One Opinion On Astana
Astana and the ASO – An opinion piece by bicycle.net
It goes without saying that every organization is entitled to set their own standards and practices, and the ASO is no exception. With today’s news that the ASO has chosen to exclude Astana from all of the races that they promote this year, we must not overlook the other interesting tidbit hidden in the announcement. There is evidence that the ASO intends to heal its troubled relationship with the UCI.
Today, along with the announcement that Astana will be excluded from the Paris-Nice race and all other Amaury Sports contests, was the somewhat surprising inclusion of ALL of the other Pro-Tour teams. The ASO is putting aside the decision of the Giro d’Italia and including among others, Team High Road, the only American Pro-Tour Team and a leader in the anti-doping movement. The ASO should be commended for their choice to include the remaining 17 Pro-Tour teams, a decision that they surely did not come to lightly given past strained relationships with the UCI.
Last years Tour de France was an exercise in patience, as every day it seemed that another rider, or two, or even a whole team was removed from cycling’s most important event. It was impossible to root for a single rider because every day it seemed that somebody else was caught red handed. Astana was the team with the most strikes against them last year and team leader Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour de France champion, has at times been either implicated or associated with Operacion Puerto. The ASO is exercising its right to attempt to maintain the integrity of their events and to prevent the fiasco that was last years Tour de France. New management or not, the Astana team is still at it roots the Astana team of old and will have to go along way to improving its image in the sport.
Athletes should be given second chances. The ‘win-it-all’ mentality of sport often propels them into the gray areas of competition, and when drugs are removed from the equation they are just human beings. Management, on the other hand, makes a conscience decision to pressure its players in whatever sport they compete to go harder and for longer just for the glory of one more win. Teams and their owners must be held to a higher standard and the Amaury Sports Organization is saying just that in their decisions this week.
In a few days, Bicycle.net will begin reporting from the 2008 Amgen Tour of California. Astana, High Road and many of the other Pro Tour teams will be there. Hopefully, as the race travels through California, from the storied campus of Stanford University to Pasadena’s fabled home of sport the Rose Bowl, a new era in clean competition will begin.
Maybe, just maybe, Astana can prove the ASO wrong and show that they are not the Astana of old, but a new organization with a new focus. Races should be won through training and practice, and hopefully, next week will prove that.
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Bravo,
Now is the time for everyone involved in professional cycling, The Organizers, The Teams and their administrators, to look to the future. We can have a clean sport if everyone buys into and supports a clean future. The past is just that The Past……Now it seems that the light is on, let the chips read. The world of professional cycling will live and/or die by what the players decide to do.