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The Explainer - Of rules, jerseys and blood
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Is it a fix?
Dear Explainer,
First, let me say that I have huge respect for Levi Leipheimer, as a hard-working sportsman and as a classy human being. He is most certainly the strongest guy at this year’s Amgen Tour of California. However, I know I didn’t dream that first stage. I know that the radios crapped the bed and the dream team let two minutes get away from them. It happened. Mancebo, who nobody likes any more, and this kid Nibali, that nobody in California knows about yet earned themselves a real shot at the GC. It happened.
Now, please explain to me what happened while I was working today. Because the story I’m hearing is that the race commissars decided while the peloton was on the road to figure GC on the first lap of the finishing circuits. Now my memory is not so good, but isn’t this the second time in three years that the rule book has been re-written in order to save Levi a spot in yellow (seems like he crashed 4 or 5 k’s out a couple years ago and officials said, “Aw, that’s close enough”). Please correct me on the actual facts.
Keep up the great writing,
Matt Long
Davie, Florida
Dear Matt,
Well, yes and no. You are right in saying that Leipheimer benefited from the rule two years ago, but this year, it probably cost him.
A lot of observers – and opposing teams – were seriously bothered by the retroactive Commissaires’ decision after the finish of stage 1 of the 2007 AToC. Officials ruled, after the stage had finished, to count the official time from the point the peloton crossed the finish line on its first trip through the finishing circuit in Santa Rosa that year. The decision was prompted by the massive pile-up triggered when T-Mobile’s Gerald Ciolek hit one of those little traffic dots (known as “turtles”) with nearly 10km remaining in the stage. The normal UCI rule is to grant pack time to those involved in a crash within the final three kilometers of a stage … a rule that had only recently been extended from the old one-kilometer standard.
Had the rule been fully applied, Priority Health’s Ben Jacques-Maynes would have taken the jersey, based on the fact that he was among a lucky group of 40 who escaped the carnage. Good, bad or indifferent, the more skeptical among us have often referred to the decision as “the Levi Rule.” The odds are good that Leipheimer would have emerged the victor at the end of the Tour anyway, but it did raise some eyebrows.
Okay, now flash forward to 2009. Unlike the race in 2007, the weather was complete crap on Sunday. Officials, remembering the crash from two years ago, decided that in the interest of safety finishing times would be awarded on the peloton’s first trip through the finish line. Remember, those “turtles” are still out there and they get even slipperier in the rain. Some said they could have made the decision the night before, but they were well within their authority to order the change while the race was underway.
However, it is important to note that this year, the rule actually cost Leipheimer and did not benefit him. When Francisco Mancebo crossed the line for the first time and the clock stopped he was a minute and seven seconds ahead of a seriously strong chase group that included Leipheimer, his Astana teammates Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner, Steve Morabito and Chechu Rubiera, as well as top riders like Ivan Basso (Liquigas), Michael Rogers (Columbia) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank). You can see how the chase eased up once the clock stopped. They most certainly would have caught Mancebo over the ensuing laps and had the rule not been in place, it is quite likely that Leipheimer would have been awarded in his home town of Santa Rosa again.
The Explainer
Champions’ jerseys
Dear Explainer dude,Why isn't Tyler Hamilton wearing the U.S. Champion's jersey?
He has the stars and bars on his sleeves, but I thought you got those after your year in the jersey? You would think Rock Racing would be all over that ... Is he not required to wear it?
Thanks,
Rob Gill
Lawrence, Kansas
Dear Rob,
You know, we were wondering that when we saw him in his kit, too. You are right, in that the rules do require that a national champion wear the jersey while competing in the discipline in which that title was earned. In the old days, that meant a sort of Captain-America-themed jersey, but the rules have loosened up a bit over the years and teams are now allowed to “incorporate a national jersey theme” into a sponsored team kit.
Specifically the rules require that
Riders or teams that create their own National Champions jerseys must have the design approved by USA Cycling. The design concept must include a blue field with stars on the top half of the jersey and vertical red and white stripes on the bottom half of the jersey.
What you saw as an indication of a past national title, Rob, turns out to be Rock Racing’s version of the reigning national champion’s kit. The stars are there. The stripes are there. Now we’re checking with USA Cycling to see if the design did receive the governing body’s stamp of approval. We'll let you know what we hear.
USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee said the design has not been submitted to USA Cycling for approval, but noted that in the past “teams have been given a lot of latitude” in coming up with a design.
Rob, we didn’t notice the stars or the stripes at all until you pointed them out, but what the heck. It’s Rock Racing … the team is sponsored by a fashion house. I guess it’s not much of a surprise that they didn’t come up with a traditional design. It's just that we're surprised that Rock's Michael Ball, of all designers, would opt for (can we say it?) the subtle approach.
The Explainer
Follow up on Valverde
We had several readers comment on our suggestion in last week's Explainer column that the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) might be claiming jurisdiction in the Operación Puerto case based on the fact that blood used to conduct DNA tests was drawn in Italy.
We agree that it’s a pretty tenuous thread on which to assert jurisdiction and apparently the High Court in Madrid agrees with you, too. In a ruling issued on Wednesday, the court questioned whether CONI had the authority to order Valverde to appear at hearing this week and whether blood seized from Eufemiano Fuentes’ offices in Spain could be used as evidence in Italy.
This could turn into a whole new body of case law for those interested in doping cases, the WADA Code and who has authority over what.
We would predict that even if CONI loses this round, it will still issue a ban that applies to Italy and then seek the UCI’s help in having that apply globally. Keep an eye on this one. It’s going to be a turf battle. Like Warren Zevon said, “send lawyers, guns and money …”
Ultimately, we’re just hoping that Puerto gets resolved quickly and that any rider whose blood just happened to be in a refrigerator owned by a Madrid gynecologist (?!?) pay the price, get suspended and do the time, so that we can all just go back to the business at hand, namely who can ride a bike faster than other people in the same business and do so without the help of a pharmacist, a gynecologist or even a lawyer.
Email Charles Pelkey
