Doping in continental sportives

Yorkman

Just back from the Maratona dles Dolomites, which Englishman Jamie Burrow won, and there's persistent rumours one of the Italians he very closely beat, ie the second place, has been caught doping.

FFS!

LittleB0b

Yorkman wrote:

has been caught doping.

by who?

sounds a bit mill like to me.

Kléber

That's common. A lot of riders get busted for doping and then end up finishing their careers as sportive riders, there are pro teams concentrating on these events. Look no further than Raimondas Rumas, whose wife was caught with a car chock full of EPO and more, he claimed they were for his ill mother in law but he and his wife eventually got a criminal sentence in France, but he's been riding a lot of events in the past few years.

As for Burrow, he beat Pantani's record on the Beille climb in the Pyrenees. Make of that what you will.

iainf72

Alfonso Falzarano is the guy who was second.

andyp

Burrow rides for the same GF team as Rumsas I think.

The Guardia Finanza did a bust the night before the Maratona a few years back and uncovered all sorts of illegal substances. I think forty odd riders were arrested.

Why is it a surprise? People take drugs for recreational purposes, why shouldn't that extend to cycling?

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sudholz

Looks like he was disqualified but not expelled from the race for throwing litter - keeps his 2nd place... :?

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilsole24ore.com%2Fart%2FSoleOnLine4%2FSport%2F2009%2F07%2Fmaratona-dolomiti-generale.shtml%3Fuuid%3D963088f0-6985-11de-8c96-0772bb73edf5%26DocRulesView%3DLibero&sl=it&tl=en&history_state0=

Having done the long one myself I have to say that it was profoundly depressing to see riders chucking all their rubbish not only on the road but well off into the bush where there would be no chance for the event staff to clear it up. :evil: :evil: :evil:

I saw a couple of poor sods on the valley road in the p*ssing rain sweeping up the mess the next day...gave them the big bravo as we drove past.

It is completely beyond me how anyone with half a brain, cycling theough some of the most beautiful scenery you could ever wish to see on a bike could even consider chucking their spent gel wrapper (etc) on the ground. A tiny effort by everyone would avoid a huge (and ultimately futile) effort from the organisers.

:idea:

During the ride to take my mind off the pain of climbing the Giau I started to devise a wrapper barcoding scheme that sportive organisers could employ. All participants would get a load of adhesive barcode labels linked to their ride numbers that they would be required to stick on to their food. Spot checks at the start pens would ensure compliance (or disqualification). Any rubbish found on the route would mean instant disqualification and a fine to help pay for the cleanup...no excuses...no exceptions. That'd learn 'em.

/rant

/ thread hijack

I agree with andyp et al and have been led to believe by various cycling buddies (lame I know) that EPO use by the semi-pros in these events is pretty much standard practice. The ride time/average for the Maratona this year was 'extraterrestrial'

ugo.santalucia

What happened is that the guy who got second was disqualified for littering... he threw a finished gel on the side of the road and was caught by the camera. Because the area is national park and now even Unesco World Heritage this is against the rules, hence he was disqualified. Nothing to do with doping.

That said, yes, most top athletes in continental sportives are doped... no wonder Raimondas Rumsas is still big there