Asthma medication story of the month: Piepoli

Lots of people have asthma and exercise often is attributed as a trigger. So inhaling via a "puffer" is surely to be expected, especially just before a race. The main question is how much salbutamol is an acceptable, reasonable level for individuals with breathing difficulties. Other questions may include what value is there in a medical certificate anyway, and why does it often look like a third of the peleton have these breathing difficulties? Have you been at a start of a race and seen all of the puffers out? Does this inhalation actually work, asthmatic or not, or is it a placebo? And lastly, do we care?

Via CN: Piepoli heard by Monaco federation Piepoli. Italian climber Leonardo Piepoli will be heard by the cycling federation of Monaco tomorrow for his post-race 'non-negative' doping control following the Giro d'Italia stage to Monte Zoncolan, May 30, won by Saunier Duval teammate Gilberto Simoni. The 35 year-old who races with a license issued by Monaco, where he has lived since 1999, recorded a reading of 1800 nanograms per millilitre versus the limit of 1000. Following the announcement of the result on June 13 a Barcelona lab was unsuccessful in determining if the asthma drug that been inhaled as normal or injected. "The summons arrived on Saturday," explained Piepoli to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The rider has a medical certificate which allows him to use Salbutamol above the 1000 limit. "Doping with Ventolin [a manufacturers name of Salbutamol - ed.] is impossible, there is a lot of scientific literature to demonstrate this. The certificate that I have does not have limits for use, and I have to say that I don't remember if on the day of Zoncolan I used it more than other days, it would be deceitful to give an indication as such."