$%#^% !!!! I was enjoying watching him!! That pisses me off.

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NCCP certified Comp coach

damn!

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Team Medique Powered by Silber Investments

The team Saunier-Duval just took the decision to leave the Tour. Ricco was arrested by french police on the stage starting line.

This is a real shame for the sport. Like others, I was really enjoying them ride - it just didn't look right though. I've always thought Piepoli was on something too.

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Wait! Innocent until proven.... ah forget it.

This sucks!

Am I right in saying that this is the first year they have started catching EPO cheats directly? From what I can remember, previous scandals have stemmed from missed drugs tests, more easily detectable doping (testosterone), or simply finding boxes full of needles in rider's rooms or team cars.

If so, I guess it's a positive step, and maybe the riders will begin to realise that their chances of getting away with it are reducing dramatically. I may be clutching at straws though.

What really is a shame is that this guy is 24 . It somehow means that 10 years after the "Festina affaire" in 1998, the new cycling generation hasn't understood the lessons of the past.
Happy birthday

Not the first year, they caught Armstrong in 2005 ;)

geez I thought that by excluding the evil Astana the French were guaranteeing a clean race ...

LMAO! This years tour will be even better then last years. These guys really are jokers.

Axel, amused

By the way... not to be a smartass... didn´t I say so in another thread?

All these people getting busted for EPO really surprise me; I was under the impression that dopers were "past" EPO, because they've developed a test that differentiated endogenous from exogenous EPO.

For a long time EPO was an ideal doping agent, because your body produces it anyway and there was no way to tell if EPO detected from a urine sample was produced from your body or injected. Then they figured out that injected EPO, which is produced in bacteria and then purified for human consumption, has a different glycosylation signature than endogenous EPO; that was the test they were "validating" back in ~2005(?) in the French lab where they tested a bunch of samples from the 2000 tour in what was supposed to be just a validation of the test, and someone leaked that Lance's samples came back positive.

Anyway, it's really surprising to me that these guys are apparently still using the stuff; I though homologous blood transfusion was the new gold standard. Hopefully these idiots will get the message... it sucks but at least they're catching the cheaters. Bummer for Ricco' though, he was a real up-and-comer.

He did say Pantani was his hero.
I guess he just needs to find Tom Boonen now to get himself some blow.

Remember that they had a small number of dodgy samples at the start of the race. Ricco was most likely in that list.

From memory, there were 10 questionable values and out of about 200 riders, that means that about 5% are doping.

5% doping rate in any athletic sport is incredibly low.

"Anyway, it's really surprising to me that these guys are apparently still using the stuff; I though homologous blood transfusion was the new gold standard. Hopefully these idiots will get the message... it sucks but at least they're catching the cheaters. Bummer for Ricco' though, he was a real up-and-comer. "

Thats the biggest surprise. No one was caught in the Giro for rEPO. Now 3 in the tour.

It also came out that he was a targeted rider. You'd think after Beltran's positive he'd wise up.

How subjective is the rEPO urine test, wasn't this the one that was defamed a bit a while back. Although that was in that it was not effective at catching riders. I guess if you test them enouggh you'll catch them.

Cyclingnews says he was busted for an advanced "third generation" EPO, so I guess these EPO positives are not the same as what took down Festina 10 years ago. It's encouraging that they're able to detect this stuff, and that they are keeping abreast of the latest drugs.

*If the B turns out positive* what a jerk Ricco is. It's easy for him to mouth off about his greatness when he's juiced.

Damn the consequences to the sport and to his team and sponsors, apparently.

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De que depende?

It's sad that Paul, Phil, etc. kept saying "I think it's the old guys in the tour who've been doing this for a long time..." e.g. Beltran. Not that they are the experts, but I started to think there was something to that. Ricco's a new kid on the block. That he was taking this form of EPO and going on to win stages without concern is pretty disappointing.

While it's disappointing as hell to see Ricco positive - for several reasons, including his age, obvious ability, and presence on my PBP team - I can't help but wonder what effect this kind of good shit would have on a crap climber like me.

Would I start dancing on the pedals?

Because we're talking about 3rd generation EPO here, not rhEPO...
CERA: continuous EPO receptor activator...was hard to see before...not so much now...that's what the others were using too...and for those who think ''wait sample B'...ah ;-)
In Duenas room, they found syringes, material to make transfusions, and one product that is forbidden (hasn't been named precisely)...

Take Back the Tour!

So what happens to the results for the two stages he won? Do they award those to the 2nd Place rider the way Periero was awarded the Tour from 2006? Does that 2nd place rider and his team get the money and points, etc?

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

"I have heard of a new product that was supposed to be undetectable"...
'heard of' that's what the team director said..they're all full of crap, really...

I vote that he and anyone else who is proven to be juiced, should be banned from the sport for life. No come back, no regret, no bullshit.

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"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde

Very disappointing and sad news. I was a guest commentator on CBC Radio this week and we were talking about how the Tour de France was cleaner and that enthusiasm and interest amongst fans of the sport is still high. This is a real low blow. I feel like a bit of a fool right now. :-(

You can listen to that episode of the CBC Ontario Today Call-In show at the link below. Scroll down the Archive list until you see, "Tour de France phone-in" for Tuesday July 15. Then click on the audio link:

http://www.cbc.ca/...y/story_archive.html

Edit: Sorry the link was not working on a click-through for me. If not, just cut/past the above in your browser and it should work.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

They are still using this stuff because these guys don't have options. Think about it for a moment. For years the TDF has been tarnished with drugs and you would think that alot of these guys were probably doping in order to just make it into a pro team. So what options does that give them in the TDF? ZERO. The TDF is the most viewed sporting event around the world so what option do they have in coming clean and racing clean. ZERO, if it was that easy then they would not have needed to take drugs in the first place right?

Why are these well known riders stil getting caught.....because that don't have a choice. if they decide to come clean then they know they won't be compteting in the TDF.

it will be a few more years yet before the TDF is clean.

paul