Wada regulations come what may, Ramos argued "they should read the whole rulebook, not just the article [that states that] and they would find there are exceptions to that rule."

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720. 

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Evans rules local team 'a bit late for me'

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Although we are a Canadian based Tour Operator that organises tours to the Tour de France, I am an Australian and a self confessed supporter of Cadel Evans!  Will this be his last year, or at least his last chance at yellow in Paris?  We know that Spyns Tour de France clients will get to see Cadel in 2011?  But for how many more years we are not sure. I do however believe that there is a big future in Australian Road cycling.

THERE is little to no prospect of Australia's most iconic modern-day cyclist, Cadel Evans, ever racing for the GreenEDGE outfit that plans to be the country's first Pro team and compete at next year's Tour de France.

While confident that the GreenEDGE project will succeed where plenty of Australian cycling movements have failed before it, Evans has said he certainly will not be a foundation member and can only envisage himself joining in retirement.

There are many in cycling circles who believe GreenEDGE should make a point of luring the 2009 world road race champion, and two-time Tour de France runner-up, from the BMC Racing team he is contracted to until the end of 2012, but GreenEDGE's boss Shayne Bannan specifically ruled out the prospect of buying contracted riders at the official unveiling of the project in Adelaide on Monday.
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''At this point in my career, the Aussie team project comes a bit late for me,'' Evans, who is 34 next month, said from Europe.

''While my national pride says one thing, at BMC we have all committed a lot to get this project going. And I have to say, I'm very pleased with the outcome, and the future here.

''Both Andy Rids [BMC director] and I have committed a lot for me to be here at BMC today. So a team that is building for 2012, might be too late for a rider like me who will be 34 next month. In a coaching or mentoring position, that would be something else. At this point, I might be the right kind of person to fill a role like that, but we will see in the years to come. Certainly, after racing, I want to be involved in cycling. In what sort of capacity, will depend on the opportunities that come my way when the time comes to stop racing.''

Evans signed a three-year deal with BMC before last season that technically - though not necessarily - ties him to that stable until the end of 2012 as a minimum. He joined after spending the bulk of his career riding for Belgian outfit Silence Lotto.

One of world cycling's most recent examples of a big name buy-out was when British-owned Team Sky managed to snare Bradley Wiggins from American-owned Garmin-Cervelo last year. Having Wiggins, an Englishman and cycling superstar, headline the roster of the new team in its debut season was an enormous coup in terms of morale, exposure and sponsorship.

Matt Hayman, an Australian veteran of the professional peloton who will be a target for GreenEDGE given he comes out of contract with heavyweight team Sky at the end of this year, is one who has told The Age at Tour Down Under this week that Evans would top his wish list if he were directing the new Australian team.

A factor in Evans' inclination to stay put is the sense of risk involved in joining a new team that will inevitably experience teething problems. Australian Tour de France stage winner Simon Gerrans, who is out of contract with Sky at the end of this season and an ideal rider for GreenEDGE to build a squad around, expressed similar apprehension this week.

''As an athlete, you do not have a lot of time in your career. A year or two lost for the sake of a team collapse, is very difficult to recuperate,'' Evans said.

''So a rider who only has one, two or three years left to race is better to go with a conservative but surer option and stay in an established team rather than risking losing the last years of their career.''

Still, Evans said GreenEDGE should make a point of recruiting a veteran ''who can be relied on to get results immediately. Robbie [McEwen] fills this role well, Gerrans and [Michael] Rogers would be good alternative candidates,'' he said, subsequently adding Hayman to the list.

Matt Goss, Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad), Cameron and Travis Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo), Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and Tim Roe (BMC) were the young riders Evans nominated as ideal recruits.

While the flawed Australian Pegasus Sports project managed to sign a champion rider like McEwen, only to fall over when its principal financial backer pulled out, Evans is positive GreenEDGE will succeed, chiefly because of Bannan's involvement. But his first-hand experience of BMC's fight to win a top-division racing licence taught him it is not a fait accompli for GreenEDGE, even if the team does have adequate financial backing and assembles a strong team.

''It is surprisingly difficult getting a start in the Tour de France for sporting, political, financial and cultural reasons,'' he said.

''It's not a sure bet, but … personally, I'll surprised if this GreenEDGE project does not reach the higher levels. Shayne Bannan is a doer, not a talker.''
Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720. 

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Ricco admits blood transfusion caused hospitalisation

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It looks like there is another cyclist that Spyns Tour de France clients will not see in at the Tour de France 2011 - Riccardo Riccò.

Italian cyclist Ricardo Ricco admitted today that a blood transfusion led to his hospitalisation. It counts for the second doping incident with the 2008 Tour de France and will likely lead to at least a five-year ban.

The 27-year-old told doctors; "I did an autologous blood transfusion." According to Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The public prosecutor of Modena, where Riccò has been hospitalised since Sunday, said that he will open an investigation.

It is the second doping investigation for Riccardo Riccò in three years. He tested positive for blood booster EPO-CERA at the Tour de France in 2008. The test results were revealed on July 17, after he had won two stages (Super-Besse and Bagnères-de-Bigorre).

Riccò served a 20-month suspension and lost his two stages wins as a result.

Last year, he returned with Italian second division team Ceramica Flaminia as if nothing ever happened, winning five stages in various races and the Tour of Austria overall classification.

He left Ceramica Flaminia at the end of the season when he annulled his contract for a fee of €75,000. He joined Vacansoleil in August and helped the team gain a first division, WorldTour licence with his UCI points.

He began his season a week ago at the GP Marseillaise one-day in France. He was due to start the Tour Méditerranéen stage race tomorrow.

Riccò now faces another Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and a possible five-year to lifetime ban. The Italian anti-doping tribunal (TNA) issued Italian cyclist Lorenzo Bernucci a five-year year ban yesterday on the recommendation of CONI. Bernucci was caught with drugs in his house, his second offence in three years.

"Riccò's condition, initially critical, is improving," read a medical bulletin last night. "The prognosis, being cautious, remains confidential."

He had felt ill on Saturday after training and told his dad Rubino Riccò that he had a fever of 38°C. It rose to 40°C overnight and was accompanied by abdominal pain. Rubino took his son to the local hospital in Pavullo Sunday morning. Doctors saw Riccò's condition was critical and transferred him to the hospital in Modena.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.  

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: Riccardo Ricco hospitalised with fever, apparent kidney failure:

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While Spyns Tour de France clients are keeping fit and healthy whilst preparing for their Tour de France 2011 hioliday of a lifetime, cyclist Riccardo Ricco is in hospital and remains in a critical condition.

 

He was yesterday hospitalised with fever and  apparent kidney failure

Riccardo Riccò was hospitalized overnight in an Italian hospital with high fever and apparent kidney failure.

Details were sketchy on exactly what happened or what caused his illness. Doctors at the hospital of Riccò’s hometown of Modena said Monday in an official communique that the Italian rider entered the hospital Sunday evening with high fever and symptoms of kidney failure.

Officials said Monday his condition was “critical, but improving,” with a “reserved” prognosis.

According to reports in the Italian media, Riccò returned Sunday from a five-hour training ride complaining of high fever, as high as 104 degrees. His father transported him to a local hospital, where doctors immediately transferred Riccò to a larger, better-equipped hospital in Modena.

Vancansoleil team manager Daan Luijkx reported in a team statement that Riccò’s condition is improving: “Riccardo had a fever of more than 40C (104F) yesterday, but today he feels much better. The doctors wanted to keep him there for at least one day to have him under observation.”

Later Monday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported that Riccò’s “state of health, critical to start off with, according to the Nuovo Ospedale Civile Sant’Agostino Estense di Baggiovara clinic, has improved.”

Rubinho Ricco, the racer’s father, said he had suffered a “kidney failure” after a Sunday training session amid reports he could be suffering from kidney stones.

He added his son was conscious and talking while the hospital said it would update the racer’s news Tuesday afternoon.

Riccò, 27, was set to start the Tour Mediterranean this week and race the Volta ao Algarve later this month in Portugal as part of his comeback from a racing ban after testing positive for CERA/EPO during the 2008 Tour de France.

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.  

Spyns Tour de France Trip Packages: What Alberto Contador had to say on Friday 28 Jan 2011

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While Spyns Tour de France clients are preparing for thier holiday of a lifetime, to watch the last week of the 2011 Tour de France, Alberto Contador has vowed to clear his name inspite of his 1 year ban.  See what Contador had to say.

Today is a sad day, truly sad for me. It’s a day in which I feel greatly disappointed and greatly deceived. As you know, two days ago I received a draft resolution for a one-year sanction from the Competition Committee.

“The way things have been until now has been shameful, the way things that should’ve been communicated officially have been leaked to the press. All this has shown me how down-and-out and how full deficiencies this sport that I love is, the sport that I’ve given my life to and in which I’ve suffered so much to get where I am. And everything so that now, based on an obsolete rule, they want to throw it all in the dirt, so that I lose everything I’ve achieved.

Throughout my life I’ve undergone more than 500 controls, many of them by surprise, at home, during family meals, birthdays… I’ve had to leave in the middle of movies, I’ve had to leave my friends in restaurants, but it was all because I believed in the anti-doping system. Not anymore. I do not believe in the system now.

I know my responsibility, I know that I’m a point of reference for a lot of people, and I know what I expose myself to, that’s why I’ve never doped. I can say this loud and clear, with my head held high. I consider myself an example of what it is to be clean, and so I find it hard to watch the way I’m slandered every day, the way terrible things are said about me, when the only mistake I made was to eat meat without stopping to analyze it first to see if it had clenbuterol in it. Every time I go to a restaurant, will I have to take a piece of meat with me in order to check for clenbuterol?

The people in charge of the anti-doping organizations have to reconsider this case. We’re facing a completely outdated rule, which all scientists know is not up-to-date with the current anti-doping system, which was made years ago when they couldn’t detect minimum quantities which in no way affect your performance, which are physically impossible to take voluntarily, and which in my case have in no way helped me achieve victory.

As long as this rule remains out of date with the advances of 2011, cases of false positives will continue to occur. This rule will have to be changed; I don’t know when—whether it will be months or years from now. But meanwhile, what about me, and the people who are in a situation similar to mine? As long as this change remains unaccomplished, honest and fair sport will never be practiced, as I have always practiced it.

When I received the one-year proposed sanction, I immediately told Bjarne Riis, and told him that I wanted to go home to be with my family and friends. But I couldn’t allow  myself to forget that it’s only a draft resolution and that in these 10 days that I’ve got, I’m going to work as hard as I can with my lawyers so that justice is done. I’m enormously grateful to Bjarne and to my sponsors for their confidence and their unconditional support—it’s unimaginable. As leader of the team, I think that making the decision to leave is best, so that all the riders keep working as normal.

I’m tremendously unhappy with the Competition Committee’s proposal. What’s happened during these last few months is beyond belief, and a disgrace. It’s become a soap opera and a political lawsuit with all the leaks, the baseless and malicious comments of WADA and the UCI, which I believe have played a key role in this proposed resolution. In the meantime, I’ve wanted to keep working, focusing on my own business, but I’ve also been on the point of exploding many times because of things that were being said.  I could hardly endure it, but out of respect for the process I’ve preferred to keep some distance so that the Competition Committee can work without pressure from me, even though all that has come to nothing. I disagree with this proposal and I’m going to work to change it, but if that’s not how it works out, I’ll appeal wherever necessary in order to defend my innocence until the end.”

Spyns Tours and TDF Tours specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.