posted Jul 17, 2008

Good point, Froggy.

I've posted on other threads on this topic, so I won't repeat myself at length.

Ultimately, the UCI, the national federations, the teams and the athletes need to work together and come up with a plan to eradicate drugs from the sport. If there is insufficient support at all levels for a clean sport, there is something truly wrong IMO.

People who watch, be they the casual viewer or the die-hard fan, want to believe what they see and celebrate the successes.

I will never understand an athlete's willingness to put himself at risk of health problems or worse by taking drugs in order to win a race.

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posted Jul 18, 2008

Re Duenas: his main problem isn't so much that he failed the test, it's that they found substances and equipment in his room. Also I believe he's admitted buying and taking the substances, which is why he's still being held (and Beltran isn't).

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posted Jul 18, 2008

I will never understand an athlete's willingness to put himself at risk of health problems or worse by taking drugs in order to win a race.

thats the point though. we cant possibly understand their motivation. dont try to.

There is the old story that if you said to an athlete 'i have a pill i can give you wich means you will win gold at the next olympics, but you will be dead within 5 years', the athlete would reply 'ok, whats the catch'?

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posted Jul 18, 2008

Interesting point Jolsh raises. I'd be keen to hear comments of opther past or current 'competitors'. I raced as a schoolboy (was ok), Junior (was ok) and senior (discovered women and beer nuff said) at the time I knew that when I sigend that racing licence I could be tested, banned etc and rode national championship events where testing was in place.
Now I never took anything I shouldn't. but I knew taht there were acceptable limits for caffiene - a known stimulant- Now I was only racing witht the potential for a few quid and a bidon, but the desire to win was enough that I would 'use' the caffiene limit a can or 2 of coke before the race would hydrate and give a 'lift' that may help me win. Deos that make me a drugs cheat? technically no - I never tested +ve , nor did I ever knowingly race with sufficient caffiene that would test +ve. But morally, retrospectively I have seen this as toe-ing the line. and i think that if as a schoolboy I took this 'socially acceptable' approach to stimulant use. it is actually very easy to see why the top guys go that one step further. I then question whether if I had a thrid can of coke....would I have won...?? a lot? become a first cat/elite turned pro/won the tour? maybe ?
Not sure which year it was maybe '87 with Delgado in yellow tested +ve for something that wasn't on the UCI list until the next year, but it was on the Olympic list, he said (to paraphrase) "yes I took it but its not against the rules yet. I'll stop taking it then.! they will all want to be that one step ahead, and taking 'stuff' that can't be detected or isn;t on the list yet ..! which is the case this year with the 3 new EPO's a form that they had been told could not be detected - oops. anyway I need a coffee- old habits die hard.

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posted Jul 18, 2008

BigMig, yeah i totally agree, all through vinokourov's career he had up and down days, where some days he would be struggling on the back of the peleton, and the next he would destroy the whole field and win by a lot.

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posted Jul 18, 2008

Chaimbers has failed in his bid to compete at olympics...good !

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posted Jul 18, 2008

toffee - yeah, basically every athlete and cyclist takes performance enhancing substances, its just that somewhere along the scale there is a point where some of it allegedly gives too much of an unfair advantage. I've long been an advocate of the Narcotic olympics - if people want to destroy their bodies for sporting glory, who are we to say its immoral or illegal?

There will always be cheats, why not level the playing field so everyone could have the chance to take whatever stimulants they wanted, and have the challenge of balancing out pushing the boundaries of what the body can do and safety. If they come a cropper, so what? Their grown ups, its their choice.

Perfect point about delgado - he took 'stimulants', but wasnt actually cheating. Its not like David Millar survives on irn bru and kellogs start is it? I'm sure he is on a reasonably unhealthy blend of stimulants and supplements. Ok they are all legal, but they are still not exactly healthy or normal. So why set trhese boundaries, which inevitably means there will never be a level playing field.

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posted Jul 18, 2008

Delgado tested positive for Probenecid, a medicine for gout.

It doesn't have any performance enhancing effect, but it does help to hide the presence of other drugs.

So, either Delgado was using some other drug, or he had gout, or he was just plain weird.

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posted Jul 18, 2008

As someone who has followed cycling for around 25 years, I was delighted to hear another cheat getting caught. Nothing could have put me more against cycling than Vino in the 2006 Vuelta.

The huge point about Ricco is that everyone thought it (Micera) was undetectable. Maybe, just maybe, the authorities are closer to the edge than we had thought. Happy Days.

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posted Jul 18, 2008

Ricco and now Piepolo have both been sacked, and the sponsor is questioning whether they'll stay in the sport. So it looks like Piepoli's great climbing was also a sham.

"They have been fired for doping practices" according to Cycling News.

Ricco had to apperar in court today as well to answer charges.

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