Doping

On amnesties

Pro cycling struggles to escape the past. As much as we want to look to future races, scandals from a decade ago rumble on. Even watching live coverage of a race means noting riders linked to ongoing investigations, appeals as well as those previously banned and maybe some you just can’t bring yourself to trust.

So the idea of drawing a line under a colourful history is attractive, a way to distance the sport from events that are getting pretty old. Some are calling for an amnesty, for cycling’s version of the “truth and reconciliation” hearings that helped to heal a post-Apartheid South Africa. In return for coming forward and confessing to past mistakes, those who go public could get an amnesty from prosecution. Only I just don’t see this working.

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It’s almost impossible to write about Armstrong

Tyler Hamilton Lance Armstrong Floyd Landis

This might appear contradictory but I struggle to write about Lance Armstrong each time a new controversy blows up… yet here’s some words on the subject. Today’s allegations by Tyler Hamilton are the latest instalment of an ongoing saga. It’s not that the subject matter lacks ideas, angles to explore or it’s irrelevant to the sport. Quite the opposite, Lance Armstrong’s name reaches well beyond the sport of cycling and it covers everything from sport to business to law and more.

No, it’s the way everything goes around in circles. Someone accuses Armstrong of doping. We get the “most tested athlete” response from the man. Then cycling fans rally. Many loyal ones point out that no court and no sporting body has ever convicted him. On the other side fans dredge up a variety of circumstantial evidence. We go nowhere.

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UCI to ban doped directors?

McQuaid Valverde
Prizes, yes. Management role, maybe not

I was alerted by a reader this morning to the BBC’s two-part look at doping in cycling. The second part features a brief interview with UCI President Pat McQuaid where he mentions the prospect of banning riders involved in doping scandals from working in the sport. Here’s a snapshot:

“I’m not happy there are team managers who have been doping as athletes themselves… …Any cyclist who is involved in a doping infraction in their career cannot come back into management of a team in the future”

This is an idea that McQuaid will present to colleagues at the next Management Committee meeting in June, the UCI’s high-level decision making forum. It would mark a big change. But would it work?

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L’Equipe publishes UCI “suspicion index”

Equipe suspicion index

That’s the list from this morning’s L’Equipe. It shows an internal UCI ranking of riders according to levels of “suspicion” relating to strange values gathered under the bio passport scheme. The higher the score, the greater the suspicion. The list was formulated by the UCI on the eve of the 2010 Tour de France.

Handle with care
Suspicion’s a particularly nasty sentiment. Finger pointing, accusations, denunciations, whispers and more are all ugly because often they’re quite wrong. So take the list above with more than a pinch of salt. There’s no direct link with doping, this is just an internal score used by the UCI to help testing. But both the list and the leak raise serious questions.

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Needles banned

Cycling syringe
Banned

The UCI can move swiftly. Yesterday it was announced that any form of injection is now effectively banned and punishable. Up to know, infusions, from pouches with a drip for example, were banned but there was nothing to stop the use of injections, where obviously several injections can amount to the same volume as a drip.

Several teams put the idea to the UCI, it was reviewed and within two months the ban has appeared. Who says teams and the UCI can’t co-operate?

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Gilbert stamps his foot

Philippe Gilbert’s long been a vocal critic of doping. From the early days with FDJ to the present, when he fronts a video campaign for the Walloon regional government’s anti-doping campaign.

If you’re wondering what he’s saying, it’s “Hello, I’m Philippe Gilbert. Cycling is my whole life. I’ve been passionate about it for 15 years and a pro for nine… Be strong, respect the rules and your win is without doping“.

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Follow the money

La Polizia
Faster than Ferrari?

If it’s been hard to nail riders and their “doctors” for doping because they’ve often been one step ahead of the testers, constantly refining techniques to avoid detection, one area where people might slip up is the money. Shady riders, teams and doctors might be good at cycling or doping but they are probably so pro when it comes to money laundering. In this instance, it’s quite possible that experienced investigators have a substantial edge on those involved.

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Winning clean?

Vansummeren wins

I just wanted to make the observation that we’ve seen the likes of Johan Vansummeren, Matthew Goss and Philippe Gilbert winning big so far this year. So what? Well both Vansummeren and Goss belong to squads with a big anti-doping ethic and “Phil” has long been a supporter of clean cycling, ready to denounce those cheating.

With all the talk of doping investigations in Italy, with the ongoing Contador-CAS saga and more, it’s almost gone unnoticed that teams and riders reputed to be the strictest supports of anti-doping measures are winning.

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Save the B-sample

WADA's David Howman

WADA chief David Howman has said the doping control protocol could be simplified, including ending the B-test. As a reminder currently a sample is put into two sample pots, A and B, and each is sealed in front of the athlete thus creating a “back up” in case a problem arises with the first sample.

I’ll preface this piece by saying Howman’s simply floated the idea, it is not policy. It’s always good to review, to ask why and to ensure everything is working as best as possible. But if WADA are considering this particular idea, I’d ask them to hold back.

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