"What's the solution?"
-Fire all the sporting directors. Riis is showing the example. It's good that he admitted now that he has to make the next step which is to quit the sport. How can he be taken credible? He's admitted to doping and now he wants us to believe he's going to go back to cycling and this is supposed to make us believe drugs won't be used anymore? There's only one solution: he must leave! And along with him all the sporting directors who have been working for the past 10 years have to quit also. They're the responsible ones. The directors are the ones who blackmail the cyclists they put pressure on the riders to take the epo and all the drugs and the cyclists can't refuse if they want to ride for the team. These directors are the ones who prolong the system and little by little pressure the pros into it. First you go slowly, then you fall slowly then you realize you've thrown everything away. They say to you "here's your choice: you do want we say or you're done cycling."

Jesus Manzano, former pro cyclist.

-Don't dream, he'll [Manolo Saiz, Former Director Sportive of ONCE and Liberty Serguros] come back. For the moment, he's occupied with recuperating his money. He'll be back. After that, he'll let the time go by and then he'll begin again to get new sponsors. These new sponsors will ignore who he is and look the other way. In general, don't kid yourself because they fired one or two sporting directors. Jose Miguel Echavarri (who was the former director of Indurain's Banesto is now the owner of Caisse d'Epargne.) He has explained that his cyclist Valverde is clean. I must be dreaming! Valverde was with Kelme and he was the only one not doing anything wrong....he's in it knee deep with Fuentes. And Echavarri says that he doesn't know anything and he's never seen anything but I know that he personally brought Zaballa to Fuentes. And Jose Maria Jiminez didn't know anything was going on either? So then I'm affirming to you that the world of cycling in Spain is completely corrupt. From top to bottom it goes.

Jesus Manzano, former pro cyclist, when asked about cycling in 2007 interview with L'Equipe.

STATEMENT OF LANCE ARMSTRONG, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE PRO CYCLING TEAM

"For many years now, dating back to 1990, Chris Carmichael has been my coach and most important technical and training advisor. Others who work with Chris include Johan Bruyneel, my director sportif, John Cobb, in charge of aerodynamics, Dr. Luis del Moral, our team physician and Jeff Spencer my chiropractor.

Also included are my close friends, former Belgian champion Eddy Merckx and former Motorola team director Jim Ochowitz.

Chris and I met Michele Ferrari during a training camp in San Diego, California, in 1995. His primary role has always been limited. Since Chris cannot be in Europe on an ongoing basis, Michele does my physiological testing and provides Chris with that data on a regular basis. Chris has grown to trust Michele's opinion regarding my testing and my form on the bike. And lately, we have been specifically working on a run at the hour record. I do not know exactly when I will do that, only that I will in the near future.

He has also consulted with Chris and me on dieting, altitude preparation, hypoxic training and the use of altitude tents, which are all natural methods of improvements.

In the past, I have never denied my relationship with Michele Ferrari. On the other hand, I have never gone out of my way to publicize it. The reason for that is that he has had a questionable public reputation due to the irresponsible comments he made in 1994 regarding EPO.

I want to make it clear that I do not associate myself with those remarks or, for that matter, with anyone who utilizes unethical sporting procedures. However, in my personal experience I have never had occasion to question the ethics or standard of care of Michele. Specifically, he has never discussed EPO with me and I have never used it.
I have always been very clear on the necessity of cycling to be a clean sport and I have firmly stated that anyone, including me, who tests positive for banned substances should be severely punished.

As everyone knows, I am one of the very few riders who have no prescriptions in my health book. I have been repeatedly tested during my career including during the entire 1999 and 2000 Tours de France and most recently during the Tour de Suisse ten days ago."

More depressing news of a new, possibly very big doping ring in Spain. It was interesting to see that the former pro, Jesus Manzano, who provided a lot of testimony in the 'Operacion Puerto' case warned about one of the doctors involved over 2 years ago.

This is what he said to the sports paper 'L'Equipe' in 2007,

“It concerns one of the four Spanish Laboratories accredited by the UCI. This laboratory, which is in charge of sending the UCI vampires [doctors] to take the samples during the Vuelta and other races is the same lab that's in charge of the doctors’ visits to the cyclists. They follow the cyclists and give them the stamp of approval on their licenses."

“The owner of this clinic, a renowned haematologist, called Walter Viru, who is one of the doctors for Kelme, [in order] to alert them the day before the UCI vampires were coming to take the samples from the cyclists. And he did the same thing with Del Moral, the doctor for the US Postal team and then Discovery, [who is] a good friend of his."

Viru is one of the doctors implicated in the latest scandal.

To think that when Manzano first aired his accusations in public he was derided. Just about everything he has said has turned out to be true. He talks of the cycling 'Mafia'. I think he is correct on that one. Just think of where we would be if this one rider decided to say nothing. I think every true cycling fan should be thankful he had the courage to speak out.

The reactionary Sydney Morning Herald "journalist" Miranda Devine has written another one of those hate mongering pieces; this time about cyclists. Not unlike some other sad people such as Jeremy Clarckson, who say stupid things in the hope of getting a reaction because they believe in a school of thought where a lot of people saying bad things about you is a lot better than far fewer people saying nice things.

It all came about when some CCTV footage was released in Australia of a cyclist riding illegally on a motor-way who narrowly escaped getting run over by an overtaking bus. The CCTV footage inside the bus then showed the cyclist who had caught up to the bus abusing the driver in a very aggressive manner.

Nobody is defending the cyclist's abusive tirade but to use this incident to then make ridiculous sweeping statements without a shred of evidence is simply spreading hate and encouraging people to be even more aggressive.

For example she says;

"The road is not there to share. Roads are built for cars. Pretending otherwise is unfair to motorists and cyclists alike."

What an ignorant statement. It also ignores points of law which says that bicycles are legal vehicles that have to obey and follow road rules.

She then continues to embarrass herself by saying that gridlock is mainly caused by bike lanes; other sports enthusiasts such as joggers and rowers are far less aggressive; there is a conspiracy to create slow, unsafe roads to force us out of cars; and that cyclists behave like "jackbooted Soviets."

Whatever she's on I think she needs to go into rehab.

At an education seminar for A-Trainers in Leipzig in November 2005

"It is advisable to abstain from doping with EPO, growth hormones, and the growth factor IGF 1 because they can be detected.”

"His accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home."

"If it doesn't show up in the drug controls, then it's not doping,"

Dr Michele Ferrari, Italian cycling coach.

If you are a cycling fan and you want to read about something depressing look up the following names on wikipedia. Dr Ferrari, Dr Francesco Conconi and Luigi Cecchini. Reading about what they did with cyclists under the care is very disappointing to say the least.

Good on you Cadel! You did for Australia!

"Anyone who sacks a worker for not going into work today is a bum!" - Bob Hawke, Australian Prime Minister when Australia II won America's Cup for first time.