Doping

What next for Contador?

Contador
Going up or down?

There had been fears that the Contador case could drag on and on, with the appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lasting until September. But the CAS has the means to expedite a case if all parties agree. Whilst due process has to be followed, the calendar can be shortened substantially if each party files documents speedily, as opposed to waiting for deadline for each stage of the process.

Now that the dust has settled on the RFEC verdict and the appeal has been announced, I want to take a look at a few issues related to this.

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Four year bans: prevention or exclusion?

Vino wins
Banned for four years, Vino would only come back in August 2011

I’d in favour of the UCI exploring the idea of four year bans. But I’m not sure if it will help clean up the sport that much. Instead, perhaps it just removes some of the cheats from circulation for longer?

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What Mosquera didn’t say

Ezequiel Mosquera was supposed to be Vacansoleil’s second star signing but the only reason for the Dutch team to be happy is that he hasn’t brought as much bad publicity as Riccardo Riccò. He was suspended after tests showed both he and then team mate David Garcia Da Peña had tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch … Read more

What to do with Di Luca?

Many are keeping an eye on Danilo Di Luca. The Italian rider is on the comeback trail with Katusha after a lengthy ban and came close to a stage win in Tirreno-Adriatico over the weekend. Several times during his career Di Luca has been linked to doping scandals and investigations. In 2009 suspicious bio passport … Read more

A call for teams to be punished for doping scandals

AG2R La Mondiale, Bretagne-Schuller, Cofidis, Europcar, FDJ, Garmin-Cervélo and Skil-Shimano are the seven teams that belong to a grouping known as the MPCC, the Mouvement pour un Cyclisme Crédible. They are now calling for teams involved in doping scandals to be involved in any punishment. Normally it is only the rider who is sanctioned but … Read more

The bio passport survives

Franco Pellizotti had more than a bad hair day yesterday. The Italian rider, nicknamed il delfino, the Dolphin, got a two year ban plus his results from May 2009 onwards were annulled. His podium place in the 2009 Giro and the Tour de France King of the Mountains title are now erased from the record … Read more

What next for Contador?

Alberto Contador is set to be cleared by the Spanish cycling federation, the RFEC. His defence has rested on two factors: The quantity of Clenbuterol detected was too small to have a performance enhancement. The principle of “strict liability” in the anti-doping rules is unreasonable. Yet these rules have no minimum tolerance for Clenbuterol and … Read more

The politics behind the Contador verdict

The case of Alberto Contador’s positive test from the Tour de France is growing in to political debate with some potential long term consequences. It is expected that the “Competition Commission” of the RFEC, Spain’s cycling federation, will meet today to agree their ruling then they will inform Contador. Tomorrow the details will be made … Read more

The State of Shock

The clip above is from the film Casablanca. When the police swoop on Rick’s Café, the police chief Renault expresses his shock to find gambling happening on the premises, using this breach of the law as a pretext to close down the bar. But only after he picks up his winnings. Beware of people expressing … Read more

Riccardo Riccó: "I gave myself a blood transfusion"

And we thought Contador had issues Riccardo Riccó has apparently admitted to blood doping, transfusing himself with blood that he’d stored in a fridge at home, confessing that he’d kept the sample for 25 days, that the blood could have been poorly stored during this period as a warning to the doctors. The sensational news … Read more

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