PETER KENNAUGH & AN UNDERSTANDABLE FRUSTRATION

Peter Kennaugh's tweet on the injustices of how teams deal with dopers and clean riders, shows the type of frustration that permeates the world of cycling. He wrote:

@Peterkennaugh Seeldraeyers can't get a contract yet Astana more than happy to sign mpcc banned rider pellizotti #cyclingproblems

Pellizotti was suspended for two years on a doping charge. Teams adhering to the MPCC (Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible) agree not to hire riders for a further 2 years after the suspension. Astana, a recent signatory to this Movement, have hired Pellizotti for the 2014 season but he won't race until May, when the two years after the suspension are up.
All this is within the MPCC rules, however he will be training with the team and with their kit, presumably he will be paid a salary as well.
And here comes the frustration. Many good riders, due to teams folding or rosters already fulfilled, have yet to find a contract for next season.
From the same team, Astana, an extremely good rider, Kevin Seeldraeyers, has come to the end of his contract and he's still looking for a job for 2014.
So, former doper in, clean rider out.
Kennaugh points him out, but the list is quite alarmingly big.
Now, when a horde of former dopers have a contract, feed their families, have a bright future ahead, while many clean riders have not, there lies a big moral dilemma: although rules are not broken, these guys (and I'm not particularly referring to Pellizotti, there are plenty of convicted dopers in the peloton) have a future in the sport built on their cheating; teams don't seem to see that and keep on hiring them. They get a second chance while clean riders don't even get one proper chance.

It's all good to have a group like the MPCC, but when the loopholes make a mockery of the clean riders, something needs to change.

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REACH OUT, TALK TO PEOPLE

I wanted to share what we did at the weekend in the hope to inspire other people to try what my partner and I ended up doing. A few days ago we were walking the dogs late in the afternoon and on the way back, in this big field, we noticed an elderly woman walking slowly leaning on her stick. We asked if she was ok as she seemed tentative and a little confused. The very first thing she said, almost without realising that's what she was going to say was: "You are the first people I've spoken to all day". Neither of us expected that so we stayed with her, chatting away for about 40 minutes. We ended up walking her back to her house, exchange numbers and invite her for a Sunday roast. She was going to be 89 a few days later and it seemed a nice thing to do. She was really touched as she didn't have it in her to cook a roast for herself (and she admitted she hated cooking).

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AN OLYMPIC EFFORT

When the Olympic cycling road race and TT race routes were announced I was extremely excited. I live bang in the middle of both. One of the most important races in cycling was going to be ridden near my house. Television screens would be filled with images of roads I'm familiar with, the pros will be riding my commute to work AND some of my cycling club runs' routes (Kingston Wheelers).

The Clouds Factory

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