To say that it was one stupid mistake is pretty naive in my opinion. Why would he choose now to start doping??? The tests have ben getting better and are catching more and more cheats. More likely he has been doing it for years and his 'doctors' have been one step ahead of the controls. I don't think he's stupid at all. I think he's been very clever in avoiding being caught for so long.
Vino has given me many good memories over the years. Some of his agressive and tactical riding has been inspirational in the past. So, he was doped when he was doing it, but at that time so were most of the peloton. So I won't take that away from him and for me, he will remain a hero of his era.
Now, I believe most of the peloton is clean and there is no place for him in the sport. I no longer feel he as robbed of his chance in 2006 like I did before, he belongs alongside Basso and Ullrich. I hope we never see him back.
I did read that Vino was specifically targetted by the dope testers, and if memory served me correctly - they decided to test Vino that day because some media saw him get into the back of a white van with heavily tinted windows with another person in full team-astana clothing and go off for an hour or so prior to the TT that day.
From what I have read, the authorities believe they know who are testing/cheating the system - some riders although they are not failing drug tests, have irregularities from test to test, which the testers believe is suspicious.
The fact that Vino was using Ferrari, was a 'dressed in black' rider and was targeted by the testers may suggest he has been 'suspicious' for a while now.
BTW - on a lighter note: did anyone see where Astana stayed in Albi??? There hotel was located right next to a blood bank!
