Paolini done for cocaine

buckmulligan

This is my favourite Luca Paolini photo, casually texting away on his bike in the middle of the Tour de France:

dinyull

But of course, not all masking agents are diuretics.

Masking agents are compounds that are taken with the purpose of hiding or "masking" the presence of specific illegal drugs that are screened for doping testing. Masking agents have the potential to impair or conceal the banned substance in the urine. Diuretics can be regarded as "masking" agents due to the dilution of the urine, which results in lower levels of the banned substance being excreted from the body.

dinyull

thegreatdivide wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Masking agents are diuretics which flush the evidence out of the system faster. Cocaine isn't a diuretic.

You sure about that? I can never get into the toilets when that stuff's kicking about!

dinyull

But it's all pure speculation which I'm the first to admit to. He may have just had a recreational problem, but I can see why teams would steer clear from him.

RichN95.

Dinyull wrote:

But it's all pure speculation which I'm the first to admit to. He may have just had a recreational problem, but I can see why teams would steer clear from him.

Here's an extract from Ned Boulting's book about the 2014 Tour de France.



I'm pretty sure he just liked to party. Allegedly he's far from the only one in cycling.

dinyull

Haha, I have seen that before. Mental that he can race like that, especially when I suffer so much on the bike after a few beers the night before...to the point I avoid if I plan on going out in the morning.

Hinaultscrapcousin

RichN95 wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

But it's all pure speculation which I'm the first to admit to. He may have just had a recreational problem, but I can see why teams would steer clear from him.

Here's an extract from Ned Boulting's book about the 2014 Tour de France.



I'm pretty sure he just liked to party. Allegedly he's far from the only one in cycling.

Him and Matt Goss need to set up a training camp... I'd even consider going to that!

Hopefully they were singing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i40DDI7Hplc

bobmcstuff

Thought the speculation was the cocaine dependency was due to trying to balance out his sleeping pill dependency...

dish_dash

bobmcstuff wrote:

Thought the speculation was the cocaine dependency was due to trying to balance out his sleeping pill dependency...

That's what he's said. And both Katusha docs and Kristoff have said they knew about his sleeping issues.

“It all started with sleeping pills, whose main active ingredient is benzodiazepine [a class of psychoactive drug that can alter brain function –ed]. But this creates an addiction,” he explained. “I needed a good night's rest to meet the physical and mental effort the next day. I started in 2004 when my brother died. The real problem is everyday life. There are big problems and smaller, but it all adds to this very stressful sport. Mentally, it affects you a lot. It's at the time you start taking the substance, and that is sad. These errors led me to cocaine.

“The worst occurs at night when benzodiazepine gains power I lose lucidity. And then came the cocaine. For me, it was inevitable. I did it almost without realizing it. I was alone that night, I was alone during the two weeks of training in the mountains in mid-June, before the Tour, when I took cocaine. And I cannot forgive myself. I am a husband, father, and a prominent sportsman, I had to be an example, I betrayed a generation that believed in me. This is what hurts me.”

rick_chasey

Using sleeping pills is/was very common in the peloton.

yorkshireraw

Rick Chasey wrote:

Using sleeping pills is/was very common in the peloton.

Not surprising given the amount of coffee / caffeine gels / finish bottles etc that some riders still bang down.

RichN95.

YorkshireRaw wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Using sleeping pills is/was very common in the peloton.

Not surprising given the amount of coffee / caffeine gels / finish bottles etc that some riders still bang down.

It reminds we of the England football team a few years ago. A match in Poland got postponed for 24 hours at short notice due to heavy rain and they complained that they had had to take sleeping pills to counteract all the caffeine they took before the postponed game which made them sluggish when they actually played the match.

rick_chasey

Does caffeine effect your sleep that far out?

I generally struggle to sleep after big rides. Almost that too-tired-to-sleep feeling (without coming over all Kurt Cobain).

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Does caffeine effect your sleep that far out?

I generally struggle to sleep after big rides. Almost that too-tired-to-sleep feeling (without coming over all Kurt Cobain).

It was a midweek match. So a 9pm kick off, local time.

rick_chasey

I meant more for pro cyclists!

Mad_Malx

YorkshireRaw wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Using sleeping pills is/was very common in the peloton.

Not surprising given the amount of coffee / caffeine gels / finish bottles etc that some riders still bang down.

Interesting that those outraged about legal TUEs aren't worried about legal use of caffeine. There's better evidence that caffeine is a PED than salbutamol & glucocorticoids (and amphetamines).

tailwindhome

Lanterne_Rogue

Mad_Malx wrote:

YorkshireRaw wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Using sleeping pills is/was very common in the peloton.

Not surprising given the amount of coffee / caffeine gels / finish bottles etc that some riders still bang down.

Interesting that those outraged about legal TUEs aren't worried about legal use of caffeine. There's better evidence that caffeine is a PED than salbutamol & glucocorticoids (and amphetamines).

Discovering Wiggins had a twenty-a-day Starbucks obsession just isn't as sexy as imagining all sorts of cloak-and-daggers midnight plane transfers. I struggle to get my wife to fetch me a Lemsip from the kitchen, so someone flying out with decongestants seems wildly exotic, whereas coffee is just mundane...

Richmond Racer 2

underlayunderlay wrote:

Mad_Malx wrote:

YorkshireRaw wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Using sleeping pills is/was very common in the peloton.

Not surprising given the amount of coffee / caffeine gels / finish bottles etc that some riders still bang down.

Interesting that those outraged about legal TUEs aren't worried about legal use of caffeine. There's better evidence that caffeine is a PED than salbutamol & glucocorticoids (and amphetamines).

Discovering Wiggins had a twenty-a-day Starbucks obsession just isn't as sexy as imagining all sorts of cloak-and-daggers midnight plane transfers. I struggle to get my wife to fetch me a Lemsip from the kitchen, so someone flying out with decongestants seems wildly exotic, whereas coffee is just mundane...

The struggle is real.

bobmcstuff

Rick Chasey wrote:

Does caffeine effect your sleep that far out?

I generally struggle to sleep after big rides. Almost that too-tired-to-sleep feeling (without coming over all Kurt Cobain).

Yeah, I get that too. I get it when hiking and doing other endurance stuff too, when I close my eyes I immediately start dreaming that I am doing whatever activity it was, and it's not very restful.

Also if I end up doing high intensity turbo sessions late in the evening that keeps me up as well.

Caffeine doesn't really affect my sleep provided I don't have any past 3-4pm but I guess we don't know how much these guys are taking.

tailwindhome

Mention of Kristoff on the TDF stage 1 spoiler thread brought Luca Paolini back to mind.

Hope the lad is doing well.

Came across as such a nice guy at the Giro in Belfast.

Last I read he was running a coffee shop.