Euskaltel-Euskadi starts with eight

[Keith A]

From today's CyclingNews...

Gorka Gonzalez out

Euskaltel-Euskadi hasn't gotten off to a good start in the Tour de France, after Gorka Gonzalez failed a blood test on Thursday morning. Gonzalez was the only one of the 189 riders tested between 7:20 and 9:30am who was declared "unfit to start" due to a high hematocrit. He will be forced out of competition for two weeks.

Euskaltel-Euskadi will now begin the Tour with just eight riders rather than bringing a reserve, a decision which could affect team leader Iban Mayo, particularly in the team time trial.

[oracle]

with the blood test unveiled so recently, i am surprised that more have not tested positve, or mysteriously become 'ill'. we shall see how things develop as the race goes on. this may seriously throw a monkey wrench into the doping plans of some riders, who will either risk getting caught, or go au natural, in which case we shold see some surprising and interesting results.

not that i have been one to associate high hematocrit with guilt, (mine is in the high 40s) it does beg the question that if innocent, why did he not have a medical authorization for his high hematocrit? maybe armstrong was not so far off when he spoke of the spanish doping problem not that long ago.

oracle

[Ozz]

Why are they going with eight, instead of bringing up a reserve?

[Elefantino]

It's only a two-week ban. He therefore could be back in time for the Alps and the decisive stages.

And they can only lose 2 1/2 minutes in the TTT anyway, so it's not a factor there.

[alembical]

I had thought that if the rider did not start the race (and complete each stage in the time limit) that they could not ride at all. Is this not correct? I would be shocked to find out that he can sit back and miss the first week and then come in fresh and help out his team.

Alembical

[oracle]

you are correct, sir.

oracle

[Elefantino]

My assistant informs me that I am an idiot, that of course you can't start with 8 and add one later.

Dork. And I wasn't even wearing Rudys. :crap:

[AHava]

Zubeldia looked like a future GC contender last summer. Has he had any results this spring?

[oracle]

Initial reports suggest that Gonzalez’s red blood cell count may have been raised by an extensive period of training at altitude in the Pyrenees in preparation for the Tour. Euskaltel team manager Miguel Madariaga told Europa Press: “The UCI did a haemoglobin test and just a few tenths over the parameters laid down by the UCI.”

Madariaga further explained that Gonzalez, who was called into the Euskaltel Tour team when Mikel Artetxe injured an elbow, “had been in the Pyrenees training [when Artetxe got injured]. The UCI itself says that may have been the cause because if you have been at altitude you have to allow more than six or seven days before undergoing this kind of test.”

[Climb01742]

the insane 2:30 minute limit on time lost in the TTT is, well, insane. gives teams like big orange here an unfair advantage, i think. either have a real TTT or if it unfairly penalizes weak teams, then don't have one at all. but this halfway measure sucks. like limiting time you could lose on a mountain stage. insane.

[Elefantino]

the insane 2:30 minute limit on time lost in the TTT is, well, insane. gives teams like big orange here an unfair advantage, i think. either have a real TTT or if it unfairly penalizes weak teams, then don't have one at all. but this halfway measure sucks. like limiting time you could lose on a mountain stage. insane.

E-E lost 3:22 in last year's TTT. They were down to seven riders when they passed us at the second time check. So while I agree it's a joke, it's not like they're getting two or three free minutes, like Kelme, Jean Delatour or Lotto-Domo.

[bpm]

I disagree that the time loss limit in the TTT gives the weaker teams an unfair advantage. I think a more accurate statement is that it doesn't give them as much of a disadvantage.

A team like Euskatel will lose the maximum 2:30. So, they are likely to "take it easy", while teams like Postal hammer away to go for the win. But remember that there are several more days of flat stages after the TTT before any real climbing begins, giving Postal and the other teams that actually hammered in the TTT plenty of time to recover.

I'm not a fan of the time loss limit either and I agree that they should get rid of the stage rather than have the current rule, but I still think it will still help Armstrong more than it will hurt him.