Astana 2009 - we all know they were clean, now they'll prove it

I'm sure the Astana team will welcome this great opportunity to prove that they won Le Tour fair and square.

For the record, several teams are in focus for their controlled syringe disposals, with Astana singled out at the moment as syringe content is tested. In all likelihood no team would be so - umm, what's the word, stupid? - as to dispose of "foreign" syringes in the safe, controlled disposal system. Of course it only takes one individual to make a mistake.

Alternatively someone - this is the conspiratorial theorist at play now - could be setting Astana up for a fall. Which would be both wrong and diabolical, yes?

15 Le Tour 2008 samples to be retested

We already knew that 30 riders were in the frame for biological passport anomalies, now we know that 15 riders are being targeted from the 2008 Tour de France as well. (There may or may not be some overlap here as we have different agencies at work - seemingly competing for top prize in dope sleuthing.) An earlier unconfirmed suggestion was that the 15 were targeted from the top 20 riders in last year's tour. If true, there will be some big names here... and none of them will be from Astana...

The French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) will re-examine urine samples from the 2008 Tour de France according to comments made on Sunday by the agency's President, Pierre Bordry. "Before this year's Tour start in Monaco, we warned some 15 riders that in conformity with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, we would analyze retrospectively (the) samples taken in the 2008 Tour," Bordry told Reuters.

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.

That's it from him

What a way to go. One brief moment of glory, supported by a few doses of illicit drugs. Kill your career, and your team's. Disappoint sponsors and supporters. Drag everyone down. On the bright side, we are still catching the cheats.

Team Gerolsteiner's Bernhard Kohl has confirmed that he tested positive for CERA during the Tour de France to team manager Hans-Michael Holczer. "I had a call from Bernhard Kohl and he confirmed to me that he had been told of the positive test," Holczer said. "The substance is EPO CERA."

This isn't really working, is it? Should we legalise everything and monitor only for safety? Or perhaps Greg LeMond's sealed SRM power-output monitoring idea is the way to go, rather than play constant catch-up with new variations on a theme? Make more than an incremental gain in power, you get a please explain. Too big a jump, or into the realms of fantasy, you are out.

Who's next? Schleck, now Sastre speculation?

The suspense is killing me. There are more tests underway on those 2008 Tour samples and the only thing we know for sure is that they have already caught Ricco (twice more), Schumacher and Piepoli. What we are guessing is that there are more positives to come, and that they are likely to be riders who were in the results. We can also speculate that their behaviours will betray them. They will have become nervous and will limit their exposure by actions such as avoiding the World Championships. We can also guess that they are riders who display uncanny ability, perhaps an ability that comes and goes and is inconsistent. They will also be smart, with a lot to lose.

High on that list must be Sastre, winner of Le Tour. Now he seems a decent guy, and he was on the best team, so it didn't seem impossible that he should win. He's been consistently "up there" on GC. But never so close before. He was also supported by Frank Schleck, now tainted by a transfer of funds to Dr Fuentes. If Sastre is caught it'll be a major blow to Le Tour, but good news (in a sense) for Cadel Evans, Bernhard Kohl and Denis Menchov. It may also may help explain why CSC stopped funding Riis's team. But that's just idle gossip.

It may be that Frank Schleck is the one, given the as yet unexplained transfer of funds. Smoke and fire, y'know.

Alas, we only have this statement so far: Tour de France director, Christian Prudhomme, expects more positives to come from the French anti-doping agency (AFLD) blood testing. The Frenchman thinks there will be one or two more riders, according to Reuters.

We shall see.

Piepoli and Schumacher - positive is so negative

According to unconfirmed reports, Leonardo Piepoli - who had seemingly admitted and then denied doping - has tested positive at the 2008 TdF to CERA. No surprise there, really. More surprising, perhaps - although many would have found it easy to believe at the time, when he seemed to be riding out of his skin - is Stefan Schumacher, positive in the same way. Funny how those unbelievable results turn out to be so - umm, unbelievable?

The German who rides for Holczer's soon to be defunct Gerolsteiner team won both of the time trials in this year's Tour, taking the yellow jersey after his win on stage four and holding it for two days before crashing during the sprint into Super Besse on stage six. His second win came on stage 20 where he beat world champion Fabian Cancellara.

I trust we can rely on at least some of our 'unbelievable' riders. Those that are consistently amazing, like Cancellara for example, draw less suspicion for their performances. Let's hope that trust is repaid. (Alternatively, if it's not working anyway - let's just ditch this 'detection and punishment' model completely and be fair to everyone.)

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?"

Do I smell smoke?

The speculation just keeps growing. It's been bubbling away since Le Tour ended... then died a bit as we got on with life. However the Schleck family saga has played a part in re-igniting interest. You know, the father's car was inspected, then months later son Frank is implicated (without proof, as yet) in Operation Puerto. And now we all wonder, who are these masked men? And will they be unmasked in 2 weeks or so?

Anti-doping expert Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, who runs an independent testing system for the Team CSC-Saxo Bank and Astana teams, noted in July that he felt the EPO use in the peloton had not been adequately dealt with. After examining the data from several tests which had been declared negative by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laboratories, he said the agency was "sitting on a mountain of EPO positives".

French confirm - and retest

French authorities have confirmed those other Tour de France results, and promised to retest a few samples that have remaining question marks: Bordry estimated that the additional testing would take no more than 10 or 15 days, which means results could be available as soon as before or during the World Championships in Italy. Several riders tested positive during the 2008 Tour de France including Riccardo Ricco (for EPO-CERA), Manuel Beltran (for EPO) and Dmitriy Fofonov (for the stimulant heptaminol). Ricco's teammate Leonardo Piepoli also confessed to his team manager to using the same banned substance as Ricco. Moises Dueñas Nevado secured his place on the doper's list Wednesday after his "B" sample came back positive for EPO, confirming "A" sample results. He had previously confessed to using the banned substance.

Don't you just love the suspense? And the timing!

Moreau and corticosteroids?

Speculation is rife about riders who have abandoned without obvious injury. Moreau comes to mind: French newspaper Le Monde has cast doubts over the former Tour de France stage winner. Confirming that Moreau's blood values did not present any anomalies prior to the Grande Boucle, the paper however alleged that Moreau was sent a letter from the French federation doctor after Paris-Nice this spring. In the letter, the rider was notified of his too low blood cortisol values and asked to stop competing for a while. Along with hematocrit, haemoglobin and reticulocytes, cortisol is part of the French "suivi longitudinal" anti-doping controls, a system similar to the UCI's blood passport, but that has been in place since 1999. Low cortisol in the blood is said to be directly related to the intake of corticoids, which block the natural production of cortisol. According to Le Monde, Moreau is the only French rider who was notified with a "counter-indication to the practice of cycling" in this way.

Yes, prolonged use of glucocorticosteroids will suppress natural cortisol levels, but what is the benefit? These drugs will definitely increase your anxiety and bring anger to the surface more readily, which may help you in a sprint... or not. I wouldn't want to be riding beside an angry or anxious sprinter myself ;-)

Alternatively a rider may seek to use these drugs to reduce muscle mass (they are catabolic, not anabolic steroids). Typically you get thinner skin, and lose both muscle and bone minerals. You may therefore get lighter, but they also cause you to retain water... so the benefit is hard to pin down.

3 down, 7 to go?

If there were 10 riders in Le Tour with 'abnormal values', do we have a case of 3 down, 7 to go?

French newspaper L'Equipe reported that Beltran was one of 10 riders found by the AFLD to have abnormal blood values in the days prior to the Tour. On July 3 and 4, the AFLD performed blood tests on riders "to allow for subsequent targeted doping tests during the Tour de France", the agency announced Friday.

Or have some of these riders already abandoned, for whatever reason?

Not to mention Duenas

It's never too late to mention a rider caught out, is it? For the record, another non-negative for EPO in this year's tour: Spanish rider Moisés Dueñas has become the second rider to register a non-negative test for banned blood booster erythropoietin at the Tour de France. The results came from a sample taken from the Barloworld rider after the Grand Tour's first time trial, Stage 4 on July 8 in Cholet, according to head of the French Anti-doping Agency (AFLD) Pierre Bordry.

Ricco takes Pantani too literally

Self-confessed Pantani fan with a 'naturally high' haematocrit has seemingly been caught out. And is thus out of Le Tour and into police custody. What can one say? Beltran at least was at the end of his career... what was Ricco thinking?

Italian rider Riccardo Riccò of Saunier Duval has tested positive for blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO), French sports daily L'Equipe reported on its website on Thursday. According to the paper's Damien Ressiot, one of the climber's urine samples collected by the French Anti-Doping Agency AFLD showed traces of a third generation EPO called CERA (Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator).

Of course he could be innocent. Of course.

Beltran exits stage left

One of Lance's faithful lieutenants has been caught out with EPO. Yes, it's been a while since Lance raced with the guy, and there's no evidence to suggest that Beltran used EPO before this year, but one's mind does wonder at why he should do so now. The obvious answer is to make it a bit easier in the twilight of his career. A career now effectively ended, I suspect.

Dane Bjarne Riis, head of Team CSC-Saxo Bank, looked at the positive side of Manuel Beltrán's "A" sample test result which resulted in the dismissal of the "scandalous" Spaniard from the Tour de France. He said the sport's anti-doping controls were working. "It is bad for cycling, without saying it is a 'scandal' – he is the 'scandal,'" said Riis to Cyclingnews the morning after Beltrán was asked to leave the Tour de France for his positive Erythropoietin (EPO) test. "The controls work. The system works. Those who don't understand, like him, have to leave." The classification rider of Team Liquigas was caught in a French anti-doping agency (AFLD) control following stage one that led to a positive EPO result. All the Tour de France controls are being carried out by the AFLD, which is different than in past years when handled by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Of course Riis is right, and the kerfuffle has already died down. Let's hope that's it for Le Tour and Le Dope Scandal this year.

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.

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?

Diggin' the dirt: Rasmussen and CSC, 2002

If you look long enough and hard enough you start to see stuff you missed before. Reported via CN:

"Danish broadcasting company DR Sporten and newspaper Jyllands-Posten have reported that Michael Rasmussen had slightly irregular blood profiles in 2002 when he was still with Team CSC. He had been scheduled to take part in the Giro della Provincia di Lucca but he was sent home by DS Johnny Weltz after an internal blood test showed irregularities. Back then, Rasmussen told Danish news agency Ritzau that his withdrawal was due to stomach troubles and a fever.

The wheels are turning for AC

We really don't know who AC is, or was. He could be anyone. Jorg Jaksche doesn't know. The UCI doesn't know. But WADA would like to know... from CN: "WADA opens Contador investigation. The World Anti Doping Agency has opened an investigation on Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel), winner of this years Tour de France, and his alleged involvement in Operation Peurto. WADA is working with ex-Liberty Seguros rider Jorg Jaksche, who admitted that he worked with the Spanish doctor while he was a team-mate of Contador at Liberty Seguros, after it received documents from German Professor Werner Franke that supposedly links the Spaniard to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Documents seized in the case are said to contain the letters A.C., which is allegedly the initials of Alberto Contador."

Of course it's denied by Contador and the matter was settled once before. It's opened up not because of new evidence but because of renewed publicity for the allegations. It had to be re-opened, surely, for the sake of our peace of mind.

Speculation of the day: Evans on Contador

Most Aussie bike racing enthusaists would have watched Cadel Evans be interviewed by Andrew Denton (a local comedian turned Parkinson-style interviewer) last Monday night. To be honest it was OK but not very revealing. Denton talked it up on ABC radio prior to the show and suggested that Cadel was unhappy about his team's support during the race but Cadel himself didn't say that in the interview. He did say that Contador was innocent until proven guilty, but that's hardly earthshaking, is it? He also regrets losing those 23 seconds, but it would be more surprising if he hadn't regretted it.

CN has a partial transcript on its site:
"Evans: Contador is "innocent until proven guilty"... 2007 Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans took time out to conduct an interview on the Australian talk show, 'Enough Rope'... After discussing Evans' childhood and life growing up on a remote Northern Territory settlement, Denton moved into the hot topic following this year's Tour: losing by 23 seconds and doping. He was specifically asked if he believed that Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) deserved this year's Tour de France victory, especially in light of comments made by German anti-doping activist, Werner Franke, that the Spaniard's victory was "the greatest swindle" in sports history. Evans said: "I think, like everyone, there is a bit of a shadow over his winning and his reputation. For me, innocent until proven guilty is always my attitude. "Just because you win the Tour de France doesn't mean you are a cheat. People have to remember that. If something comes out... solid evidence, yes... but 'til now, no solid proof has come out. So I'll leave him innocent until proven guilty," he said. "