Replies

The fall out continues........... Ya'll have a good one, catch the thread later on this afternoon.

Astana Withdraws, Vino Suspended

By Phil Liggett
July 24, 2007

Alexandre Vinokourov’s positive blood test announced Tuesday has stunned everyone from riders to organizers. Since his crash, he has been portrayed as a limping hero of what, so far, has been a marvellous Tour. Now, he seems to have been caught introducing homologous blood into his system just before the time trial he won in demonstrative fashion.

His Astana team has withdrawn at the invitation of the organizers and Vinokourov was suspended by Astana pending the confirmation of his positive test in his B analysis. It is very unusual for the second test not to confirm the first. In short, Vinokourov, one of the most respected riders in the peloton, will now leave the sport in disgrace.

11:31:44 - Four Lead By 4'20"
Verdugo (EUS), Auge (COF), Garcia-Acosta (GCE) and Rinero (SDV) are now 4'20" ahead of the peloton which is in Susmiou.

Shame about Vino. Honestly, I don't believe it and I still don't about Landis last year. Head in the sand perhaps...

I do love Vino's quote though:

The Kazakh tested positive following his victorious ride in last Saturday's time trial, prompting his Astana team to pull out of the race.
But the 33-year-old, who bounced back from losing nearly 30 minutes in Sunday's mountain stage by winning in the Pyrenees on Monday, has denied the allegation.
He told L'Equipe: "It's a mistake. I never doped, that's not the way I see my profession.
"I think it's a mistake in part due to my crash. I have spoken to the team doctors who had a hypothesis that there was an enormous amount of blood in my thighs, which could have led to my positive test.
"I heard that I made a transfusion with my father's blood. That's absurd, I can tell you that with his blood, I would have tested positive for vodka.
"The setting up of our team made a lot of people jealous and now we're paying the price. It's a shame to leave the Tour this way, but I don't want to waste time in proving my innocence."