Vuelta a Espana Leaves LPR Off 2009 Invite List, But Why?

The organizers of the third grand tour of the year, the Vuelta a Espana, released the list of teams for the 2009 edition, with the usual inclusion of several Spanish continental teams and all the Pro Tour teams but two, but the most glaring and unfair snub was surely regarding the LPR Brakes team of Alessandro Petacchi and Danilo Di Luca.

Di Luca and his LPR team were one of the dominant teams of this past year's Giro d'Italia, and Di Luca "The Killer" lobbied hard for his team to be invited to the Vuelta based on his belief that if invited, he and Petacchi would each fight for a stage win during the race, adding to the excitement for the viewing public. And in his history, Di Luca has always been an attacking, aggressive rider that always lent excitement to the race he was in, be it a one day classic or a stage race. In short he backs up his words. Petacchi meanwhile is still winning even at the age of 35, and at least one stage win at the Vuelta would all but have been ensured had Petacchi been granted an opportunity to ride.

In looking deeper at the LPR team, there are good riders in addition to Petacchi and Di Luca who would have possibly been able to shine at the Vuelta. Gabriele Bossisio, though almost always playing the role of domestique, is a dangerous rider who has a nose for decisive breaks and can climb with some of the best in the world. And solid workers like Specialetti and Ongoroto add fire power to a team that had no problem keeping up with, and sometimes dominating, the rest of the field at the 2009 Giro d'Italia.

The main reason for LPR's exclusion is based on the past doping offenses of several riders on the team, including Di Luca, Petacchi and Bernucci. But they are currently enrolled in the UCI's blood passport program and should be afforded the same opportunities as the other teams that follow the UCI code. In order to even participate in the blood passport program, a team must submit a significant financial sum to the UCI, and LPR reasonably could argue that they should be entitled to receiving the money they paid back as it made no difference in the races they were allowed to ride in.

On one hand the Vuelta organizers will look the other way for suspected dopers as in the case of alejandro Valverde and other top Spanish riders, but Di Luca and the LPR team are left off the list despite their ability to animate a stage race. It's time that race organizers applied rues equally to all teams instead of making arbitrary choices based on their own prejudices. With LPR's exclusion, the Vuelta will surely lose much of it's drama, and therefore fewer fans will tune in to watch the event. 

Fast forwarding to 2010, Di Luca could cause some serious problems to race organizers if he is able to take the world championship in Switzerland this fall as he is planning. The coach for Italy at the world's, Franco Ballerini, has told Di Luca he'll have a chance to lead the team for the rainbow jersey, and the course in Mendrisio is very well-suited to Di Luca's ability. With the rainbow bands on his back for 2010, it would make it hard for races to keep him from taking the start line. If "The Killer" hashis way, that's exactly what will happen in a few months time.