Category: News Page 4 of 6

He’s on morphine, but he’s still concerned about sending a blog update on his condition. Same old Tim. That’s good news.

The bad news is that he’s going to be healing for a while. He’s on morphine due to the pain of his injuries including fractures of his skull, vertebrae, knee, ribs, and of course, his nearly-severed thumb (now successfully reattached).

Sounds like he’ll be in the hospital for a few more days and then home for lots of healing. He knows how many people are sending their thoughts, love and prayers and he says he really appreciates it.

Get well soon, my friend!

Thanks to KK, there is an update on Tim Jackson. According to her blog post:

He hit the boards at about 30 mph trying to avoid another rider. He was on a brand new bike, 24 laps into a 25 lap race… He sustained a concussion, a broken rib and nearly severed his right thumb clean off. At the moment he has a blood clot behind his left eye and three cracked vertebrae in his neck – hence the neck brace – which they say he’ll have to live with for the next six weeks. We are waiting for the results of a cat scan to determine the condition of his right knee…

Unbelievable as it sounds they expect to have him standing upright, at least a little bit, later this evening.

Get well soon, my friend!

Donna Tocci from Kryptonite just wrote an email to tell me that our friend and fellow Spokesmen, Tim Jackson (aka Masiguy), was injured pretty seriously at the velodrome last night according to an account on the Blue Squirrel blog today. Here’s what he had to say:

unfortunately i have some bad news to report concerning one of our star riders, tim, aka masiguy, action jackson, maggie. apparently a total nob slowed down in front of him at the SD velodrome last night and tim tried to go high and ended up hitting the boards at 30mph +. he sustained a concussion [he was out for 5 minutes], broken ribs, a few fractured neck bones and a mangled thumb that will have surgery done on it today. please keep tim in your prays and i will update his legions of fans here as soon as i know more.

I’ll be keeping tabs on this too and will keep you updated. In the meantime, I hope you’ll all send your thoughts and prayers out to Tim. I am.

It’s bad news for those hoping for an Astana invite and a chance for last year’s champion Alberto Contador to defend his title. With no invitation for Astance, Levi Leipheimer won’t get to try to better his third place finish either.

On the bright side, Team Slipstream-Chipotle has earned a place in the starting line up for this year’s race.

Here is the complete list of invitees:

Ag2r-La Mondiale
Agritubel
Barloworld
Bouygues Telecom
Caisse d’Epargne
Cofidis
Crédit Agricole
CSC
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Française des Jeux
Gerolsteiner
Lampre 
Liquigas
Milram
Quick Step
Rabobank
Saunier Duval
Silence-Lotto
Slipstream-Chiptole
Team High Road

On last night’s show, I mentioned the Associated Press story about how the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is paying so much for the Floyd Landis appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport that it is going to take 5 – 10% out of their annual budget.

Today, the Associated Press reports (via the International Herald Tribune) reports that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is stepping in to cover USADA’s expenses.

According to the AP story, “One source familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press that WADA was footing the entire bill; another said ‘most’ of the bill. Neither agreed to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case.”

What is also interesting is that WADA made the decision to step in when it became apparent that the International Cycling Union (UCI) refused to offer any assistance to USADA. According to WADA, this was “disappointing, particularly as it is a case under UCI rules.”

Personally, I don’t see why anyone is upset that USADA, WADA, or any other alphabet soup group has to foot the bill for this case. Part of the reason they exist is not only to test athletes, but also to adjudicate cases of suspected doping. If this is part of your business and your charter, then budget for it.

Typical pseudo-governmental agency. I’m surprised they aren’t considering a doping tax to be added to the purchase of all new bicycles sold in the U.S.

Press release : Consequences of Paris-Nice: UCI declaration
18.03.2008
In order to let the riders to concentrate on their race, the International Cycling Union (UCI) opted to refrain from making any declarations during the Paris-Nice event.

The UCI is currently looking into the consequences that will apply to those who breached its rules. This evaluation will take into account the fact that Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), with the collusion of the French Cycling Federation (FFC), deliberately removed Paris-Nice from the organisational structure of the UCI, thus creating a problematic situation for riders and teams alike.

A disciplinary procedure will be opened against the FFC and its President, with a view to imposing sanctions commensurate with the considerable responsibility they bear for the development of the situation.

As far as the riders and their teams are concerned, the UCI will ask for measures appropriate to the situation. A meeting with riders has been scheduled for 25 March, when any relevant information can be exchanged.

The UCI notes that ASO has refused to register Paris-Roubaix – an event regarding which the UCI and ASO substantially agree, e.g. in terms of the applicable participation rules – on the UCI calendar, as well as the Tour de France and Paris-Tours. ASO and the FFC are the only stakeholders to have taken this position, which contradicts the agreement made in Treviso between the UCI and the Presidents of the French, Italian, Spanish, Belgian and Luxembourg federations. The Italian, Belgian and Spanish federations have honoured their commitment by securing from the organisers in their countries an agreement to register their events on the calendars agreed to in Treviso (Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Giro d’Italia and the Tour of Lombardy for Italy; the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège for Belgium; and the Vuelta a España for Spain). The Treviso agreement shows that the UCI and the other parties continue to act in good faith by seeking solutions that are in the best interests of the sport of cycling, its participants and its public.

The 66th Paris-Nice stage race began today under a dark cloud of accusations, counter-accusations and threats. Despite that, great racing is expected.

Today’s Prologue was taken by Thor Hushovd.

For those of you wondering, here is a list of teams that started today’s race, despite the threats by the UCI:

Crédit Agricole
Team CSC
Slipstream Chipotle
Liquigas
Team Milram
Bouygues Telecom
Quick Step
Caisse d’Epargne
Française des Jeux
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Gerolsteiner
Ag2r
Silence-Lotto
Cofidis
Rabobank
High Road
Agritubel
Skil-Shimano
Lampre
Saunier Duval-Scott

(Lausanne, 7 March 2008 – Court of Arbitration for Sport) The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the request for provisional and conservatory measures filed by the International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT), by seven professional cycling teams (Quickstep, Rabobank, Liquigas, Milram, Silence-Lotto, CSC and Suanier-Duval) as well as the Cyclistes Professionnels AssociÈsî (CPA).

A request for arbitration had been filed with the CAS on 5 March 2008 requesting that the CAS declare illegal or abusive the injunction preventing the teams from participating in the Paris-Nice race, under the threat of their own suspension, or that of their professional cyclists. The request was directed against the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). Moreover, the claimants sought a provisional authorisation from the CAS to participate in the 2008 Paris-Nice race without prejudice of the full examination of the legal or abusive character of the decision taken by the UCI to prevent the teams from competing in the race.

The UCI and the ASO both submitted that the CAS was not competent to decide this dispute.

The CAS decision taken today concerns only the request for provisional measures. The claimants have the possibility of continuing this arbitration procedure and requesting that the issue of jurisdiction be examined again by a panel of CAS arbitrators. However, such a procedure would take several days in order to respect the deadlines set out in the Code of Sports-related Arbitration.

The CAS Secretary General, Matthieu Reeb, has affirmed that the CAS remains at the disposal of all the parties concerned, should they require it, to find a solution to this dispute, by means of arbitration or mediation, either immediately or at another time convenient to the parties.

(March 7, 2008, Lausanne – From the UCI) The International Cycling Union (UCI) decided today to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the French Cycling Federation (FFC) and its President, Mr Jean Pitallier, on the grounds that they colluded in effecting the withdrawal of Paris-Nice from the regulatory framework of the UCI, when there was no reason why the race should not have been held under the aegis of the UCI as an event on the international calendar. By so doing, the FFC and Mr J. Pitallier betrayed their obligations of loyalty towards the UCI and the entire cycling community.

Further to the comments recently made about the UCI ProTour by Mr Eric Boyer, President of the International Association of Professional Cycling Groups (AIGCP), the UCI wrote today to Mr Boyer asking for his resignation from the UCI ProTour Council.

The UCI has also decided to open disciplinary proceedings against Mr Boyer. The grounds for the complaint are that he encouraged members of the AIGCP to contravene the UCI rules by asking them to take part in Paris-Nice when the event is not on the UCI calendar, which means that member teams of the AIGCP are not entitled to take part in the race.