I think this should be done and really sort things out! Really though, we should all expect races to be ruined like this one has though until things get cleaned up.
I agree. Zero tolerance means zero tolerance. The economic/logistical problems associated with this may prevail but that is a worthwhile suggestion.
While I agree in theory, that isn’t how drug tests are administered, logistics are coordinated, lab results verified, re-tested, machine calibrated and then communicated back to the authorities.
Nice concept though.
Also, a negative on a drug test tomorrow is simply that…a negative on that particular day. This doesn’t address the cronic cycles which appears to be the real trouble.
negative drug tests are meaningless… there’s countless ways to get around drug tests…
1- give someone else’s urine (a very common technique- riders put a condom in their behind prior to test)
2- take drugs that they don’t test for (human growth hormone, designer drugs, your own packed red blood cells, etc)
3- do a blood transfusion with your stored blood (ullrich)
4- don’t do what the last Tour rider- who was winning the race did and got thrown out… Only once before in the history of the 104-year-old Tour has the race leader been expelled. In 1978, Belgian rider Michel Pollentier, trying to evade doping controls after winning a stage at the Alpe d’Huez in the Alps, was caught with an intricate tube-and-container system that contained urine that was not his, said Tour historian Jean-Paul Brouchon.
many, many cyclists are tested and never caught… Bjarne Riis- “I took dope my entire career” tested many times- never positive. Jan Ullrich never positive… the list goes on for miles…
doping and cycling is a 100 year love affair…
tomorrow? thought the final time trial was saturday?
Okay…Saturday…My BAD!! But if something like this were done, atleast it would scare the dopers a little bit
Yeah, I second that.
Though at the rate things are going, I wonder if there’re any teams left to test by Saturday… q=
The IOC must revolutionize the anti-doping campaigns by implementing harsher penalties for non-legal PED abuser. 2 years is a joke. How about a 10-15 year ban for those that willingly participate in doping procedures.
Zero tolerance means zero tolerance.
tom, while i appreciate what you desire, but given your age and experience, have you not yet discovered that hypocrisy and double standards form the very cornerstones of our crazy society? nothing is what it means.
first place to look, the illogically-written, horrifically inequitable, and brutally-enforced drug laws in the good ol’ usa …
I have always said that every rider should be tested every day of a race. Of course that costs money and we all know that the almighty dollar rules…The only way to catch cheats is to have a totally transparent system and to test everyone.
Bob
But testing has been proven not to prove anything…
I can’t even beleive i’m saying this but… Who gives a S%^T. I don’t care anymore. I won’t be watching it from today. Maybe next year I’ll feel like it again. But right now… it’s a damn shame. I’m 22, and can’t even look up to the leader of the tour. Just a damn shame.
Why not a lifetime ban? Apparently these guys aren’t concerned about the existing punishment not to mention their health. I say ban them for life if they test positive and it’s upheld under appeal.
Of course that costs money and we all know that the almighty dollar rules
The dollar does rule, and we know that the sport cannot continue without the dollars of sponsors. So, either they put money into a real anti-doping program or they lose all the sponsors. No company wants to be affiliated with cheaters and liars.
Why not take a small percentage of the sponsorship money and put it into a general fund for testing? This way, part of the sponsorship money that a company pays to its team helps to guarantee that they promote and support a clean sport.
However, until the testing becomes more widespread and precise, there may not be a point.
Agree…but how about the night prior to the TT and get the labs to work around the clock to work out who is on the gear, and arrest the dopers as they get on the start ramp and shame them in front of the world!!
Start with a lie detector test and then test those who fail. Oh wait, that means they’d still have to test everyone.
No no, I completely agree. My point was that the Tour itself doesn’t want to pay for the testing of every rider. If the Tour is an invitational event, as it presumes to be, then it should be allowed to test whomever, whenever they want. And, IMHO, they should test every rider, every day.
Bob
Evidently you are a new cycling fan. Every rider is tested before the tour starts. After that they do tests every single day. The stage winner, the yellow jersey, and 3 or 4 randoms.
That means the very guy you are pissed at has been tested a half dozen times since just before the tour.
Testing is not the answer. Testing is always behind the doping. Simply put they can’t design a test for something until they know it already exists.
The only way to stop the doping is for the riders to police themselves.
Ron
1- give someone else’s urine (a very common technique- riders put a condom in their behind prior to test)
as far as I know doping tests aren’t really a private affair. You’d have to have some good slieght of hand to pull that off.
- Sample Provision * 5.9.1 The Witness (DCO or Chaperone) shall escort the *Athlete *to the toilet facility. The *Athlete *will carry his/her own sample collection vessel. 5.9.2 The Witness shall be of the same gender as the *Athlete *providing the sample.
5.9.3 The *Athlete *shall be encouraged to wash his/her hands before providing a sample.
5.9.4 Once in the toilet facility the *Athlete *must remove all clothing between the waist and mid-thigh, in order that the Witness has an unobstructed view of sample provision. Sleeves should be rolled up so that the Athlete’s arms and hands are also clearly visible.
5.9.5 The Witness shall directly observe the *Athlete *provide the urine sample, adjusting his/her position so as to have a clear view of the sample leaving the Athlete’s body.
5.9.6 The volume of urine collected should be that specified by the relevant laboratory.
Riders are not drug tested before the start of the Tour. They are given “medical clearance” to start the race, which is nothign more than getting hooked up to some machines as a photo-op to for the journalists.
Here is my theory (merely a THEORY) on what might’ve happened…
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A rider goes to a country and doesn’t tell anyone where he is headed.
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At this top secret location the rider and some medical professionals engage in a doping regime while training extraordinarily hard. The doping along with the training will boost his fitness level.
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After a hard block of training and doping the rider’s fitness is boosted, say, 5% (I’m making this number up).
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He has to stop taking the doping product sto reappear to the world and his team, but when he stops taking the doping products, he can retain about 70% of that fitness gain.
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After disappearing again, say three weeks before Le Grande Depart, the rider repeats the aforementioned procedure and allows enough time for the doping products to leave his system all the while retaining boosted fitness. We now know how long products stay in our systems so if you want to cheat to boost your fitness, it could be done.
Do this two years in a row and maybe you can win a polka dot jersey or even wear the yellow…
So, did Rasmussen dope during the Tour? I’d say no. Did he do something before the Tour that could be looked at as very suspicious and very sketchy? Yep.
Bob