McMurdo cops steroid ban

At least he accepted it as fact (or is that too bold an assumption?) and didn't ask for a hearing. He got 2 years. It's sad as he had some great results in the period in question, and it's doubtful that the steroids themselves had as powerful an effect as the placebo value alone. 

Australian domestic cyclist Hilton McMurdo has been handed a two year sanction by Cycling Australia (CA) for his use of anabolic steroids. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) yesterday acknowledged CA's decision to sanction McMurdo for the doping violation.

 

Rasmussen gets his due

Will he cop it sweet or appeal? Do we care anymore? Rasmussen gets 2 years for telling fibs about where he was, or wasn't... Nearly one year after he was forced to leave the Tour de France while wearing the race leader's maillot jaune, Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen has been suspended for two years for missing out-of-competition doping controls prior to the race.

Still, it did make for an interesting, if confused, L eTour. It's hard to believe Landis won and lost 2 years ago, and Rasmussen was pulled out just a year ago. This year, of course, we have Boonen sidelined (even if his drink was spiked) and Contador sitting it out 'cause Astana is a bad word around Paris. Cross your fingers, it'll all start again soon enough.

Professionalism re-defined

What makes a professional bike racer? Is it someone who simply rides for cash? Is it a racer who also rides clean? Or is it a bike rider who does everything possible to maintain optimum performance? Including doping?

With that thought in mind, here's an interesting quote from David Millar, via CN: Millar walks through his career, saying he was naive about the prevalence of doping in the sport when he started as an amateur and said doping "went against everything I stood for." Millar then speaks about a point in his early days as a professional after he won a race when he showed a team-mate that his natural hematocrit level at the time was 8 points below the UCI allowable 50 percent. "I saw it as showing him that you could win without doping," Millar says in the show but adds that his team-mates response was that Millar was unprofessional to not have a hematocrit level right at the allowable limits. The message, he said, was that doping was considered normal and expected.

The race you win when you aren't racing

I won't comment, really, I won't: When the Kazakh cycling federation handed down its decision in December 2007, the UCI had initially planned an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but subsequently withdrew after Vinokourov announced his retirement from professional cycling. However, on May 31 Vinokourov participated in - and won - the Laurentine Kivilev, a 100 km race held on the French Riviera as a tribute to his compatriot Andrei Kivilev, who died at the 2003 Paris-Nice. Vinokourov revealed at the event that he was training three times per week, but denied a comeback was on the cards.

HGH a fizzer?

Do we now distinguish between drugs that actually work and drugs that only work because we think they work? We already control substances that both work and don't work and have bad side-effects (like gluocorticosteroids), so controlling a substance that probably doesn't work and hurts you still makes some sense. I think.

The researchers concluded, "The results of this study suggest that the placebo effect may be responsible, at least in part, for the perceived athletic benefit of doping with growth hormone for some people."

Or do we ban placebos?

It goes on and on

Just a progress report on another "attempted" use of dope... in case you missed it: Italy's Ruggero Marzoli has been disqualified by the Italian cycling federation (FCI) for six months for his involvement in the Oil for Drugs investigation involving Doctor Carlo Santuccione. The 32 year-old will be able to return to racing October 17. Despite an appeal made on March 31 to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), the FCI appeals commission ruled, "he is liable for frequenting Doctor Carlo Santuccione, limited and without membership ... therefore it is considered guilty of attempted use of prohibited substances and a sanction is imposed."

Aussie TT dominator back in November

Well he would be satisfied, surely? Australia's Nathan O'Neill is satisfied with the outcome of his Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) appeal, which sees him able to return to the sport on November 12. O'Neill will return to the United States of America on Monday, where he will begin training and start to focus contract negotiations for the 2009 season. O'Neill tested positive for the stimulant Phentermine in an in-competition test on August 12, 2007, during the Tour of Elk Grove in the USA. While the eight-time Australian Time Trial Champion is allowed to use the appetite suppressant out of competition, traces of the substance remained in his system during the event.

O'Neill has published some interesting ideas on weight control in Aussie cycling mags. So was the Phentermine part of his program? You'd have to say yes, but I hadn't seen it in print before, strangely. So is it still OK out-of-season? Is it a case of anything goes, at least with weight loss? Or was the Phentermine part of a larger picture? Nathan, please tell us what you think...

Boonen stays out of sight... briefly

Nasty recreational cocaine-taker one day, winner the next. You'd imagine he'd like to stay out of sight for a while, but no... Tom Boonen recovered from his rather tough few weeks with a trademark Boonen sprint victory, crossing the line just ahead of his lead-out man Wouter Weylandt while notable speedsters Mark Cavendish, Matthi Breschel and Graeme Brown were left in his wake. The Belgian, who tested positive for cocaine and had his invitations to the Tour de France as well as the Tour de Suisse revoked, had a quiet first three stages, but was back to his old form on stage four of the Ster Elektrotoer. He and Weylandt crossed the line a full bike length ahead of third placed Nikolai Trusov (Tinkoff). Enrico Gasparotto of Team Barloworld retained the leader's jersey.

Boonen sorry, of course

Well it is a personal issue, isn't it? It's a stretch to say that cocaine will improve your cycling; rather it's a social, recreational drug for people with a bit of cash to play with. And a popular one at that. So when we get upset at Tom Boonen's lapse of judgement we are really getting upset at our own community, its double-standards and its penchant for social drugs of all kinds. Cocaine is but one; the biggest drug of choice by far, is alcohol. Do we get upset about cyclists or other sportspeople abusing alcohol? Perhaps not as often as we should...

From CN: Belgian Tom Boonen will not be sanctioned by his team for his positive cocaine test, it was announced Wednesday morning at a press conference in Wielsbeke, Belgium. The 27 year-old Quick Step rider apologised for his actions and said that he would take a short break from competition. The team continued to show its support for the sprinter, as did the sponsor, which prolonged its contract.

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No-one's perfect after all

The biggest problem with the idea of dope controls is 'who decides'. In other words, who actually has the moral and ethical right to decide what is "good" or "bad" dope? Whilst drugs that are clearly shown to offer performance enhancement, like EPO, are 'probably' something we can all agree on, in fact not everyone will agree that we should set up costly programs of detection, control and punishment in the first place. The alternative may be 'legalising' dope but monitoring the health of riders and asking them to stay within limits; or perhaps simply 'outing' them so we know who the 'cheats' are, but not withdrawing their right to participate.

And then we have recreational drugs and 'out of competition' testing. Again it's a moral and ethical question. Do we have the right to say for example that cocaine is wrong, but alcohol is fine? What of an athlete's right to live a 'normal' life? And then again, should we consider them role models and expect the highest standards?

And then there's Tom Boonen. Obviously and clearly an outstanding athlete, a top road sprinter and dominating one-day classics rider. He's had some run-ins with the law lately, and we 'kind of' expect better from him. But should we? Do the standards we apply to athletes apply to journalists, to lawyers, or to popular music and movie stars? Should they?

What has Boonen done? Apparently he has lost his driving licence twice and been implicated - and now has been caught in an out-of-competition test for cocaine: from CN - "This is not the first time that Boonen has been linked to the drug (cocaine). Last December, his good friend and cyclo-cross star, Tom Vanoppen was caught by the Flemish doping controllers with cocaine. During questioning Vanoppen allegedly named Boonen as his dealer, a claim Boonen later denied. Following the claim, Boonen's parent's house was searched. Boonen's brush with the law does not stop there however. Just last week, he lost his drivers license for the second time in six weeks. On Tuesday night he was pulled over by the police travelling at 180 km/h in a 90km/h zone on the Mol ring road. He had a blood alcohol reading of 1.0. Six weeks earlier he lost his license for 14 days for travelling 120km/h in a 70km/h zone. In 2006 Boonen was the face of the Belgian roads and traffic authority, promoting safe driving."

Obviously not a good look for Boonen and his team, irrespective. But what penalty should apply to recreational drug use, especially outside of competition? And who can truly decide right from wrong without exposing themselves to charges of hypocrisy, when the 'norm' in most Western societies is clearly and certainly to indulge in recreational drug taking?

We just don't know...

A grab-bag of dope on the dopes who may or may not have doped but we can't be sure, via CyclingNews:

Remember Andrea Moletta, whose father was in a car that was pulled over by the cops? And that they found a syringe in a cooler? And heaps of Viagra at the driver's home? Remember also that Andrea has not tested positive, nor were there any signs (so far) of a cycling link. "Gerolsteiner rider Andrea Moletta remains on "inactive" status and will not participate in the Dauphiné Libéré as originally planned. Team manager Hans-Michael Holczer told the German press agency dpa that he will not ride until it is established what was in a syringe that the police found in the possession of his father. Holczer is in contact with the Guardia Finanza (an Italian law enforcement agency responsible for drug trafficking), which is handling the investigation."

Remember VDB? His ups and downs? His deeply troubled soul and wretched luck? His enormous promise as a young rider? Oh dear: "The never-ending story of Frank Vandenbroucke's legal troubles has added yet another chapter, as a Belgian court has ruled that a doping case stemming from a search of his house in 2002 must be re-opened, according to Sporza."

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Astarloa sacked for blood irregularities

What can one say? He didn't get caught doping, but his blood is apparently showing some irregularities. Expect more of this, and more legal action to test the 'biological passport' as a means by which we determine who is "in all probability" doping.

Team Milram has terminated its contract with former World Champion Igor Astarloa, it announced Thursday, following disclosures that he had shown "irregular blood values", as reported by Focus magazine. 

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Well this could be interesting

Oh what a tangled web we weave. Remember the year when Jan Ullrich was injured and missed Le Tour? He was a tad depressed about it all, or at least at a loose end for a while. Remember also when he was caught taking, umm, recreational drugs? And he had to switch teams for a while until the heat cooled. So you do remember team Coast? I hope so because it will be important.

Recall how he wasn't paid all that he was owed by Coast when it all went sour? Well he naturally is still chasing his money for that lost year... and is prepared to go to court to get it... but what if he has to testify that he was clean whilst riding for Coast? Will he own up, or does he have nothing to hide?

We shall (possibly) see: Jan Ullrich may have to testify in court as to whether he was using illegal doping products or methods while he was with Team Coast in 2003. A court in Düsseldorf, Germany, is hearing a case between Ullrich and Günther Dahms, the former team owner. "I can confirm that the senate plans to ask Mr. Ullrich to testify as to whether he doped or not," court spokesman Ulrich Thole told the dpa press agency.

Justice done, and seen to be done

There's a difference between simply dispensing justice and in being seen to deliver justice correctly in accord with and open and fair procedure. Many of the perceived problems of cycling and doping have come about when justice may well have been served but it was done oddly, in an unfair manner, or in a way that breached a stated (or even assumed) procedure. When this happens you get conjecture, speculation and perhaps legal loopholes for individual cases to fall through... of course this has nothing to do with the following blood doping case...

Spanish website Todociclismo.com claimed to have seen a letter from the Kazakh federation, stating that "there are elements against opening a procedure against the cyclist Andrey Kashechkin," and guaranteeing that he "is free to return to racing." The letter is said to be endorsed by the Ministry of Sports and the national Olympic committee. The letter details the case against Kashechkin. The rider had protested against the timing of the test and other irregularities in the testing procedure. Allegedly, the UCI did not send documentation to the federation explaining how the control had been conducted.

There you go, nothing to do with following established procedures or doing the right thing in an open manner. Hmmm. Unless of course it was all done in the approved manner and someone just doesn't get it.

Will Petacchi race again?

Will he find a team? Of course he will, he's too good to lose and after all, it was just a breathing problem.

Alessandro Petacchi may be under suspension until later this year but he maintains that he has been treated unfairly. The Italian sprint sensation was handed a suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on May 6 and late last week his Milram squad announced it would part ways with the sprinter. "My case is extremely weird," said Petacchi. "CAS concluded that I never tested positive. "I have not cheated or undermined the rules," he added. "I just had problems breathing."

Accsuations in Portuguese

We have to be careful when translating from other tongues into English, but this looks clear enough: Judicial Police, the Portuguese criminal investigation department, has raided the headquarters of the cycling team LA MSS. The department confiscated doping substances, medications, equipment to conduct blood transfusions and instruments for clinical use, according to Marca.

When then makes this quite a bit more than sad: On the same day LA MSS had its headquarters raided by Police, questions have surfaced over the death of rider Bruno Neves. The 26 year-old passed away while contesting the Grande Prémio de Amarante earlier this month.

More to come I'm sure.

Father pulled over, son pulled out

IT may be a mistake, or a co-incidence, or both. These things happen, don't they? Those Italian drug cops can get a bit carried away at Giro-time and pull anyone aside for questioning, and it's just by chance it's a rider's dad this time around.

Team Gerolsteiner has removed Andrea Moletta from the Giro d'Italia and placed him on inactive status, following his father's involvement in an anti-doping action. He did not start Wednesday's 11th Giro stage "for private reasons", it was said Wednesday morning.

We shall see.

Ahhh the mystery of it all

The UCI's biological passports are a great idea - if only the administrators, media and the lawyers all had one as well. Anyway, it's a practical way to monitor changes in blood values over time, so any deviance from a rider's baseline can be investigated. However it's also a great way to 'innocently' announce that some riders have already deviated from the norm and to start a new round of the 'who is it this time?' game.

So who is it? And which teams? Well apparently no-one and everyone. Confused? In this respect nothing has changed...from CN: "The teams involved have been informed," Gerolsteiner team manager Hans-Michael Holczer told the Suedwest-Aktiv newspaper. "Thank God, I didn't receive a letter." The two Dutch teams Rabobank and Skil-Shimano both confirmed to telesport.nl that they had also not received such a letter from the UCI. There's a good reason for that, McQuaid told the website, "That is correct, because we have absolutely not sent any team such a letter."

Certainly Steegmans is not amused by the UCI's tantalising annoucement "It is a perfect example of how not to deal with such things," an annoyed Steegmans told Het Nieuwsblad, "Why was that announced in this way? Either you say the full names, or you shut up and go about your business. This is only good for making everyone suspicious. I am certainly not the only one in the peloton with this opinion."

Same lawyer, different drug: Patxi Vila

Not Salbutamol but testosterone this time. Apparently the same lawyer though as Pettachi. From CN: Spain's Patxi Vila has tested non-negative for testosterone according to the International Cycling Union (UCI). The 32 year-old from Italian ProTour squad Lampre is requesting a counter-analysis.

There will be more to come on this one.

Petacchi gets a year off

Ouch. That's a bad result for Petacchi. At least we was already out of the Giro through sickness (or do we believe that now?) and he's already served 2 months. But there goes the season.

From CN: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced this morning that Italian Alessandro Petacchi would be suspended for one year for having tested positive for an asthma medication during the 2007 Giro d'Italia. It ruled that the Team Milram sprinter did not use the Salbutamol – an asthma drug – as doping but for medicinal purposes. Since the sprinter did not race for two months after the positive test on May 23, 2007, those two months were removed from his ban. The ban will run from November 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008.

Too good to resist...

Ahh, these stories are just too good to pass up...

• I went to the fortune teller, to have my fortune read... oh, VDB, where next dude?? The Belgian was released by Team Mitsubishi-Jartazi last week. He has ridden very little this season, and most recently had been named as a customer of gang drug dealers. If the 33 year-old is unable to come back on his bike, he may have a new career as a fortune teller. In the TV show, which was filmed before Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he accurately predicted that Alejandro Valverde would win the race. According to sportwereld.be, he had also predicted the winners in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Stijn Devolder), Paris-Roubaix (Tom Boonen) and the Amstel Gold Race (Damiano Cunego), missing only on Milano-Sanremo, where he picked Filippo Pozzato instead of Fabian Cancellara.
• Can't buy me love... Sunday was the deadline for Rabobank and Michael Rasmussen to settle their differences, following the Dutch team throwing out the Danish rider of its team during last year's Tour de France.
• It's a question of credibility? Sure is! "It is a question of credibility," Maertens continued. "We are working already since October last year on a new team. By accepting Vino in the team, we would have to start all over again. We proved already this season – unfortunately some organisers don't see it – that our team works super professionally and clean. We want to keep that." Astana has not been invited this season to any races sponsored by the ASO, including the Tour de France.

It would be cruel to suggest that VDB will not find yet another team to disappoint, however someone must be cruel to be kind at some point, surely? And Rasmussen is holding out for more money, one presumes. One can only hope he has a strong case. Finally there's Vino, in the wings, waiting to come back. I doubt it.

Leukemans confirmed

He's tried another excuse and failed, and must be running out of ideas, surely? Which is not to say he won't appeal again... The disciplinary committee of the Vlaamse Gemeenschap (Flemish Community) on Tuesday upheld Björn Leukemans' two-year suspension for testosterone usage, rejecting his appeal of the sentence handed down in January. The Belgian rider had argued that a team doctor prescribed a substance which caused the positive test and therefore he was not responsible. Leukemans can further appeal the suspension to the Council of the State.

Not guilty but here's some cash

No, I don't understand either. CN reports: The Bonn, Germany, prosecutors have closed their investigation of Jan Ullrich, agreeing with him to make a "six-digit" payment to community institutions and to the public treasury. The investigation looked into charges that the former cycling star had cheated his employer T-Mobile, particularly through a connection with Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. The amount of the payment was not disclosed but reckoned to be 250,000 euro. Ullrich did not admit to any guilt, and is not considered, under German law, to have been found guilty.

Apparently there is still doping-related evidence to examine, but in this particular instance Jan is cleared but agreed to make an undisclosed payment anyway. I'm sure the truth will out one day...

BALCO links and Jan to strike a deal?

The BALCO underbelly is still exposed... and athletes are still suffering the consequences of their poor decisions.Former American track sprinter Tammy Thomas was found guilty of lying to a grand jury investigating the so-called BALCO scandal on Friday. Thomas was the first of several athletes to go on trial in connection to the illegal steroid ring operated by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Thomas was found guilty on three counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, but was acquitted of two counts of perjury.

And there is speculation that Jan Ullrich may be about to spill the beans:Jan Ullrich has indicated that he has reached an agreement with German investigators, and has agreed to let Swiss authorities turn over to German investigators documents taken when his house was searched in September 2006. According to the Swiss newspaper, St. Galler Tagblatt, various documents and other information has remained in the office of the Berziksamt Kreuzlingen, while Ullrich's attorney's contested their turnover to the Germans. Hans-Ruedi Graf, head public prosecutor for the Canton of Thurgau, told the newspaper that the material, including electronic data, would be turned over next week.

I doubt it. But you never know.

Remember how great VDB was?

Of course it's just a set of initials on a drug-dealer's client list, but they are such evocative letters: VDB. At one stage a few years back those letters meant a rising star, born from greatness, destined to win. And then a series of calamities struck VDB, from doping offences to poor form, to breakdowns in his personal life. A career that began with bright hope soon decayed into soap opera. Well he's had a few comebacks and shown some promise, but now another allegation: cocaine.

Can this be happening? Frank Vandenbroucke has been placed on the "inactive list" by his team Mitsubishi-Jartazi, after the Belgian rider was linked to a cocaine investigation. "After mutual consideration between the management of the Mitsubishi-Jartazi cycling team, the sponsors of the team, Frank Vandenbroucke and Paul De Geyter, manager and representative of Frank Vandenbroucke, it was agreed to place the named rider on the inactive list. This is in anticipation of further and clearer information on a possible judicial study of this person," the team announced on its website. The Belgian media reported on Wednesday that Vandenbroucke's name had arisen as a customer in an investigation of gang drug dealers. "VDB" is alleged to have purchased a small amount of cocaine for his personal use earlier this year.

Possible chumps, not champs

It's too early to say if this is champ or chump. Haematocrit is a funny thing - it varies, like everything in life. It varies between individuals and it varies day to day. My own levels have generally varied from 46 to 48%. Some people just have higher values, even approaching 50%. It's just the way biological things work. But high reading s can also point to doping. So when a rider returns an HC above an unusually high - statistically - 50% it's "for your own safety" that you are taken away from cycling for a while and "assessed".

From CN: Early in the day it was announced that Hayles and Dutchman Pim Ligthart had both returned blood values above the permitted 50% level, with Hayles reportedly clocking in at 50.3%. As per UCI rules, both were immediately suspended for two weeks and will undergo further testing to determine the reason for their readings.

Ullrich offered a deal?

From PezCyclingNews:Ullrich Offered Deal VeloNews and the rest of the cycling world are reporting that Jan Ullrich has been offered a deal by German prosecutors in his ongoing criminal investigation. If the former Tour de France champ and multi-multi-time podium finisher cooperates he can walk away free of financial burden and bad conscience.

Of course if he confesses he would still be fined and banned from racing, wouldn't he?

Di Luca was out for 3 but some want more

Well CONI want him out for 2 years, apparently.

Di Luca finished fourth in the 17th stage last year, a climb up the Monte Zoncolan, and was tested directly after the stage. A surprise doping test later that evening showed hormone levels below normal, or equivalent to those of a child, but did not show any banned substances. CONI speculated that he received injections between the end of the stage and the tests, which altered his hormone level. Di Luca, who signed a one-year contract with Team LPR for this season, served a three-month suspension over the winter for his involvement in the "Oil for Drugs" scandal. He has indicated that he will appeal any conviction to the Court of Appeal for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne.

What CONI is saying is that Di Luca's hormone levels were way too low to be believed. They are speculating that he took "something" to mask what were really elevated levels. Presumably these were elevated levels of testosterone, cortisol and Human Growth hormone, or perhaps anything performance-enhancing really. (If I find the list I'll let you know.) Hormones basically control (directly or not) everything from recovery rate to red blood cell production, so to manipulate these values is a big performance advantage. There's no such advantage in having "child-like" values, indeed it would lessen your riding ability, not increase it. So either Di Luca was "sick" or "tired" which suppressed his hormones excessively to these low numbers or he was playing a dangerous game with masking agents.

Of course the testing may be in error. It's a good fall-back but it may be true. However there is one other alternative - if you spend enough time on artificial levels of these hormones your body will shut down most of its own production and become reliant on the supplementary levels. If you reduce this artificial level of input suddenly you fall back to what the body is producing naturally - which would be a suppressed, "child-like" level. After a few days you recover to normal levels as your body senses the lack of hormone. This is also a dangerous game as low levels of various hormones will have undesirable side-effects like passing out, getting the shakes and so on; it can certainly kill you in extremis. It certainly wouldn't enhance your riding.

I personally don't know how Di Luca could ride at his level with "child-like" levels of key hormones. Even just one day of that would knock you back severely. The truth remains "out there" somewhere.

Cipo on Tyler, Botero et al - and 2nd chances

SuperMario Cipollini is back in the pro peleton at almost 41 years of age and has this sober assessment of rule-breakers and consequences:
Any sort of lead-out train like the days of old will be limited because Team Rock Racing only started with five riders. The team was not able to start with Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Sevilla or Santiago Botero due to their links with cycling's Operación Puerto. "I had said to [Team Owner Michael] Ball there months ago that cycling has taken a new direction," Cipollini continued on the exiled riders. "Now, he has the proof. He is a young go-getter that would like to turn the world upside down. ... You are not able to put yourself against the UCI [International Cycling Union] and the rules. I can say that I agree with the fact that those who make a mistake deserve a second chance, but the reality is this."

Astana spend 460,000 Euros on anti-doping - still get dumped by ASO

Bye-bye Le Tour for Astana. Unless ASO does an almighty backflip there will be no invitation this year to Le Tour de France for the Astana team and their star riders. Riders who last year secured both 1st and 3rd, may I add. With stakes so high on either side - ASO desperately wants a drug-free Tour and Astana just want to race on the biggest stage - it may be that this ban gets contested all the way to July.

CN reports: The Astana team was given a resounding vote of no confidence on Wednesday when the Tour de France organiser, Amaury Sport Organisation, announced that the team would not be invited to any of the ASO's events. This means its star, Alberto Contador, will not be able to defend his titles in either the Tour or the upcoming Paris-Nice.

Just my opinion, but who can blame ASO? Whilst Bruyneel may claim - quite rightly - that this is a new Astana with the right attitude and tough anti-doping rules and testing in place, this is also a team that in 2007 fostered the up and down roller-coaster ride that was Vinokourov (blood doper). And Kashechkin (blood doper). And Kessler (testosterone abuser). And a team that has managed to bring into the fold the remains - both key riders and managers - of a fairly tight-knit, successful and at times questionable Discovery team. I say 'questionable' advisedly, however there are enough books and websites written on the subjects of Armstrong, Landis and Basso for you to gather some answers - or simply more questions - for yourself.

When you reflect on Astana's hasty creation from the charred remains of the bloodied corpse of Liberty Seguros - and its dreadfully tarnished image since - you have to wonder if ASO can afford to risk Le Tour's reputation once more. Obviously not, at this stage anyway.

Hondo's redemption

Danilo Hondo has redeemed himself in the Tour de Langkawi:
After signaling his intentions with a solo breakaway earlier in the day's stage, sprinter Danilo Hondo (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli) claimed his first victory in two seasons. The Malaysian stage race is the German's first event since returning from a doping suspension after testing positive for carphedon at the 2005 Vuelta a Murcia.

Want to know more about drugs, blood and sports performance?

Just search the Internet. Here's something interesting: Various other factors can affect the rate of erythropoiesis by influencing erythropoietin production. Thyroid hormones, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenal cortical steroids, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, and human growth hormone (HGH) all promote erythropoietin formation and so enhance red blood cell formation (erythropoiesis). In thyroid deficiency and anterior pituitary deficiency, anaemia may occur due to reduced erythropoiesis. Polycythaemia (excess red blood cell production) is often a feature of Cushing's syndrome. However, very high doses of steroid hormones seem to inhibit erythropoiesis. Androgens (male hormones) stimulate and oestrogens (female hormones) depress the erythropoietic response. In addition to the effects of menstrual blood loss, this effect may explain why women tend to have a lower haemoglobin concentration and red cell count than men. Plasma levels of erythropoietin are raised in hypoxic conditions (low oxygen levels). This produces erythrocytosis (increase in the number of circulating erythrocytes) and the condition is known as secondary polycythaemia.

What's it all mean? Well...

1. erythropoiesis is essentially the production of red blood cells, and the more you have of those babies the better your oxygen transport capacity
2. erythropoietin or EPO is the substance that triggers production of red blood cells - the more EPO you have the more red blood cells are triggered to mature in the bone marrow
3. EPO production is normally in your kidneys but lately pharmaceutical companies have built factories to make it as well, for medicinal reasons only, of course
   
4. Thyroid hormones, thyroid-stimulating hormone, adrenal cortical steroids (like glucocorticosteroids or Prednisone) , adrenocorticotrophic hormone, and human growth hormone (HGH) all promote erythropoietin formation, which again means more red blood cells in your blood; however before you all rush off to secure illegal supplies of banned substances let's note that the side-effects of these substances on otherwise healthy people will vary from catastrophic to dangerous, and in fact...
   
5. Very high doses of steroid hormones (whatever that means - 50-60mg/day, perhaps of a cortico-steroid?) "seem" to inhibit erythropoiesis, which is to say lower your red cell production and release - and is thus not very good for your bike riding, is it?
   
6. Androgens (ie male hormones, popularly known as the body-building 'steroids' but not to be confused with the stress-response-related and ultimately body-destroying cortico-steroids) stimulate red blood cell production. Great if you are guy, eh? You get big muscles and more red cells just for being born with significant external genitalia! Yippee!
   
7. And the female hormones - the oestrogens - depress the erythropoietic response and lower your red blood count. Not so good for the girls, especially when your balance of hormones changes during the menstrual cycle - which could mean fewer blood cells just when you need 'em
8. Plasma levels of erythropoietin are also raised in hypoxic conditions, which is to say your red blood cell counts go up when you reduce oxygen availability. Naturally this occurs at higher altitudes (like on top of mountains), so you get more aerobic transport capacity in thinner air (which makes sense) but some athletes have been known to simulate this with specially-designed tents that reduce the oxygen content as you sleep; so after a few weeks of acclimatization you wake up with an markedly increased aerobic ability. Some say this is cheating and have outlawed it; others think it's OK and a lot cheaper than travelling to a high-altitude environment and staying there for a month or more...
   
9. And of course blood doping is simply injecting yourself with pre-removed blood, either from yourself or others. It's obviously all a bit risky and involves a cascade of un-natural responses as your body tries to deal with a suddenly elevated volume of blood, but for a little while you have more red cells and more aerobic transport capacity. If you don't die first of course.
   

Now it doesn't make me a doctor of medicine but hopefully it makes more sense now, doesn't it?

Lifetime ban for Alfred, serial offender

You have to admire Stephen Alfred's persistence, if nothing else: At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Alfred tested positive for norandrosterone. He also tested positive for exogenous testosterone or its precursors and for an elevated testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio in an out-of-competition test conducted on May 28, 2006. Most recently, he tested positive for hCG on June 10 at the Pan American Cycling Championships in Brazil. The latter two offenses were counted as one by the World Anti-Doping Code.

Rabo riders knew Chicken fibbed, and more

Rasmussen meets the journalist who revealed "the lie that sank the ship" and a teammate admits the Rabo riders knew that "Chicken" wasn't in Mexico when he said he was. Just to remind you, Chicken was leading the biggest bike race in the world when his team pulled him from the race for his little white lie. On the basis that it "probably" covered up a bigger lie, of course, and one that remains unproven and contested by Rasmussen. Oh for some truth and substance, eh?

On the same program where Van Heeswijk made his claims, Rasmussen met Cassani again for the first time since last year's fallout. Cassani expressed his remorse for revealing Rasmussen's lie to the public, "I cried that evening that they sent you home. I felt terrible. I felt as if I had stabbed you in the back," the Italian said. Rasmussen didn't blame him, saying, "I know who sent me home. You told your story in good faith."

Giro opens a can of worms

What a can of worms the 2008 Giro has opened, by excluding 4 ProTour teams. You'd think that there was something intrinsically "wrong" with these teams, to exclude them in this overtly political way. They are ProTour teams after all, and effectively part of the premier league of cycling. So exclusion becomes a sporting issue, and it matters. The obvious question arises - is it for "drug issues", a taint that seemingly can't be overcome? Or something else?

One such "something else" is the tendency of some teams to use the Giro as training for Le Tour. Surely that includes quiet a few other teams, not just this lot.

Read the CN story here: Angelo Zomegnan, the head of Giro organizer RCS Sport, said that the decision was not simple. "There were many requests and too many problems weighing on the past histories major teams related to doping," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "This has not been an easy decision, and we have had to leave out large teams like Astana and the illustrious Italians Stefano Garzelli [Acqua & Sapone], Marco Pinotti [Team High Road] and Pietro Caucchioli [Crédit Agricole]."

And the UCI reaction is here: UCI President Pat McQuaid reacted Wednesday to the omission of four ProTour teams from the Giro d'Italia start list by race organizer RCS. He said it was like "taking a step back 20 years."

The excluded teams are Astana, High Road (formerly T-Mobile), Credit Agricole and Bouygues Telecom (all ProTour) plus the Professional Continental team Acqua & Sapone of former Giro champion Stefano Garzelli. That's a big chunk of talented riders to remove from contention.

The Tour speculation starts NOW!

It's nowhere near July but it's already started: the drug-bustin' scandalisin' name-dropping that suggests that this is going to be yet another speculation-fest.

From CN: In an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said he could make no promises over the participation of defending champion Alberto Contador or Alejandro Valverde in this year's race, after the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) recently re-opened its enquiries into Operación Puerto. "Today I cannot say that Valverde or Contador will not be in the Tour," said Prudhomme, speaking at the Tour of Qatar in Doha. "It is still early, we are not going to exclude individual riders, but instead not invite an entire team."

Meanwhile, over in the US, there's more...
Rock Racing's now former director Frankie Andreu's 2006 mea culpa about his involvement with doping during his time on the US Postal team made him a credible mentor to younger cyclists about the dangers of doping. And Andreu felt that his previous mistakes warranted him to speak to his group of young riders, frequently. But with the revelation that one of the riders on the team during his tenure, which Andreu confirmed is Kayle Leogrande, is under investigation by the U.S. Anti-doping Agency (USADA), Andreu could only say that he did his due diligence to prevent it.

Kayle's beef is that his A-sample was allegedly negative, so why is USADA asking for the B-sample to be tested anyway? Why that sounds like harassment to Leogrande's lawyers, who happen to be the Landis legal team, too. Now there's a team with some success in these matters, eh?

There's having a good time and there's...

...throwing your cyclo-cross career away. Vannoppen opens the door to another career move due to an apparent weakness for nasal inhalation of white powder. From CN:
Tom Vannoppen can start looking for a new team. After his positive test for cocaine was announced, AVB Team Manager Hans van Kasteren said that the rider would be released as of March 1. The manager had hoped to speak with Vannoppen during the Cyclo-cross World Championships in Treviso over the weekend, but that didn't work out. "I heard that he knows how to have a good time," van Kasteren told Het Nieuwsblad. "Maybe he has too good a time and does not behave as a sportsman. Apparently he hasn't learned his lesson yet."