Vuelta a Vino

27 August 2009 | 0:00 - By Matthew Keenan

The return of Alexandre Vinokourov to one of the big stages of cycling presents a challenge to those of us who love the sport, writes Matthew Keenan.

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Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov (Getty)

Prior to the blood doping saga of 2007 Alexandre Vinokourov was almost universally loved for the way he raced but his return to the peloton sends a shiver through the spine of cycling’s reputation.

Although he made his return, with a win in the individual time trial no less, at the Tour de l'Ain in France earlier this month it will be at the Vuelta a Espana where the Kazakh will really put cycling's credibility to the test.

Admittedly there are others at the Vuelta with crosses against their name. The most obvious, and high profile one, being Ivan Basso.

But somehow Basso’s return is less of a concern to the reputation of the sport. He has handled himself with a fair degree of dignity through what has clearly been a difficult period.

What makes Vinokourov so unique is the brashness of his return.

We got a real insight into just how little Vinokourov thought of his own misgivings when he held a press conference in Monaco, just before the Tour de France, stating that if Johan Bruyneel didn't want to take him back on the team then Johan would have to go.

Wow!

‘No officer I didn’t steal that car sitting in my driveway. Someone else must have put it there. Honest.’

Alexandre please, even if you don’t believe it at least tease us with some nicely spun statements of remorse.

No, that’s clearly not his style. Nor the style of his national federation as it turns out who are throwing their full support behind Kazakhstan's former pin-up boy.

Not only will the 34-year-old be back on one of the biggest stages in cycling he’ll be one of the protected riders of the Astana team.

And with the way he races, the style scores of us fell in love with many years ago, he could well be on the winners podium somewhere throughout the three weeks.

Coverage of such a win, if it were to happen, would probably go largely unnoticed by Australia’s mainstream media.

For the sake of cycling's reputation in Australia it would be one of those rare occasions that no coverage would be a good thing for the sport.

The Vuelta a Espana starts with a 4.5km prologue in Assen, Holland, on Saturday 29 August.

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18 Sep 2009 10:55 AEST

Trish

From: Melbourne Australia

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Dave, read your comments about riders happy to stay etc,etc. It all gets back to money, and the simple fact that riders are riding for themselves first, the team aspect is a fundamental for the sponsors and tour organizers. If riders were a one man show, there wouldn't be blood doping,drugs, or herbal teas. The shame would kill a rider if that were the case. It would be splashed across the newspapers, like an Olympic athlete when they are caught out. And wouldn't that be an interesting race, if a rider had to perform all the solo specialities, such as lead outs,blocking,hill climbing,sprinting,and the list goes on. Could any rider be a one-man-show.?? This would test out a doper, because drugs etc, only give a rider endurence, not skill. Maybe it's just my thoughts, but I'm sticking to it.

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10 Sep 2009 23:12 AEST

KEN42

From: Brisbane

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Why can SBS NEVER manage to show updates on a tour without starting LATE at least once every tour. The Velta coverage started 12 minutes late today so some drongos could prat on about cricket? Who cares, I do when my video recorder only captures 5 minutes of the 10 minute coverage of the Vuelta. SBS you have 2 channels if you can't start on time every morning then move the report to the other channel ans START ON TIME! Apart from that reports are good, keep up the good work, thanks.

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07 Sep 2009 8:41 AEST

Dave

From: Canberra

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Good work on the commentary Matt. Just a correction though, the Vuelta is not pronounced Volta but like V-well-ta. Definitely hard to get the names of all the riders right but may as well get the race name sorted. Cheers

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01 Sep 2009 17:36 AEST

LEA

From: SYDNEY

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I must agree with views expressed re Vino's return to the peleton, I was impressed with his skills before his doping charge[s], now we know why he was so good...shame, shame! Riders like him only tarnish the sport, if the UCI and WADA are serious about cleaning up, then cheats should be given a 10 year suspension, that way there is not much likelyhood of them returning in a competitive manner.

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31 Aug 2009 18:47 AEST

Ben

From: Lithgow

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Nigel nobody wanted Contador. DSC folded and he couldn't get a contract anywhere. He had no choice but to go with Bruyneel and Astana. Beats being out of a job. Sorry Jonno for being annoying, I'll stop commenting on Astana for the year with one exception, Vino is fair game. Dave unless WADA implement a test for autologuous blood doping, only the idiots will be caught doping.

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31 Aug 2009 17:47 AEST

Reg Cooper

From: NSW

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Who cares about the cheat, how about SBS updating the Vuelta information, standings etc.

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31 Aug 2009 17:38 AEST

Nigel

From: Cairns

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Personally, I thought Contador signing with Astana when he did was a very strange thing to do - both from a perceptions point of view and because he must have known that they would not be in the tour in 08. I hope Vino, Valverde, Basso at al are tested every single day. I agree, giving a cheat a second chance is one thing, but giving an unrepentant cheat another go is even worse.

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31 Aug 2009 10:50 AEST

Jonno

From: Geelong

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Hindsight is such a wonderful thing Ben from Lithgow... God you're annoying!!!

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30 Aug 2009 21:33 AEST

Dave

From: Sydney

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Given his attitude, it will be hard to believe that Vinokourov has suddenly changed his ways and is now racing clean. Hopefully Contador will do all that he can to leave Astana ASAP as it is only a matter of time before either Vino or one of the others on Astana tests positive which would surely lead to Astana being banned from the Tour de France (again). It puzzles me why riders are seemingly happy to remain on the teams of riders who are at high risk of testing positive.

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30 Aug 2009 21:33 AEST

Dave

From: Sydney

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Given his attitude, it will be hard to believe that Vinokourov has suddenly changed his ways and is now racing clean. Hopefully Contador will do all that he can to leave Astana ASAP as it is only a matter of time before either Vino or one of the others on Astana tests positive which would surely lead to Astana being banned from the Tour de France (again). It puzzles me why riders are seemingly happy to remain on the teams of riders who are at high risk of testing positive.

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