Follow Armstrong's haematocrit online

Well it's meaningless really, but there you go: Detailed blood test results from seven International Cycling Union (UCI) and Damsgaard out-of-competition tests are now posted on www.livestrong.com.

It goes up and down, often without any particular reason (it has its own reasons, I guess). Mine is 46, or was when last tested. I still couldn't beat Lance over any distance, especially so with my Achilles injury!

And why meaningless? Well it has some meaning, especially if verified by an outside, independent body. We are however reading a public report and trusting that's it's verifiable. I don't think it would get published if it wasn't true, but it's still built on that trust. Would it get published if a value went over an accepted limit? We may never know, but it's something to wonder about.

And does it matter? Transparency may matter, however the ups and downs of a blood test result are fairly obscure unless you know how to read the details, understand the impact of workload and diet and take it in a longitudinal context. Most of us will just go, uh-huh. Or we will misinterpret something and start some sort of rumour...

For the record, on Armstrong and Valverde

There's always more, isn't there? I wondered why Lance Armstrong would want to fund yet another testing service when there are so many others already provided. OTOH it seemed like a good way to display commitment. OTOOH it looks like a bad move when he has to back down on that commitment. OTOOH it never really mattered, it was for show. He could just get a feed of data from the other testers, like Team Astana, surely, and post that on the web?

And now to more disquieting news: Valverde.

The Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) has summoned Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde to face charges of doping or attempting to dope in relation to the infamous 'Operation Puerto' affair.

OK, no big deal, we've been through this a few times now - except that there's an alleged DNA match between last year's Tour stage sample (taken on Italian soil) and soem DNA extracted from one of those infamous Spanish bags of blood. Whilst it's all sounding very forensic, it's also very serious if proven.

Armstrong on '99 and EPO

Here's a good ESPN interview with LA that makes some clear points about 1999 and that urine sample that may or may not contain EPO: Let me ask you this question: If this was your urine sample [grabs a half-finished bottle of iced tea on table] -- it's open. You haven't seen it, you don't know where it's been. It's been sitting open, and all of your credibility and your life's work, everything rides right there on that bottle. Would you go over there and test that? I can answer it for you. Of course you wouldn't. Nobody would do that. So we're not going to get into that game with them. It's time that they move on from that.

Armstrong states his case

And he's certainly entitled to defend himself. He hasn't been found to have taken performance enhancing drugs, although there was one incident for which he had a valid medical certificate (that was the case, yes?). And he's right, during his amazing, astounding and incredible 7-year streak not one of his able domestiques was caught out in a drug test.

OTOH many of these teammates - admittedly not all - have fallen foul, some quite spectacularly, since. And there is reasonable wonder at the 1999 "questions" raised, and wonder again surrounding how almost all of his competitive contemporaries have variously been shown to have been "enhanced", yet remained unable to beat The Boss. We just have to trust the man, as he is sticking to his guns.

"The last time I checked I won the tour seven straight years and was never once found to be guilty of doping despite seven years of intense scrutiny," said Armstrong in response through his spokesperson Mark Higgins. "Not to mention that my team of 25 riders over those seven years was also never found to be positive. We won clean and fair. Also, according to industry standards, TV ratings, worldwide media impressions, spectators along the route, and global sponsorships were at an all time high. Where's the embarrassment in that?"

2 years or 3, EPO or no?

More Danish EPO post-Olympic news: Danish mountain biker Peter Riis Andersen received a two year suspension from the doping committee of the Sports Confederation of Denmark after testing positive for EPO prior to the Olympic Games. His suspension runs from July 22, 2008 and covers all training and competition activities within the framework of the Sports Confederation of Denmark.

And comebacks from from various alleged, declared or just retired riders:Lance returns: do we care? Well it will kick up some dust, sure. Lance Armstrong's comeback is in the grand US tradition of retiring at the top yet seeking another "final" blaze of glory. Indeed it can't be easy to step out of the limelight and start a "normal" life, if cancer-survivor LA's life could ever be called normal. So a comeback - a well-planned, targeted one at that - could give LA another shot at proving whatever it is he's trying to prove. His innocence, perhaps?

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.

Groundless accusations

There's nothing better than magazine articles where interviewees say 'maybe' and 'perhaps' and we are encouraged to translate that into 'definitely did'. Thus we twist a fairly weak story to beat Jan and Lance over the head all over again. Bear in mind that neither Ullrich nor Armstong have ever been tested positive - well, not without a letter from a doctor to explain it, anyway. What we do have ample evidence of is superlative athletic performance on a consistent basis. We also have many proven cases of doping amongst teammates and competitors; but to draw conclusions by simple comparison is to draw a long bow indeed.

On the other hand where there's smoke there's usually fire... via CyclingNews:
According to the magazine, a meeting at d'Hont's house on March 16 of this year, Pevenage admitted to having advised Ullrich and others on blood doping. He said, about "30 to 40 percent" of the riders were informed of the practice, but later they all knew about it. "You gave up a half-litre of blood three weeks before. And it is well-stored. Good, you feel a little weak for the first two or three days, but then you start to recover... You feel a lot better and then at that point you get back that extra half-litre," Pevenage described the process. Even Lance Armstrong's name came up in the conversation. "I don't understand why Jan could never beat the other one [Armstrong - ed.]," Pevenage said, and wondered about his blood values. "One day someone told me the American is unbelievable. He starts the Tour with a hematocrit value of 46 and at the end his still has 46. How can he do that?" questioned Pevenage. "With blood doping," suggested d'Hont.

Quote of the Day - LeMond on dopes

Worth a good long read are Greg LeMond's thoughts on how to fix up the dopes. Here's just one decent quote, via CyclingNews, with some powerful resonances:
LeMond was also not afraid to take a thinly veiled shot at his fellow Tour winner Lance Armstrong, whose Discovery Channel team announced it would disband after ceasing its search for a new sponsor earlier this month. "I think we're fleshing out a lot of people who are leaving," he told the newspaper. "I think a lot of people are leaving not because they can't get sponsors, but because [investigators are] getting serious. The guys that have been getting away with it don't want to be caught."

Discovery's announcement is detailed here, by the way.