Riccardo Riccò’s hospitalization and forthcoming investigation for blood doping will bring scrutiny for the Cobra and the possibility for a lifetime ban. These developments lead us to wonder many things, is Riccò iredeemably psychotic? Is he a symbol of a sport gone very wrong, is he just a cog in the machine? Is he the type of rider that is the norm in the sport or is he an exception? Are his repeated positives signs that he may have an addictive personality or another psychological illness? Does he deserve scorn? Pity? Does a rider’s personality decide their treatment? Would Riccò be treated differently if he were polite or cooperated like DiLuca?
Perhaps it’s time he moved onto another profession, he already has the wardrobe of a cruise ship DJ, and the Jersey Shore cast is rumored to be going to Italy.
I am so sorry to all my fans, sponsors, team mates, and promise to never ever do drugs to enhance my performance.
….NOT!
try and get an interview with say… a tyler hamilton and ask him. Maybe Floyd made it a bit en vogue to start talking. I am sure Tyler has a demon or two that talking would help rid him of.
Ricco isn’t the smartest guy in any room and his record of obviousness is world class. But I find it sad that his desperation is so deep. Making him the punchline of the doping joke is easy, but his pathetic situation is unique only in its visibility. There are probably hundreds of amateur Riccos who are out there shooting god-knows-what into their bodies to win local crits or even just to hang with their buddies on climbs. It is not just a Ricco problem or a cycling problem or a sports problem. From pneumatic fake breasts to drum-tight facial skin to anorexic high school kids, human beings are becoming their own Frankenstein monsters. It is about self-hate and loathing. Nothing good is coming from this.
Sorry for the rabbit trail, but reading Tyler’s name just got me thinking. I am sure all your other readers already made this connection, but how ironic that Tyler, Roberto Heras, Floyd, etc ONLY tested positive after they left the saftey net of US Postal. It is just further corroboration of what Floyd described that there was a relationship that Lance had with the UCI which kept positives under wraps. Leave that saftey net and BOOM.
He’s an addict, as are many dopers. He is exhibiting behavior typical of addiction. He takes a substance, gets a high (a stage win, say, or even just a feeling of invincibility), and feels that it compensates for other problems in his life. And much like an addict, he takes his life and career into his own hands to achieve his high.
Criminalizing doping is going to work a well as the war on drugs, which is to say not at all. The dudes need help, not scorn.
I could see Ricco convalescing in the hot tub with Snooki and Jwoww
It is very clear what happened: Sassi, Ricco’s anchor, died, and he went adrift much as Mike Tyson did when his trainer passed away.
Tour Med was approaching, his insecurities kicked in, and Ricco went the moonshine route. Ricco had already been positive as a junior…and that is where the problems begin, not just in cycling, but in just about any other sport. The athletes are taught from a young age that the chemical path is the one they need to follow for success. And just like a long-time alcoholic or junky trying to go clean, a stressful situation – in this case his first big athletic test – can re-trigger the addiction. Or, maybe he was never clean even during the rehab period. Who knows. But I’m seeing some really good posts on this.
If Sassi was Ricco’s anchor, is this how you honor the man? The only anchor in Ricco’s life is the one he just wrapped around his own kneck. Word on the street is that he is pimping the anchor with diamonds and emeralds, very eurotrash chic.
Perhaps it would be prudent to wait until the autotransfusion has been proven, or confirmed by Ricco or an anti-doping agency. For now, all we know is that one doctor was told that Ricco autotransfused (Why this doctor is reporting it to the press is unclear though). Granted, the authorities would likely not start investigations without good reasons but, as we all know, things said in hospital rooms have a way of changing with time.
As likely as it seems that he did it, let’s wait for confirmation before going all ‘Dr. Phil’ on the guy.
Sassi was Riccos coach for like an afternoon. What a disgrace to the sport and Sassi.
I hear kidney failure can sometimes be caused by tainted meat
Excuse me, Mr. Lube, but JON EUSTICE said it’s very obvious what happened, so case closed! You have no idea what it takes to host a ProTour team, unlike JON EUSTICE.
…if that’s really you – it’s a shame you didn’t have this insight when you were at the Brooklyn Brewery pimping Floyd but at least you’re learning from your mistakes.
Are the black shirts still running things? How do the doctors conspire with the police and media while a patient is critically ill? Is there no patient confidentiality there? I guess sport is more important than everything else. I’m against doping, but I find anti-doping as practiced to be detestable.
Leave John Eustice alone, already. He’s done almost as much for NYC cycling as has Ray Alba.
Ricco is a disgrace not only to the sport of cycling but to the memory of Aldo Sassi. What a moron this guy is! I hope that CONI will boot him out for the good of the sport and country!
Does anyone remember what he did for Moser for the hour record in 1984 along with a couple of other illustrious Dr’s such as Ferrari & Conconi? All this BS about “how clean the Mapei center is”. What was all that super riding by team Mapei during the late 90’s early 00’S? Clean racing?
It’s all complete BS. Mapei center is a way to observe and control the riders blood profiles under the guise of cleanliness. It’s all a ruse. I’m sorry the guy passed away, that sucks.
Do you think all the racers that have come back from suspension are clean? Really? What, cause I kissed a priest’s hand? I’m a French national hero like Trick Dick? Come on. It’s just monitored more closely than ever by the top racers, dr’s and managers. Ricco was an outcast who used mapei’s blood profiling to manipulate his numbers because no one would help him. Too much risk there. Way to go with the renal failure Ricco.
This sport is a fucking joke. I hope more racers start blowing the whistle just to expose how far & deep this whole thing runs. What we’ve learned from Floyd is nothing. And I can’t wait to see that Joe Papp list to see how many local superstars shit their “so pro” pants. That’s gonna be fun if it ever happens.
And yeah, I noticed that EVERY ex-Postal teammate that went on to lead a team got popped, and if they didn’t, they were at least chased for hours till there was another team to blame the dirty work on for keeping someone out of Yellow.
What a horseshit sport.
If the rules don’t fit, we cannot commit!
So everyone says Sassi trained them clean, and we have what kind of proof of that other than people saying so and people believe it. Then we have other people saying they never tested positive and we never believe them.
Who else was Sassi training? Humm… I won’t add the obvious but the rest of you wishy washy types need to get on the bandwagon.
Hopefully Ricco got his wake up call and will be having an all disclosure press conference soon. He’s pretty much out of the sport so just like Floyd he should start spitting out his venom.
What utter uninformed crap you and some others write. You do not know cycling, don’t get it and never will.
Squinzi, the Mapei Centre and Sassi have done an enormous amount to try to bring an end doping. (And don’t use the Moser argument, that’s been dealt with.) I know that first hand.
Sassi was very ill when he took Ricco on, and he was making some strange decisions. I don’t believe that he would have taken him on if he had not been ill with the brain tumour.
You came in late and will never catch up with the sport – or you could make an effort to learn about it.
Cycling puts out its trash – be proud of that. Can any other sport say the same?
And enough of the psychobabble – Ricco is a moron. Kick him to the curb and move on.
no matter what everybody said here…..this sport is just bullshit!!!…and im a racer, and love to race and cycle….but is all bullshit…is a shame, a big lie, is all a big lie……
He’s a pro cyclist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYFMeL8HZ0Q&feature=player_embedded#at=27
at the very end of the video below:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-cavendish-aldag-and-kelly-react-to-ricco-doping-news
Priceless!! Gotta love the Cav.
On a human level, I feel sorry for Ricco. As a fan of the sport, I feel that he should never be allowed to race again. Ever. On top of that, he should never be allowed to be involved with the sport on any level. Ever.
His life as a 100% recreational cyclist just began.
what was his last line? I couldn’t understand it.
Hey Cav, protest much? Maybe too much?
Cavendish is a maggot like the rest of the Pro Tour dopers. Talk a lot of shit about the “old generation” and the heinous scourge of doping, talk a big game for the “clean” new generation, meanwhile he’s doping himself–just hasn’t gotten popped yet. Just a matter of time.
when it was all about local aholes ragging on other local aholes, etc. Now that’s it all about Lance, doping, and pro cycling it just blows.
Just so you feel good.
You Suck!
My post was referring to one by “West Coast Reader”, not the original piece.
I am suspicious of those that condemn the loudest
A brain tumor can cause Sassi to make strange decisions like taking on a usually un-touchable Ricco, but a brain tumor cannot lead him to use/allow doping?
Yea, I got ya.
Lets just write it off since Sassi is no longer with us.
The current punishment system doesn’t do anything to deal with the issues that might bring an athlete to doping. It would be nice if there were a rehabilitation plan to deal, perhaps, with the psychology behind the act.
There is no punishment, unless you fall off to the wrong side of the establishment. If you get busted doping you may server a two year suspension but if you’re on the right side of the establishment you come back on a ProTour team making the big bucks! Fall off to the wrong side of the establishment and you end up riding grand fondo’s promoting schwag any random company will sponsor you to hock. Some may return to ride on a conti team but really they never make it back to the ProTour level. No matter what they say there is no punishment unless you fall off to the wrong side.
Even Ricco was on the right side of the establishment no matter how crass he may of been he was still making money when he got back after his ban and would of made much more had he not used old blood. So the take home message for Ricco is to never ever use old blood, date your extracted blood the day you do it and keep it at appropriate temperature.