{"id":4209,"date":"2014-05-22T12:39:10","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T12:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=4209"},"modified":"2014-05-22T13:57:19","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T13:57:19","slug":"rogers-giro-stage-victory-leaves-me-underwhelmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/05\/22\/rogers-giro-stage-victory-leaves-me-underwhelmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogers’ Giro stage victory leaves me underwhelmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared in PezCycling News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"giro_ditalia<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s cut to the chase. Tinkoff-Saxo\u2019s Michael Rogers is a divisive figure and many would have watched the finale of yesterday\u2019s Stage 11 of the 2014 Giro d\u2019Italia in a slightly perplexed state, unsure whether or not to cheer on the Australian\u2019s undoubtedly impressive solo break that culminated in a handsome victory.<\/p>\n

Much of the blame for that uncertainty lies in large measure with the UCI, given that of the three incidents involving Rogers that have led people, rightly or wrongly, to suspect that the rider in question may have knowingly doped in the past, the world\u2019s governing body has been directly at fault in two.<\/p>\n

The first of these \u2018incidents\u2019 came in May 2013, when the French sports newspaper L\u2019Equipe published a list that had been leaked from the UCI that was laughingly labeled \u2018secret\u2019, which contained the name of 40 riders, ranking them according to the level of suspicion with regards to doping.<\/p>\n

Rogers warranted a \u20187\u2019 on the scale, which was defined him as having supplied values that provided \u201coverwhelming evidence of some kind of doping, due to recurring anomalies, enormous variations in parameters, and even the identification of doping products or methods\u201d.<\/p>\n

Was there any action taken as a result of this list? None. Not by the UCI, nor the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA), nor by any team or rider in the form of litigation against the UCI or L\u2019Equipe.<\/p>\n

Everyone kept mum, and it was business as usual the very next day. Had the list been leaked to try to ensure a clean Tour de France that year? Was it an attempt to name and shame riders into cleanliness? Why were no blood values ever released to support the claims made? Why did not one single rider ever speak about the list?<\/p>\n

Too many questions, and absolutely zero answers. It was a screw up by the UCI of rather mammoth proportions, and it left the cycling public more confused than ever as to the state of their beloved sport whilst simultaneously guaranteeing a smudged question mark over any remarkable performance by any of the riders high up on the list.<\/p>\n

As in yesterday, as with Rogers.<\/p>\n

Next cock-up for the UCI where Rogers was concerned came when he tested positive for Clenbuterol on the 20th<\/sup> of October, 2013 at the Japan Cup, after having been in China previously. We all know about this little cherry-bomb of a drug and China and there\u2019s little need to go over that too much.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s worth noting the UCI\u2019s inconsistency in dealing with Clenbuterol cases. Alberto Contador and WADA dragged the sport through the mud for months before he was finally banned then cleared then banned then stripped of his titles won during the period when he was riding but shouldn\u2019t have been and yes, it is all very confusing.<\/p>\n

Rogers and other riders who returned positives after racing in China have been cleared whereas Chinese rider Fuy Li, formerly of Radioshack, was suspended for 2 years for a positive test for Clenbuterol.<\/p>\n

In the case of Rogers, it seemed that there would be little to gain from taking minute amounts of the drug and most felt that he had indeed ingested contaminated meat. However, having said that, the UCI must decide what level of Clenbuterol deserves a positive ranking, and thereby apply the full sanctions to anyone over that limit.<\/p>\n

The riders too must take full responsibility for the food they eat, and any rider with any trace of Clenbuterol below any limit set by the UCI should automatically be banded from racing for one year. This will send out a clear message that the \u2018I didn\u2019t know what I was taking\u2019 defence is unsupportable in the current climate.<\/p>\n

The fans deserve more. They deserve to know exactly what is going on and the UCI must establish a rule of consistency to bring back the trust of the public with regards to doping in our sport.<\/p>\n

This needs to be done because I am sure that many of you out there were in a similar boat to myself, watching something on the road into Savona that left you uneasy and unsure of how to react. I also apologise for taking up perfectly good column space with 700 words on doping, but having read several articles on the stage this morning it was obvious that there was yet again a glossing over of what is the most pressing issue that our sport faces.<\/p>\n

All this was brought about by a victory by a man on a bike \u2013 something that should be so uniting and beautiful, and yet, thanks to the incompetency that has gripped the UCI for far too long, was not much short of utterly confusing. Rogers though also shares some blame for the doubts, as he is yet another rider who worked with the infamous Dr. Ferrari in his career, between 2005 and 2006.<\/p>\n

“It was a mistake,” he said at the time, hand-winding the gramophone upon which that old record was playing.<\/p>\n

What else happened? Ah yes, Cadel Evans was again so comfortable that he may as well be racing in his slippers and wearing a smoking jacket. He will win this Giro, if his luck holds out, and if you can find a more deserving winner of a Grand Tour in the past few years, I\u2019d like to know his name.<\/p>\n

Evans is all gumption and very little style, but his aggressive tenacity is hugely impressive. All those years I thought he was the most boring man in the room, he was probably just the cleanest\u2026<\/p>\n

Rogers may well owe Evans and BMC a pint too for his win. Evans is not a sentimental man but it looked for all the world like he sent his teammate to the head of the race in those final 3km to slow down the chasers that fancied their chances of reeling Rogers in.<\/p>\n

In the end though, the Australian veteran won, and, in the end, I\u2019m still not sure what to make of it all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared in PezCycling News. Let\u2019s cut to the chase. Tinkoff-Saxo\u2019s Michael Rogers is a divisive figure and many would have watched the finale of yesterday\u2019s Stage 11 of the 2014 Giro d\u2019Italia in a slightly perplexed state, unsure whether or not to cheer on the Australian\u2019s undoubtedly impressive solo break that culminated in a handsome victory. Much of the blame for that uncertainty lies in large measure with the UCI, given that of the three incidents involving Rogers that have led people, rightly or wrongly, to suspect that the rider in question may have knowingly doped in the past, the world\u2019s governing body has been directly at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40955418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Rogers' Giro stage victory leave me underwhelmed","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119818829,194158,159546164],"tags":[1173184,2858019,77823,236016780,9543826,1326240,1452202,237501],"class_list":["post-4209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dopepunk","category-other-publications","category-punkopinion","tag-1173184","tag-clenbuterol","tag-doping","tag-giro-ditaslian","tag-lee-rodgers","tag-michael-rogers","tag-stage-11","tag-uci"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2OfoS-15T","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3521,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/01\/09\/doping-does-nothing-ever-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":4209,"position":0},"title":"doping: does nothing ever change?","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"1\u6708 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 By Cillian Kelly, of Irish Peloton and the Velocast podcast ________________________________________ \u00a0 \"We learn from history that we never learn anything from history.\" Hegel \u00a0 In October last year, the Italian cyclist Mauro Santambrogio opened up his smartphone, browsed to the twitter app, typed in two words and pressed\u2026","rel":"","context":"dopepunk","block_context":{"text":"dopepunk","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/dopepunk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/128333510_giro_02_414581c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/128333510_giro_02_414581c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/128333510_giro_02_414581c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2276,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2013\/06\/06\/acquarone-on-the-giro-dopers-we-all-knew\/","url_meta":{"origin":4209,"position":1},"title":"Acquarone on the Giro Dopers: “we all knew”","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"6\u6708 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"an absolutely extraordinary statement from the race director of the world's best stage race, Michele Acquarone, in response to the news of Santambrogio's positive test that emerged like yet another flying bullet in the hide of pro cycling. \"Of course I'm not happy, but I'm not even surprised,\" Acquarone said.\u2026","rel":"","context":"dopepunk","block_context":{"text":"dopepunk","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/dopepunk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/acquaronetour640.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/acquaronetour640.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/acquaronetour640.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2998,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2013\/11\/15\/e450-for-the-gc-at-the-giro-womens-cycling-still-faces-massive-disparity\/","url_meta":{"origin":4209,"position":2},"title":"\u20ac450 for the GC at the Giro? women’s cycling still faces massive disparity","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"11\u6708 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"this article originally appeared in The Roar ______________________________ Changes are being rung in under the new presidency of the UCI by Brian Cookson \u2013 from confiscating computers and hard drives from MacQuaid\u2019s people right after his victory to setting out a roadmap for the sport\u2019s recovery \u2013 but one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"punkopinion","block_context":{"text":"punkopinion","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/punkopinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/1003885_471687112918447_687849439_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/1003885_471687112918447_687849439_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/1003885_471687112918447_687849439_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/1003885_471687112918447_687849439_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1277,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2012\/12\/15\/katusha-know-whodunnit-but-not-why\/","url_meta":{"origin":4209,"position":3},"title":"Katusha: we know whodunnit, but not why","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"12\u6708 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"crankpunk's seen it all now. just when you thought that favoritism and an absurd disregard for the blatantly obvious might have become a thing of the past, when you felt that the powers-that-be could no longer act with impunity and that they would have to comprehend that their motives must\u2026","rel":"","context":"dopepunk","block_context":{"text":"dopepunk","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/dopepunk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/pic284331722_600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/pic284331722_600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/pic284331722_600.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4151,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/05\/07\/the-giro-needs-a-helping-hand\/","url_meta":{"origin":4209,"position":4},"title":"the Giro needs a helping hand","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"5\u6708 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year\u2019s Giro d\u2019Italia started with a star-studded field, with the 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky rolling up to the start alongside the eventual winner, Vincenzo Nibali of Italy. Mark Cavendish took five stages and the Points Classification, becoming only the fifth rider to win\u2026","rel":"","context":"punkopinion","block_context":{"text":"punkopinion","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/punkopinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/logo-giro.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/logo-giro.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crankpunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/logo-giro.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4222,"url":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2014\/05\/24\/cadel-evans-a-tour-de-france-a-world-championships-and-still-underrate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4209,"position":5},"title":"Cadel Evans: A Tour de France, a World Championships and still underated","author":"Lee Rodgers","date":"5\u6708 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"note: ok i know this is stupid, ridiculous, possible worthy of ridicule, but i have always though Cadel to be clean - or cleanER than the rest. i know. makes no sense. none at all. but like a man hanging to a cliff by a finger nail above a 500m\u2026","rel":"","context":"punkopinion","block_context":{"text":"punkopinion","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/category\/punkopinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/W4NZg6Vx2kQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Lee Rodgers","author_link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/author\/crankpunk\/"},"rttpg_comment":3,"rttpg_category":"dopepunk<\/a> other publications<\/a> punkopinion<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"This article originally appeared in PezCycling News. Let\u2019s cut to the chase. Tinkoff-Saxo\u2019s Michael Rogers is a divisive figure and many would have watched the finale of yesterday\u2019s Stage 11 of the 2014 Giro d\u2019Italia in a slightly perplexed state, unsure whether or not to cheer on the Australian\u2019s undoubtedly impressive solo break that culminated…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40955418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4209"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17181,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions\/17181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}