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van den Driessche walks away from 'cross
Last Post 03/15/2016 08:25 AM by Stefan Eckardt. 7 Replies.
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Red Tornado

Posts:159

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03/14/2016 09:42 AM
http://cyclingtips.com/2016/03/van-den-driessche-quits-cyclocross-abandons-defence-against-mechanical-doping-allegations/ This story is also on cyclingnews.com Many will probably say "guilty" since she's quitting 'cross - using the rationale that she had no defense. Could also have been the possibility of high legal fees and the way the evidence was stacked against her, guilty or not. The "friend's" half-hearted statement that the bike was his certainly didn't do much to turn the tide in her favor, either. So is she quilty or not? Maybe/maybe not and unfortunately we'll probably never know. As big as this mechanical doping thing has gotten, it sure has taken an anti-climactic turn for me. For all the hoopla about it, the UCI hasn't yet found another bike w/motor and I doubt they will. Anyone or any team that would try it now would be an absolute fool. I wonder of the "guilty until proven innocent" tone over social media, or any media for that matter, played a hand in this rider deciding to walk. Legal fees would be the same regardless, so maybe not. I guess in the tainted world of pro cycling, we fans have become so jaded towards doping that any rider is automatically guilty. Sure would have liked to know what REALLY happened. I guess the good thing coming out of this, besides another test for the UCI to carry out, is a lesson to riders and team personnel about controlling the equipment being used.
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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03/14/2016 09:59 AM
Meh....preponderance of the evidence and all that. On the strict basis of the rules, she was guilty, regardless if HR thin cover story was true. She had an illegal bike in the pits....that just happened to be her size and her coordinates and matched her other bikes.

Toss in the video evidence from the other race and you have a pretty airtight case. This isn't a legal case, but a civil case. I'm not too concerned about her civil liberties, etc. and she had the opportunity to defend herself...she just chose not to (cost notwithstanding).
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
Red Tornado

Posts:159

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03/14/2016 03:07 PM
Would have been interesting to see due process carried out, though, or to at least get an admission of guilt or evidence good enough to acquit. Agree the evidence was stacked against her pretty heavily, and I really do think there was something going on that shouldn't have been. For all the exposure, I kinda hate to see it just fizzle out. But such is life sometimes......
longslowdistance

Posts:2881

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03/14/2016 03:41 PM
Did she walk away under her own power, or on a motorized device?
Dale

Posts:1767

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03/14/2016 04:19 PM
LSD for the win!
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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03/14/2016 04:32 PM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 03/14/2016 03:41 PM
Did she walk away under her own power, or on a motorized device?




And there was "due process", RT,,,,she just chose to bow out before it reached its logical conclusion. No one was denied "due process".
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
Dale

Posts:1767

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03/14/2016 04:48 PM
I would have liked to have seen that play all the way out to its conclusion. Hopefully a lifetime ban as it would set the precedent.
Red Tornado

Posts:159

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03/15/2016 08:25 AM
Posted By Cosmic Kid on 03/14/2016 04:32 PM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 03/14/2016 03:41 PM
Did she walk away under her own power, or on a motorized device?




And there was "due process", RT,,,,she just chose to bow out before it reached its logical conclusion. No one was denied "due process".


OK, bad wording on my part. Wasn't trying to say she was denied anything, just thought it would have been good for the process to have been carried all the way out to the end, since this is the first time for this offense at a major event (or maybe anywhere). But, it was her camp that stopped the due process, so that's that I guess.
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