The Return of Vinokourov? All the Cool Kids are Doing It

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 12:22 PM EDT in News Comment 32 comments

According to an article published in l'Équipe on Saturday, Alexandre Vinokourov may return to racing next season. Sporza, the Belgian television channel, is expected to air an interview with the Kazakh rider on Sunday, in which he will reportedly confirm his plans.

Vino, suspended for blood doping during the 2007 Tour de France, announced his retirement last December. Though he would have been eligible to ride on 14 July of this year, he chose to retire instead. The Kazakh Federation had given Vinokourov a relatively short sanction, and many observers expected that the UCI would take the decision to TAS, rather than allow him to contest the Olympic Games in Beijing. According to l'Équipe, Bruyneel also played a role in discouraging Vinokourov's return, perhaps in an effort to protect Team Astana from potential controversy.

Now, Vinokourov has reportedly changed his plans. If all goes according to expectation, he will announce tomorrow his intention to ride again next season for Team Astana. But Vino has no interest in riding in Armstrong's support at the Tour de France. Instead, he would likely target the Giro d'Italia and the World Championships. L'Équipe speculates that Vinokourov's return to Team Astana could have a negative effect on the team's Tour de France chances. After all, the scandal surrounding Vinokourov's positive test at the 2007 Tour de France that in part resulted in the team's exclusion this year.

Source: l'equipe.fr.

Update thingy: Not so fast. L'Équipe reports that Pat McQuaid of the UCI is very displeased by Vinokourov's plans. In a brief statement, McQuaid said that Vinokourov must first serve a 2 year suspension for doping before he can return to racing. The UCI had challenged the Kazakh Federation's decision to shorten Vinokourov's ban to one year. Explained McQuaid: "The UCI had opened a file before the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), that we only withdrew because he [Vinokourov] announced his retirement." The UCI would re-open the case, implied McQuaid, if Vinokourov sought to ride.

Honestly, this next season becomes stranger every day.

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Comments

there's another thread on this

here

by majope on Oct 4, 2008 12:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

oops

Can we enact a new house rule? No cryptic titles?

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry for that.

Was the first sentence in my mind when I read it

Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.

by Frinking on Oct 4, 2008 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And oddly

I knew exactly who he meant when I read the title.

by Monty. on Oct 4, 2008 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's no worries

I usually, though certainly not always, prefer to front page posts that are already written rather than start from scratch myself. Just trying to keep the front page fresh and interesting, when people show up to visit. In this case, I simply didn’t see the other post.

lol, don’t shoot the piano player, kids :-)

by gavia on Oct 6, 2008 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha I wwouldn't dare

And you’re intro is a lot nicer then mine. To keep the customers satisfied ;)

Some say the best things in life, are one the inside.

by Frinking on Oct 8, 2008 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Astana the sponsor may welcome him, but team management?

Can’t see JB and uno signing off on that.

by humbug1 on Oct 4, 2008 12:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol, yeah

It really does put the cat amongst the pigeons, in that respect, now doesn’t it.

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting

Interesting that CN yesterday had a brief article that states what Astana’s 2009 team would be….. Hey! Wait a minute! I swear they had an article that listed the team members and said that those guys were their final team and now its gone! It was the article where they announced the four Khazak neo-pros and one Jesus Hernandez (He’s a climber said Bruyneel) as the final additions to their team.

This is very fishy.

by ursula on Oct 4, 2008 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol, i missed that

But very funny :-)

This sounds pretty much like a done deal to me. So bizarre all these comebacks.

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the astana team is becoming a soap opera

Who will lead the team? stay tuned next week to find out

by lyne on Oct 4, 2008 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

totally

as astana turns

This Lance Comeback, so not as straightforward as he expected, eh?

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and my stomach...

by nickel17 on Oct 4, 2008 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

so anybody seen Jan Ullrich lately

seriously, he’s the only one missing from this

by lyne on Oct 4, 2008 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol!

i was just thinking that…

by nickel17 on Oct 4, 2008 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Probably not coming back:

"As for his comeback, Ullrich said, "this option does not exist."

"I stopped racing under different circumstances than Lance," Ullrich said. "I suffered a lot of injustice and would only think about coming out of retirement if the same thing would not happen again. But at the moment, I cannot see that.""

http://www.velonews.com/article/83957

by dheadrick on Oct 4, 2008 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ah the most intelligent in this whole mess is Ullrich !

by lyne on Oct 4, 2008 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

indeed!

by nickel17 on Oct 4, 2008 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How blimped-up is Ullrich now?

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Oct 4, 2008 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ahhh Struueedal....

by Fred Marx on Oct 4, 2008 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and german beeeerrrrr

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sauerkraut... no wait

Oktoberfest im ledeRhooosen

by OctaBech on Oct 5, 2008 3:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You know, he's not blimped up

There are some pictures of him at two events, one in August and one in (I think) June here: http://www.radstars.de/

The earlier one has a picture of him with what would appear to be his small son and a pacifier. Cute.

by NE Observer on Oct 5, 2008 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This would be a disaster.

No Tour invite…

by cg. on Oct 4, 2008 1:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

UCI steps in

googled
The projects back in the pack of Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov could be thwarted by the International Cycling Union (UCI). Its president, Pat McQuaid, said Saturday that the former winner of the Vuelta (2006) would first observe the entirety of his two-year suspension, which would run until July 2009. ’UCI had opened a file before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), we have only withdrawn because he announced his retirement, McQuaid said. Vinokourov, 35, had already sentenced to one year suspension by the Kazakh federation after a positive test on the Tour de France 2007.
http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2008/20081004_203636_l-uci-s-oppose-au-retour-de-vino_Dev.html

by Bruce Suomi on Oct 4, 2008 2:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So does this mean UCI could reopen in front of CAS?

UCI had opened a file before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), we have only withdrawn because he announced his retirement, McQuaid said.

They never had a judgment. Is there a time limit to file the case and receive the initial judgment? Logic says there must be. If UCI can’t refile or reopen now (since CAS never ruled) that would represent a loophole that many might attempt to expliot. As much as I hate to use the Spanish word for

door

(rhymes with puerco) they still threaten action before CAS do they not? IS this similar?

by Fred Marx on Oct 4, 2008 4:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I would so heart the ability to
a)proofread…
b)correct that last post…. sillly I button
BAH

by Fred Marx on Oct 4, 2008 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What McQuaid said is that the case is filed. They just pressed pause on it to make sure he stayed retired.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Oct 4, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hmm I read it differently, but hey that’s why we discuss right? I read it as they filed for judgment at CAS. Then Vino retired, so they withdrew the case filing. So my question stands, if they withdrew the original filing, can they refile for judgment?

by Fred Marx on Oct 4, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes

And the point of McQuaid’s comment is that they almost certainly will. The UCI is plainly opposed to Vinokourov’s return prior to serving a 2 year ban for blood doping. They withdrew the appeal, because Vinokourov retired, not because they changed their mind in re the merits of the case. The reason for the appeal still stands.

by gavia on Oct 4, 2008 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vinokourov

no correrá con Astaná en 2009
http://www.todociclismo.com/noticia.asp?id=45337

by lucybears on Oct 9, 2008 8:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Three 0ther teams ...

Cervélo? :)

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Oct 9, 2008 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs