Pro News

[sylvan]

Ricardo Ricco almost died on Sunday. Admitted to hospital in critical condition with apparent kidney failure. They stabilised him and it looks like he'll be OK. He apparently auto-transfused a bag of blood that he'd kept in his fridge for 25 days and it didn't exactly work correctly. Oops. I'd say it's all over for the cobra.

http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/08-02-2 ... 5384.shtml

Here's Johan Van Summeren's Garmin data for stage 2 of the Tour of Qatar: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67278958

Check out the length of time he spent above 60 km/h. That was early on a mostly flat stage.

Alberto Contador was positive for Clenbuterol on four days in the Tour: Jul 21, 22, 24, 25. Levels were 50 pg/ml, 16 pg/ml, 7 pg/ml, 17 pg/ml.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7355/ ... tests.aspx

"WADA stated that to produce 50 pg in urine, the contamination level in the meat should be at least three times the detection level in the European Union. WADA concluded that in order to achieve this level, it would have been necessary to have eaten meat which had been killed very soon after the last dosing of the animal with Clenbuterol." Why dose an animal with Clen just before slaughtering it? Wouldn't happen. Contador should open a burger stand with Ricco.

[Alan]

I think we should all thank Sylvan for using his valuable time and energy to dig up cycling dirt for all of us to enjoy. It's vital we all stay on top of drug things, (so that when we turn pro we'll know which ones to use)
Keep it coming Sylvan. cheers, Alan

[steve]

I just finished reading "from lance to landis". Pretty compelling argument for how much doping there is in cycling, particularly by Lance and company.

[RyanC]

Grazie campione,

Mi dispiace ma non riesco a leggere l'italiano, ma ecco una pagina web inglese:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... ation.html

R

[Quentin]

Also, VeloNews reports from La Vanguardia:

La Vanguardia: The hunt for Contador’s steaks
The Spanish daily La Vanguardia claims that WADA investigators have tracked the meat Alberto Contador blames for his positive clenbuterol test to a Spanish provider whose products have never before shown traces of clenbuterol. The paper also reports that only one case of meat contamination turned up among 286,748 quality control tests conducted on European beef in 2008, and that lone sample was found in Italy.

[jj12]

"WADA stated that to produce 50 pg in urine, the contamination level in the meat should be at least three times the detection level in the European Union. WADA concluded that in order to achieve this level, it would have been necessary to have eaten meat which had been killed very soon after the last dosing of the animal with Clenbuterol." Why dose an animal with Clen just before slaughtering it? Wouldn't happen. Contador should open a burger stand with Ricco.

mmmmmmmm....burgers....

[Brian S]

Also, VeloNews reports from La Vanguardia:

La Vanguardia: The hunt for Contador’s steaks
The Spanish daily La Vanguardia claims that WADA investigators have tracked the meat Alberto Contador blames for his positive clenbuterol test to a Spanish provider whose products have never before shown traces of clenbuterol. The paper also reports that only one case of meat contamination turned up among 286,748 quality control tests conducted on European beef in 2008, and that lone sample was found in Italy.

And this is surprising??

[Quentin]

Also: Alberto Contador drops beef from his diet after clenbuterol positive

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/02/ ... ive_159399

[John D]

>Also: Alberto Contador drops beef from his diet after clenbuterol positive

Perhaps in preparation for a diet commensurate with the earnings of a non-pro rider?

J.

[Josh.E]

Goes to show that you most can't make it on natural talent alone in Pro Cycling. If you're not also good at doping, you're hooped.

Rico was obviously very talented but very, very bad at doping.

Without riders feeling the need to dope, we'd have contador vs ricco vs the chicken vs schleck vs basso for the tour this year. Instead we are left with a two horse race. It's sad. I'd rather see the battle played out with more contenders at slower speeds.

[Quentin]

I'd rather see the battle played out with more contenders at slower speeds.

+1. I don't care about speeds, I care about the battle.

[JohnT]

The problem is that at 'slower speeds' the fastest still wins. So, going back to slower clean good old days (if such a time ever existed) just restarts the doping clock. But, I've got an idea that might work: Pay out half the earnings after the win and the second half (with interest) two years later only if there are no positive drug tests. Then, the bigger your winnings, the more you have to lose by cheating. Also, if you were second to a cheater, you'd get the money they never collected.

JT

[Rolf]

This picture makes me happy.



Not only did Voeckler start the break 17km in and just barely keep away from the rampaging horde behind (which doesn't happen enough, from what little pro cycling I've seen), but then he goes and shows that feller what's what at the line! Sometimes... this is an awesome sport.

[shawnc]

So in the picture above, did the guy with his arms raised clinch the win, or was it the guy tucked beside him? It looks like a tie. I know, I'm shockingly ignorant when it comes to the pro tour

[sylvan]

Little Tommy V (right) took it with the bike toss at the line. The unfortunate fellow with his arms raised is Laurent Mangel who mangled his finish something pretty nasty. This was today - first stage of the Tour Med: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-m ... -1/results

[sylvan]

[Lister Farrar]

Argggh. People overestimate the problem, like doping is some kind of space race where the authorities are always behind. It's not. Cycling has been terrible at enforcing even the most basic rules for 50 years. We had the stupid race radio announcement of dope tests for 30 years, which simply warned the dopers to quit the race and ride home or be ready to dodge the test. Until 2007! Every other sport had chaperones to escort selected athletes since the 70's. Cycling was friggin' warning them.

Fast forward to this years tour, when the WADA independent observers noted politely that the UCI did not target test the riders with highest rating of risk from the passport profiles, in fact, it avoided testing them.

In addition to that, two riders a priority index of ten (highest priority of testing) were recommended for blood testing. One wasn’t tested at all, while another underwent no further blood tests after stage three.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6184/ ... mings.aspx

http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/World ... 010_EN.pdf

The UCI is stupid or corrupt, probably both. The things we need are WADA to run the tests to take the temptation to hide Contador's doping out of their hands, and a rule allowing WADA to test old samples for 10 years after retirement . With automatic jail for fraud if they find anything.

Everybody written your MP and CCA president yet?

[RyanC]

Looks like the application of Strict Liability depends on who you are and in what country you reside. Your thoughts?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contado ... overturned

R

[AlW]

"Contador claims that the meat he ate on the second rest day of the Tour de France is the only plausible reason for his positive test for Clenbuterol."

I'm at a loss to explain how "I didn't do it" is considered an acceptable explanation. More so given the lack of ACTUAL evidence. I guess we're supposed to believe him because he's such a nice guy.

[JohnT]

Pros are supposed to be responsible for their diet. No excuses. But, have you read the ingredients of the Powerbars, Cytomax powder, or Luna gels you're eating? Are you sure there isn't a picogram (one trillionth of a gram) of something illegal in a sample of your blood? Courtney beef, Cowichan lamb, 100 year old rockfish or halibut? All clean? I think it would be interesting to test us.

JT