Bikes, drugs, & teams

[juliet]

So, Vino's been doping, Moreni's been doping, & Rasmussen (yellow jersey holder) has been sacked for lying about his whereabouts a few months ago (& thus probable doping). All of which is saddening, but kicking them out is justifiable. (I'm not 100% sure about Rasmussen, but it's looking increasingly suspicious & in the circs...)

However: the whole of both the Astana & Cofidis teams are also out (voluntarily withdrawn rather than kicked out, but it's fairly clear that they were under a lot of pressure). That's a further 16 riders (I think; unless any of 'em have fallen by the wayside already) who aren't going to make it to the finish because one of their teammates has been cheating.

The rationale behind this is of course to encourage people not to turn a blind eye. But it is entirely possible for both Vino & Moreni to have been putting things into themselves without the knowledge of their team or teammates (albeit a bit less likely in the case of Vino, because of what he was doing - blood transfusions). Given that Cofidis are one of the prime movers in the anti-doping stuff, it's even less likely that anyone other than Moreni was responsible - so is it fair to be taking them all out?

What it definitely is, all of it, is saddening. I hope very hard that Contador (who will get the yellow jersey today, unless anything very unexpected happens) is clean, but there's mutterings already about that :-/ 4 days riding, I think, until the Champs Elysee; it all feels pretty dispiriting.

Some things of interest:
A journalist tried out a bunch of drugs (HGH, EPO, steroids) for the 2003 PBP.
David Millar on Vino getting caught (Millar served a 2-year ban himself and is now Anti-Doping Crusader).

In totally other news:
Navigating by the stars!
Clever ratties! (thanks to webcowgirl for the link)

Comments

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

something has been troubling me.

why don't they just say, "right, if you come in the top ten on ANY stage you WILL be drug-tested" (see also "if you qualify for an olympic final you WILL be tested")...

[juliet]

They do, I think (or at least, some number of the top X are tested, plus other randoms).

Part of the problem is that some of the doping goes on outside of competition - e.g. if Rasmussen *has* been up to anything, it'll have been a couple of months ago. If you can train harder out of competition, then even if you're no longer taking [whatever], you still have an advantage.

The other problem is that previously it wasn't taken quite as seriously; and some sorts of doping are really very hard to detect (the way they caught Vino was technically very impressive, although I don't understand the details at all! They identified not-his-own red blood cells despite the fact that red blood cells have no nuclei & therefore no DNA.) e.g. the testosterone requirement is <50%, which is a pretty random level (just slightly above the "normal" range) & certainly won't stop someone from e.g. using just a *bit* & getting to the top of the "normal" range.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

yes, i was reading in the graun that rasmussen has had something like 16 clean tests on the tour itself...

...the testosterone thing is so open to challenging, because it's not beyond the actual humang production level, just higher than standard...

[juliet]

[nods]

However (as someone has pointed out on another forum I'm on): them's the breaks. The UCI can set whatever the hell rules it likes, & you agree to them by taking part. If it transpired that a particular individual had particularly high testosterone levels, then they're not going to be able to compete. Which is a shame for them, but within the UCI's rights. Having said that, I've not actually seen anyone suggesting that that's a real issue - the level is reasonably high, & in practice breaking it does mean that you've been doing something you oughtn't.

[bootpunk.livejournal.com]

Part of the rationale of pulling the whole team is to avoid even the suspicion that a clean star rider could be being helped by non-clean teammates. They really need to do something about cleaning up the sport, it's image could hardly be lower at the moment. The Tour has been dropped by many continental TV stations and newspapers; only results and doping stories are being run.

Lots of long faces over at tritalk.co.uk, where the cyclists can't believe the mess their sport has gotten itself into.

[tla]

Personally I think its image is so low because they *have* been doing something about cleaning up the sport. This is why the attitudes of continental TV stations are driving me up the wall. What did they want -- no testing, like the bad old days?

The sport got itself into the mess years ago. Why punish it now that it is finally clawing itself out?

[juliet]

[agrees]

It is still saddening, though - one (naively, admittedly!) kind of hoped that people would take seriously the pledges etc they've signed up to. In practice, of course, it's going to take a few high-profile cases like this for things to improve.

[juliet]

I do understand why, it just seems a shame for the other riders :-/

Agreed with chrysaphi that it seems bloody stupid for the continental TV stations etc to pull out because people are getting caught & punished!

[tla]

I'm curious where you have been hearing mutterings about Contador. The only possible link I have been able to come up with is that he used to ride for Liberty Seguros, but when his name came up in Puerto it was investigated, and Fuentes himself cleared Contador.

As for Astana and Cofidis being kicked out en masse, I think there was residual suspicion around the entire Astana team, so they were asked to leave. As a result, when Moreni had his positive, Cofidis had to go as well, although there wasn't any suspicion falling on the rest of the team. More people seem to think it's a shame for Brad Wiggins than they do Andreas Klöden.

Although I am very disappointed in Vino, I am pleased that riders are being caught and kicked out in a timely fashion. (On the other hand, I fear the scope for miscarriage of justice very much, but that's another rant for another day.) I think the Tour has more credibility today than it did a week ago, which puts me at a loss to understand the media spin.

And hey, Saturday's time trial will be very interesting now. :)

[juliet]

There's been some folk on ACF suggesting that him being cleared in Puerto was a bit fishy. I don't know if this has any basis in, well, anything, other than everyone being ultra-suspicious atm. Also he's been hanging onto Rasmussen, & Rasmussen has been doping, so... (Obv that is not a particularly fair line of thought!).

Agreed re Astana/Cofidis.

I'm looking forward to the time trial! Just before I head off for Dunwich :-)

[tla]

Velonews had a pretty thorough article about why Contador was named in Puerto, and why he was cleared. It looks like the UCI is convinced he was never involved, which is much more than we could ever say for one Signor Basso.

[juliet]

That's interesting, thanks! That does make things look a bit more positive for him.

[lovingboth]

Weekly tests. If anything shows up, even in retrospectively inspected samples when a new test comes along, you lose a vast amount, your team bosses/mates lose a pile, and the team's sponsors lose a big bond.

Either that, or someone takes you out and shoots you.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

it's possible that this second option might be all that stops the bvggers, unfortunately...

[juliet]

They are supposed to have out-of-competition samples, but not quite as frequently as weekly. Might be an idea to move it up a bit...

Not sure it would be practical to keep samples long-term, though.

Life bans are what a lot of people are talking about now. Also in *theory* anyone caught doping during the Tour has signed up to donate their year's wages to the anti-doping cause, but it's not clear yet whether that's actually going to be legally binding.