An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Also, Saunier Duval is offering super low-interest mortgages to first time home buyers!


This is great. A sunny afternoon, a light load of work, a delightful spin around the lakes... and a statement from Team Saunier Duval.


"All our riders gave us guarantees that they were clean," the statement added. "Riccò swore on his mother's head that he had never turned to illegal substances or means to improve his performance. Despite all the efforts made both internally and from outside the team we have failed to avoid this deplorable situation. We are the victims of the deceitful behaviour of those who put our sponsors' investments and the jobs of so many honest people at risk with the loathsome purpose of improving their cycling performance."


OK, so three teams in this year's TDF have independent, third party drug testing every 14 days. And Saunier Duval has... what? Riders' personal guarantees?

I'm no rocket surgeon, but it seems to me that any corporate sponsor who's at all interested in maintaining the credibility of their brand would do well to use something a bit more, uh, reliable than riders' personal guarantees.

Also this: I'll eat my chamois the day one -- just one -- professional rider responds to a doping charge immediately and honestly with an open admission of guilt.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

David Millar admitted straight up, didn't he...?

Pinchie said...

True, Millar was pretty quick about it-- after two days of questioning by police who'd found a bunch of syringes in his home.

Some of the Festina guys 'fessed up pretty quick too, as I recall.... though it took Virenque years to realize he had doped.