Doping

The UCI need to issue a warning before a team can be denied a World Tour license, a precedent set when they tried to deny Katusha a license back in 2012.

As far as I know, they've not yet done this so Astana will get their license.

As for Nibali leaving, no-one can afford him at this point of the year unless they can find additional sponsorship. He's on approx €3 million a year, plus you'll need to fund a handful of his domestiques, his mechanic, his siognier, his trainer, Slongo, etc. Plus he'd be in breach of contract.

Denying Astana a licence isn't going to happen for being seen with dodgy characters. The Uci will just end up losing at cas. Like the Katusha case.

Tldr. Andy is right.

I'm not so sure. We shall see

We shall. But CAS set a precedent with the Katusha case, namely that because the UCI had not warned them before trying to deny them a license, they hadn't followed their own process. (Well played, Pat).

I don't know how such warnings are issued, but as far as I know the UCI haven't done this yet with Astana.

Personally, I think Vino and his dodgy regime backed band of sponsors should do one and hope the UCI are doing everything they can to hasten their exit from the sport. It's unfortunate for Cookson that he's the one having to clear up the mess created by Verbruggen and McQuaid and their tacit acceptance that doping was okay as long as it was hidden, but strong leadership is required now more than ever.

strong leadership is required now more than ever.

Yeah, we need more Vinos!

#sorryifI'vemissedsomething

Did not expect that

So meta, considering that Vinokourov is already the background image. :)

I can't seem to find anything of substance in La Gazzetta dello Sport regarding new 'evidence'. I might be missing it with my crap understanding of Italian.

Ferrari has called it "media bullshit" and it does sort-of looks that way.

If it topples Vinokourov then perhaps it's just means-to-an-end.

Shocking new pictures of Nibali with Ferrari have emerged in the Italian press this morning.

Is it required of people to dress like that when watching formula 1?

Yep. Unless you're David Coulthard, in which case the tighty whities are compulsory too.

Clearly the British examples were an error, but this doesn't look good on the IAAF.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/dec/09/iaaf-alleged-blind-eye-suspicious-blood-tests-briton

Wouldn't want to speculate on who the British athlete is, but Alberto Salazar is as dodgy as fuck IMO. He won the Comrades Marathon on Prozac, and the health of some of his athletes - Galen Rupp's hypothyroidism for example - rings alarm bells.

Gazzetta says these are the cyclists named in the Padua documents

Ross Tucker (Scienceofsport):
La Gazzetta opens the Padova dossier, names 38 riders as Ferrari clients and details phone taps, SMSs, depositions and more

http://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/542574767891841024

retweet of @inrng tweet

Where are the rest?

Here;

Jersey Pocket Howard (TheJerseyPocket):
Vital reading:“@SSbike: Astana, Radioshack suspected of systematic doping as 35 riders named in Padova investigation http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/12/padovaferrari-investigation-35-pro-riders-named-astana-and-radioshack-suspected-of-systematic-doping/”

http://twitter.com/TheJerseyPocket/status/542659580896231424

That'll be the RadioShack team set up and owned by Armstrong? I, for one, am shocked etc and so on and so forth...

I think he's breaking the rules by not wearing some kind of baseball cap with a curved peak and hundreds of logos on.

Looking at the list of names in the screen shot from the clinic posted by Andy, can I be the first to say that it's curtains for Karpets.

http://proteam-astana.com/2014/12/10/uci-license-commission-10-dec-2014/

As far as I know, they've not yet done this so Astana will get their license.

See. Whether they keep it is another matter.

And whether their sponsors will stick with them. Astana is now a toxic brand

never been a problem in cycling before