WADA-Heck!! Do you see the difference?

The pictures speak a thousand words.

Another priceless gem from my collection of books and magazines - this one from the 2006 Livre d'Or du Cyclisme (Golden Book of Cycling) written by my friend Jean Francois Quenet or Jeff, who also has the Malay name of Jaafar Qonet given to him, having been a regular visitor of Malaysia the past 13 years.

The 51st page of the book shows what Jeff describes as a "decomposed" Charly Gaul (on top) hosted by the finish atop the Monte Bondone, one of the Dolomites, in the 1956 Giro. The bottom pic shows, 50 years later up the same Dolomite, an Ivan Basso looking "fresh as a roach" getting onto the podium.

Now, maybe Gaul had the wrong kinda pasta for breakfast on June 8, 1956. Maybe his bike was a couple of kilos heavier than Basso's Cervelo.

But 14 months later, Basso's exit in shame on June 30, 2006 when while preparing as the main favourite to succeed Lance Armstrong as winner of cycling's greatest race kind of provided some explanations. Tour de France organisers the ASO had announced a list of riders not welcome to start the Tour that year and Basso was one of them. Later his admission that he "had attempted to dope" to win the Tour de France, handed him a two-year suspension, which has since been exhausted.

Look back 50 years and the cyclists doped as well. But the dope they used were amphetamines, caffeine and cocaine. Maybe some other easily available stuff as well. And 50 years from Gaul's era, doping has become a multi-million euro business for willing sports doctors.

The World Anti-Doping Agency running out of funds fighting the battle in the courts like they're doing here ?

Long live the doctors, cos Basso never really tested positive. He just had relations with Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. But his forced admission that he had contacted a doctor specialising in blood doping was enough to get him banned. So, how does the WADA really catch the dopers? How many Dr. Fuentes' are out there?

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2...Two...II

Rest day in the Giro today and it comes on the back of a string of doubles.

Saunier Duval's Ricardo Ricco had registered his second stage win in the Giro on Saturday. Last night Daniele Bennati (pic) took his second stage win and world champion Paolo Bettini came close two stages in a row, and was denied on the line, first by Ricco on Stage Eight from Rivisondoli to Tivoli, covering 208 km. Ricco's first win was on Stage Two.
Stage Nine last night turned out to be the first real big bunch sprint, albeit through dangerously slim and winding roads leading to the end of the longest stage of the Giro thus far (218km) in San Vicenzo.
There was Milram in the picture, pulling their train for Erik Zabel, High Road was there for Mark Cavensih, Gerolsteiner was there for Robert Forster, Danilo Hondo was led-out by Serramenti Diquigiovanni teammate Rafaele Iliano, albeit to no avail. Tinkoff Credit Systems had shown a slight hint that they were gonna put one exciting young sprinter Nikolai Trusov in the picture, but that too didn't work out. CSF-Group Navigare were not in the picture, but sprinter Tiziano Dall'antonia did do enough damage with his shoulders and arms to stop Cavendish from registering his second win.

But young Cavendish must learn to keep focus and not start venting his frustrations by pointing fingers at Dall'antonia, or any adversary for that matter, 10 metres from the finish line when the bunch is pushing in at break-neck speed!! Watch the finish on TV and you'll see.
Italian national champion Giovanni Visconti holds on to the maglia rosa with a 34s advantage over first chaser Matthias Russ of Gerolsteiner and the main contenders are led by Liquigas' defending champion Danilo di Luca at seven minutes adrift. A chunk of that time, I expect, will be eaten up in the first of the time trials over 34 km from Pesaro to Urbino tomorrow. Although Visconti will have to fare really bad to lose the maglia rosa to one of the main contenders (di Luca, Ricco, Contador, Simoni) tomorrow.

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The Giro really started tonight

For the record, seven stages of the present Giro d'Italia, the second biggest race in the world (second most important, according to which doctrine you read from), have passed and only two stage victories have been registered by Pro Tour teams - High Road's Mark Cavendish on Stage Five and Liquigas' Daniele Bennati the previous stage.

So, the battle or rather debate in that area (Pro Tour of the UCI vs Grand Tour organisers) is being won by the ASO and RCS significantly as they can now tell the UCI and the rest of their backers, including expensive race consultants from countries where bike racing hardly exists, "See, I told you."

The UCI's debate was strengthened only tonight. When inside 10 kilometres to go in the 180km Stage Seven from Vasto to Pescocostanzo when, what I would call the attack that's gonna win the Giro happened.

In my mind I'd been saying,"Wake up Astana, wake up Astana". But Astana didn't wake up. It was only Alberto Contador who woke up, thanks to an attack by Saunier Duval's Ricardo Ricco, which was marked by defending champion Danilo di Luca (LPR) and effectively triggering what kept Contador awake. Up ahead, about three minutes ahead, was a group of five with eventual stage winner Gabriele Bosisio (LPR), Vasil Kiryienka (Tinkoff), Emanuele Sella (CSF-Navigare), Felix Cardenas (Barloworld) and a fading Fortunato Baliani (CSF-Navigare) a little down the road. Leonardo Piepoli, another possible maglia rosa contender from Saunier Duval, had attacked earlier, then waited for the favourites' group to help teammate Ricco, which I thought would be an "insurance" move by the Spanish team with two GC men close to each other. It turned out so, but I had announced to friends I was watching the stage with - Cardenas, the guy on the green Bianchi. That's the stage winner. Didn't happen again.
Bosisio took the win, and Quickstep's Italian champion Giovanni Visconti retained the maglia rosa, by very little this time, but the stage has already been set.

My earlier predictions that the story would also include Serramenti Diquigiovanni's two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni is yet to materialise as he too failed to wake up.

So, just go back to the top of the post and look at those three pictures - (from left to right) Danilo di Luca, Ricardo Ricco, Alberto Contador. The Giro's winner is one of those three.
But with 14 days to go, you wouldn't yet bet your last dollar on it.