DopeStrong?

Things are not looking good right now for Lance Armstrong.  From holding status as the most prolific Tour de France rider ever (not the best rider ever, that title belongs to Eddie Merckx and always will) to being accused of being the best sporting drug czar ever the fall has been swift, and fairly damning. Whether or not you like or approve of USADA (I don't, as I think the drug enforcement groups are often more corrupt than the athletes themselves) the information that they put together has ruined the legacy of the greatest American cyclist of all time.

Lance Armstrong was the leader of the biggest doping conspiracy in sporting history say USADA. Nick Hoult, The London Telegraph

The United States Anti-Doping Agency charged him with six offences covering the use of banned substances, the trafficking of drugs, the administration of drugs to team-mates and aiding and abetting a massive cover-up between 1998 and 2005, a period when he dominated the world’s most famous race.

Dave Brailsford, British Cycling’s performance director who was key to Bradley Wiggins becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France this year, said was stunned to read the USADA findings. “It is shocking, it’s jaw dropping and it is very unpleasant.”

A total of 26 witnesses including 11 fellow riders from the United States Postal Service team testified to USADA against Armstrong in a ­doping case the agency described as “more extensive than any previously revealed in professional sports ­history”. The dossier has been sent to the International Cycling Union which now has 21 days to challenge its findings and appeal to the World Anti-Doping Agency or comply with the decision to strip Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.

In short, cycling another mess on it's hands.  In question are Lance's 7 Tour de France titles won from 1998 to 2005.  The easy solution would seem to be to just strip Armstrong of his titles and award the next finisher in line the championship.  The problem with this scenario is that most of the cyclists who finished 2nd to Lance (Including Ivan Basso) have been implicated (and in may cases suspended) for their own drug-related scandals. A worse option might be to vacate the titles and leave cycling with a gaping void of seven years where no Tour champion is listed.  It may not be a good solution, but it could be a fitting tribute to a cycling era where anyone who wasn't cheating wasn't seriously trying. (I'm looking at you, French riders)

For his part, Armstrong is remaining defiant, deciding to stay quiet and out of the public eye perhaps hoping that all of this just blows over and that he can keep chugging along post cycling as the public face of LiveStrong.

Time will tell what the legacy of Armstrong will ultimately be, but I don't think there's any way he's going to totally over come his doping legacy.  Even the staunchest of Lance Armstrong defenders has to go pale after reading the accusations and evidence compiled by USADA in this instance. There are really only two options, either Lance Armstrong is guilty as charged, or he's the subject of the greatest, most wide-reaching conspiracy that's ever been hatched to take down an individual who, by all accounts, hasn't hurt anyone if the allegations are false.  It's a staggering amount of money and resources that have been spent in what would all amount to a lie.

At the end of it all this case brings about one inevitable conclusion:  It's time to have a serious grown-up talk about PED's in sports, and whether or not we're willing to let a bunch of lawyers in suits come in and declare invalid what we've seen with our own eyes because they enjoy the power and privilege that come with being on the doping control board.  In the end, drug "cheats" hurt no one but themselves and we spend Billions trying to stop them from doing so.

Shooting themselves in the wheel.

Another Tour, another big name rider caught up in a doping scandal.....

Tour de France rider Schleck fails doping test. AP via Chron.com

The RadioShack Nissan Trek team pulled Frank Schleck, one of the biggest names in pro cycling, out of the Tour de France on Tuesday after he failed a doping test, threatening to overshadow Bradley Wiggins' bid to win the three-week race in Paris this weekend. The 32-year-old rider from Luxembourg, who was third in last year's Tour, left a police station in Pau where he had discussed the case with authorities after cycling's governing body announced the positive test.

The drug that he tested positive for was Xipamide, which is a diuretic and a known masking agent for steroids.  Of course, Schleck claims innocence and claims that he was poisoned. He has requested his "B" sample be tested as per normal procedure.

For those of you unfamiliar with the procedure, the "B" sample will be tested and it it comes back negative that's it, case over.  If it comes back positive then Frank Schleck will have a right to state his case in front of the UCI (Cycling's governing body) which will then vote on his guilt/innocence and issue his penalty, probably a fine and ban from racing for a period of time.

Not really mentioned in the article is the very real possibility that Schleck will face criminal prosecution in France, which has passed a passel of tough anti-doping laws over the years in response to illegal substances being found in it's biggest sporting event.

With drug testing, under WADA standards, the standard assumption is "guilty until proven innocent".  It's very rare for an athlete to present a good case that he didn't inject the substance unknowingly (i.e. 'poisoned') or through benign methods (i.e. tainted meat) at a level that will convince the anti-doping board they're clean.

It's another black eye for cycling, which is not a huge sport in the US but which is very big in parts of Europe. I know I'll be watching le Tour coverage tonight on NBC Sports if only to watch the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the commentators.

Contador Suspended....

You knew this was coming.....

Sports court strips Contador of 2010 Tour title, Graham Dunbar & Paul Logothetis, AP via Chron.com

Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title Monday and banned for two years after sports' highest court found the Spanish cyclist guilty of doping.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended the three-time Tour champion after rejecting his claim that his positive test for clenbuterol was caused by eating contaminated meat on a 2010 Tour rest day.

I've said on here before that, after the Floyd Landis mess, I'm not believing any athlete's claims of innocence. That includes Lance Armstrong and other high-profile athletes.

While I'm not going to say their guilty until it's ruled on by a court, I'm also not going to buy into whatever their excuse of the day is. Overtraining? Bah. Contaminated meat? Whatever.

In bodybuilding there's an old saying that goes like this: The only people who fail a drug test are those who are stupid enough to fail a drug test.

A mess....played out on Twitter

First Bicycle Magazine reports that 60 Minutes reports George Hincape told Federal investigators that he saw Lance Armstrong dope

Then Hincape comes back with this:

I can confirm to you I never spoke with "60 Minutes." I have no idea where they got their information.

and this:

As for the substance of anything in the "60 Minutes" story, I cannot comment on anything relating to the ongoing investigation.

In short, another doping related mess.

Not surprising when you're dealing with a doping investigation, where even the authorities make a habit of ignoring the rule of law in order to get a conviction.

I'm a George Hincape fan, doping or not. I'm also a Lance Armstrong fan, doping or not. What I'm not a fan of are doping agencies trying to legislate events that occurred years prior without a shred of physical evidence.

A mess. Like it always is.

And you thought overtrained athlete's syndrome was a bad excuse....

.......try "it was the steak" defense on for size....


(Contador blames bad meat for positive doping test, Ciaran Giles and John Leicester, AP via ChronBlog Sports)

Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador blamed contaminated steak for his positive doping test, vowing Thursday to clear his name so that cycling's latest drug scandal doesn't "destroy everything that I have done."

The Spanish rider was provisionally suspended after a World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Germany found a "very small concentration" of the banned substance clenbuterol in his urine sample on July 21 at the Tour, according the International Cycling Union, the sport's governing body.

Amazingly, unlike overtrained athlete's syndrome, there is some scientific evidence that this type of drug contamination is possible.

However, the hurdle that Contador must still climb is why none of his teammates tested positive for the same substance. Especially Alexsander Vinikorov, who was coming back from a drug ban and is, behind Lance Armstrong, one of the most tested riders in the peleton.




When evaluating drug cheat accusations the simplest explenation is often the most likely.....they took the drug. That's why so many suspensions are upheld upon appeal.

Even Floyd Landis, who had some solid science behind him explaining his reults, turned out to be a drug cheat. Will Contador? Time will tell, but don't be surprised if his Tour win is vacated in the near future.

Clever

Meet Team Radio Shack 2010:

Breaking the rules in the name of National Arrogance

I've long maintained that the French Anti-doping organizations are dirty, the rest of the World is finally realizing this.

[AP via Chron.com]

The head of world cycling on Friday accused France’s anti-doping agency of unprofessional and “disturbing” behavior after it released a report saying Lance Armstrong did not fully cooperate with a drug tester.

The French agency, known as AFLD, said it could punish the seven-time Tour de France champion for not remaining in sight of the doctor conducting a test on his hair, urine and blood on March 17.

No banned substances were found and Armstrong has denied misbehaving, claiming that he was allowed to take a shower during a 20-minute delay.

While the tests fell outside the International Cycling Union’s jurisdiction, Armstrong received the organization’s backing on Friday.

“The fact (is) the test was done and was a matter of fact reported by Lance Armstrong himself on Twitter,” UCI president Pat McQuaid told the BBC. “Then the French authorities decided to make up a report on the testing procedure, forward it to the UCI — knowing that the UCI have no jurisdiction in this case — and at the same time that report has leaked to the press.

“So I would have to question why is that the case? I would have to say that the French are not acting very professionally in this case.”

Add to this past indiscretions regarding Lance, and their deplorable behavior during the Floyd Landis debacle, and you have an organization that's using anti-doping hysteria as a political tool to mask the deficiencies of their Nation's premier cyclists.

It's too bad that the greatest bike race in the land has come under the control of a group of seemingly unscrupulous, vindictive managers.

What are the chances this tests clean?

The French go after Armstrong's hair...

[AP via Chron.com]

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong submitted a hair sample for a surprise doping test in France.

The French anti-doping agency Wednesday published hair test results suggesting widespread use among French athletes of DHEA, a banned substance that can be used to boost testosterone levels.

Armstrong was approached for a hair sample Tuesday in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, where he is training, AFLD chief Pierre Bordry said. This was the first time the AFLD has tested Armstrong since he came back to cycling.

“He needs to know that he is like everyone else,” Bordry said. “To have done this test yesterday was a good way to make him realize that he is like everyone else.”

Anti-doping authorities have not traditionally examined hair samples, instead focusing on urine and blood tests. Hair tests are allowed under French law but not under regulations of cycling’s governing body UCI.

“Yet another ‘surprise’ anti-doping control. 24th one. This one from the French. Urine, blood, and hair!” Armstrong wrote on his Twitter feed Tuesday.

“So I’m clear — never complaining about these tests,” he added. “Anything to prove I’m clean.”

Doping accusations, especially from the AFLD, have dogged Armstrong since the beginning of his run to a record seven straight Tour de France victories. He has never tested positive. He plans to compete in this year’s Tour after a three-year hiatus from cycling.

There's also been questionable results and phantom "B" samples that wouldn't hold up in any court, no matter how flimsy the standard of evidence.

Many French, Including the Mensa's at L'Equipe have never accepted the FACT that the greatest cyclist of all time is an American. Because of this they are willing to do anything to prove he is tainted.

The question they are ignoring however is this: Even IF Lance Armstrong, at one time, did EPO or some other substance, how illegitimate are his wins if everyone he was competing against was using the same stuff?

Of course, until something is proven that's not even an issue.




By "proven" I mean tested in an independent lab using strict, accepted, chain of custody and anti-tampering safeguards. Sorry, but a French agency with an agenda doesn't qualify. We already saw how much they're willing to break the rules in the Floyd Landis case.