Last year, a failed test was an automatic dismissal for the team. As far as I thought, that was the rule this year too. Not to mention the Astana non-invite due to their positive drug tests in last years Tour. So why are Barloworld and Liquigas still in the Tour? It seems completely arbitrary and if they want to have any shot at combatting the problem an deterring doping, it seems that you need a per se rule in place that isn’t so arbitrary and conspicuous. As a side note, I am not sure which is worse the dopers or the organizers.
Probably because they do not have an American on the team!
Good question, I don’t know the answer. Last year, the organizers told Astana to leave after Vino’s positive. But they let Rabobank stay in after the Rasmussen mess. Also last year, there was a Cofidis rider who tested positive and the entire team left the race. Is it possible that since they didn’t really catch Rasmussen “in the act” - he only lied about his whereabouts, that they let Rabobank stay in the Tour, whereas they caught the other two red-handed, so they immediately kicked out the entire team?
That still doesn’t explain why Liquigas and Barloworld are still riding. I believe I read on cyclingnews.com that the organizers consider these two cases as isolated cases and are giving the teams a second chance (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jul08/jul16news4)
The key factor seems to be whether the individuals who were caught were acting on their own or whether the team was to some degree complicit in the drug-taking (e.g. team doctors procuring/administering/transporting/distributing the drugs).
In the Rabobank case, Rasmussen had lied to his team on his whereabouts. Upon discovering the lie, the team immediately withdrew the rider and this proved sufficient to convince the tour organisers that Rasmussen was acting on his own.
For Astana, the whole team was pretty much set up around Vino. The team also had more of a track record of drug-taking. I guess therefore the organisers didn’t feel there was any way that Vino could have been doping without the cooperation or at least knowledge of team management.
Guess that so far, Barloworld and Liquigas have done enough to convince the Tour that their riders were doping independently.
The key factor seems to be whether the individuals who were caught were acting on their own or whether the team was to some degree complicit in the drug-taking
It’s not about the doping. It’s about the power struggle in pro cycling. ASO didn’t want to antagonize the teams before their (unanimous) vote to repudiate the UCI in favor of the GTs.
Maybe they realized that half the damage of doping positives is their insane reactions.
This year has been so, so much better. Although it’s still stupid that the A results get leaked before the athlete even has a chance to request a B sample test, the way they’ve been handled has been much more sensible. The rider gets suspended, we get a small write-up in the paper, and we continue with the racing. Thank god.
So much better than last year although the two positives this year were lower-profile riders and not yellow-jersey contenders.
Apparently the rule this year is that a failed test is an automatic dismissal for the rider by his team, without even waiting for the result of the B sample testing.
If the team refuses to obey to that rule, then ASO takes action against the whole team and dismisses it.
Regarding Cofidis last year, it was a decision from the team manager and not from ASO ; the team could have stayed in the race but the team manager decided that the team should immediately quit the Tour.
So much better than last year although the two positives this year were lower-profile riders and not yellow-jersey contenders.
Well, according to French biotechnology professor Gerard Dine, they are only trapping less then 10% of the EPO positive tests.
The problem is that there are different types of EPO molecules on the market and as of today they are unable to detect them all.
For a standard dose of EPO, it’s around 100 to 300 euros . The “high-tech” molecules are much more expensive, around 5000 to 20000 euros for a EPO cure.
The article in French
http://www.20minutes.fr/article/242122/Sport-Gerard-Dine-On-detecte-moins-de-10-des-dopes-a-l-EPO.php
Latest news.
It seems the urine test of Ricardo Ricco has trace of what they call EPO 3rd generation CERA (Continuous Erythropietin Receptor Activator).
I figured that would be coming with Rico. They way he flew up that mountain (stage 6 or 7, I dont remember) was almost unnatural. What a shame
Probably because they do not have an American on the team!
I think you hit the nail on the head with that answer!
I figured that would be coming with Rico. They way he flew up that mountain (stage 6 or 7, I dont remember) was almost unnatural. What a shame
I agree. What he was doing was unreal and now we know how he was doing it. I think these dopers need to be getting lifetime bans so there is no chance they can ruin the sport again in the future. It might help discourage at least some of the top riders to stay away from the drugs although you will still probably get the fringe guys doing it since they have “nothing” to lose.
So much better than last year although the two positives this year were lower-profile riders and not yellow-jersey contenders.
Not until this morning. Ricco is out and he was in my estimation a serious Yellow Jersey contender. He was already in two jersys - Polka-dot and White!!
Because there is no rule about this, and the directeurs of the Astana team (last year) and Saunier Duval (this year) made the decision themselves to withdraw their whole team from the race.
This year, Liquigas was harshly critisized by the tour organization after failing to make the same decision following Beltran’s positive.