Is this the end of the road for Gerolsteiner?

vermooten

I Guess Those Creepy Bob Dole Ads Paid Off: as Gerolsteiner pulls Andrea Molleta from the Giro and then suspends him from the team as his dad is busted by the narcs in a doping raid, details begin to emerge about exactly what was found in the car: a unaffiliated amateur DS, a fridge, a passel of syringes containing a mystery liquid hidden in toothpaste tubes, and a pile of 80-odd tablets of Viagra. Now, this might *seem* to be a bit much for one rider, but it is a three week race after all, and fortunately as we know, systemic team doping is yesterday's news, so Gerolsteiner--unlike, say, Rabobank at last year's Tour--appears to be remaining comfortably in the warm embrace of the shiny clean peloton. Whew! Okay, it dilates the blood vessels, I get it...or are the race-tired Gerolsteiner boys merely looking to violate the hands-off rules regarding the podium babes?

http://racejunkie.blogspot.com/2008/05/ ... -what.html

or am I just being sensationalist?

Bronzie

Moletta's dad doing a Mrs Rumsas run :twisted: - and I thought those days of sheer stupidity were behind us.

Guys when you cheat, try and be a bit more tricky about it FFS!

GroupOfOne MkII

As CN reported it this morning

Team Gerolsteiner has removed Andrea Moletta from the Giro d'Italia and placed him on inactive status, following his father's involvement in an anti-doping action. He did not start Wednesday's 11th Giro stage "for private reasons", it was said Wednesday morning.

Moletta, 29, informed the team Tuesday evening that his father was one of several passengers in a vehicle en route to the Giro, when he was controlled and questioned by the Italian Guardia Finanza (which is responsible for anti-doping enforcement).

Team manager Hans-Michael Holczer immediately got in touch with Italian authorities but was unable to obtain any further information. Moletta denied any involvement but agreed to being removed from the race.

"Even if the presence of Moletta senior is proved to be totally coincidental, we handled immediately as required by our strict Code of conduct," Holczer said in a press statement. "Andrea will not ride any further races until the circumstances are explained."

As a direct answer to your question, Gerolsteiner are leaving at the end of '08 anyway, but I presume it was more in line with Holczer's team than the sponsor name. He's said he's talking to two potential sponsors, with the hope of announcing plans pre-Tour. Depending on who they are (i.e. a German company), then they could get cold feet over this news.

Though to be fair other than having a shed load (or should that be fridge load), I'll wait and see how it develops before castigating Gerolsteiner. Anyway aren't they a member of the MPCC, so they've gotta be clean, right?

As an aside on the search for a Gerolsteiner replacement, beats me why Milram (the sponsor, not the team) don't just ditch their current team and jump into bed with Holczer.

LangerDan

GroupOfOne MkII wrote:

As an aside on the search for a Gerolsteiner replacement, beats me why Milram (the sponsor, not the team) don't just ditch their current team and jump into bed with Holczer.

Did you not read Vermootens post above? The Guardia Finanza have confiscated all the Viagra and Holczer isn't getting any younger, you know.

Langenberg

Viagra, that seems to be a new one. Guess a 3 week tour is energy sapping in every department, but why otherwise use it as a pro?

timoid.

Would it help in stopping you get a heart attack at night? It improves circulation.

Noodley

Mmmm, the mountain stages were fast approaching...

http://www.fasterskier.com/training1462.html

"...the ingredient Sildenafil in Viagra that has proven to increase performance in situations with low oxygen..."

shazzz

Wasn't Viagra originally developed by Pfizer as a heart attack inhibitor?

Then they realised it also gives you a stiffy.....

Noodley

What a shame Dick Pound didn't mastermind the capture....

GroupOfOne MkII

Is Viagra actually on the banned list?

Noodley

GroupOfOne MkII wrote:

Is Viagra actually on the banned list?

I don't think so, but would it maybe fall under prohibited methods of artificially enhancing the uptake, tansport or delivery of oxygen? A banned method rather than a banned substance?

iainf72

Noodley wrote:

GroupOfOne MkII wrote:

Is Viagra actually on the banned list?

I don't think so, but would it maybe fall under prohibited methods of artificially enhancing the uptake, tansport or delivery of oxygen? A banned method rather than a banned substance?

While I'm not sure if it's on the banned list, I believe it has performance enhancing properties at high altitutde. Specifically as Noodley says allowing more efficient delivery of oxygen.

As if by magic, lots of info in cyclingnews about it

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... /may23news

GroupOfOne MkII

GroupOfOne MkII wrote:

Is Viagra actually on the banned list?

CN has the answer:

Viagra, or sildenafil, is normally used to treat erectile dysfunction, but a 2006 study published by the Journal of Applied Physiology (JoAP) and reported in Science Daily claimed that the drug can significantly enhance performance at altitude in some cyclists. At the moment, the 'little blue pill' is not on World Anti-doping Agency's prohibited substances list.

DaveyL

iainf72 wrote:

While I'm not sure if it's on the banned list, I believe it has performance enhancing properties at high altitutde. Specifically as Noodley says allowing more efficient delivery of oxygen.

As if by magic, lots of info in cyclingnews about it

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... /may23news

The study was done on 10 riders - hardly statistically significant, but with a 15% increase in performance at altitutde in some cases, it's worth a shot, especially if it's not banned. Could cause problems though when the photos are published with them crossing the finish line, arms aloft...

LangerDan

You're not going to need a blood test to detect abuse, though. They'll probably use the old BBC test - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mull_of_Kintyre_test

andy_wrx

You couldn't use it on a TT stage. You'd never manage to get down into a low-pro position...

LangerDan

The use of Viagra would certainly help explain why Levi appears to be wearing a condom on his head

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2008/ ... 2/IMG_7967

andy_wrx

That's not a bad picture of Levi !
He usually looks pretty dreadful without a hat.

Unlike Floyd, who used to wear a hat to look dreadful...

z000m

im a fan of davide rebellin cos hes the same age as me and STILL ultra competetive, so do we now tar the whole team with the same brush? i feel so betrayed.

GroupOfOne MkII

Aside from this incident (so I'm not tarring Gerolsteiner here, or at least not trying to!), but Rebellin has had the misfortune (?) to ride for the likes of Polti (98-99) managed by Gianluigi Stanga (who JJ says introduced him to EPO in 97, and whom Milram obviously thought sufficiently of to jetison)and Liquigas - Pata (00-01). Bear in mind some of their riders were caught/implicated lobbing syringes out of a hotel window during the 2001 Giro...well I suppose if there's not dart board in the hotel you have to make your own entertainment!

I would mention some of Rebellin's more illustrious team mates (e.g. the ones that have been done for doping), but that would be guilt by association, through which to be fair we could do the whole peloton (Six Degrees of Doping anyone?), plus I actually like TinTin so I'm not trying to tar him, maybe just pointing out I wouldn't place 100% of my trust in him. Then again, it depends what you're trusting him for, as I'm sure he'd be trustworthy enough to leave your wallet with or something, he seems a nice bloke!

timoid.

I like Tin Tin. A real racer. Probably has doped, but who from his era hasn't?

GroupOfOne MkII

Timoid. wrote:

I like Tin Tin. A real racer. Probably has doped, but who from his era hasn't?

Exactly. That's the sort of point I was trying to make, in a rather long winded way

OllyBianchi

GroupOfOne MkII wrote:

Timoid. wrote:

I like Tin Tin. A real racer. Probably has doped, but who from his era hasn't?

Exactly. That's the sort of point I was trying to make, in a rather long winded way

When he first appeared on the scene it was said of him that he regarded by the teams he rode for as a potential Grand Tour winner, but he refused to 'prepare' to the extent needed, which is why he concentrated on single day races.

Of course, given the era in which he was a young rider, taking care of his health doesn't mean that he's never touched a drop of the naughty juice, just that he didn't fancy going to 60%.

iainf72

This Rebellin?

Rebellin and 19 others on trial
Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin has, along with 19 others, been put on trial
in the Italian town of Este, Padova, accused of receiving prohibited
pharmaceutical substances, and violating the Italian anti-doping and
sporting fraud laws. The trial commenced on Wednesday morning, November 10,
and most of the accused are cyclists: Dario Acquaroli, Filippo Baldo, Ramon
Bianchi, Mauro Busato, Matteo Cacco, Davide Casarotto, Nadia Dandolo
(athletics), Gianni Faresin, Andrea Ferrigato, Marco Fincato, Martin
Hvastija, Petr Klasa, Fabio Marchesin, Mirco Marini, Selina Martinello
(Rebellin's wife), Uros Murn, Gorazd Stangelj, Marco Villa and Matteo
Zendron.

The trial was initiated on the basis of phone tapping and video surveillance
on the riders in question. During May, 2001, Rebellin was allegedly filmed
receiving a syringe containing a banned substance, while at the end of the
month, he was allegedly videoed injecting himself with EPO in his hotel room
in Bassano del Grappa. Rebellin has always maintained his innocence.

Langenberg

Coming back to the little blue pill, apparently it is on ONE banned list, in Ireland for dog racing!

Not joking, apparently some breeder figured out that dogs on Viagra run faster....

Kléber

The latest news is that Molletta senior had bottles with a clear liquid in a cooler bag in his car, which have been taken for testing. Mr Molletta says they are "mineral water". Which is probably a reason for his son to get the sack, as the team sponsor sells bottled water, if you need your dad to drive in with bottled water, it's not a great advert for the sponsor. But we'll see what the tests bring...

z000m

scrap that, wrong rider

GroupOfOne MkII

Sounds like Tinkoff could soon end up linked to this too. One of the people in the car previously worked for Tinkoff, and also happened to be the trainer of a certain M.Richeze. Yes the bloke banned before the Giro for having a bit too much testosterone.