Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Not surprisingly Roberto Heras is now officially suspended for two years and stripped of the Vuelta title. Denis Menchov won the Vuelta, although he does not feel like taking the trophy or the Golden Jersey from Roberto’s hands.

The suspension is for two years and the recent change in the suspension laws mean that after two years, Heras cannot come back to a ProTour team for yet another two years. So he will effectively be out of major events such as the Vuelta and Tour for 4 years. No chance for redemtption unless his lawyers can get him out of the suspension by overturning the positive drug test. In the meantime, he can probably ride with Tyler Hamilton who (as Cyclocosm pointed out) has been relegated to lowly roadcycling magazine.

David Millar was suspended just before this rule took effect and is now enjoying what is basically a 1 to 1 1/2 year suspension. You may have noticed Millar all over every cycling magazine and cycling news site with “in-depth” interviews. He will come back just in time for the Tour. So if he were doing the Lemond-Armstrong method of Tour prep, then he is not missing anything at all.

http://velonews.com/news/fea/9472.0.html