Almost two weeks after he was given a clean bill of health and one week after abandoning the Tour of the Basque Country, Joseba Beloki's problems seem to be anything but behind him as he is once again forced to re-evaluate his racing programme and preparation for the Tour de France. If that was not a big enough blow, Brioches team manager Jean Rene Bernardeau has told procycling that the team is prepared to go to the Tour without the Basque star.
"Beloki’s presence is not a necessity. We still have Chavanel, Pineau, Rous, Hary, Boyer, who have done the Tour. Hary is a great rider - he’s already had a good Tour - the problem was that last year he was only 23/24 years old, this year he is 24/25 and next year he’ll be 25/26," explained Bernardeau, who was also incensed when asked to respond to accusations that the team masked the severity of Beloki's injury until after the Tour wild cards were handed out.
"The team with or without Beloki will do the Tour. I find that insulting. Beloki for us was a catalyst, an accelerator for our programme. If he’s ready then fine, if he’s not then it is still good."
http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=5130
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Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
