I think I smell a rat!
It pains me to write this post, because normally, I really want to believe that people are innocent until proven guilty. And I realize that this is old news to most cycling fans. But this headline is very disturbing to me.
Alberto Contador to Join Team Astana
Why you ask? Well… here’s why… Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Alberto Contador, Cycle, Johan Bruyneel, Lance Armstrong, Pro Cycling, Team Astana, doping, performance enhancing drugs
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More Doping Problems with Le Tour
Team: Spanish rider Iban Mayo tested positive for banned EPO during the Tour de France
July 30, 2007
PARIS (AP) — Spanish rider Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO during the final week of the Tour de France, his team said Monday in a statement.Doping allegations and suspicions have devastated the 2007 Tour, which ended Sunday. Three riders, including former overall leader Michael Rasmussen, and two teams were expelled during the three-week race.Mayo’s Saunier Duval team was told of the results of the July 24 test by cycling’s governing body and “immediately suspended” Mayo, according to a statement posted on the team’s Web site.
A second test is needed to confirm the initial positive result for Mayo, who finished 16th in cycling’s biggest event.
Filed under: Cycle, Iban Mayo, Tour de France, doping
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Just a thought: How to end doping.
How about a Life time ban for all parties involved! The rider, the personal trainer, the doctor, the coach, the team manager, the sponsor, the technician, everyone on the team… guilt by association. Ban them all.
When will these teams take this seriously?!
It’s human nature, if the rewards are great enough, and the risks seem to be minimal, then too many people will make that risk/reward trade off decision to go for the reward.
So, clearly we need to make the risk — the result of getting caught — greater.
I am serious… total disbarment from ever participating in professional cycling again. No appeal. No return. You’re out.
Of course, I think there should be some reasonable due process… don’t get me wrong…
The most significant change I am suggesting would be to go after the sponsors as well. What I am proposing is that if an athlete is caught… then of course they are out… but I am also saying the ENTIRE TEAM, including the manager, including the sponsors are out forever, and including the other cyclists who didn’t get caught.
Picture this scene… Basso is doping, he is caught, and ultimately he admits it… ok, so what, he can come back in 2 years… heck he’s cooperating, so he figures no big deal… power down, get clean, come back, be a hero.
Now instead, I am suggesting that because Discovery signed Basso, and Basso got caught, that EVERYONE involved in Discovery is permanently banned from pro cycling. Discovery is out; all team owners (including Lance as part owner); all other riders: Leipheimer, Hincapie, Popovych Cantador; manager: Bruyneel.
Sounds harsh? It is… that’s the point. Would Lance have stood for it if he knew Basso was doping, and he knew that if Basso gets caught that he, Lance Armstrong, can no longer have any association with Cycling? No team, no manager position, no ownership, nothing! I don’t think so. Would Hincapie, Popovych, or Leipheimer turned the other way when Basso scurried off to the doctor while in training? No way!
Let’s not kid ourselves… these guys know what is going on. They are turning a blind eye… if they aren’t in on it themselves. If we want to put an end to this, we need to get tough!
Filed under: Cycle, George Hincapie, Ivan Basso, John Bruyneel, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Team Discovery, Tour de France, doping
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Why Doping Continues…
I’ve had many debates with friends about doping in professional sports. I have this personality trait (some may call it weakness, but I like to think of it as a virtue) that I inherently assume people are being honest, and not breaking the rules. So when I first heard about Floyd Landis’s positive test, and his claims that he was innocent, I believed him… in fact I still believe him, until he’s proven guilty or he admits he was lying to us all.
But what bothers me most about the whole situation is how the business organizations and governing bodies behind the sports are so hypocritical about their enforcement of doping rules. Hypocrisy drives me crazy! How can an organization like Major League Baseball continue to pretend that they didn’t encourage the steroid era? How can International Cycling Union (UCI) continue to pretend that they are cracking down on doping when their own rules and procedures and handling of cases is so grossly negligent? And most of all how can these organizations continue to blame the athletes, when it is the businesses that sponsor the sports that have the most to be gained from more and more miraculous performances each year?
Jason Giambi is great example of what I’m talking about. Here’s a guy who basically has admitted he was using PEDs… and in fact he seems pretty broken up about it. But Bud Selig continues to threaten Giambi, as if to punish him for being honest about the level of complacency throughout baseball during his abuse.
Now today I see this from the world of professional cycling…
The reports said Italian rider Alessandro Petacchi, who won five stages, and compatriot Leonardo Piepoli had tested for salbutamol but both had medical certificates saying they could use the substance in asthma inhalers.
The UCI did not the name the other two riders in its statement but said analysis was continuing.
“I take salbutamol to treat asthma but there is nothing illegal in this,” Piepoli, who won the 10th stage of the Giro last month, told reporters.
“But sincerely I do not know the number of inhalations I have done. I take it every time I need it.”
Give me a break! Professional cyclists competing in world classic stage races have asthma? Right! Actually, there is a fair amount of research related to why asthma appears at a significantly higher percentage in elite athletes than in the general population. Is this cause, or effect, or a smoke screen for the use of performance enhancing drugs.
Apparently many studies have been done which seem to suggest that inhaled asthma medications do not improve pulmonary function in non-asthmatic athletes. But some studies seem to suggest that orally administered Salbutamol in particular may improve muscular strength and endurance.
I’d like to believe that all athletes are clean. I think it’s clear that that is just wishful thinking on my part. But the hypocrisy of the regulatory bodies is even more frustrating to me.
Filed under: Cycle, Fitness, Floyd Landis, baseball, doping, exercise, performance enhancing drugs, racing, science, sports medicine
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