One of the online belgian newspapers says that someone tested postive at Plateau de Beille…Bets are open.
- just a rumour
- give a name…
If it’s not the French paper it can’t be true. That paper gets results before anyone including the UCI, Tour organizers, the rider, WADA.
I’ll say that another + A sample is a very good possibility though.
l’Equipe gets the results before the riders finish the stage
.
Well Contador and Rasmussen would have been tested as they were the stage winner and yellow jersey holder.
Maybe it’s Ras and the team knew this was coming? I hope it’s not Contador.
“That paper gets results before anyone including the UCI, Tour organizers, the rider, WADA.”
and every time this happens the cloud over that lab grows yet darker.
Well, at this stage, it’s just a rumour, and as desert dude said, if it’s not in l’Equipe…anyway…if it were true and another went, well, it can’t get any uglier can it?
And maybe the cloud grows over the riders too and the Lab, although not following the protocol, is the doing the right thing by really trying to get rid of dopers…
I’ll guess Contador. Might as well make the whole thing a total cluster-f*ck.
Besides, I picked Leipheimer for the OA. 
“And maybe the cloud grows over the riders too and the Lab, although not following the protocol, is the doing the right thing by really trying to get rid of dopers…”
certainly the cloud grows over the riders. but the cloud would be darker yet, and people would question the lab less, if the lab followed the protocol it has contractually agreed to follow. if a prosecutor’s office habitually, and reliably, leaks grand jury testimony to the press, in an effort to let us all know the good work it’s doing, does this help the fight against crime? ought we to have more, or less, confidence in that prosecutor? likewise, if the lab can be relied upon to disregard the rules of its own agency, is this supposed to give us more confidence in that lab’s ability to follow the rest of its rules?
the lab gets its accreditation from WADA. if the lab and/or WADA feel that the process as laid down in the Code that both entities follow is antiquated, then either is free to announce that this is so. but neither has.
***doing the right thing by really trying to get rid of dopers… ***
But you see that is the problem. The lab should have no interest at all in doing anything other than following the proper procedures and producing accurate results. Once the lab or someone working there has an agenda, all the results are suspect. Why can’t the lab simply do its job and report the results in the proper fashion? There is no integrity at the lab when results are leaked to the press. If the Tour or WADA or whoever chooses labs wanted to have a process with integrity, it would fire every lab that leaked results until it found one that could do the job properly.
And people say men don’t like soap operas. This morning we used the fast forward through much of the riding and stopped to listen to all of the commentary on VS.
I’ll guess Contador. Might as well make the whole thing a total cluster-f*ck.
Besides, I picked Leipheimer for the OA.
… except that a Contador positive would take out the whole Discovery team.
In my best Homer voice,
“Dohhhhh!!!”
.
It’s the antidoping version of the Shield
I do realise that indeed, there is a paradox and that the lab(s) should follow the rules. However, things are clearly not working right now and many riders or other athletes are finding ways out…
That said, I agree that a better strategy is to simply let it go on this year and work on new antidoping procedures (or agency…)
And maybe the cloud grows over the riders too and the Lab, although not following the protocol, is the doing the right thing by really trying to get rid of dopers…
Yeah, lets get rid of the dopers. Why don’t we start with race officials and team personal who have either doped or been involved in the sytematic doping that has been going on for decades. Let’s get rid of the race organizers who have made millions while it all went on.
Who would be left?
And here’s another question. Have the riders all suddenly gotten stupid? Why are so many top names testing positive? Is the testing better? Is it politics? Were postives in the past being covered up?
IMHO It’s a witch hunt.
To single out these riders and hang them out to dry is totally disgusting.
I guess I am still not in the camp that everyone dopes. The current procedures seem to be working at some level given the latest results. The system would be working much better if the lab would follow the rules … just like we are asking the athletes to follow the rules.
I do realise that indeed, there is a paradox and that the lab(s) should follow the rules. However, things are clearly not working right now and many riders or other athletes are finding ways out…
I suggest that one of the reasons that the riders are finding ways out is because the lab refuses to follow its own protocols. If the lab cannot maintain confidentiality, how can it be trusted to provide legitimate results? The Landis arbitration highlighted some of these problems. Regardless of whether the riders are doping, the law must, and rightly should, side with the riders when there is reasonable doubt about the lab. The easiest way for the lab to start generating respect for its results is for it to not leak results.
I suspect that the days of the powers that be suppressing positive results are over because there is more positives to be gained by being seen as a supporter of clean riders than having a win. Therefore, if that ever was a “legitimate” reason for leaking, it no longer exists.
I certainly agree. Most Team Dir are ex-riders. They know full well what is going on. The Tour org. also has a lot of ex-riders…Hinault being part of it…
The one thing that pisses me off is the constant bashing on cycling while other sports with more money involved are ignored when it comes to doping…
Besides a complete restructuration of WADA and testing in general, or simply allowing doping, I don’t see what’s doable…
New leadership at WADA is a definite start-- someone that is respected and carries some credibility.
**l’Equipe gets the results before the riders finish the stage **
How is it the L’Equipe is *always *the media outlet that gets this news out first. I thought there was a protocol that was supposed to be followed regarding the release of this information to the public, but it never seems to get followed. Does L’Equipe have someone who works in one of the labs? I am serious. They seem to know before any other offcial organization knows!