The Tour drug tests

dennisn

BikingBernie wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Bernie, french, afx. They all want something, but I'm beginning to believe that it has very little to do with doping.

What do I want? Simple, a sport where I can believe in the 'authenticity' of the performances and know that the podium places don't indicate which riders had the best doping program / have a physiology that responds the best to the current 'state of the art' doping techniques.

Somehow Bernie, I don't think there will ever be a sport you can believe in. You sound way to hard to please.

stagehopper

alanmcn1 wrote:

stagehopper wrote:

The one thing which I thought marked this Tour out as pretty strange was the lack of remarkable performances.

Did you watch Schleck and Contador sprint up Ventoux....................

I watched the two best climbers in the peleton finish only just ahead of a few other top contendors. What was remarkable about that?

doddy178

It's a shame, but don't take this all to heart. Our friend Pat said that Di Lucca wasn't being investigated, few days later. Positive.

But if we aren't going to hear any positives, this is a big shame for cycling, this tour wasn't clean. Cleaner? Sure, but not clean. I think we need positives to reasure us that the cheats are getting out of the sport. The public image goes down temporairily.

So next year, UCI and AFLD testing please? The 2 bodies carrying out seperate tests would be no bad thing.

Kléber

dennisn wrote:

Somehow Bernie, I don't think there will ever be a sport you can believe in. You sound way to hard to please.

There's nothing wrong in being a demanding fan. We surely all want a clean sport, the only differences on here are the extent to which the "dirty washing" is laundered in public and some people's hagiography towards certain riders.

dennisn

Kléber wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Somehow Bernie, I don't think there will ever be a sport you can believe in. You sound way to hard to please.

There's nothing wrong in being a demanding fan. We surely all want a clean sport, the only differences on here are the extent to which the "dirty washing" is laundered in public and some people's hagiography towards certain riders.

Whew, had to look that one up. I don't see too many people on here claiming sainthood
for any of the pros. Least of all me. I've always pushed the riders as "only men"(well, maybe they are a few boys in there). Somewhat like you and I except they ride bikes a little faster, but I'm betting that not to many of them can play the violin as well as me. And
I, pretty much, suck at it. Hands are way to big. Should have learned to play the bass, according to one instructor I had.
For some reason BikingBernie reminds me of a Thomas Edison quote "Any man who is satisfied with his life is a failure". Old Tom was not an easy man to please.

Bhima

This means either:

1) The tour really is clean, and the playing field is now level.
2) The tour is not clean, but the dopers are one step ahead of the testers.

I really hope 1) is true, although 2) is more likely, looking at what has happened historically.

afx237vi

Pokerface wrote:

Well, OBVIOUSLY the dopers are one step ahead again! It's new era of microdosing. But I won't buy into the theory that they are simply burying positives to protect their image. Not now.

Go on - shout me down now.

I've only just got round to actually reading the story...

http://velonews.com/article/97080/mcqua ... t--09-tour

"At this point in time I haven't heard of any positive tests at this year's Tour de France or that we're checking samples to confirm positives,” McQuaid told Reuters’ Stephen Farrand. "It's looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years.”

Well I'm glad to see the UCI has travelled into the future and cleared all the samples for the next few years. Clean Tours for years, hurrah!

RichN95.

doddy178 wrote:

It's a shame, but don't take this all to heart. Our friend Pat said that Di Lucca wasn't being investigated, few days later. Positive.
.

Surely it's a good idea to not to reveal who you are investigating? I don't remember MI5 holding any press conferences to announce which suspects they have under surveillance.

If he knew (he probably didn't) and he lied, then good because Di Luca wasn't tipped off and got caught. He'd also be on dodgy legal ground if he'd announced or confirmed an investigation that didn't result in a bust (defamation etc).

McQuaid talks a lot of balls most of the time, but you can't hold that one against him.

finchy

Can't we wait and see the results for the 2008 re-tests before casting judgement on whether the authorities have just stuck their heads back into the sand?

Maybe in a few weeks a dozen more riders will have been suspended and we'll all be congratulating ASO/AFLD for decisive action.

Speaking of which, anyone know when the results are coming out? It's been a good few weeks now, how long does it take to test a sample?

I would also have thought that doping being illegal in cycling's heartlands, meaning that the police can (and do) become involved, would give the governing bodies extra motivation to crack down.

After all there's no point in trying to avoid scandals if the police are going to smash a doping ring.

paulcuthbert

BikingBernie wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

First clean Tour in a decade, no?

It's heartening to see that you accept that Tours of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 2004 and 2005 were fuelled by drugs. Given the huge advantage Epo and blood doping gives, a clean rider probably had no chance of even getting on the podium in those years.

I said a decade- what happened to 2006, 2007 and 2008?

There were positive tests at all these Tours, but not in 2009. And that is what is heartening.

Sorry to disappoint you yet again, but I'm just not as cynical and sceptical as everyone else here seems to be.

Vino

paulcuthbert wrote:

BikingBernie wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

First clean Tour in a decade, no?

It's heartening to see that you accept that Tours of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 2004 and 2005 were fuelled by drugs. Given the huge advantage Epo and blood doping gives, a clean rider probably had no chance of even getting on the podium in those years.

I said a decade- what happened to 2006, 2007 and 2008?

There were positive tests at all these Tours, but not in 2009. And that is what is heartening.

Sorry to disappoint you yet again, but I'm just not as cynical and sceptical as everyone else here seems to be.

Yes Paul is very good, also please sed checque to vino c/o wereracingcleanyeahright>com to helo future clean racing

Ave

paulcuthbert

Vino wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

BikingBernie wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

First clean Tour in a decade, no?

It's heartening to see that you accept that Tours of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 2004 and 2005 were fuelled by drugs. Given the huge advantage Epo and blood doping gives, a clean rider probably had no chance of even getting on the podium in those years.

I said a decade- what happened to 2006, 2007 and 2008?

There were positive tests at all these Tours, but not in 2009. And that is what is heartening.

Sorry to disappoint you yet again, but I'm just not as cynical and sceptical as everyone else here seems to be.

Yes Paul is very good, also please sed checque to vino c/o wereracingcleanyeahright>com to helo future clean racing

Ave

Feck off

stagehopper

afx237vi wrote:

I've only just got round to actually reading the story...

http://velonews.com/article/97080/mcqua ... t--09-tour

"At this point in time I haven't heard of any positive tests at this year's Tour de France or that we're checking samples to confirm positives,” McQuaid told Reuters’ Stephen Farrand. "It's looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years.”

Well I'm glad to see the UCI has travelled into the future and cleared all the samples for the next few years. Clean Tours for years, hurrah!

It's paraphrased isn't it?

"for the first time in a number of years"

BikingBernie

stagehopper wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

I've only just got round to actually reading the story...

http://velonews.com/article/97080/mcqua ... t--09-tour

"At this point in time I haven't heard of any positive tests at this year's Tour de France or that we're checking samples to confirm positives,” McQuaid told Reuters’ Stephen Farrand. "It's looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years.”

Well I'm glad to see the UCI has travelled into the future and cleared all the samples for the next few years. Clean Tours for years, hurrah!

It's paraphrased isn't it?

"for the first time in a number of years"

No, it appears to be a direct quotation, hence the use of quotation marks...

BikingBernie

paulcuthbert wrote:

I'm just not as cynical and sceptical as everyone else here seems to be.

Or perhaps just more gullible / less well informed...

moray_gub

dennisn wrote:

BikingBernie wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Bernie, french, afx. They all want something, but I'm beginning to believe that it has very little to do with doping.

What do I want? Simple, a sport where I can believe in the 'authenticity' of the performances and know that the podium places don't indicate which riders had the best doping program / have a physiology that responds the best to the current 'state of the art' doping techniques.

Somehow Bernie, I don't think there will ever be a sport you can believe in. You sound way to hard to please.

He says previously he is not interested in pro cycling at al in any shape or form gave up on it years ago. Yet he posted regularly during the Tour and commented upon incidents within it so take what he says with a very large pinch of salt.

stagehopper

BikingBernie wrote:

stagehopper wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

I've only just got round to actually reading the story...

http://velonews.com/article/97080/mcqua ... t--09-tour

"At this point in time I haven't heard of any positive tests at this year's Tour de France or that we're checking samples to confirm positives,” McQuaid told Reuters’ Stephen Farrand. "It's looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years.”

Well I'm glad to see the UCI has travelled into the future and cleared all the samples for the next few years. Clean Tours for years, hurrah!

It's paraphrased isn't it?

"for the first time in a number of years"

No, it appears to be a direct quotation, hence the use of quotation marks...

A misquotation then.

paulcuthbert

BikingBernie wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

I'm just not as cynical and sceptical as everyone else here seems to be.

Or perhaps just more gullible / less well informed...

Neither, FYI