Saint Christian Prudhomme our saviour?..

CraigH

The an is a genius....

They knew that this stuff was being used in the Giro..
there is a test for it but it isnt fully validated yet by the UCI.
they run the TDF under their own federation rules so that they can do their own tests.
they immediatly find three positives,
the UCI looks like idiots. one nil...to ASO
the Olympics are forced to include this test in the forthcoming games.. if not it looks like the IOC and all other sports are dragging their heels and protecting dopers.
If the drug stays in the system for a long time, an awful lot of atheletes at Bejing will be positive if the test is used.. one way or another cyclings credibility is restored. . ie.
The same press that nearly killed the tour with " they are all dopers" will be forced to ask the questions of the other sports..
Cycling/ASO are at the forefront and proactive and everyother sport is not testing or every other sport is also doping and doing nothing....
Christian Prudhomme is teh saviour of cycling

Doobz

very good point..

iainf72

Few problems here.

The UCI don't validate tests. WADA do.

And it appears WADA have now validated the test.

He was able to confirm that co-operation in the case of Micera has enabled its detection by WADA-accredited laboratories. "Thanks to the co-operation of the manufacturer of this substance (Roche) and of WADA-accredited laboratories, WADA received the molecule well in advance and was able to develop ways to detect it.

CraigH

so is the IOC going to use it in Bejing?
why wasnt the UCI using it?

iainf72

CraigH wrote:

so is the IOC going to use it in Bejing?
why wasnt the UCI using it?

It's not clear when it became available. it's not unusual for doping experts to know someone is using something but not be able to prove it. I remember last year during the Tour they had a good idea who was using transfusion but don't have a test that is acceptable proof.

I think they're trying to be more secrective to get a jump on people.

If they're using WADA accredited labs who can perform the test then they might well test for it in the Olympics.

claudb

I tend to agree with your comments on Prudhomme. There's another aspect to this as well. It looks like he (ASO) do not really have to bother about whether any of the positive riders is sanctioned as he (ASO) just make sure they don't get invited back again. So, even if they all going running to their lawyers and spend years trying to clear their names, it would all be in vain as ASO can just refuse them a ride. I suppose that could amount to riders or complete teams.

DaveyL

If the test was only validated, say, in June, there's not much point in condemning people for not busting anyone during the Giro. We don't really know enough yet to start demanding why this wasn't tested for earlier.

CraigH

Fair one aboout the Giro.. but I am not demanding...( are these tests being used in the Tour of Austria?Ireland?quinui?Superweek?)
I like the idea that the press coverage condemning cycling will be focussed on the Olympics and other sports.
if atheletes test positive ( ie the drug lasts a long time).. = cycling great as it was the leader and is vindicated as they are all at it.
if they dont test = cycling great as other sports are doing nothing..

Kléber

It does put serious pressure on the IOC. They ought to be doing out-of-comp testing on the endurance athletes and swimmers right now with this new test, and following it up with more in Beijing. Expect sudden muscle strains and more.

Prudhomme is doing a good job and it needn't be for such political reasons. He just wants to run the best Tour de France he can. For a decade the UCI's done precious little to fight doping, the sport's name has become synonymous with doping. But no bio passports, as suggested by those pesky French 10 years ago, instead it spent energy cooking up the Pro Tour concept, which even if it had good ideas, has proven unpopular with almost everyone involved, partly thanks to its cack-handed implementation. Don't forget the cringing spectacle of infantile press releases fired off towards the likes of Dick Pound, ASO and anyone else who doesn't agree with high command in Aigle.

Frankly a baboon in a blazer would look saintly compared to this woeful track record.

Moomaloid

I think he should be held up as a beacon for change in the sport. He puts the reputation of his race on the line every time he announces a new case, yet is doing everything he can to rid the sport of this disease.

Chapeau!

ChrisLS

...Monsieur Prudhomme has done an excellent job.

andy_wrx

Ah OK, someone else obviously thinking like me. I've put this on another thread

andy_wrx wrote:

Conspiracy therory : I wonder if this new test has actually been around for a little while but just been unveiled now ?

WADA is of course an Olympics sub-division, not UCI.

Either it's just before the Olympics but perhaps so close to them that anyone who's been on the juice will be caught because they'll still have this stuff detectable in their system and hence we'll have a clean Olympics with all the dopers either staying at home or being caught

Or it's far enough away from the Olympics that anyone on the stuff will promptly stop it and arrive in Beijing and be tested and be clear, hence we'll have a clean Olympics because no-one will test positive.

I'm not sure if it's Saint Christian, so much as WADA/IOC...but it certainly ain't our old friends Verbruggen and McQuaid who are digging-out the dopers.

Where Prodhomme/ASO have gone right is to be able to invite who they want and chuck-out who they want without having to wait for B-samples, long drawn-out court cases, etc.
It's the who-won-the-2006-Tour-? dragging-on until 2008 and all the *rsing-about with Rasmussen last year which damaged the Tour's reputation.
This year's they-test-positive-we-kick-em-out-no-questions-no-appeal approach is very positive.

iainf72

andy_wrx wrote:

This year's they-test-positive-we-kick-em-out-no-questions-no-appeal approach is very positive.

When did they not kick people out based on an A positive? That's hardly a new innovation.

claudb

andy_wrx wrote:

]Where Prodhomme/ASO have gone right is to be able to invite who they want and chuck-out who they want without having to wait for B-samples, long drawn-out court cases, etc.
This year's they-test-positive-we-kick-em-out-no-questions-no-appeal approach is very positive.

This is just the point I was trying to make. Prudhomme/ASO can control who they let in their race and who they kick out (OK a little simplistic but they don't have to worry about riders being sanctioned by the UCI, it's all just done by contract with Teams/Riders).
I reckon this will avoid all the recent problems of postive tests ending up in the courts for years. This then reduces the amount of bad press involved in positive doping cases by getting it all over very quickly.