Race organizer and now RFEC president Jose Luis Lopez Cerron shown here giving instructions unrelated to beef delivery to Levi Leipheimer. (photo courtesy BBC News)

“I am pleased to be announcing the partnership with the Basque-based Kalitatea Foundation, the organization behind the “Eusko label” project highlighting food products grown and cultivated in the Basque region. This relationship will help solidify the development of Basque, Spanish, and Catalan riders of all stripes,” stated Lopez Cerron.

The promotional program would involve Basque beef, in particular.

“We are  happy to provide assistance to the Basque beef industry, which has suffered some minor inconveniences because of the clenbuterol debacle in relation to my close personal friend, Alberto Contador. We are looking forward to a Basque beef commercial series for the European market featuring our top three finishers at the Vuelta Espana,” stated Lopez Cerron.

The campaign “Bask in Basque Beef” will feature footage from farms throughout the the region with clips showing Contador, along with Alejandro Valverde and Purito Rodriguez, dining on high-quality steaks from the northern region of Spain. The campaign is produced with the cooperation of the RFEC, which is underwriting the campaign in exchange for sponsorship money promoting key races in the region.

When asked if this campaign was “payback” to the beef producers whose reputations were damaged following the Contador debacle where Lopez Cerron delivered beef that the Contador insisted was tainted with clenbuterol, Lopez Cerron was aghast at the inference.

“No way, says Jose. Never, never, never. Kalitatea came to us with the suggestion for partnership, and they also suggested the beef industry would be logical for inclusion, as professional cyclists are consumers of vast quantities of protein and so are their fans. This is in no way some sort of apology to the beef industry for what they were put through during the Contador business,” stated Lopez Perron.

Cycling pundits weren’t convinced this was strictly a coincidence.

“Look, firstly, Jose is elected to the presidency after being the meat driver for Contador. What’s next? Motoman taking over French anti-doping efforts? Now, the RFEC has announced a partnership deal with an industry they took aim at in order to defend one of their hallowed cyclists? Seems there’s some tainted beef in this particular story. Rank, tainted beef,” commented an anonymous Telegraph reporter who may have been Brendan Gallagher.

The campaign is rumored to be rolling out into the European Union in March. More details on the race sponsorship will be revealed in January, according to Spanish cycling officials.

* * * * *

The 2012 Vuelta has been run and won. The history books will remember it as potentially being one of the finest editions in recent history. Alberto Contador was the victor, but for many cycling fans the victory will have been both entertaining as well as hollow, if only because of who ended up being the winner.

Plenty of contenders lined up for this race, and it was keenly anticipated. Chris Froome would get the opportunity to lead a team for the first time, aiming for victory. Joaquim Rodriguez would try to go one better than his Giro 2nd place, and of course Contador would make his return from a doping suspension. Alejandro Valverde would look to add more impressive results to his stage win in the Tour de France.

The beginning of the podium sorting. (Image courtesy of Cycling Weekly)

It’s worth pointing out here, before we dive in with any commentary, that the Vuelta this year was an absolute beast of a course. Far more difficult than the Tour, and the Giro also somewhat paled in comparison. With a stunning ten summit finishes, it was a course made for climbers, and one where we would normally expect to see a rider ‘bonking’ in a big way, unable to cope with the continuous demands of hard climbing with little recovery time.

In truth, what we saw was far from that, and the reality is that the climbs also saw the highest comparative wattages of all three Grand Tours this year, on a par with what we saw in 2001, an era we obviously now know to have been heavily doped. Here are the brutal figures of it, clearly in stark contrast with recent mantra of what we’d consider a ‘normal’ performance:

Rodriguez: 6.25 w/kg
Contador and Valverde: 6.15 w/kg

These figures, calculated on a French site using the averages from the five climbs over 20 minutes in this year’s race, are in stark contrast with the average wattages we saw from the victors at the other two Grand Tours this year:

Hesjedal: 5.7 w/kg
Wiggins: 5.9 w/kg

Provided those numbers are calculated consistently, there is a significant margin there that means that any of the top three would likely have won the Giro or Tour by minutes. Except we know, courtesy of Valverde, that he couldn’t produce numbers anywhere near that in France, where he finished a distant 20th, albeit with a stage victory to his name.

Remember – because this needs emphasis – this was by far the hardest race of the year, with the steepest climbs, and yet some of the power rates we observe here are made in the third week, a period where fatigue would certainly have been present.

I’ll go into why those factors are worthy of attention in a moment, but first, it’s worth having a look at those who made such a large effort, and their year in the sport.

Contador, of course, was freshly returned from what amounted to a six-month suspension – with his results of the 18 months prior to that annulled – after testing positive for clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France. That Contador’s case went to CAS in the first place was because of a somewhat intriguing process of investigation by Spanish authorities. Initially recommending a one-year ban, they then cleared Contador, a process both WADA and the UCI found disturbing enough to convince them to appeal the decision to CAS themselves. The process was seen as indicative of a Spanish unwillingness to investigate or prosecute doping cases involving Spanish athletes.

The suspension consequently had two effects. Contador obviously lost his results, but of more relevance was that his Vuelta preparation was enormously hampered by a lack of racing time. Contador’s only race post-suspension – and prior to the Vuelta – was the seven-stage ENECO tour in which he finished fourth. So he came into the race high on training time, but significantly under-prepared in races completed during 2012. It’s therefore fair to suggest that Contador would not have been at his peak, but would have been very familiar with the route.

Joaquim Rodriguez, in contrast, is the Spaniard upon whom the most accolades have been lauded in 2012. Second in the Giro d’Italia (winning the points jersey and two stages), first in La Flèche Wallone, and with multiple other top-ten finishes dating back to the Tour of Oman, his has been a very long season, but also his most successful. It meant he came to the Vuelta as a polar opposite of Contador: over 40 racing days completed, and for the second year in succession he was to attempt the last of two Grand Tours in a year. At 33 years of age, that’s no mean feat, and few at his age have managed to complete two Grand Tours on the podium in a calendar year.

Alejandro Valverde came to the Vuelta after an even more exhausting schedule, starting his season eight months earlier at the Tour Down Under, where he finished second. Valverde went on to ride at least 50 more days prior to the Vuelta, including the Tour de France and Olympic Games, and yet still put in one of the best performances of his career by finishing second. Had he not been involved in that famous crash during echelons in the first week, who knows if he would have been able to take the top step instead?

Chris Froome rode having completed months of exhausting racing in peak condition, as the right-hand man to Bradley Wiggins, and then on his way to collecting a bronze medal at the Olympic Games. It was probably expecting too much of him to be able to compete at the Vuelta, but after his strong showing last year – and at times looking stronger than Wiggins at the Tour – Froome’s name was right at the head of the list of contenders for the Vuelta. Of all the contenders, his performance probably best showed what should be expected of his schedule. He was promising in the first week, but ultimately his program caught up with him, and he faded, exhausted in the final week, to finish a distant fourth.

So our leading four contenders (and as it turned out, also the top four finishers) all came into the race either under-prepared, or after long and difficult goals had already been undertaken during the course of the season.

So how, then, are the year’s most extraordinary climbing numbers produced? Put into perspective, if Rodriguez had managed to do the wattages in the Giro that he displayed in Spain, Hesjedal would have been so far out of sight that his time trial would have been for cementing second place, and not remotely competing for first.

This was an outstanding race by any measure. Contador’s victory in Fuente Dé will live long in the memory for its sheer audacity, its plot hatched and executed long before the final climb, to almost universal acclaim. The three weeks had all the drama, entertainment, and panache the world longs to see at the Tour de France.

But, after the bitterly-public Armstrong events played out over the last few months, it also failed to dispel lingering questions about the sport. Make no mistake: The top two riders from the Vuelta have both been suspended for involvement in doping. The third has been around teams clearly associated with it in the past, although never sanctioned himself.

The world has just watched a man found guilty of (and suspended for) doping come back and win a Grand Tour just weeks after that suspension finished. They’re entitled to wonder if it’s genuine.

These three riders on the podium are not strangers to the sport’s ills. Fans have seen too many false dawns over the last twenty years to not raise an eyebrow when something very extraordinary occurs, and in one of the hardest races in recent memory, we have a reminder that the past is very much still here with us in the present, simply as a result of observing the identities of those undertaking such feats.

I’m not suggesting or implying that anybody is doping now. There could be a reason why they’ve struck super-human form at their home event. But over the last few months we’ve been told to put our faith in the numbers, to take into account the climbs when viewing those numbers, and the reality is that what we’ve witnessed here fails the most basic test – that of human instinct. We may have been witness to the show of a lifetime, but we must consider – was this simply the same show we’ve seen before? If the identities of those at the front haven’t changed, and the numbers aren’t lying, how can we know the culture has shifted?

Of that we can only be sure of one thing, and that is that time will be the best judge. Until then, we’ll have to wait and see if these numbers translate to equivalent gains at next year’s major events. If so, what will be the world’s determination then? Are we going backwards, or forwards?

Manufactured and authentic. You should be able to discern the difference.

Worst of the Week

Numero Cinco

I didn’t do anything wrong!

Oh Alejandro. I’m wondering if the Lada Gaga song was really written for you. Certainly seems so. You didn’t do anything wrong? Really? So you served the suspension for just being… you? The trouble with these “top” athletes is that they wreck the reputation of those who are legitimately working their arses off in the peloton. Take a page out of Millar’s book, Alejandro, before you receive a “Karpet Ride” from someone in the peloton who doesn’t take kindly to your lack of humility.

Numero Cuatro

Dombroski misses US Nationals

In light of how lopsided a victory that Katie Compton had at the US CX nationals (Congratulations Katie!), we’re extremely sad that one of our favourites, Amy Dombroski was too ill to fly to Madison to contest the national championships. She was quite active on twitter, and had one of the best comments in light of the nature of the race. It did bring out great secondary stories, in Katie Antonneau, and one of Nicola Cranmer’s road warriors, Coryn Rivera

Numero Tres

Hey Jealousy! Thy name is the entire peloton, according to Vinokourov

You know what? I think Vino would be great in my position since he truly understands that politicians these days need to be D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N-A-L. Jealous? I think that Vino and Valverde should join forces on the road and call it “Team Innocently Delusional presented by the Spin Kings.”

Numero Dos

Wellens falls ill on eve of CX nationals

An awful occurrence for Bart Wellens that he falls prey to a terrible infection on the eve of his national championship, and had catastrophic organ failure. Thankfully, he’s recovering well, receiving timely medical care. I won’t even get into any of the speculation at all, and hope that Bart has a very quick recovery. Best wishes.

Numero Uno

Radioschleck Datsun just can’t get anything right at all

This team is a prime example of doing everything for the wrong reasons with the wrong motivations.  Becca has already burned a matchbook with the UCI by refusing to play along in the “game” and publicly declaring malfeasance in the Saxo/Israeli business. Follow that with Bruyneel’s declaration that Andreas Klöden is a bigger GC threat than Frank Schleck, proven already to be an ineffective motivator for the brothers. Or how about Maxime Monfort’s public declaration of wanting to contend the Vuelta? Can you say “too many GC contenders in the Nuclear Reactor now set to meltdown?” Then you have a team sponsor cheerleader in Lee Applbaum who just doesn’t understand how to say the right thing at the right time, including a poorly-played twitter response to Jonathan Vaughters (see the back and forth here) Next, you have an anti-climactic team unveiling in Luxembourg that Bruyneel couldn’t exit fast enough. Lastly, what the hell is with that bloody fooking team kit? Wow. How about an epilogue? Quite the fashion faux pas in that godawful grey sweater vest which made the team look like they were mental institution escapees. This should be a superb season of infighting and racing gaffes.

Best of the Week

Number Five

Bridie O’Donnell wins Bronze at Australian National Time Trial Championships

O’Donnell backed up her article’s assertions here at Cyclismas with a great podium finish, starting off her campaign for a spot at the Olympics with a bronze in the national time trials. She missed out on the silver medal by around a second, but it does give her a great foundation for her next test.  We think she’s great voice for women’s cycling, and a testament to the maxim that you don’t have to be under 30 to compete at a high level, and have exceptional results.

Number Four

NetApp garners Giro d’Italia wild card spot

In my mind, this is a genius move by RCS. Sure, on a sporting level it might seem that these gents are in over their heads in comparison to the rest of the field lining up for the race, but it may prove to be a move that could generate  some buzz leading up to the race. Remember that these boys did get their feet wet in last year’s Paris-Roubaix, and they do have ambitions for future WorldTour status. The fact that Giro fixture Stefano Garzelli was a casualty in order to allow NetApp a spot shows that Michele Acquarone is staying true to his efforts to create a wider audience for the race. Some have already made negative comments about the three other teams being “Italian,” but Rome was not built in one day. Baby steps will win out over radical change. Acquarone himself shared with me that it’s fine to make changes, but you also need buy-in from the RCS staff as well as the public before making major modifications to traditional thinking. He’s keeping consistent.

Number Three

Nicola Cranmer’s appearance on TourChats

If only all team owners were as frank and open as Nicola. You may agree (as most of us do) with her, or you may disagree, but she is willing to have a dialogue and share her thoughts. Looks like she’ll have to make an appearance on the Overlord’s Hotstove in order to expand on some of her thoughts that didn’t get clarified. I’m happy to give her the platform. Oh yeah, I was there too for a bit.

Number Two

Jeremy Powers wins US National Cyclocross Title

How can you not like JPow? He’s candid, funny, smart, and is unafraid to wear some very flashy colours during races. He had a textbook race, with only a small fall early in the contest, and held off a strong field in Jonathan Page, Ryan Trebon, teammate Zach McDonald, and Tim Johnson. If you get a chance to head over to cyclingdirt.org, there’s a wonderful video of him and his emotion at the finish line. Thank goodness the draconian course security detail allowed him to share the moment with someone special. I’m thrilled to see Powers overcome the trials and tribulations of years past to nab the title that eluded him.

Number One

Bill Gifford does the mainstream treatment of Team Armstrong

Gifford did a balanced and true portrait of the Lance phenomena, and a surface scratching of the fallacies that are trumpeted by those blinded-by-yellow-tinted-Oakley-Jawbones-with-the-Livestrong-logo fanatics. No money for research. A private jet (now for sale). Licencing deals. A for-profit Livestrong component. I look forward to a follow up with more detail that will squelch the mass hordes of mini-Lances running around the countryside trumpeting “Awareness” “Awareness” “Awareness.” I will say, however, that you also need to read Charles Pelkey’s clarification of his part in the article. And I’m hoping the NYVelocity boys get their trademark on “Cancer Shield.”