Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: Tony about Zinaida

http://www.veloriders.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=48659
A problem for us.
The Worlds at Plouay 2000 gives me several terrific memories. Away from 
Nicole’s win there are lots of other memories from that time. Two other 
racing events stick in my mind. There was the unbelievable sight in the 
Women's R.R. of Zinaida breaking away alone, a long way from the finish 
and just holding the whole bunch at bay. OK, the timing was good and the 
pace was in that dodgy area where the bunch did not go fast enough to 
shed the sprinters and yet the gap quickly came down when the stayers 
put their heads down. But the course was hard enough to make a selection 
if they had chosen to shed the sprinters and get the break back. Perhaps 
they were fatalistic, Zinaida had won 20 races that season. So Zinadia 
rode away to win alone.
We are post 1998 and the Festina affair. If it looks unbelievable it 
.......... ?
Yesterday, I found one Christmas present that the Cooke Family nearly 
overlooked.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/dec06/dec28news
This is a rider who had been contacting teams in 2006 and as ever there 
was always a team out there, ready to turn a blind eye to whatever past 
indiscretions. Nicole was looking forward to the twin returners of 
Jeanson and Stahurskaya with no pleasant thoughts. She has come 2nd to 
them on several occasions, including a World Cup. Does anyone ever look 
back ?.
Now what would you do ?
Given that this forum may be a representative cross section of that part 
of the public interested in the sport (a big "given" ?)
and,
given that it is mostly male, as most disciplinary boards will be,
given the fact that mildly s e x ist threads and comments appear on this 
board, and the fact of life assessment, that many a male will assess a 
female cyclist on her "beauty" paired with any other physical or mental 
characteristics,
"What would you do" sat on Zinaida's disciplinary board in 2001 ?
This is a girl that knows how to pull the heart strings. After two 
positives and 6 month winter bans in 2001 and 2003 she then adopts a 
policy of "bring on the kids". There are some fantastic shots of her on 
the podium in 2004 & 2005 holding the winner's bouquet with her little 
daughter up alongside her, holding "the cup my brave mummy just won". 
They just look so cute a pair. This was an obvious campaign to enhance 
her image with the general public and o f f set (censored !) that, her d 
r u g taking antics rightly won her, amongst her peers. She won over the 
photographers. The images are lovely.
So time line is set at 2001. Yet to surface are the 2003 repeat offence, 
the 3 positives in 2005, the winning of the Giro followed by the removal 
of that title, or this latest d r u g s bust. All you have before you is 
a World Road Champion, the best cyclist your Nation has ever produced. 
Here is a pretty young girl and she is sobbing her heart out in front of 
you saying she has no idea how she tested positive. Her coach is there 
saying he has no idea how the d r u g s got there and believe her, she 
is innocent, the cleanest and most talented rider he has ever worked 
with. There might be a few unsubstantiated stories and what the hell, so 
she rode away from the rest in the 2000 World Champs, well so did Basso 
in the 2006 Giro (oops!). Good on the girl.
On the basis that two off 6 month winter training bans 01/02 and 03/04 
and a two year ban did nothing to deter this young lady, what could have 
been done differently to stop this person corrupting our sport ? 
Remember Nicole had to beat her in the Giro of 2004 and the Olympics of 
2004. Was Zinaida clean then ? What would you do ?
For "take two" (unrelated female from different nation), we may scroll 
forward to Athens 2004 and the 2006 World Track Champs. Maybe similar 
scenario ? There is a lovely picture taken in 2006.
-- 
http://modesta.biciticino.ch
Il sito dedicato alla giovane ciclista lituana Modesta Vzesniauskaite

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Zinaida didn't just get where she did by taking drugs one day and jumping on
her bike to win out of the blue. She was riding in the Grande Boucle all the
way back to 1989. It's been a long hard road I am sure to get where she did
when she won the Grande Boucle and the Worlds. I have the worlds of 2000 on
tape, all of it, and I watched Zina ride solo in the worlds to victory. It
was an incredible ride, and perhaps a record for a breakaway in the world
road race. I can't speak for anything else except to say it was fun watching
her, and I have a friend who runs one of the biggest cycling sites on the
Internet and he also agrees that focusing excessively on drug scandals is
running down the sport, and it's something we would like to avoid. I would
rather remember the good times with Zina and not the bad. Same with Jeanson.
The fact that squeeky clean riders are repulsed by their return seems a bit
selfish to me, as there is plenty of room for good talent. If they are
pardoned, then so be it, and they have every right to return to the sport.
It should be enough already that doping agencies are trashing the riders in
record numbers, but we shouldn't beat up on our own, as it only hurts the
common good. Jeanson has decided to move on, and Zina will probably be
forced to move on, I don't know, but she was fun, and I enjoyed watching her
a lot.
B-