CN is featuring an end-of-season interview with America's top stage racer (for now), Levi Leipheimer. [Part one/ part two] The author seems to conclude that Leipheimer is happy at Astana, notwithstanding the obvious questions about whether he could be a grand tour leader on another team, the agitated comments of his captain, and Lance Armstrong rearing his head over Astana airspace. Here's the money quote:

"As far as my position on the team goes, I think that over the last couple of years I have had to improve my own ability," he told Cyclingnews recently. "For example, with Basso coming and Alberto emerging as one of the greatest cyclists in history, I think that all made me improve. It made me the best that I can be and I think that ultimately that is the goal.

"With Lance coming back, I think it is going to continue like that. I have had my best two years amongst these riders, like Alberto and now Lance. I just try to look at the positive side like that."

Leipheimer himself makes the case for staying with Astana. He starts by pointing out that his results are better than ever, which is undeniable: podiums in the Tour and the Vuelta, an Olympic bronze medal in the time trial and dominant season in the chrono discipline generally, and another Tour of California victory in which he takes some pride. He's had a great run with Johan Bruyneel the last couple years, by far his best since the Vuelta third place that originally launched the top-end phase of his career. So would he move on?

He says now that he will stay with the team, but also suggests that he briefly considered changing. "Of course the idea came up because people were suggesting it," he answered. "But I wouldn't be happy anywhere else and I don't want to go to another team."

 Where he says "I just try to look at the positive side," I interpret that (FWIW) as an admission that he's not in a perfect situation. Leipheimer is surely well aware of his place in the team and the world, and for whatever reason has decided it works. Could he win a grand tour on another team? In theory, yes, but here are two reasons for him to feel concerned enough not to want to try:

1. History, as in his own. He did two years at Gerolsteiner, where he was the team captain until anyone with a German name (e.g., Totschnig, Fothen) made a case for contention, at which point leadership became less clear. Worse still were his Rabobank years, where IIRC the team's varied objectives made Leipheimer's annual Tour run something of an afterthought. Levi likes to build his season toward the Tour, rather singlemindedly, then give it his best shot. No doubt his pre-Disco years were fraught with angst.

2. Prospects: who else is going to give Levi the shot he (arguably) deserves? Garmin might have before, but not anymore. Columbia seem more intent on building around younger riders. The big European teams haven't believed in him before, so he probably doesn't think (rightly) that he can expect them to now. Twice bitten, thrice shy. And smaller teams can't offer him the support he needs (see Evans, Cadel) to have any shot at winning.

Maybe he doesn't get free reign at Astana, but at least he knows they'll support the program he wants to do, even if he is plan B in July. It's been healthier and more lucrative for him than getting hung out to dry by another team. I've been all over the map on Levi's career choices, but here's where I think I'm landing: he's not living his dream, but considering the alternatives, this is as close as he can get.

I'm not going to get into the habit of issuing pointers to fanposts, unless they start coming in too fast to be seen on the sidebar for long enough. But if the latest doping issues are giving you a headache, I strongly recommend the Fanshots section, below fanposts. The one currently at the top is a perfect example: Flying Dog's Lore of the Victory Salute, a link without much comment to a completely charming catalogue of celebrations. Then there are Lyne's and Cyclingchallenge's photos, and assorted other delights.

This is aimed partly at myself -- I haven't been paying enough attention to Fanshots. But it's also a message to newcomers and regulars, that if you want to deposit a short... something: post, photo, link, etc., use the Fanshots. When you don't really have text to add, when you just want to pass on a brief thought, it's a Fanshot. Now more than ever, amusing distractions are just the tonic for cycling fans, and the Fanshots section is just the place to put them.

Or, if you must, you can always join the Rear of the Year discussion in fanposts. OK, carry on.

 While the doping accusations against Leonardo Piepoli are suprising only in that they didn't happen sooner, two other recent stories have struck a blow against one of Cycling's recent, positive narratives. Frank Schleck's entanglements with Eufemiano Fuentes and Operacion Puerto have undermined Bjarne Riis' clean-team mantra, and today's announcement that Stefan Schumacher was on CERA at the Tour has sent Gerolsteiner manager Hans-Michael Holczer off on another -- and for once quite understandable -- tirade.

Not good times, of course: the implication is that if it can happen at Gerolsteiner or CSC, then perhaps there's no stopping cheating after all. But IMHO it's time for the "clean teams" mentality to change. Undoubtedly, teams which announce a bevvy of internal controls, contractual penalties, and otherwise an open insistence on their riders behaving properly is a great benefit to the sport. There is still something to be said for leadership. But I wonder whether there's anything more to a "clean team" besides leadership?

The threat-of-the-month is CERA, a low-dose EPO variant only recently discovered in sports circles. With the sport officially trying to clean up its act, the usual ways of cheating are far too well known and reviled for serious riders to pull off. If you're intent on cheating, the only way to go is with whatever new methods are emerging, that the anti-doping forces haven't caught onto yet. Stay one step ahead of the sport... or don't even bother trying.

A loose federation of teams with their own internal controls is exactly the wrong way to deal with emerging doping methods. Staying ahead of the curve requires resources. I'm not an MBA, but surely there's some sort of principle about R&D requiring investment and pooling resources. Dispersed efforts at research, uncoordinated and on the cheap, sounds inherently ineffective. So when CERA comes along, obviously even the best teams aren't going to be the first ones on the block to have the new CERA test.

Sorry to dredge this up again, but let's walk back to the first Podium Cafe Anti-Doping Manifesto:

Instead of always trying to keep up with the Ferraris and Cecchinis, here's a radical idea: hire one of them!! Why should the UCI always be the last to hear about new doping techniques? Let bygones be, and get a real expert on staff. ... [embarassing material deleted]... Anyway, in addition to staying on top of the doping R&D, presumably this guy could oversee a lot of the testing too, or at least be a consultant. And I'm not merely advocating hiring one doc; a panel of them may be needed.

It's hard to trace the sources on old posts when I didn't provide adequate links, but apparently a group of doctors are forming an association to at least talk about new ideas. Not sure where that stands. But in any event, a centralized anti-doping authority, with full independence and some measure of integrity, has a far better chance of coming up with a new CERA test than, say, Holczer's staff MDs.

As for what internal controls do, let's revisit another old 2006 post: when Bob Stapleton invented the new team concept and won me as a fan. I hypothesized (putting it kindly) that there were at least three potential benefits to internal testing and increased training coordination:

1. It physically prevents riders from working with a doping doctor... if you're training with Dr. X, you're not training with Dr. Y. No longer will their riders be associated with shady characters on an extensive basis. Remember, the doping doctors have not only been dispensing products but often working closely with riders throughout the season, so the whole meds/training program works in synch.
2. It creates a much tighter system of internal surveillance, which if done right should be virtually foolproof (you'd think).
3. It creates a HUGE psychological barrier against doping! I'm really going way beyond my knowledge and experience here, but it seems like it's infinitely easier for a rider who trains alone or in small groups to give in to doping than it would be when you're more closely connected. Wouldn't you find it much harder to go against a closely-knit system, which all of your teammates have bought into, than the old "don't ask, don't tell" arrangement?

First one: meh. Maybe on some teams riders are sequestered away from the doping docs, but if you can cheat on GerolsteinerCSC, you can cheat anywhere.

Second one: this is the benefit we keep reading about: riders' blood values are recorder and stored away, or sometimes even published online. We're basically talking about longitudinal testing. This is a huge key to interdiction, and though the UCI wants to do it for everyone, there's no reason the teams can't pitch in. Even redundant checking is of value.

Third one: naivete. My guess is that the T-Mobile/High Road/Columbia experiment is working to forge more interdependence, the kind of shared commitment that might deter doping. But again, if you can cheat on Gerol... or worse, CSC, then this is more of a soft deterrent, valuable but not reliable.

There is one last team-imposed deterrent: contractual obligations. The standard fired-if-caught method is pretty universal nowadays, but for some reason it doesn't seem to stop anyone. Perhaps cheaters don't ever expect to be caught, or assume they'll make more money on the juice beforehand for it to be worthwhile. Depending on what the applicable legal system allows, it's possible for teams to include in contracts some sort of liquidated damages, i.e. specific penalties to be paid to the team for, oh, defaming the team brand. With Astana kicked out of the Tour because of its defamed brand, such damages wouldn't seem ridiculous to a judge. If anyone knows what sort of penalties teams are putting in contracts these days, do tell.

Giro di Lombardia 2007 (via Zillo86)

Supposedly today we will learn the names of a few riders who have turned up positive samples for CERA during or shortly before the Tour de France. Only Cycling could make the economic bailout seem fun. Anyway, L'Equipe's headline so far is Frank Schleck's "tourmente" so maybe today won't be so eventful. But if/when anything breaks, post it here.

Travel day today. Try not to doodsmak or schleck anyone.

It's been over a month since the last update, closer to six weeks. So long, in fact, that we've acquired a new logo since the last such post. Granted, I could excuse myself by the need to hammer away at the Vuelta VDS stats and daily race threads for everything under the sun. But, well, this is becoming very boring so I'll stop.

Anyway, congrats to Bruno, whose Team Davis Wheelworks still holds the top spot from the last major point in the road, the second Vredestein Prize deadline. While the lead is a slim 629 points over second-placed Fromagerie Duval (Anatole), time is running short with but three races to go. More importantly, two of those races are in Italy, including the lucrative Monument Giro di Lombardia. Anatole hopes to make up the ground on the back of... Sammy Sanchez? Fair enough, but Bruno has David Rebellin and defending champ Damiano Cunego. But it ain't over til it's over.

Welcome to the top five to Team BornFromJets and Team North Road, two squads who've been around the upper echelon most of the year anyway. Bumped for now are Guttersnipes and Team Diminutive Vikings... but they're two of the four unlisted teams over 9,000 points and potentially in line for some top-five shwag. And yes, Alberto Contador is the MVP, or so I believe until Ursula convinces me otherwise.

Erik Zabel's legendary career will come to a close by the end of Friday's Sparkassen Münsterland Giro, a 204km race with a nice flat finish. The race's website is plugging the story, but there are plenty of other big names on the startlist. Gerolsteiner will be lining up Forster, Haussler and Wegmann for one of its last races as a team. Silence! Lotto will send Van Avermaet after the sprint. Columbia is frickin loaded as always, with the sprint team of Greipel, Ciolek and Eisel (along with Gerdemann, Burghardt, Martin, Klier, etc. etc. you get the point). CSC sends red-hot Matti Breschel into the fray, with the Schlecks, Kurt Asle-Arvesen, and other studs from their stable. So if Zabel does win, it'll run the risk of looking like one of those post-Tour criteriums where Carlos Sastre outsprints Tom Boonen and the polka dot jersey winner. Anyway, Zabel doesn't like gifts, and a legitimate win can't be completely dismissed. I'll try to find a video stream, though feel free to help me on that one.

Short post, but since we're still savoring the Worlds, I thought I'd point out a few things.

1. Mendrisio, Switzerland, the host city of the 2009 UCI World Championships, is less than 12 miles away from Varese. 
2. The road course for the elite men is 262km, a mere 2km more than this year's. The total vertical rise is 4655 meters (cumulatively over 19 circuits). This is actually a full 1000 meters more than the Varese course.
3. As for the all-telling profile, let's compare:

That's Varese. Now look at Mendrisio:

Not identical. Close enough. If you thought this year was fun, you probably won't be disappointed in '09 either. You're also probably not a sprinter.

Reports out of France that the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD plan to re-test some 30 blood samples collected this summer have cast a pretty major shadow over Cycling and the recent World Championships. Rumors have been flying all week about the number and possible names of the involved, and while the rumors contain no allegations of doping, the riders are at least being looked at for traces of the long-lasting EPO variant CERA.

If the tests come back positive, Cycling will be dragged right back through the mud again, just as signs of its resurgence have become unmistakeable. To us fans, it's the nightmare that never seems to end, and if big names are declared positive, only the worldwide economic collapse or upcoming presidential election would save us from the media feeding frenzy to be unleashed on the sport. In short, it'll be another winter of articles declaring the death of Cycling.

Truth is, though, the next purge may be the last. There are a few aspects of this AFLD scheme that could put a massive broadside in whatever remains of Cycling's doping regime. First, the fact that a CERA test now exists for blood samples means that this one particular product can no longer be advertised to potential cheaters as a fool-proof way to beat the system.

Second, and more importantly, the fact that a test now exists and is being applied after the fact is profound. Huge credit to the Tour de France and the AFLD for doing what races historically -- up to and including the 2008 Giro d'Italia -- are loathe to do: double back and test the legitimacy of race results. The message to potential cheaters is doubly terrifying, saying that not only will we no longer look the other way once the race is over, but we might have a test for something you recently didn't think we had a test for.

The message is that virtually no doping regime is safe. If Dr. Evil hooks you up with the new shit, how do you know that the day after you pump it into your system, someone won't announce a new test for it? Maybe some races will continue to look for ways to avoid testing, but if you set foot in France, how can you ever sleep knowing they have a sample of your blood? Finally, with the biological passports charting changes in your blood, how can you ever expect to go unnoticed again?

The next month or so might get ugly -- or should I say, even uglier -- but if people don't dismiss Cycling as a going concern, it's possible this could be the last round of chemo zapping the cancerous tumors still hidden in the sport.

... Or, put another way, what Toto said.