Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, December 2, 2015

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"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." - Theodore Roosevelt

Fabio Taborre: "My Life is ruined"

In July of 2015, Fabio Tabbore (Androni Giocattoli) was found postive for FG-4592, a banned substance that causes the body to make EPO. This was Androni Giocattoli's second doping positive for the year, causing the team to be suspended for a month.

Team boss Gianni Savio has filed a 250,000 euro lawsuit against Tabbore and Davide Appollonio, the other team rider who was positive. Plus, the Androni contract calls for a 100,000 euro fine.

Fabio Taborre at the 2013 Giro d'Italia

Taborre says he's innocent and suggests he was sabotaged: "I can not explain my values. After that control they did not change substantially, my hematocrit was not increased and the hemoglobin remained the same. I would have proof of what I say, but I feel that I have suffered sabotage: the substance is in powder form and can be dissolved in coffee, but I do not know. I do not really know what to think. FG-4592 was out on the list of prohibited substances on June 1, I was tested on June 16 and I got the notification in late July" [translation by cyclingquotes.com]

Regarding the fine and the lawsuit: "I do not have that money, he added. My life is ruined. I had a minimum wage, I earned 30,000 euros per year. My career is over. I wonder if this is a way to combat doping. If it is right to use the term 'criminal' used by Savio (the manager of the team) in the media even before I am informed of what happens."

Claude Criquielion gets Mur de Huy tribute

1984 world road champion Claude Criquielion also won the Flèche Wallone twice, in 1985 and 1989. He also won the Tour of Flanders in 1987 and several other big-time races.

Claude Criquielion on his way to becoming world road champion

Sadly, the Belgian racer died in February of 2015 after a stroke, at only 58.

The city of Huy decided to honor Criquielion by naming one of the curves on the Muy de Huy for him, appropriate since that is the finishing climb of the Flèche Wallone where he found so much glory. A monument was placed there in a ceremony attended by Criquielion's widow Linda as well as ASO president Jean-Etienne Amaury and Tour boss Christian Prudhomme

Tinkoff team starts 2016 season with training camp

A month after holding its team meeting in Poreč, Croatia, Tinkoff will embark on the first training camp of the 2016 season. The team's riders, management, mechanics, soigneurs and staff will spend two weeks, from December 5 to 18, at the ANFI Tauro resort in Gran Canaria, setting the ground work for the year ahead.

In 2015, Tinkoff-Saxo focused heavily on training camps as a way of building basic condition during off-season and polishing the race shape in between races.

For Stefano Feltrin, Managing Director of Tinkoff, the winter training camps in Gran Canaria form a fundamental part of the season. "It is always nice to be back at the ANFI resorts this time of the year. Not only is Gran Canaria the best winter-training location in Europe, the ANFI Tauro resort gives us tranquility, comfort and first-class facilities. Having already held most of our meetings with the riders and the sponsors in Poreč, our riders will be able to fully concentrate on training."

According to Steven de Jongh, Head Sport Director of Tinkoff, this camp "will provide the riders with valuable training time on their bikes. The mountainous terrain of Gran Canaria provides us with challenging training routes for long rides and physical testing on climbs. In addition, all riders will have two weeks to get to know each other, ahead of the 2016 season. Although the core of our squad remains unchanged, with Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan again our stand-out names, we had new signings as well as a number of riders that moved to other teams, so it is important for us to start building in this camp a close-knit group of riders", commented de Jongh.

"We have set a rigorous plan of daily training sessions and thanks to the year-round sunshine in Gran Canaria and the little-traveled roads, we are certain we will make the most of it. All riders will also complement the time on the bike with daily sessions of core training. Last but certainly not least, the ANFI training camp will be the best opportunity for Ivan Basso and Ján Valach to enter into their new roles of, respectively, Technical Coordinator and Sport Director", concluded de Jongh.

José Luis Trujillo, CEO of Anfi Group, assures "we are ready again this year to receive Tinkoff and its champions”. Anfi is consolidated once again as a hub within the cycling world". Anfi and Gran Canaria in general, offer unique conditions to train for this sport which has more followers by the day”, continues Trujillo. Anfi, which consists of five luxury hotels in the south of Gran Canaria and operates a timeshare system, “offers unbeatable conditions to complement training”, confirmed Alberto Contador.

"There’s no other place in the world, at this time of year where you can find the sun and mountainous landscape, which make up the best scenery and toughest tests for this team", added Trujillo. "We are all delighted and working hard to make the team's stay as pleasant as possible", a feeling that is shared within the Anfi Group workforce of over one thousand employees.

Building upon the success and popularity of its 2015 training kit, Tinkoff will unveil during the ANFI training camp the eye-catching kit its riders will wear in their training sessions in 2016.

The official race kits of the 2016 season will be presented later in December.

The full roster of Tinkoff for 2016 consists of 27 riders. In alphabetical order they are, Erik Baška, Daniele Bennati, Adam Blythe, Manuele Boaro, Maciej Bodnar, Pavel Brutt, Alberto Contador, Oscar Gatto, Michael Gogl, Jesper Hansen, Jesús Hernández, Robert Kiserlovski, Michael Kolar, Roman Kreuziger, Rafal Majka, Jay McCarthy, Sergio Paulinho, Evgeny Petrov, Pawel Poljanski, Michael Rogers, Ivan Rovny, Juraj Sagan, Peter Sagan, Matteo Tosatto, Yuri Trofimov, Nikolay Trusov and Michael Valgren.

Roman Kreuziger will be on the 2016 Tinkoff team

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