Valverde not welcome in Stuttgart . . .

[BumbleBeeDave]

So now riders are out pre-race if there are just rumors about them . . . unless, of course, the rider is from your home country. Then they are OK. Or so it would seem . . .

BBD===========

Valverde not welcome in Stuttgart

Organizers of next month's world road cycling championships in Stuttgart, Germany, are taking a hard-line against riders they consider with dubious pasts.

They already told German veteran Erik Zabel he's not welcome for the road world's, set for September 26-30 in the southern German town. Now organizers are wishing that Spain's Alejandro Valverde would stay home, too.

"I'm against Valverde starting the world's race, even in the absence of a pending legal case against him," Susanne Eisenmann, president of the organizing committee, told local paper Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

Valverde has been under the gun for alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping ring. Although he's never been officially named as a Puerto suspect, rumors continue to dog the Spanish rider that he was once a client of infamous Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

Valverde, meanwhile, is racing this week at the Vuelta a Burgos in northern Spain as part of his preparation for the Stuttgart world's. A three-time's world's podium finisher, Valverde will be among the favorites for the elite men's road race on September 30.

Eisenmann added that despite the problems at Astana, German rider Andreas Klöden should be allowed to start, because there have been no allegations raised against the German and he should, therefore, be presumed innocent.

[1centaur]

Hey, not "out" just not welcome.

Burn the witch!

Not all witch burning is legal. Please consult an attorney.

Contrary to common belief, not all attorneys are witches.

[Elefantino]

http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/grail/large/HolyGrail026.jpg
A witch! A witch! A witch! A witch! We've found a witch! A witch! A witch! A witch! A witch! We've got a witch! A witch! A witch! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! We've found a witch! We've found a witch! A witch! A witch! A witch!
VILLAGER #1:
We have found a witch. May we burn her?
CROWD:
Burn her! Burn! Burn her! Burn her!
BEDEVERE:
How do you know she is a witch?
VILLAGER #2:
She looks like one.
CROWD:
Right! Yeah! Yeah!
BEDEVERE:
Bring her forward.
WITCH:
I'm not a witch. I'm not a witch.
BEDEVERE:
Uh, but you are dressed as one.
WITCH:
They dressed me up like this.
CROWD:
Augh, we didn't! We didn't...
WITCH:
And this isn't my nose. It's a false one.
BEDEVERE:
Well?
VILLAGER #1:
Well, we did do the nose.
BEDEVERE:
The nose?
VILLAGER #1:
And the hat, but she is a witch!
VILLAGER #2:
Yeah!
CROWD:
We burn her! Right! Yeaaah! Yeaah!
BEDEVERE:
Did you dress her up like this?
VILLAGER #1:
No!
VILLAGER #2 and 3:
No. No.
VILLAGER #2:
No.
VILLAGER #1:
No.
VILLAGERS #2 and #3:
No.
VILLAGER #1:
Yes.
VILLAGER #2:
Yes.
VILLAGER #1:
Yes. Yeah, a bit.
VILLAGER #3:
A bit.
VILLAGERS #1 and #2:
A bit.
VILLAGER #3:
A bit.
VILLAGER #1:
She has got a wart.
RANDOM:
[cough]
BEDEVERE:
What makes you think she is a witch?
VILLAGER #3:
Well, she turned me into a newt.
BEDEVERE:
A newt?
VILLAGER #3:
I got better.
VILLAGER #2:
Burn her anyway!
VILLAGER #1:
Burn!
CROWD:
Burn her! Burn! Burn her!...
BEDEVERE:
Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
VILLAGER #1:
Are there?
VILLAGER #2:
Ah?
VILLAGER #1:
What are they?
CROWD:
Tell us! Tell us!...
BEDEVERE:
Tell me. What do you do with witches?
VILLAGER #2:
Burn!
VILLAGER #1:
Burn!
CROWD:
Burn! Burn them up! Burn!...
BEDEVERE:
And what do you burn apart from witches?
VILLAGER #1:
More witches!
VILLAGER #3:
Shh!
VILLAGER #2:
Wood!
BEDEVERE:
So, why do witches burn?
[pause]
VILLAGER #3:
B--... 'cause they're made of... wood?
BEDEVERE:
Good! Heh heh.
CROWD:
Oh, yeah. Oh.
BEDEVERE:
So, how do we tell whether she is made of wood?
VILLAGER #1:
Build a bridge out of her.
BEDEVERE:
Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of stone?
VILLAGER #1:
Oh, yeah.
RANDOM:
Oh, yeah. True. Uhh...
BEDEVERE:
Does wood sink in water?
VILLAGER #1:
No. No.
VILLAGER #2:
No, it floats! It floats!
VILLAGER #1:
Throw her into the pond!
CROWD:
The pond! Throw her into the pond!
BEDEVERE:
What also floats in water?
VILLAGER #1:
Bread!
VILLAGER #2:
Apples!
VILLAGER #3:
Uh, very small rocks!
VILLAGER #1:
Cider!
VILLAGER #2:
Uh, gra-- gravy!
VILLAGER #1:
Cherries!
VILLAGER #2:
Mud!
VILLAGER #3:
Uh, churches! Churches!
VILLAGER #2:
Lead! Lead!
ARTHUR:
A duck!
CROWD:
Oooh.
BEDEVERE:
Exactly. So, logically...
VILLAGER #1:
If... she... weighs... the same as a duck,... she's made of wood.
BEDEVERE:
And therefore?
VILLAGER #2:
A witch!
VILLAGER #1:
A witch!
CROWD:
A witch! A witch!...
VILLAGER #4:
Here is a duck. Use this duck.
[quack quack quack]
BEDEVERE:
Very good. We shall use my largest scales.
CROWD:
Ohh! Ohh! Burn the witch! Burn the witch! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Ahh! Ahh...
BEDEVERE:
Right. Remove the supports!
[whop]
[clunk]
[creak]
CROWD:
A witch! A witch! A witch!
WITCH:
It's a fair cop.
VILLAGER #3:
Burn her!
CROWD:
Burn her! Burn her! Burn her! Burn! Burn!...

[Grant McLean]

So now riders are out pre-race if there are just rumors about them . . . unless, of course, the rider is from your home country. Then they are OK. Or so it would seem . . .

Eisenmann added that despite the problems at Astana, German rider Andreas Klöden should be allowed to start, because there have been no allegations raised against the German and he should, therefore, be presumed innocent.


There is a difference between Kloden and Valverde: Valverde's named on the Spanish list.

the next article down on the cycling news page was:

Klöden's uncertain future

The German rider has never been involved in any doping scandals or even rumoured scandals, but has said very little about those scandals. According to the German news magazine Spiegel, he has not sufficiently distanced himself from friends who have doped, such as Matthias Kessler, or those who are under suspicion, such as Jan Ullrich. His silence on these matters is seen as a disadvantage. "It is important to take a clear position, said Christian Frommert, T-Mobile Sponsoring Communications director. "Andreas can do that, even during a Tour. But he didn't. That is something that we can't simply ignore."

So now it's not enough to be free of rumors, but you have to speak out against
your friends. The logic of this escapes me. Just about everyone says they're
innocent when they test postive, so it strikes me as foolish to use
what they say as some indicator of 'truthieness"...

g

[Fixed]

a rumor is all it takes bro
cheers