Second Edition Cycling News, Friday, November 27, 2009

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Date published:

November 27, 2009, 17:00

• Breukink says Tour de France was very difficult in 2009

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 12:27

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Outside pressures and unmet expectations added to team difficulties

  Erik Breukink is leaving his job as team manager at Rabobank, and taking on the responsibilities of technical director. This year was a particularly tough one for him, he said, although that is not the reason he is changing jobs.

  “Expectations were higher than ever, so it fell further when everything went wrong,” he told sportweek.nl. “That made the Tour very difficult.”

  Breukink did not say exactly what the problems from the Tour were, but they were obvious difficulties. Robert Gesink had gone into the Tour, his first, with hopes of a high placing, but had to drop out after the fifth stage after breaking his wrist in a crash during the stage. Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov crashed during the team time trial and finished only 51st overall.

  Breukink had other worries about his Russian star, too, as he confirmed during the Tour that Menchov had been questioned in connection with the Austrian HumanPlasma blood-doping investigation.

  Adding to the pressure, the team struggled for results in the Tour, finally being successful when Juan Manuel Gárate won the climb up Mont Ventoux in the penultimate stage.

  “The riders continued to fight, no one was sitting in sackcloth and ashes,” Breukink said. “But the outside influences were more difficult for us. The riders were less affected than the coaching and management team.”

  The 45-year-old Dutchman said that he hid is anger and frustrations. “When people see me sitting in the car, they think I'm very calm. But things go through my head constantly. I am always tense.”

  He didn't show it, but “that's what I feel inside.” Pretending that he didn't feel it “makes no sense”.

  As technical director, Breukink will be responsible for composition of the ProTour team as well as the race programme, management of team directors and cooperation with the Continental Team.

• Operación Grial: 12th person questioned

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 12:36

  By:

  Hedwig Kröner

  Amateur cyclist denies involvement in latest Spanish doping ring

  Raúl Castaño, an amateur cyclist racing for Valencia Terra i Mar, has been reported by Spanish media to be the 12th person arrested and questioned by police in doping investigation Operación Grial.

  Castaño, winner of the Vuelta a Zamora, was at home yesterday when police officers of the Guardia Civil came to search for - and found - doping substances. Although it was reported that the Spaniard was taken into custody, Castaño himself denied this on Biciciclismo.

  "That is a lie," he told the website. "They did not find anything but recovery products, and I was not detained."

  Castaño is the fifth cyclist involved in the case, together with Pedro Vera, a professional rider with Contentpolis, José Ortega from Club Pub Tribus and female bike rider Cristina Navarro. Paracyclist Javier Ochoa was also questioned by police.

  Although Castaño confirmed a friendly relationship with trainer Vicente Natividad, one of the other persons detained in Valencia, as well as being acquainted with Ochoa, with whom he trains, he maintained he had "nothing to do with this. Logically, I had phone calls with [Natividad and Ochoa], and this was the reason members of the UCO [Central Operating Unit] taped my parents' home for six hours. But they did not arrest me; they only asked where I had bought certain products."

  The doping network dicovered by Spanish police worked around Peruvian physician and former Kelme team doctor Walter Viru, who is thought to have used bike riders as distributors for doping products in various cycling categories.

  The Spanish cycling federation RFEC will take two actions on Friday: Firstly, it is going to register as private prosecution in the case. Secondly, its Competition Committee will release preventive measures against all those invloved in the case that have a licence to race.

  Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

• Rebellin returns Olympic silver medal, repays winnings

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 13:38

  By:

  Gregor Brown

  Italian cyclists fulfils obligations, maintains innocence

  Italian Davide Rebellin returned yesterday the silver medal he won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also made available to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) the €75,000 it awarded him for his placing.

  Tests results released April 28 this year revealed Rebellin doped with blood booster EPO-CERA at the Olympics.

  Rebellin said that returning the medal was not "recognition of responsibility," but that he was fulfilling his obligations requested by the CONI, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week ordered lRebellin to return the silver medal. It asked the CONI to retrieve the medal from Rebellin.

  The CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri is still investigating the case and has yet to recommend a suspension. Rebellin faces a likely two-year suspension.

  The CONI also announced last week that it asked its lawyer Massimo Ranieri to open a case against Rebellin. It seeks compensation for damages caused by Rebellin's doping case.

  Rebellin, 38, insists he is innocent. He plans to "challenge the decision made by the IOC because if its various flaws in fact and law," according to his lawyer Fausto Pavone. They have 21 days to present their case to the CAS.

  Pavone will highlight the weaknesses in the chain of custody of samples of blood and urine from the moment they were give in Beijing. The IOC released the positive result in April, but the positive counter-analysis was only released last week.
   

• CAS must clear Schumacher, attorney says

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 15:05

  By:

  Cycling News

  CERA analysis method used was not approved for use, he claims

  The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) must clear Stefan Schumacher of doping charges, because the analysis method used was not approved at the time, according to his attorney. There is no "legal basis" for a finding against his client, he said in a statement issued Friday afternoon.

  According to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations, an analysis method can only be used when it is approved first by WADA and then by the appropriate local accreditation agency. Schumacher's analyses from the Tour de France were done in France in October 2008, and the analyses from the Beijing Olympics were tested in March 2009. The analysis method for CERA was not approved for use in France until July 1, 2009.

  This shows that the samples were tested by an unapproved analysis method and the results are not valid, according to Lehner.

  There are other issues, such as the lack of anonymity of the sample, Lehner said. The essential rules of conduct were not obeyed, he concluded.

  This case will give the CAS "the opportunity to prove its objectivity which was recently put into question by the decision in the case of the speed skater Claudia Pechstein and to restore the lost credibility that it observes the legal rights of athletes".

  The CAS is expected to rule on Schumacher's case the middle of December. Lehner said that if the ruling goes against his client, it would be appealed in the Swiss courts and the European court.

  Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

• Argentinean Champion Brum suspended for two years

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 15:49

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Positive for Nandrolone at the national championships

  Argentian champion Paul Brum has been suspended for two years after testing positive for Nandrolone at the national championships. The Argentinean newspaper El Diario de Cuyo reported that Brum's suspension would run from May 4, 2000, to May 3, 2011.

  Brum won the bronze medal in the national time trial and gold in the road race. The new national road champion is now Facundo Bazzi, with Ricardo Escuela second and Gerardo Fernandez third.

  Nandrolone, which increases muscle mass, is an anabolic steroid used to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Other athletes who have tested positive for the drug or have admitted using it include track stars Marion Jones and Linford Christie, plus numerous football players around the world.

  Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.

• Garmin-Slipstream welcomes new sponsor, becomes Garmin-Transitions

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 15:53

  By:

  Gregor Brown

  Name change for Vaughters' USA-based ProTour team

  Team Garmin-Slipstream will change its name to become Garmin-Transitions with the addition of sponsor Transitions Optical. The USA ProTour team of Jonathan Vaughters announced today the agreement with the lens manufacturer.

  "Our riders are constantly going through different lighting conditions. If we can increase visual acuity and reduce visual fatigue, that gives us a big advantage on the road," said team manager Vaughters. "Like the team, Transitions is driven by innovation and a commitment to excellence. We are thrilled to work with them."

  Transitions Optical was the first commercially successful manufacturer of photochromic lenses, which darken or lighten depending on depending on the lighting. Transitions will use the team to promote its lenses and will launch a marketing campaign featuring the team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it announced.

  The team called it a "long term" agreement, but could not disclose the agreement's length.

  Vaughters' team started as a third division or Continental team and grew to a first division, ProTour. Chipotle restaurants sponsored the team in 2007 and 2008, when it raced in the second division. Garmin joined as primary sponsor in 2008 and helped the team make the jump to ProTour for the start of this season.

  Garmin is a USA-based manufacture of portable navigation devices using the Global Positioning System (GPS). Slipstream Sports is the marketing and development company that helps support the team.

  This year Garmin-Slipstream finished fourth at the Tour de France with Brit Bradley Wiggins. It is one of the top ten ranked teams in the world, with wins this year coming from riders like USA's Tyler Farrar and Christian Vande Velde.
   

• Gianetti's son, Noè, joins Footon-Servetto

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 16:58

  By:

  Gregor Brown

  Swiss makes jump from Amateur to top division Spanish team

  Noè Gianetti will turn professional next year with father Mauro's team, Footon-Servetto. The top-level, Spanish ProTour team announced today that it signed Gianetti, 20.

  "A rider among Switzerland's best future prospects," said the team in a press release. He raced the last two years as an Under 23 rider, "showing some momentss of quality after a brilliant period as a junior cyclist."

  The team will meet in Spain next week for its first training camp for the 2010 season.

  The team announced on October 20 that Footon would replace Fuji as its title sponsor. Mauro Gianetti started the team in 2004 as Saunier Duval, but he had to find a new sponsor after the doping positives of Riccardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli at the 2007 Tour de France.

  Mauro Gianetti raced as a professional from 1986 to 2002. In 1995, he won the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liege.
   

• Cervélo names Alberda as new managing director

  

  Article published:

  November 27, 2009, 17:04

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Dutchman takes over in January

  Joop Alberda will be the new managing director of Cervélo TestTeam, the team announced Friday afternoon. The Dutchman will take over as of January 1, 2010. He replaces German Thomas Campana, whose future plans were not announced.

  Alberda, 58, is a former athlete who “is considered one of the most renowned sports managers in the Netherlands,” said the team. He was coach of the Dutch men's volleyball team which won the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, “ an event that so galvanized the country that the Dutch consider it the top sports event of the previous century.”

  “We're very excited that Joop will join the team,” said Cervélo co-founder Gerard Vroomen. “Having introduced innovations to many different sports as a coach and manager, and understanding that all of our goals are equally important, Joop will be able to bring ongoing innovation and success in all these areas, and we look forward to building the right structure to accomplish this with him.”

  Alberda served as technical director of the Dutch National Olympic Committee from 1997 to 2004, and under his leadership the Dutch team won a record 25 medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He has also worked with the national football team.

  “I am honoured to have the opportunity to enter the world of cycling, one of the world's major sports,” he said. “I am inspired by the values of the team, the high potential of the riders and the incredible technological aspects of the products made by Cervélo and the TestTeam's technology partners.”