djwiners and Patrick... The information you are­ spouting is from Wikipedia which is open to abuse and­ false information input. It is true that Sean was twice­ tested and shown a positive however he was interviewed,­ verified the situation successfully and thus was never­ sanctioned, banned or outerwise penalised by the sports­ governing bodies or federation. The Wiki information­ comes from an already proven shaky source Willy Voet. I­ am not saying who is right or wrong but history has­ shown SK was never banned and WV was convicted but­ never admitted or helped in exposing others in court­ but made money from a book which is frankly a very poor­ piece of writing and stinks of "boo hoo, poor me,­ I got caught pedaling drugs...!"

AND To say­ "Kelly has no place to comment on pro­ races these­ days, as hes quite frankly a disgrace to­ the­ sport." shows the writer for what they are... I­ doubt you did anything more the check Wikipedia and­ condemn... Poor comments... Sad!

Sean Kelly is a cycling legend. One of the greatest­ modern cyclists.

Did you see from La Vuelta page that all riders have­­ profile on Strands,com? I wonder if they respond to­ people's comments...

"Kelly has no place to comment on pro­ races these­ days"

Kelly is one of the greatest riders in the­ history of the sport. By your reasoning Chris Boardman­ is the only ex cyclist fit to commentate, maybe Lemond.­ Get real and accept the checkered past (and present) of­ the sport.
Drug use in cycling is like diving in­ football, we don't like it but it's been part­ of the sport for a long long time.

Because of the problems with his team in the Tour, it´s­ not strange Contador doesn´t run.
It´s a pity, but i­ think we´ll be able to see a good race.

For a good laugh on how cheating and doping was thought­ of back in Kelly's heyday, read the story from­ Willy Voet on the Sean Kelly page on Wikipedia. You­ have to wonder how many other times he got away with­ such activities, although im a bit suprised if he­ tested positive in the 1988 Basque Tour, how was he­ able to start and win the Vuelta just a few weeks­ later? Cycling is full of people who have such history,­ such as Neil Stephens as a DS for Valverde, Kim­ Anderson for Saxo Bank who tested positive 4 times­ during his career, Riis is his boss, Vino is back as­ LEADER of his team, as is Basso, the list goes on and­ on.Why bother deriding the cheats when cycling really­ is ambivalent to the presence of such people.

As for­ Contador DJ, i think he may be a bit busy getting out­ of his Astana contract and building a team for next­ year.

Thanks Shaun for stating the obvious

I also believ that eurosport shouldnt have such a­ blatent drug cheat writing articles for them in this­ day and time. Kelly has no place to comment on pro­ races these days, as hes quite frankly a disgrace to­ the sport.

I have no time for contador. If i was a professional­ and there was a grand tour in my country i would make­ it my priority to not only compete in it, but to­ succeed in it.

The Tour is the top race in the world and most riders­ who compete in it don't race the vuelta and those­ that do, usually don't finish well. With the­ pressure of the battle with Armstrong internally, it­ was most likely even more stressful. Add to the fact­ that the world championships will be run on the best­ 'climber's course' in years (since­ Sallanches which Hinault won?) and Contador would only­ be served riding the Vuelta if it made sense for his­ world championship preparation. This may be why Saxo­ has put Jakob Fuglsang at the front of the Vuelta squad­ (check their team website). The Shlecks are probably­ riding the Vuelta as spectators in preparation for the­ worlds as well. This may be the only chance that the­ climbers of this 'generation' get a shot at the­ rainbow jersey.

paulandlyndsay

Kelly was twice caught in drug tests.­ He failed tests after Paris-Brussels in 1984 and the­ Tour of the Basque Country in 1988.

From the Article -

'The race includes several­ riders who made a positive impression' - AND how­ many who have previously made a positive Drug Test -­

There should be no place in any GT for cheats, and­ all who are discovered or subsequently­ 'revealed' should be stripped of ALL palmarès­

and never allowed to return.

Those who have been­ keeping 'just one step ahead' of detection­ should be made to feel very worried now and past­ samples should be checked with the latest­ techniques.

There could be an awful lot of­ 'Yellow' re-allocated....

Sean Kelly was never banned from cycling in his career,­ World No. 1 for 9 years and the first winner of the­ World Cup and countless classic races, so do not even­ mention that cheating baxxard in the same sentence you­ ill educated drug worshiper, so go and pedal your drugs­ to someone else who thinks you may have a valid point­ and leave us true cycling fans alone.

Keep an eye on Dan Martin in the mountains.

I too think it is strange that Contador is not ­ participating ?
Schick
Israel

IF I WAS A SPANIARD I WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED WITH AC.­­
HOW CAN A TOP CYLIST LIKE HIM SIMPLY DON'T CARE­­ ABOUT HIS HOME TOUR, BEING ONE OF THE BIG 3?!
AND­­ REMEMBER HE ONLY WAS AT THE VUELTA (AND GIRO) LAST­ YEAR­ BECAUSE ASTANA WERE BARRED FROM THE TOUR DE­­ FRANCE.
SHAME ON YOU AC!!