Phonak will be riding its last Grand Tour and hopes to avoid any more negative headlies after Jose Guitierrez and Floyd Landis landed in hot water after the Giro and Tour respectively. Meanwhile, many of the Astana riders who were under investigation before the Tour de France were cleared of any involvment in Operation Puerto after the Tour. This made Astana’s non start frustrating since the criteria used against those Astana riders was based on newspaper reports and an ongoing investigation.

The news has been everywhere and the writing was on the wall, but earlier this week Andy Rihs made it official, the Phonak Team is no more. The beleagured cycling team will close up shop at the end of the season after their marketing cache evaporated following several doping scandals. iShares did not want to take the reigns from Phonak and still suffer the constant doping headlines.

The news is bittersweet since it is always sad to see a sponsor leave the sport. But it is a sign that doping does have serious consequences. This is good news to some degree since it could help to shake up the practice of doping on the Pro peloton.

The downside of doping is now much higher than simply losing a race. Riders can lose their jobs and the jobs of those around them, which should make them be more careful whe deciding on performance enhancing options. Better to ride the few extra miles or motor pace a little more than go for the testosterone patch/cream or other “mother’s little helpers” that are available.

Phonak’s move to drop their sponsorship at this point is probably not the best move to make at this point. Their name will be associated with Landis’ positive dope test and running what is perceived to be a dirty team. Festina watches have their name associated with the 1998, but they continued to sponsor a team for years later. Today they are the timing sponsor of the Tour as they have their name plastered on cars and the time-trial start house. This presence helps to soften the blow of being associated with one of the biggest scandal in cycling up until this year.

Andy Rihs should probably stick around cycling for at least another year in some form so that Phonak is not known for the scandal in cycling circles.

The fact that Phonak has had so many positive dopers on the team brings up an interesting question. Is Phonak really the cleanest team in the peloton? This sounds counter intuitive but if you think about the process of doping it would make more sense. Doping, especially if it is done properly should never result in a positive test. Dopers are well aware of masking techniques and processes used to steer clear of positive test results. Those who do get caught are either sloppy, lazy or did not have all of the facts. The Tyler Hamilton/ Santi Perez positives for blood doping point to the athletes mixing up their blood bag and accidentally injected the wrong blood.

If you use the proper masking agents and monitor your levels there would be no reason to fail a test. If a guy like Floyd Landis was doping systematically then he would know the proper time to take testosterone so as not to get caught. If he is slapping on a patch on his scrotum out of sheer desparation without team support, then he would get caught because he would not be aware of the proper way of using the product.

Overall, I think Landis will walk from the positive test and he will be racing in 2007. If/When he does get cleared he will now have to look for a new team.

Legendary, Gutsy, Superb, Awesome, Possessed, Man on a Mission, Crazy, Spiteful, Revenege Seeking, Man on a Mission, Mr. Excitement, choose you moniker, adjective, whatever. This is the gutsiest move by any Tour contender in the modern era. Bernard Hinault was known for similar type moves, but nothing like this. From a complete crack yesterday to a gutsy move today, Floyd Landis is back in contention for the Tour de France. From one of the biggest cracks to the bigest comeback in a span of 24 hours. I expected Landis to recover and show some force today, but I did not expect him to almost get the Yellow Jersey back. The emphatic fist waving at the finish line by Landis was a sign that he is definatley back.

At the finish line, Landis told interviewer Frankie Andreu that he wants to win the Tour de France. This type of statement is very refreshing after the almost robotic domination of Lance Armstrong and the associated canned statements. Floyd has style, panache, and a hard head which are as much a key as Lance Armstrong psychological domination of the past seven years. Landis’ foray to gain back time was the result of a man who has nothing to lose and did not care about racing to protect a top ten finish. But the solo effort may have been the best option for Landis after yesterday’s crack. Landis has the team car at hand where he could get water bottles on demand. When he needed a bike change, there was not worry, the car was right there. The man who is a very good time trialer was basically time trialing through most of the stage, with some very good support.

Landis learned the lessons of yesterday’s crack and was seen always getting a water bottle from the car. When he was not dumping the bottle on his head, he would he holding it open with his hand. At one point I thought that the Phonak team car could run out of bottles to give to Floyd. The other concern was that Sinkewitz would stick on Landis’ wheel for the stage and sneak around for the win. That was put to rest as Sinkewitz could not keep the blistering pace of Landis up the climb of the Joux Plane. The final blistering descent saw Landis gain 30 seconds on second place Sastre who was trying to get the Yellow Jersey himself. Sastre missed by about 15 seconds.

Landis is now poised to still win the Tour de France. The race that many thought was Landis’ to lose, is now Landis’ to win. The next stage could be a chance to rest up for the Time Trial, but with CSC poised to get the Yellow by 15 seconds and a cat 2 climb in the mix, watch for CSC to shake things up in tomorrow’s stage. Sastre may not be as quick of a time trialer as Landis, but CSC wants the win too, and they have the fire power to further shake things up tomorrow.

The news was out yesterday as the “blabber mouth” New York Times released an article about Floyd Landis’ hip. Seems that Floyd Landis has been riding with a degenerative hip since he signed with Phonak. Landis started suffering chronic pain associated with the hip around the time he signed with his new team. He only put the hip replacement off since things were not very secure career-wise at Phonak. Tyler Hamilton and Santi Perez’s positive drug tests did not help Phonak’s bid to join the ProTour and a medical absence would probably have meant the end of Landis’ career at that point. Floyd decided to run the hip int the ground much like an old car. He had some decent performances last year despite the chronic pain. Now 18 months later, Floyd has a few stage race victories under his belt and is sitting pretty in second place in the Tour with the mountains to come.

The hip problem explains Floyd’s radical seat position which in turn requires him to have his hands almost in front of his face. It will be interesting to see if Landis keeps this radical position once his hip is back to normal. My guess would be no since his position does get some UCI scrutiny and it cuts down on visibility. This is pending Landis’ return next year which is a big mystery since no athlete has ever come back from hip surgery. But those atheletes such as Bo Jackson were in weight bearing sports. Landis may not be affected as much since cycling is not a weight bearing sport.

Assuming Landis does return, rumors are flying around about what team he will ride for next year. Seems that will probably revealed at next week’s rest day. Speculation is ripe now that Floyd will sign with Discovery Channel since Armstrong is heading out to visit the Tour next week. I would doubt that since Phonak is being replaced by American company iShares who would probably want to keep a high profile rider such as Landis. Given Floyd’s hip announcment,it would seem that the deal for next year is done, and it would probably be with his current team.It would be difficult to switch team and come back from hip surgery in one year even if the new team is the friendly and familiar confines of Discovery Channel.

NY Times Article

Floyd Landis did not dominate the first Time Trial of the Tour de France, but he performed better than any other GC contender which puts him in a great spot. Second place would probably have other guys stomping their fists on the handlebars, but Gonchar was far and above all of the competition with a blazingly fast Time Trail. Floyd seemed happy to get second, even though he describes thevent as an ass kicking. Floyd is in a very good spot despit having one T-Mobile guy ahead of him and three others breathing down his neck. It is a German fest in the top ten with Kloden, Sinkewitz and Gerolsteiner’s Markus Fothen all trying to make up for Germany’s loss in the World Cup. Michael Rogers is sitting only eight second behind Landis.

Being in second place with a tough-to-control second week is probably the best spot for Landis. T-Mobile will have to work for Gonchar since they would like to keep the Yellow Jersey and the standing may not shake up that much for a few days. Meanwhile Floyd’s Phonack team can keep supporting Floyd making sure he is in the right spots at all times, while T-Mobile has the burden of the Yellow for a few days.

Change in the Praying Landis position.

Incidentally, Landis’ TT position had to go through a last minute change. If you notice the TT bars are tilted down and Floyd’s hands are not in front of his face as they were during the prologue TT. Seems that the UCI had a last minute change of heart about the position and decided that Floyd needed to move his arms down a bit. Landis took the situation in stride, as you cannot do anything else really other than be DQd.

Facts about iShares
iShares is the brand name for one of the world’s largest ranges of exchange traded funds (ETFs), which is marketed and managed by Barclays Global Investors (BGI). iShares manage over 129 funds listed globally, totalling over $150 billion. iShares funds are available to institutional investors and private investors. ETFs are index funds that are bought and sold like ordinary shares on a stock exchange and are a tool to gain diversified exposure to a market.

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Phonak Press Release