PDA

View Full Version : Robbie wishes he'd kept his mouth shut


paczki
06-09-2009, 02:52 PM
This report on Cycling News:

Katusha anti-doping clause: McEwen clarifies

After earlier reports of Team Katusha's new anti-doping contract clause being refused by Robbie McEwen and two other teammates, the Australian has issued a clarification statement.

"I am not against an addendum to my contract with Katusha in relation to anti-doping as such," said McEwen on his website, adding that he was merely examining the new clause under legal aspects before wanting to sign them.

The addendum states that riders will have to pay a fine of five times their annual salary in the event of a sanction given for doping offenses.

"I have been legally advised that the terms of the addendum to the contract are not judicially correct as well as being too vague and broad in their definition of what constitutes a breach, as there is no reference to existing official anti-doping guidelines."

"I fully support the principles behind the anti-doping stance of my team and when the issues concerning the details of the addendum are clarified, I will add my weight to the Katusha Team campaign."

He also stated that contrary to what had been reported, a number of other riders of his team had not yet signed the new contract clause. "Andrei Tchmil claims that except for [Gert] Steegmans, McEwen and [Kenny] De Haes everyone else has signed which is actually not true," he said. "A number of other riders have not signed the annex including Toni Colom and Joan Horrach."

McEwen is currently healing a knee injury, hoping to come back to racing in the second half of the season.

Was directly followed by this:

Colom suspended for EPO positive

Team Katusha's Antonio Colom has been provisionally suspended by the UCI following a positive test for recombinant EPO. The sport's governing body announced Tuesday that Colom returned the positive test following an out-of-competition control on April 2, 209. He was targeted for additional controls using information from his blood profile and his race schedule, the UCI said.

Team director Serge Parsani was surprised at the news. "This is the first I heard of this. If it is on the UCI's website at least they could inform the team," he told Cyclingnews.

Colom is the second rider from the team to test positive. Austrian Christian Pfannberger was declared positive on May 6 this year. The UCI later confirmed that he was found positive for EPO.

Colom is allowed to request the counter-analysis of his B-sample, and his suspension will remain provisional until the Spanish Cycling Federation decides whether he has violated the anti-doping rules.

rwsaunders
06-09-2009, 04:18 PM
Not to judge Robbie Mac one way or another, but what does he have to gain by modifying his contract without an extension or a salary increase being a condition of the modification? It's HR 101.

jmgorman
06-09-2009, 04:24 PM
He might gain the trust of fans who were a little confused as to why he moved to a pretty suspicious team in the first place. True, they probably drove a truck full of money over to his house, but there have been red flags about Katusha from day one.

Now, with two teammates suspended for positive tests, it seems Robbie would benefit among his fans and the press from taking a strong stand against doping.

LegendRider
06-10-2009, 06:13 AM
Not to judge Robbie Mac one way or another, but what does he have to gain by modifying his contract without an extension or a salary increase being a condition of the modification? It's HR 101.

True. Plus, I'd be scared of having my food or drink spiked, taking a tainted supplement, etc. and risking 5x my salary.

paczki
06-10-2009, 06:17 AM
True. But you got to admit maybe mentioning Colom to clarify wasn't the best move. :bike:

wasfast
06-10-2009, 01:59 PM
He might gain the trust of fans who were a little confused as to why he moved to a pretty suspicious team in the first place. True, they probably drove a truck full of money over to his house, but there have been red flags about Katusha from day one.

Now, with two teammates suspended for positive tests, it seems Robbie would benefit among his fans and the press from taking a strong stand against doping.

The explaination for the move was more about being on a "team" which implies that there are multiple members instead of being a one man sprint machine. He was isolated on Silence-Lotto and got tired of it. Makes sense in that respect.

Why Katusha is another matter, most likely because of salary. I suspect you don't really know what you're stepping into when changing teams as the behind the scenes "activities" seem well cloaked.