Athena

All the talk about everyone getting their lawyers in on the action and the Mountain bike reporter is call Sue George!!!! makes you wonder Gianetti beefs up Scott, fights Saunier Duval withdrawal Mauro Gianetti, the manager of the former Saunier Duval team announced Friday that the team had added a new title sponsor. In addition to Scott, the team added American Beef as co-title sponsor. The team also announced it would challenge the decision of former sponsor Saunier Duval to withdraw its sponsorship following the doping case of Italian Riccardo Ricc? at the Tour de France. "The team protested through its lawyers, [the] motives invoked by Saunier Duval to break the contract of sponsorship," Gianetti wrote in the statement which was co-signed by directeur sportif Joxean Matxin Fernandez. According to the statement, Saunier Duval has been looking to pull out of cycling even before the Tour de France because of "the adoption of new commercial strategies". "We can not disclaim the fact that they took the opportunity of one of their riders' suspension to adopt this decision which was already carefully planned." Saunier Duval was the sponsor of Gianetti's team beginning in 2004, but ended the relationship after Riccardo Ricc? tested positive in the Tour, and the team withdrew from the race and fired Ricc? and his compatriot Leonardo Piepoli for a "violation of the code of ethics." The team temporarily suspended its racing activities, but will return to competition at the August 2nd Classic of San Sebastian. The team has also asked Unipublic, organizers of the Vuelta, a chance to regain its invitation to the Spanish tour. Rasmussen to appeal Rabobank settlement Michael Rasmussen will appeal the ruling by a Dutch court which decided that his former Rabobank team owed him 665,000 euros in contract fees and interest. The Dane sued his team for wrongful dismissal after being fired from the squad during the 2007 Tour de France. The Danish news agency Ritzau reported that Rasmussen intends to challenge the decision, which was well below the 5.4 million euros he had asked for in the suit. Rasmussen was leading the Tour de France when Rabobank pulled him off the race and fired him for lying about his whereabouts for UCI anti-doping controls. He told the authorities he was in Mexico last June, when he was actually in Italy and France. While he admitted to lying on his declarations, Rasmussen claimed the team knew where he was all along. The Dane was leading the Tour and was a near certainty to win when he was fired for telling the International Cycling Union (UCI) he was in Mexico before the race when he was actually in Italy and France. He has admitted lying about his whereabouts to the UCI, but insists his team knew where he was. Poor conditions halt MTB World Cup opener By Sue George with additional reporting by Dave McElwaine in Mont-Sainte-Anne The sun was out and shining brightly Friday evening over the Mont-Sainte-Anne, Qu?bec, venue hosting this weekend's round of the cross country and gravity mountain bike UCI World Cup, but it wasn't in time to prevent the 4X qualifications from being cancelled for the evening.

I think they should send guys who know how to race....... Apart from Jock Green, Andrew Mclean the rest are local racers who dont have what it takes to compete with the savvy International contingent They might be the strongest but there not exactly the cleverist

Yes, they should recieve a lifetime ban? OR No they should be given a 2 year ban and allowed to race again? Keep it simple..... yes OR no

online shops are not ther to answer your queries, there there for you to buy the stuff you know you want, if you want advice go to your local bikeshop thats partly what you pay for

ehh not all riders cheat....but it seems many do, and the message is not getting through.... if you cheat you will get caught, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, and soon you will be banned for the rest of your life. There should be no Im say NO way back for cheats....life bans.

Every diva in a James Bond movie had a super name Pussy Galore, Allota Vagina etc etc who would you be? and why right now i'm looking for Amanda Huginkiss! Let your creative Juices flow

Well, if you want to call it back stabbing - It's about time Mel and Nic stab <?: prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Douglas in the back!<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> For the following reasons: 1. FACT - He treats his riders like sh*t, even the likes of Nic and Mel that has been riding on the team for nearly a century. 2. He troughs wobbly on a weekly basis (and believe me when Douglas gets his panties in a bunch its something you'd wanne see to believe!) 3. He also reminds and threatens riders on a weekly basis how much he has done for them and how replaceable they are bla bla 4. Douglas Rider and Respect can't be mentioned in the same sentence. *Coodos to Douglas because he is a businessman and selling is his game, securing sponsors his main interest. He has always had the guys by the short and curlies and that is why they have put up with his temper tantrums for all this time not loyalty I am afraid. - if there was anything better out there MTN would certainly not have 12 riders

Specialized...... for us big foot south africans fit like a glove....no matter what size the foot...... and a shoe to match any budget

http://www.dancingwithlouis.com/images/luismain.jpg

There is no problem between David and Darren' date=' they good mates. Darren would be a good choice and he is riding well at the moment. [/quote'] Well Chunky I just couldn't help but notice that whenever DG is discussed in any way you are scoring major brownie points! <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> I hope he is making it worth your while for all this PR! <?: prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />

Chunky..... Is NOT bitter!

Keith, it wont make a huge difference which bike you buy its the set up that will make the difference, both would be very similar, but from a shop that will fit you out properly, buy yourself a pair of clipless pedals, shoes and good shorts, jersey and helmet. at the entry level there is very little difference between the brands, advice setup and service are far more important. Go to Cyclelab they always have an excellent setup service, they will have everything you need, range price and above all else there very helpfull

A ladies only bunch sprint in South-Africa happens almost in slow motion, racing with the men is much better for practicing gnarly bunch sprints so when the ladies do get the opportunity to ride overseas they will be prepared for it. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Taylorchic is a fierce competitor and not afraid to mix it up with the boys she took a chance to go early in the sprint and it paid off.

Bullsh*t !!!!!!!!!!! If Robert Could have beaten David he would have. Please dont kid yourself. Just like David will never beat Hunter in a sprint' date=' Robert has no chance against David on this Time trial. Give credit where credit is due. Nobody can beat David on this climb. I spoke to David after the TT and he also said he was not maxed either. All this crap is unnecessary. They both great riders. Hunter is Top class in the sprints and David the same in the TT and on the climbs. Barloworld might as well have given David their kit to race in. Wherever he was there were 6 Barloworld riders around him, well those that could keep up anyway !!!!![/quote'] Easy Tigress..<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> I don?t think the idea ever was to compare climbers against sprinters; the comparison was made on a world scale performance Hunter versus George, and sorry mate in South-Africa George might be a big fish climber in a small pond but Hunter certainly proved he can sprint against the world?s best with results to back.

Ladies racing will only benefit hugely from racing with the men. Back in the day the Ladies raced all their races with the vests and when Anke Erlank went to the world champs in <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />San Sebastian Spainon> 1997 she was able to make the winning break of 6 girls in the Woman?s Elite race without any international racing under her belt on a very tough climbing course. In South Africa she simply rode away from all the other woman being able to race with the men. On some occasions she would even stay in with the elite men till the very end over hilly courses, however she was something else, tough as nails. I have yet to see the woman that can train like her, a hard 180km on the bike and then go for a 15km run afterwards and then a full swimming session for cool down on a regular basis.