Viatcheslav Ekimov is like a good wine, he just keeps getting better with age. Or so he’s hoping after telling Eurosport he’s eyeing a spot on the Russian national team for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

If he scores a spot on the team, Ekimov would be the ripe age of 42. The Discovery Channel rider said he feels like a “25 year old” after his recent comeback from injury.

“I going to keep racing because I feel great after coming back from injury,” the Discovery Channel rider told Eurosport at the Criterium of Astana in Kazakhstan. “I am full of enthusiasm and optimism and was thinking of trying for another Olympic title. I know I will be 42, but I feel like a 25-year-old. Don’t show your passport to anyone and just keep smiling and keep pedaling.”

The 2000 Olympic time trial champion missed this year’s Tour de France with a neck injury after crashing on a training ride with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong in the spring.

Ekimov returned to racing in August and placed an anonymous 28th, more than three minutes off the winning time of Michael Rogers, in the elite men’s world time trial championships in Madrid last month.

Ekimov, who flirted with retirement in 2002, said his effort in Madrid was part of a larger comeback strategy to return to top form in time for the 2006 season.

The venerable Russian said he wants to end his career with Discovery Channel and expand on his 12 Tour appearances. He’s two shy of the 14 Tour starts held by French icon Raymond Poulidor, but he’d have to race four more years to equal the record 16 Tours held by Joop Zoetemelk.

Ekimov would be 43 by then, but don’t put anything past the ageless Russian.

“I want to end my career with Discovery,” he told Eurosport. “They are a great team with good structure and good relationships. I am completely satisfied and for me, it feels like a family.”

Lawyer vows broad investigation
Amsterdam, Netherlands (AP) - The Dutch lawyer investigating allegations that Lance Armstrong used the performance-enhancing drug EPO at the 1999 Tour de France said Monday he planned to look at the accuracy of the results and how they were made public.

"We're gathering our file of information together and assembling additional experts, and we expect to release a timetable for our investigation by the end of the week," said Emile Vrijman, assigned to the case by new UCI president Pat McQuaid.

Seven-time Tour winner Armstrong denies using EPO, which wasn't tested for at the time.

The French newspaper L'Equipe claimed in August that traces of the drug were found in a set of the Austin cyclist's backup samples thawed and retested last year.

Even if the report is accurate, the American is not likely to face sanction because the original "A" samples no longer exist.

The World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound accused former ICU president Hein Verbruggen of leaking documents about the alleged positive tests to L'Equipe. Pound also questioned the union's willingness to fully investigate the allegations.

Verbruggen denied Pound's accusations and claimed WADA was blocking its investigation by withholding information.

Both sides have ordered investigations of the matter.

Vrijman said that although the UCI is funding his investigation, it will be independent.

"In no way will they be able to the report in advance or influence its results," he said. "I have a free hand to conduct the investigation."

Vrijman added that he also expected WADA to cooperate fully.

"I think it's in the interest of other sports that we look at this issue of retrospective research and make sure that it's dealt with within the rules," he told The Associated Press. "We also need to draw some conclusions about how we will deal with this issue in the future."

Vrijman headed the Dutch anti-doping agency for 10 years and later defended athletes accused of doping, including soccer player Edgar Davids, banned for five months for allegedly using the steroid nandrolone in 2001.

All findings would be made public, he said, but added that investigators wouldn't comment until their report is complete.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge called Friday for outside "independent observers" to investigate allegations, suggesting the ICU and WADA probes might suffer bias or the appearance of bias.

Rogge wants a group of experts who are linked to WADA but operate autonomously to settle the issues if the UCI and WADA investigations lead to different conclusions.

"If they have the same conclusion, no problem. But if they differ it would be good to go to the independent observers," Rogge said.
The Associated Press

Bernaudeau calls for start-line blood tests
Jean-René Bernaudeau, manager of the French team Bouygues Telecom, told the French daily L’Equipe he’s in favor of the extraordinary measure of anti-doping tests to be taken at the start line of races.

Following reports that racers allegedly transfuse their own blood just moments before the start of a race to avoid anti-doping detecting methods, the French team manager agreed that tests should be conducted at the start line rather than in the early morning hours as they currently are existing protocol.

“If the scientists estimate that the solution consists of pricking the finger right before the gun, it’s a good idea,” Bernaudeau told L’Equipe. “It’s a price that has to be paid and my riders agree. The latest revelations ring true because they’re plausible and it gives desire to fight (doping) even more.”

Under current testing methods, the UCI’s “vampires” sweep down on teams for early morning blood testing, usually between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. under rules that were meant to catch would-be cheaters before they had a chance to alter their hematocrit readings.

But according to reports last week in L’Equipe, some riders are allegedly waiting until moments before the start of a race to transfuse their own blood to elevate their hematocrit readings. Blood is then allegedly taken out after the race to bring levels under UCI guidelines.

“In my view, it’s important to continue the fight against doping so it’s a level playing field,” Bernaudeau continued.

Museeuw’s day in court Tuesday
Former world champion Johan Museeuw is set to appear in a Belgian court on Tuesday on charges of possessing banned performance-enhancing substances, Reuters reported on Monday.

Court officials confirmed to Reuters the now-retired 39-year-old Belgian is scheduled to appear before a grand jury for possession of Aranesp, EPO and Dexomethasone.

Museeuw, a winner of the 1996 world championships and 11 one-day classics, has denied use of any banned doping products, but prosecutors allege he’s part of a larger web of players that also include veterinarian Jose Landuyt, three-time world cyclocross champion Mario De Clercq and others.

Landuyt is charged with provided the banned performance-enhancing products while Museeuw is alleged to have had in his possession 2,000 units of EPO. De Clercq is alleged to have had 6,000 units of EPO and seven other banned substances, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors have provided evidence of mobile phone text messages between Museeuw and Landuyt in which they allegedly communicated about doses. The charges are linked to the 2003 racing season.

The three-time Paris-Roubaix winner retired in 2004, but the allegations were made months after Museeuw officially quit the sport. The Belgian cycling federation still issued a two-year racing ban.

Beloki, Etxebarria re-up with Liberty
Three-time Tour de France podium man Joseba Beloki and classics veteran David Etxebarria have signed one-year contract extensions to stay with Liberty Seguros-Würth for the 2006 season.

Beloki almost retired this year after another frustrating season trying to overcome injuries dating back to his dramatic crash in the 2003 Tour de France that left him battered both physically and psychologically.

The 2004 season was awash with setbacks, especially after acrimonious parting of ways with French team Brioches Boulangere over a disagreement on asthma medicine that the team alleged border-lined on doping.

This year he joined Liberty Seguros with eyes on recapturing his form that carried him three straight Tour podiums in 2000-02. He abandoned the Giro d’Italia and limped through the Tour de Suisse with his future in doubt, but said he rediscovered the motivation to race after finishing the Tour de France.

For 2006, the Tour and the Vuelta a España will be the top goals for the 32-year-old Basque rider.

McEwen re-ups with Davitamon-Lotto
As expected, Robbie McEwen will stay with Davitamon-Lotto for the 2006 season. The Australian sprinter won 11 races in 2005, including stage victories in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.

Other new additions to the Belgian team include American Chris Horner, who won a stage in the 2005 Tour de Suisse and electrified this year’s Tour de France with a string of attacks. Horner, 33, who raced with Saunier Duval in his European comeback season, penned a two-year deal with the outfit in August.

The team has also signed Australian Nicolas Sanderson and Belgians Pieter Mertens, Olivier Kaisen and Nick Ingels to fill out its 2006 roster.