Millar: will he? Won't he?
Discussion
Now that CAS has ruled in WADA's favour, Millar is eligible for selection for the GB road cycling/TT (?) team.
Bradley Wiggins and Geriant Thomas (Worlds team-mates) have said they'd rather the ban remain. BUT, Brailsford - outside of Sky and their "no former dopers" policy - has said he'll have Millar if a) allowed, b) Millar wants to, and c) Millar is deemed to be of standard (which after the Worlds, he bloody well is...). Cav wants him there too.
Millar has said the Olympics and all the politics is a fight he doesn't - or didn't - want. But with that gone and the road teams "main man" (Cav) and team boss (Brailsford) wanting him in...will he?
Personally, I'd like him to. Ex-doper maybe, but read his book and you soon see that it's not quite that clear cut, and that maybe...just maybe...if people acknowledge their wrongs re. doping and set about making them right (his WADA work)., then he deserves a crack at it.
Bradley Wiggins and Geriant Thomas (Worlds team-mates) have said they'd rather the ban remain. BUT, Brailsford - outside of Sky and their "no former dopers" policy - has said he'll have Millar if a) allowed, b) Millar wants to, and c) Millar is deemed to be of standard (which after the Worlds, he bloody well is...). Cav wants him there too.
Millar has said the Olympics and all the politics is a fight he doesn't - or didn't - want. But with that gone and the road teams "main man" (Cav) and team boss (Brailsford) wanting him in...will he?
Personally, I'd like him to. Ex-doper maybe, but read his book and you soon see that it's not quite that clear cut, and that maybe...just maybe...if people acknowledge their wrongs re. doping and set about making them right (his WADA work)., then he deserves a crack at it.
Robsti said:
The decision says to kids doping is ok!
If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
No it doesnt, it simply says that the BOA can not stop anyone who has been caught taking an illegal substance from competing in the Olympics if they have served the ban handed to them by WADA or their Sporting Federation.If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
Do you know anything about David Millar, Cofidis and doping or are you just jumping on this "think of the children" mentality.... as far as Millar's case goes, the gains really have not out weighed the punishment.
I agree with Pablo.
There are two separate issues here and the ban / punishment has been served so if he's up to standard and clean he should be in the competition.
Whether the ban is / was sufficient is anger case. Some support a lifetime ban for those tested positive but until that is the case then those who have served a ban have been punished enough.
There are two separate issues here and the ban / punishment has been served so if he's up to standard and clean he should be in the competition.
Whether the ban is / was sufficient is anger case. Some support a lifetime ban for those tested positive but until that is the case then those who have served a ban have been punished enough.
Millar has been playing this cool for months. I think he's a shoe in after the worlds but he constantly makes references to not wanting to be the pariah of the Olympics. I think if he gets much negative publicity he won't ride but otherwise would dearly love to. I think he's still a bit bitter about Brailsford's no dopers in SKY policy.
I think he'll be in.
I think he'll be in.
pablo said:
Robsti said:
The decision says to kids doping is ok!
If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
No it doesnt, it simply says that the BOA can not stop anyone who has been caught taking an illegal substance from competing in the Olympics if they have served the ban handed to them by WADA or their Sporting Federation.If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
Do you know anything about David Millar, Cofidis and doping or are you just jumping on this "think of the children" mentality.... as far as Millar's case goes, the gains really have not out weighed the punishment.
pablo said:
Robsti said:
The decision says to kids doping is ok!
If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
No it doesnt, it simply says that the BOA can not stop anyone who has been caught taking an illegal substance from competing in the Olympics if they have served the ban handed to them by WADA or their Sporting Federation.If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
Do you know anything about David Millar, Cofidis and doping or are you just jumping on this "think of the children" mentality.... as far as Millar's case goes, the gains really have not out weighed the punishment.
pablo said:
Robsti said:
The decision says to kids doping is ok!
If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
No it doesnt, it simply says that the BOA can not stop anyone who has been caught taking an illegal substance from competing in the Olympics if they have served the ban handed to them by WADA or their Sporting Federation.If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
Do you know anything about David Millar, Cofidis and doping or are you just jumping on this "think of the children" mentality.... as far as Millar's case goes, the gains really have not out weighed the punishment.
ratbane said:
pablo said:
Robsti said:
The decision says to kids doping is ok!
If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
No it doesnt, it simply says that the BOA can not stop anyone who has been caught taking an illegal substance from competing in the Olympics if they have served the ban handed to them by WADA or their Sporting Federation.If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
Do you know anything about David Millar, Cofidis and doping or are you just jumping on this "think of the children" mentality.... as far as Millar's case goes, the gains really have not out weighed the punishment.
This recent change is simply a legal issue stopping the BOA doing it's own thing.
FWIW I think bans issued by WADA or CAS should be longer but the BOA should be made (as they have) to follow the guidelines everyone else does.
Exactly. The issue here isn't "should doping athletes have longer bans?", it is "should the BOA follow the same rules as everyone else?" and CAS have decided that yes, they should.
If people want the bans for doping to be changed then lobby the administrators of the sport and WADA. My personal opinion is that bans should be at least one Olympic cycle (so 4 years minimum).
If people want the bans for doping to be changed then lobby the administrators of the sport and WADA. My personal opinion is that bans should be at least one Olympic cycle (so 4 years minimum).
Of course, in athletics we should be asking why Chambers is still amongst our top sprinter - other countries have produced new, faster talent from much smaller populations, why haven't we? If sprinting had progressed in the UK over the last decade Chambers wouldn't even be in with a chance of selection anyway.
ratbane said:
pablo said:
Robsti said:
The decision says to kids doping is ok!
If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
No it doesnt, it simply says that the BOA can not stop anyone who has been caught taking an illegal substance from competing in the Olympics if they have served the ban handed to them by WADA or their Sporting Federation.If you get caught take a 2 year rest if not great!
Don't blame people for trying to cheat if the gains out way the punishment.
Do you know anything about David Millar, Cofidis and doping or are you just jumping on this "think of the children" mentality.... as far as Millar's case goes, the gains really have not out weighed the punishment.
Secondly, Millar had stopped doping before he was caught, not that it makes any difference, he is still guilty, he wasnt caught during competition and people forget he was already on some form of rehabilitation route when he was caught but again, its no excuse.
As far as what he lost, Miller lost two years of his career, the chance (though he wouldnt have known this at the time) to ride as part of Team Sky and a place in Team GB at Beijing and potentially London.... were it not for Garmin and Millar's attitude he would be in some cycling abyss wasteland...
Dont get me wrong, I dont feel sorry for the guy, he knew what he was doing but i think there are many subtlties surrounding doping and continental pro cycling in the years prior so as to make his case somewhat different to Marion Jones, Dwain Chambers, Justin Gaitlin etc etc
The think that annoys me is this whole "Oh the Olympics are sacred" last-bastion-of-good-sportsmanship moral conscience bulls
t, when for example, throughout the 70s the Eastern Bloc were practically turning Women into Men with that many dodgy supplements.... 86 days to go
Its still up to the team to select him, just because he's "allowed" doesn't mean he is in.... despite him being on form I can still forsee him not being selected with BOA pressure.
Thats said the Goverment will probably lean on the BOA to get the maximum medal haul possible to try and further justify the enormous waste of money the Olympics is so he might get in anyway.
Thats said the Goverment will probably lean on the BOA to get the maximum medal haul possible to try and further justify the enormous waste of money the Olympics is so he might get in anyway.
GB need five riders for the Olympic team
its a given that Cav and Wiggo will be two.
Ben Swift looks like he will be a strong candidate so thats three, then you have Cummings, Blythe, Stannard, Chris Froome, Alex Dowsett and Russ Downing all in with a shout... I think Sky will use Thomas hard in le tour to chase down breakaways as he isnt featuring in much olympic road race chatter.
its a given that Cav and Wiggo will be two.
Ben Swift looks like he will be a strong candidate so thats three, then you have Cummings, Blythe, Stannard, Chris Froome, Alex Dowsett and Russ Downing all in with a shout... I think Sky will use Thomas hard in le tour to chase down breakaways as he isnt featuring in much olympic road race chatter.
So Cav is a given. Wiggo is too as if he is doing the TT (which you have to assume he is) then he has to do the RR.
So, that leaves three places up for grabs.
Cav can either do 9 times around Box Hill or he can't. So it is all about driving down attacks, keeping the pace high, and leadout. Stannard has done a huge amount of driving from the front of the peloton this year and has been in nearly every race squad that Cav was in. He's doing the Giro with Cav as well and I bet will drop out at the same time. I'd say he is nailed on.
Another I'd say would have a good shout is Jeremy Hunt. More than capable of being road captain and did sterling work at the Worlds. I'd say this place is a toss up between him and Millar if Millar comes into form.
That leaves lead-out man, which is the trickiest. Nobody has really done it well for Cav so far, but then again they didn't in the Worlds and he doesn't need it. So maybe pick somebody who will do more to keep a high pace in the last 30km run-in and who can turn a hand to lead out. I'd have said Dowsett based on the test event last year and the fact that he and Cav are now training partners, but can he hack the repeats on Box Hill and besides he has spent the majority of the season injured so far. Swift may be useful as pure lead-out but it is a very un-tried combination. Maybe it will work at the Giro then decision made, especially as he has dropped from the track squad with what seems to be a focused aim for the Olympic RR. That won't have been his decision.
So my money is currently on:
Cav, Wiggo, Stannard, Hunt, Swift.
Millar for Hunt if he comes into form and it also depends on what his goals with Garmin are (e.g. TdF)
ETA: I think the fact that it is a five man team makes it next to impossible to pick anybody outside of the Sky squad, or who competed in the 2011 Worlds squad. Especially with a week to go from the end of the TdF to the RR and no ability to control the itineries of the likes of Blythe, etc. Cummings could have been a shout but I doubt he will recover from his pelvis break in time to consideration/training camps etc
So, that leaves three places up for grabs.
Cav can either do 9 times around Box Hill or he can't. So it is all about driving down attacks, keeping the pace high, and leadout. Stannard has done a huge amount of driving from the front of the peloton this year and has been in nearly every race squad that Cav was in. He's doing the Giro with Cav as well and I bet will drop out at the same time. I'd say he is nailed on.
Another I'd say would have a good shout is Jeremy Hunt. More than capable of being road captain and did sterling work at the Worlds. I'd say this place is a toss up between him and Millar if Millar comes into form.
That leaves lead-out man, which is the trickiest. Nobody has really done it well for Cav so far, but then again they didn't in the Worlds and he doesn't need it. So maybe pick somebody who will do more to keep a high pace in the last 30km run-in and who can turn a hand to lead out. I'd have said Dowsett based on the test event last year and the fact that he and Cav are now training partners, but can he hack the repeats on Box Hill and besides he has spent the majority of the season injured so far. Swift may be useful as pure lead-out but it is a very un-tried combination. Maybe it will work at the Giro then decision made, especially as he has dropped from the track squad with what seems to be a focused aim for the Olympic RR. That won't have been his decision.
So my money is currently on:
Cav, Wiggo, Stannard, Hunt, Swift.
Millar for Hunt if he comes into form and it also depends on what his goals with Garmin are (e.g. TdF)
ETA: I think the fact that it is a five man team makes it next to impossible to pick anybody outside of the Sky squad, or who competed in the 2011 Worlds squad. Especially with a week to go from the end of the TdF to the RR and no ability to control the itineries of the likes of Blythe, etc. Cummings could have been a shout but I doubt he will recover from his pelvis break in time to consideration/training camps etc
Edited by aspender on Tuesday 1st May 17:52
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