Alex Rasmassuen fired for missing doping control

dave milne

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/alex-ra ... g-controls

LeicesterLad

Idiot. Hope Garmin sack him off too.

blazing_saddles

Rasmussen outed by the Danes for missing 3 tests?
Now, where have I heard that before!
Talk about coincidence.

Silly boy.

Doobz

and has been suspended by the Danish Cycling Union

rick_chasey

Will he get the same sympathy the implausibly old Frenchie woman will get?

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Will he get the same sympathy the implausibly old Frenchie woman will get?

I'll give him more sympathy. He's known to be a pretty disorganized person and this is just a natural consequence of that. I don't that he's a cheat.

Gazzaputt

What an idiot

LeicesterLad

RichN95 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Will he get the same sympathy the implausibly old Frenchie woman will get?

I'll give him more sympathy. He's known to be a pretty disorganized person and this is just a natural consequence of that. I don't that he's a cheat.

This may be but as a proffesional sportsman attending these appointments should be one of the biggest priorities on any list you ever make, it should be second nature, and if you fail to attend, you should face the full force and consequences. Missing it once, excuseable, maybe, 3 times? Not a chance.

EDIT:- Especially in a sport so scrutinised for the exact thing, where doping is top of the agenda. No excuse for it.

Tom Butcher

Think Tim Don got a 3 month from triathlon suspension for missing 3 tests - Ohurougu one year.

iainf72

LeicesterLad wrote:

This may be but as a proffesional sportsman attending these appointments should be one of the biggest priorities on any list you ever make, it should be second nature, and if you fail to attend, you should face the full force and consequences. Missing it once, excuseable, maybe, 3 times? Not a chance.

It's not exactly attending an appointment , is it? You need to keep a document of where you are updated so they can spring surprise tests on you.

If you're not very organised, it's going to be tricky. But that's not really an excuse.

Also, I believe the testers don't just give up, they'll hang around for a while to try and do the test.

rick_chasey

iainf72 wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

This may be but as a proffesional sportsman attending these appointments should be one of the biggest priorities on any list you ever make, it should be second nature, and if you fail to attend, you should face the full force and consequences. Missing it once, excuseable, maybe, 3 times? Not a chance.

It's not exactly attending an appointment , is it? You need to keep a document of where you are updated so they can spring surprise tests on you.

If you're not very organised, it's going to be tricky. But that's not really an excuse.

Also, I believe the testers don't just give up, they'll hang around for a while to try and do the test.

They'll even let you have a shower.

Pokerface

LeicesterLad wrote:

This may be but as a proffesional sportsman attending these appointments should be one of the biggest priorities on any list you ever make, it should be second nature, and if you fail to attend, you should face the full force and consequences. Missing it once, excuseable, maybe, 3 times? Not a chance.

Just a note on this - it's not a matter of him 'not showing up for an appointment'. You have to designate an hour a day where you are available for testing. If you're not where you say you will be (at home, at gym, at girlfriend's, etc) and they show up to test you (randomly), then you have a missed test. 3 of these and you're out.

As someone on the program, I can attest to how easy it is to forget to update your whereabouts every time you make a change. I file a plan 3 months in advance - but have to make changes as my circumstances change. So if, at the last minute I decide to stay over at the girlfriend's - I have to update them to say I won't be home in the morning for test and tell them where I am instead. (Sounds simple - but not so much if you're drunk or tired, etc).

It's easy to forget to update, depending on what else is going on in your life - particularly if you're travelling a lot.

Still - messing up 3 times is a lot. I would be crapping myself if I missed just one!

Pokerface

iainf72 wrote:

Also, I believe the testers don't just give up, they'll hang around for a while to try and do the test.

They have to wait for the entire hour you've designated. So if you say you'll be at home from 11-12 - they have to wait for that whole hour. If you show up at one minute to 12 - you're safe.

But - they can also come and try and find you outside your designated hour. If they find you - you must do the test. If they don;t find you - it's their loss and not a fail for you.

mroli

For me, its not the missing of the tests - I can understand that, although I also understand that most professional athletes designate an hour that htey are going to be in bed so the chances of them being at the shops etc is remote.

I understand that he didn't tell HTC about his two missed tests before he joined and didn't tell them about the last missed test. That isn't disorganisation in my book - its lazy at best and dodgy at worst.

Colin - how easy is it to notify them of changes? Is it as easy as a call/text message and how much notice do you have to give?

LeicesterLad

Pokerface wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

This may be but as a proffesional sportsman attending these appointments should be one of the biggest priorities on any list you ever make, it should be second nature, and if you fail to attend, you should face the full force and consequences. Missing it once, excuseable, maybe, 3 times? Not a chance.

Just a note on this - it's not a matter of him 'not showing up for an appointment'. You have to designate an hour a day where you are available for testing. If you're not where you say you will be (at home, at gym, at girlfriend's, etc) and they show up to test you (randomly), then you have a missed test. 3 of these and you're out.

As someone on the program, I can attest to how easy it is to forget to update your whereabouts every time you make a change. I file a plan 3 months in advance - but have to make changes as my circumstances change. So if, at the last minute I decide to stay over at the girlfriend's - I have to update them to say I won't be home in the morning for test and tell them where I am instead. (Sounds simple - but not so much if you're drunk or tired, etc).

It's easy to forget to update, depending on what else is going on in your life - particularly if you're travelling a lot.

Still - messing up 3 times is a lot. I would be crapping myself if I missed just one!

Thats fair enough, but you still have to be where you say you will be - So turning up to some extent! It may be easy to forget, but its part and parcel of being a sportsman and whether he's not there by accident or not, at the end of the day its a no-show and there are no excuses, punishment should be dealt.

Pokerface

LeicesterLad wrote:

Thats fair enough, but you still have to be where you say you will be - So turning up to some extent! It may be easy to forget, but its part and parcel of being a sportsman and whether he's not there by accident or not, at the end of the day its a no-show and there are no excuses, punishment should be dealt.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I haven't missed one myself, nor have I forgotten to update my hour when I've changed my plans. But have come close.

It's a simple matter of sending a text or going online to do it.

But I know I've gotten off a plane and gone to the girlfriend's instead of home after being away for a week and have had to remind myself to change my whereabouts for the following morning, etc.

This is why you get 3 strikes - because they know it's hard to keep track of where you are supposed to be 24/7/365

B3rnieMac

Presumably he wanted to join Garmin for the gps Sat Navs? Seems like they would have come in handy....

hammerite

Pokerface thanks for the insight. For some reason I had the impression that you had to let the testers know where you were all day every day :oops: which would be a nightmare.

An hour every day it's not so bad, but I can imagine it's not without it's difficulties.

dave_1

he punctured at final Giro TT this year with a time that might have beaten Millar's but didn't cause of a puncture. Kinda glad he punctured now. Better the win went to Millar in hindsight

jibberjim

Pokerface wrote:

It's easy to forget to update, depending on what else is going on in your life - particularly if you're travelling a lot.

Still - messing up 3 times is a lot. I would be crapping myself if I missed just one!

Yes, it's not just forgetting to update, it's forgetting to update and being unlucky enough that that is the time they turn up to test, so you'd likely have to forget to update a lot more times than just 3 to be caught 3 times.

mouth

hammerite wrote:

Pokerface thanks for the insight. For some reason I had the impression that you had to let the testers know where you were all day every day :oops: which would be a nightmare.

An hour every day it's not so bad, but I can imagine it's not without it's difficulties.

The US Athletics (and maybe whole Olympic program, can't remember) have 24/7 rules. Ouch.

As for the suspension, Rio Ferdinand got 8 months suspension for missing 1 test a few years back.

I've competed in controlled sports before, but was just spot testing at events and not 365 days, so no worries as long as you were clean really.

3 misses? Sounds almost systematic for me. Not telling HTC/Garmin about the missed tests? Due dilligence on the teams part perhaps.

If his license has been suspended surely he has to leave ToB?

shinyhelmut

As for the suspension, Rio Ferdinand got 8 months suspension for missing 1 test a few years back.

This was slightly different though as he deliberately evaded the testers rather than accidentally missing one test.

Pokerface

hammerite wrote:

Pokerface thanks for the insight. For some reason I had the impression that you had to let the testers know where you were all day every day :oops: which would be a nightmare.

An hour every day it's not so bad, but I can imagine it's not without it's difficulties.

Well - I am supposed to report my wearabouts (within reason) 24 hours a day. I fill in the paperwork and submit it (usually just blocking off the same stuff day in and day out - like 'training on bike', 'at home', etc).

This is so they can spring a 'surprise' test on you and know where to look for you.

If you are NOT where you say you would be, and it's outside your DESIGNATED and guaranteed hour for the day - then you don't fail. But if they find you, you must submit to a test or it is considered a fail (and by fail I mean you are subject to a 2 year ban).

You are allowed to miss 3 tests (when they come for you in your designated hour and you're not there) in a year before you are subject to a ban.

Like Jim said - it's one thing to be unlucky enough to miss a test when they actually come and you're not there... but 3 times is just plain stupid.

Doobz

anyone who follows inrng will have read this already...


Rasmussen and the rules (is he free to ride?)

http://inrng.com/2011/09/rules-rasmussen

Deffo worth a read if you had not read it already....

No_Ta_Doctor

Well the contract with Garmin has been shredded.

It's three failures in 18 months, not a year.

I'm quite pleased he doesn't actually seem to be complaining about it, recognising it was his own fault, not some massive injustice. Good to see he accepts responsibility.

One of the missed times seems a little harsh though, as he was actually riding a 6 day event in Berlin, where he was tested, which is a little different from the other Rasmussen's aparent confusion between Italy and Mexico...

Anonymous

The rules changed a year ago, so that the testers only have to turn up at any time during the hour, the athlete now has to remain in place for the full hour.

A harsh change, if you ask me.