Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, December 28, 2015

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We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. - George Bernard Shaw

UCI Season's Greetings Video

Here are the best moments of the 2015 season as seen by the UCI:

UCI end of year video

Luca Paolini admits cocaine use

Luca Paolini (Katusha) told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he began using cocaine two weeks before the start of the 2015 Tour de France. He also revealed an addiction to sleeping pills.

A drug test at the Tour caught him with cocaine in his system and was ejected from the Tour. He denied that he had taken the drug until this confession, but has been suspended since that drug positive.

Luca Paolini wins 2015 Gent-Wevelghem

He began taking sleeping pills in 2004 after his brother died.

The 38-year old Paolini is a good racer, having worn the Giro d'Italia race leader's pink jersey. Notably, he has won Gent-Wevelghem, Coppa Bernocchi, Giro del Piemonte, Omloop Het Nieuwsblaad.

Illness halts Stefan Küng's 2016 preparation

This note came to me from BMC:

Santa Rosa, California (USA) - Diagnosis of the Epstein-barr Virus (EBV) (mononucleosis) will force Stefan Küng to place his training for the 2016 season on hold, BMC Racing Team announced today.

The illness surfaced at the team's annual training camp in Denia, Spain, explained BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Max Testa.

Stefan Küng

"Stefan left the training camp a couple of days early and virology tests conducted by Dr. Patrik Noack of the Swiss Olympic Medical Center confirmed the diagnosis. Although the illness is not worrisome, EBV, commonly known as Glandular Fever, requires a minimum of a few weeks' rest. BMC Racing Team and the Swiss National Cycling Team's physicians are monitoring Stefan's clinical improvements on a regular basis," Dr. Testa explained.

Küng's recovery period is only a question of time.

"There are already signs of improvement in the past week and I'm working closely with my doctors to monitor my progress before determining when I will be able to train again. At the moment I am taking things day by day and I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike," said Küng.

It is not yet determined what influence Küng´s illness will have on his planned race schedule for the start of the 2016 season.

"Our priority is to ensure that Stefan rests as much as possible, and only resumes training when he is fit and healthy to do so," Dr. Testa said.

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