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[kottila]

It's not original but true.

His publicists claim it's true..

 

[Kabouter]

And the racing part is kind of a joke lately, at least it shows the advancement of pharma labs...

Yeah, doping doesn't make you an amazing athlete without you having to put in any effort. And if everyone's doing doping, you still have to excel like you would have to in any clean sport.

 

[Mael]

Yeah, doping doesn't make you an amazing athlete without you having to put in any effort. And if everyone's doing doping, you still have to excel like you would have to in any clean sport.

yeah no,
the point of the Tour has never been to see who could do it the fastest, after all there's planes that can do that way faster than anyone else.
Same reason cheating isn't allowed in all the other sports and competitions, it cheapens a great deal the event.
On top of that, it's supposed to be a popular event, if the population only see cheaters they can close that shit because nobody will be watching (that's why the Tour 98 was so damaging to the event).
If nobody watches, nobody will sponsor and then nobody will run in the end.
A clean Tour is very important for the event, especially considering how each city the Tour crosses pays up the ass to get the Tour to their gates.

 

[Fjolle]

Well that takes some dedication to still be interested in the Tour de France after THAT fiasco (you know which one), seriously I applaud you Gaf.
Isn't it already known that they're pretty much all cheaters in some way or another anyway?
I mean after that guy that was actually using an electric bike :/

The electric bike thing is a hoax. You can't get any meaningful amount of power in a bike without making it look like

 

[Kabouter]

yeah no,
the point of the Tour has never been to see who could do it the fastest, after all there's planes that can do that way faster than anyone else.
Same reason cheating isn't allowed in all the other sports and competitions, it cheapens a great deal the event.
On top of that, it's supposed to be a popular event, if the population only see cheaters they can close that shit because nobody will be watching (that's why the Tour 98 was so damaging to the event).
If nobody watches, nobody will sponsor and then nobody will run in the end.
A clean Tour is very important for the event, especially considering how each city the Tour crosses pays up the ass to get the Tour to their gates.

Curiously, at no point did you choose to refute what I said. I'll just assume you agree with me that you were wrong in what you said earlier.

 

[Goldrusher]

I never saw this as something that could be followed by Gaf, kinda like when you go to a place in Europe and they talk about the superbowl or something.

So you think GAF only consists of Americans, when you yourself aren't even one ?
And/or that Americans only like Nascar, baseball and American football ?

 

[i_am_ben]

The tour de france is actually very popular in Australia.

 

[Mael]

So you think GAF only consists of Americans, when you yourself aren't even one ?
And/or that Americans only like Nascar, baseball and American football ?

No I'm more talking about :

The tour de france is actually very popular in Australia.

That's not exactly a given.

Curiously, at no point did you choose to refute what I said. I'll just assume you agree with me that you were wrong in what you said earlier.

The point is not that winning while cheating doesn't require effort it's that nobody gives a shit about a sport where cheaters are allowed, and sponsors don't like being associated with them.
Why the hell do you think that teams tried to exclude the runners that were proven to be doped.
If you think that's okay and all, fine. There's anti doping squad and all that jazz for a reason though.
Whether or not the cheaters are amazing athlete is not in question, however we strip the proven cheaters of the titles they earn while cheating.

Seriously what you're implying is that the cheaters that wins are good athletes anyway that should be treated like they earned whatever they win, that's pretty disturbing and quite clearly against the very reason such competitions still exist in the first place.

 

[HolyCheck]

No I'm more talking about :



That's not exactly a given.



The point is not that winning while cheating doesn't require effort it's that nobody gives a shit about a sport where cheaters are allowed, and sponsors don't like being associated with them.
Why the hell do you think that teams tried to exclude the runners that were proven to be doped.
If you think that's okay and all, fine. There's anti doping squad and all that jazz for a reason though.
Whether or not the cheaters are amazing athlete is not in question, however we strip the proven cheaters of the titles they earn while cheating.

Seriously what you're implying is that the cheaters that wins are good athletes anyway that should be treated like they earned whatever they win, that's pretty disturbing and quite clearly against the very reason such competitions still exist in the first place.

Strange. I woulda thought it Would be with how well we do at cycling at an Olympic level and the fact that theres always a large number of Australians in the tour.

Something to learn :
Pretty much any sport that has Australians in it will get a big following here!

 

[Tarazet]

It's more embarrassing that the UCI is going ahead with proceedings on this. The amount is below the detection threshhold, and as Contador himself pointed out, it's actually impossible to administer that kind of amount. It could only be because the animal was fed the drug to boost its growth, and it was passed into Contador's bloodstream by eating it.

 

[Kabouter]

It's more embarrassing that the UCI is going ahead with proceedings on this. The amount is below the detection threshhold, and as Contador himself pointed out, it's actually impossible to administer that kind of amount. It could only be because the animal was fed the drug to boost its growth, and it was passed into Contador's bloodstream by eating it.

Danish doping expert says it was evidence of blood doping, Contador having blood from early in the year injected, blood from back when he was using this crazy stuff.

 

[Tarazet]

Danish doping expert says it was evidence of blood doping, Contador having blood from early in the year injected, blood from back when he was using this crazy stuff.

Blood volume tests would have detected that, no?

 

[rykomatsu]

The amount is below the detection threshhold, and as Contador himself pointed out, it's actually impossible to administer that kind of amount.

How I understand it, there is a minimum detection threshold set forth by UCI for the substance...probably means if the lab cannot detect it at that amount, that lab cannot be contracted for lab testing. However, instrument sensitivity (and resulting limit of detection) is separate from what the UCI contract would most likely stipulate.

There's no value where the drug is considered acceptable, so...you have a situation where (values are hypothetical):
UCI lab requirement: LLOD > 50ng/mL
Contract lab capability: LLOD > 5pg/mL

UCI probably has no reporting limit stipulations, so the contract lab must report it as being a positive and follow up on it with the B samples. And ultimately, there's protocol that UCI then needs to follow that's probably outlined in their own guidelines, instead of making exceptions.

To make it clear, reporting criteria and detection criteria are not one and the same.

Personally, I would think that it would be more embarassing for UCI not to follow up on it. Rules and regulations should apply to all athletes no matter what...if it's stupid, the embarassment would be more in the long run where they do nothing to change the rules and regulations for the better.

 

[santi_yo]

Very funny Bild.de

wtf.

 

[kottila]

Blood volume tests would have detected that, no?

I read an article claiming they found plastic residues in the blood, i.e. pointing towards blood transfusions.

edit: found the article in french: http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2010/20100930_224156_l-hypothese-d-une-transfusion.html

Noone mentioning that no 2 in the Vuelta, Ezequiel Mosquera, was caught in doping as well, along with a teammate, David Garcia Da Peña

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68T3HM20100930

 

[Mael]

Strange. I woulda thought it Would be with how well we do at cycling at an Olympic level and the fact that theres always a large number of Australians in the tour.

Something to learn :
Pretty much any sport that has Australians in it will get a big following here!

Well to be fair, I usually don't follow much of the nationalities of racers/runners, heck if not for some US shows that couldn't shut up about Armstrong I wouldn't even care he was american.
And yeah it's also on the other side of the earth too, I mean aside from a big event like World Cup of football or rugby or the Olympics I can tell you I don't follow that much overseas competitions (and it doesn't make the headlines anywhere which doesn't help).
so yeah, my bad.

 

[Jay Sosa]

:lol at PTI yesterday, yes everyone is/was doping except Lance Armstrong. Are they serious? He just had the better doctors.

An asthma drug? There will never be another Tour winner without the use of a banned substance. This banned substance rule is so stupid. Why don't they just make all substances legal unless it's an actual steroid.

Kinda funny how they all have asthma though.

 

[tirant]

Theres something odd about cycling.

Every year we have a new scandal because of doping. Meanwhile, other sports that actually move hundreds of times the money cycling does, remain "clean" --> soccer, nba, tennis, etc...

 

[kottila]

:lol at PTI yesterday, yes everyone is/was doping except Lance Armstrong. Are they serious? He just had the better doctors.



Kinda funny how they all have asthma though.

Not really. The lungs of athletes, especially those focusing on stamina and excersising outdoors in variable weather conditions, are under tremendous pressure. In cross country skiing where they competing and training in low temperatures, many of them get asthma at some time. The asthma medication is not performance enhancing for normal people either, it just lets asthma sufferers compete at the same level as those without.

 

[kottila]

Theres something odd about cycling.

Every year we have a new scandal because of doping. Meanwhile, other sports that actually move hundreds of times the money cycling does, remain "clean" --> soccer, nba, tennis, etc...

Cycling has set an enormous focus on cleaning itself up. Those other sports would rather pretend nothing is happening in order to pretend to be "clean"

 

[Kabouter]

Cycling has set an enormous focus on cleaning itself up. Those other sports would rather pretend nothing is happening in order to pretend to be "clean"

I still love the fact that only the cyclist customers of Dr. Fuentes felt any consequences. Footballers and Tennis players never got in trouble :lol

 

[Juicy Bob]

I feel so sorry for cycling fans. The pinnacle of their sport, reduced to this.

 

[Shiggy]

Great to see that doping is now officially supported by the UCI...

 

[rykomatsu]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...dor-tour-blood-sample-indicates-iv-use_144757

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/sports/cycling/05cycling.html?_r=2&ref=alberto_contador

And the plot thickens...
Didn't someone mention autologous blood doping in this thread?

 

[Tarazet]

Contador gets 1-year ban and loses his 2010 Tour de France title.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-to-receive-one-year-ban-for-clenbuterol-positive

2 years is standard for doping cases, so this is actually lenient. I guarantee, Contador will appeal it to eliminate the sentence and the UCI will appeal it to try for 2 years.

 

[Chris R]

So when does Andy get his stuff for the win? It passes to him right?

 

[_Bro]

Sucks for Contador, guess this could give Team Leopard something to attach to its name.

As for the conversation months ago about doping and how it reflects the sport, I'd like to see other sports that actually prosecute as many athletes for substance abuse.

 

[santi_yo]

Alberto Contador doping ban to be lifted

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will have his provisional one-year ban for failing a dope test lifted on appeal by the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC), Spanish media reported on Monday.

The 28-year-old three-times Tour champion, the outstanding rider of his generation, has been suspended provisionally since August after the Spaniard tested positive for a small amount of the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol.

The Federation said it was unable to comment on the reports, and whether Contador was to be officially informed of their decision on Tuesday, as it was a secret process.

Contador's agent Jacinto Vidarte told Reuters: "We haven't heard any official information from the federation.

"We are waiting for a communication from them and so far we don't know anything. We've seen what's been published in the Spanish press, but that's it."

Spanish daily El Pais said that according to sources close to the RFEC disciplinary committee, the committee had decided to accept Contador's appeal that he had inadvertently consumed the banned substance after eating a piece of contaminated meat during the Tour.

If he is cleared as reported on Tuesday, Contador will be able to compete in the Tour of Algarve which starts on Wednesday.

Once the decision has been communicated, the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency will have one month to decide whether to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if they disagree with the ruling.

Justice