CSC Gets Press, Unibet Wins, General Self-Promotion

Oh, Team CSC, what won’t you sell? Ivan’s pedals, Dave’s nutritional supplement, an autographed jersey to check out a tour site, a feature film; heck, over at Competitive Cyclist, you’ve got your name attached to a a crankset, a wheelset and not one, not two, but three frames. Maybe that’s the trick to getting all this press. It sure hasn’t got anything to do with race results, because, unless I’ve missed my mark, you’ve got nothing but excuses from the finish line this season. No, results are definitely not the way to go for attention. Team Unibet has been tearing it up this season, and the only stories they get are updates from the Frank Vandenbroucke soap opera. Still, that didn’t stop the boys in soothing lime green added yet another “W” today, with Carlos Garcia Quesada wrapping up the Ruta del Sol GC. After two losses, Tom Boonen finally snagged the final stage win over Petacchi; though initial reports are sketchy, it may have been a bonified pipping.

In other news, Adam Bergman has now openly admitted to the world that, yes, he did use EPO. And the world replied by saying “What? Who are you? Why should I care?” Though I applaud his honesty, I had, previous to his letter, no clue who Adam Bergman was. And I can’t help but feel this announcement is less a redeeming burst self-admission than a shameless bit of “remember me?” self-promotion, coming as it does at the very beginning of the competitve season in which his suspension expires, at a time when many US domestic squads are looking to shore up their rosters. But who says there’s anything wrong with a little self-promotion, right? Maybe the UCI should try a little PR campaign, so they’ll look less like a bunch of ridiculous tyrants angry that another bunch of ridiculous tyrants is undermining their authority. They could start by attempting to say how the Grand Tour Trophy is financially “counter-productive” and “demonstrates…a lack of responsibility” toward cycling as a whole?