Post Olympic wrap-up continues. Rebellin, now Schumacher post-dated and positive?

It seems like a strange, leaky system (or cistern?), this post-Olympic drug-doping-dripfeed. We get told there are a number of athletes suspected, but we can't say who because we have to be absolutely certain. And so we speculate about who may be involved. And then we get told that a cyclist is involved, and that it's the talented Italian one-day rider, Rebellin. I guess that was both not a surprise, as he seems able to pull rabbits out of hats at times, and a shock, as why would he want to sully his brilliant career?

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has opened an investigation into Davide Rebellin as a result of a positive doping control at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It has immediately prohibited the Italian, 37, from competing and called him to Rome for a hearing on May 4 at 12:00.

Rebellin will defend the accusations. The Italian Olympic Committee saw it as a virtue to name names early, rather than keep everything in the dark:

"We are the only Olympic committee that has released a communiqué. We are the only ones who communicated all of this with transparency. Today the Corriere della Sera newspaper wrote that 'CONI lost a silver medal, but won the transparency battle,'" a spokesman for the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) told Cyclingnews.

And then, having been prompted by the Italians, more names emerge:

Stefan Schumacher is the second cyclist confirmed to have tested positive for Erythropoietin (EPO) derivative CERA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The German cycling federation (Bund Deutscher Radfahrer, BDR) confirmed the news of its cyclist Wednesday afternoon.

No suprise that Schumacher is caught again, of course. Allegedly, pending hearings and all that jazz. And it doesn't end with cycling, either:

Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi, the 1500-meter champion and his country's first gold medalist in track, was among three track athletes—and a half-dozen Olympians in all—snagged in the latest game of cat-and-mouse between cheaters and those who try to nail them.

Allegedly, of course.

If all of that has some stamp of authority, there's also this story about the T-Mobile team from 2006, based on absence rather than proof, and assumption rather than evidence:

How many of the T-Mobile Team went to Freiburg University Clinic for a blood transfusion during the Tour de France 2006? The German news magazine Spiegel reports that an independent commission investigating the case believes that three riders went to the clinic, but also uncovered further evidence that seven riders within the team may have had some sort of blood "manipulation". The magazine states that the commission "assumes" that Andreas Klöden, Matthias Kessler and Patrik Sinkewitz travelled to the clinic for blood transfusions on the night of the first stage of the 2006 Tour de France. There is no mention of whether the remaining four non-German riders on the team participated in the trip.

It all sounds very flimsy, indeed. And all denied, of course.

Schumacher cops 2 year ban, Valverde investigated again

The process can't really get any slower or messier, surely? We all remember Stefan Schumacher's tireless attacking efforts in Le Tour '08 and wished we could all back up and fly again like that. We also remember the positive test for CERA, and Stefan's denials. Now he has (finally) been given a 2 year ban for doping: The French National Anti-Doping Agency AFLD has suspended German rider Stefan Schumacher for two years after testing positive for CERA, a new generation of EPO, during the Tour de France. Schumacher confirmed the suspension Thursday evening, calling the decision "a shock" and the process a "farce". In between times he has been in limbo, expecting to get a licence to race in '09. At least he now has some certainty, pending appeal.

Less certain is Valverde's future. Alejandro Valverde arrived in Rome, Italy on Thursday to appear before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) only to be informed he was now also under criminal investigation. The Spaniard was informed that the separate probe had been opened when he arrived at Rome's Olympic Stadium for his hearing with CONI's anti-doping prosecutor. Once implicated and cleared of involvement in the Fuentes blood-bag fiasco, the whole kettle of fishy activities has been reopened; Valverde's DNA has allegedly been identified (via an Italian-initiated blood sample taken during the 2008 Tour de France, no less) and matched to one of the blood bags in question. He denies any involvement. Yes, these are Italian investigations into a Spanish rider over a Spanish-originated allegation. Go figure.

The main problem appears to lie in the differences between countries, their specific criminal legislation and their local sporting bodies' treatment of doping. Whilst the UCI has a process, it's become clouded by where the offence takes place and the country under which the rider races. Now it's a global sport and a global problem but surely if we are to set and enforce doping regulations we must get a consistent banned list and set process together, act quickly and decisively and stop messing around like this... surely it's not that hard? Evidence suggests it's almost impossible to be fair and transparent at the moment.

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.)

Schumacher's irregularities - and more

Stefan Schumacher, tell us, what is the truth? From Bild, via CN:
Stefan Schumacher may have finished third in the World Championships, but he has had nothing but problems since then. First it was announced that he had "irregular blood values" in two out-of-competition tests before the Worlds. Now he has been involved in a situation involving drunk driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and possibly drug consumption.

Schumacher's denial: Team Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher admits to having made a mistake, with his drunk-driving accident over the weekend, and is willing to accept the consequences. But that is all that he is admitting to, and has now gone on the offensive to fight rumours that he was using doping products to prepare for the World Championships, where he placed third. After the Worlds, it was reported that two unannounced out-of competition tests conducted the week before the race showed irregular blood values, which he said were due to diarrhoea. Since then there has been public speculation that the irregularities were due to doping, which Schumacher, the UCI and the German federation have all denied.