A little ironic

[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.

[bruce]

The new Bulk Pack Meat?