It's the day after the day after, time for reflection on what this all means for the future. How will things change? What will we tell our children? Yep, Ivan Basso's move to Discovery truly heralds a new day.
The coverage:
- VN has the most complete reaction from Disco and the man himself.
- Eurosport: Basso liberated
- Riis is in mourning but not for long, as Sastre takes over. As Mr. 60% says in Overcoming, people have no idea how good this guy is. Not sure that's true still, or it won't be sometime soon.
The roundup, on the flip:
- Jose Rujano looks to be close to a move to Caisse d'Epargne. We treated him like a punching bag this year, and not without some justification, given his bizarre course and total lack of results. But remember: he's only 24, giving him two more years of membership in the U-27 Project. And also, if you think it's hard for Americans to move to Europe, imagine what it's like for a Venezuelan going to Belgium. Other than Quick Step wanting a climber and Rujano wanting a payday, it's hard to see why anyone thought this would be a good fit. But unlike Americans, a Venezuelan need only jump to a Spanish outfit, and suddenly the biggest barrier to going overseas -- language -- is gone.
- Pez previews the former Davitamon's new sponsor: Predictor, maker of pregnancy tests. If that doesn't generate enough bad puns, their kits will be "salmon pink," which has already resulted in one "swimming upstream" line at Pez regarding Robbie McEwen. No word on whether he resembled a lumbering Puget Sound Chum or a more spry Coastal Coho. Anyway, I plan to spend the Predictor era calling the team Lotto.
- VN updates the David Millar trial. Apparently they intend to let him off for good behavior, which is a face-saving way of saying they lack evidence. Money quote:
I took drugs because it was my job to get good results.
Ouch.
- Stealing from CN, there's a showdown brewing tomorrow on the DNA issue:
The UCI will hold a meeting on the subject of DNA testing this Friday in Geneva. Representatives from the AIGCP (Association of Trade Teams) and the CPA (Professional Riders' Association) will be present, as will the UCI's medical staff and DNA experts.
Where does McQuaid stand on DNA?
Some of the riders have recently said that DNA testing is against their civil rights. I think they need to think a little bit [about the bigger picture] before they make statements such as that. For instance, I saw an interesting letter recently on Cyclingnews where a guy in London stated that last year there was a girl murdered in his locality, and that the police asked that men of a certain age would give their to DNA. Up to 3,000 people went to the police station and offered their DNA to try to assist. Those guys didn't have any problem with civil rights and I think cyclists need to have a similar attitude. If it proves that they are not implicated in a doping affair, then they should be ready and willing to give samples for those purposes.
- Truly weird story of the day... deleted, I forgot NE Observer posted this yesterday.
- Pez gets retro with Bernard Thevenet and his sideburns.
- Oh, and you know you want to know what Chris Horner thinks.