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Oct 2012
10:07am, 11 Oct 2012
17,554 posts
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SPR
Leipheimer's evidence did suggest that Bruyneel had not organised a team doping struture during 2006 and 2007 (telling Leiphemier he should be able to do it by himself). Also I don't think Contador was supposed to be the star man that year?
Doesn't mean he didn't have his own doping program though. I'm resigned to the fact that most of the cream of the crop were doping until recently. They may still be doping but not with impunity (although the potential Contador cover up does throw up a question mark).
Nike are still supporting Armstrong. If Armstrong wins the PR battle somehow, does that undermine the effort.
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Oct 2012
10:10am, 11 Oct 2012
1,866 posts
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The Teaboy
Yeah, I'm pretty convinced having read the Hamilton book that Contador's Clenbuterol positive was an echo from a blood transfusion.
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Oct 2012
10:12am, 11 Oct 2012
17,555 posts
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SPR
Did Hamilton say why they would use Clenbuterol?
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Oct 2012
10:16am, 11 Oct 2012
1,867 posts
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The Teaboy
No, but he talked about getting positive tests from reinfusing tainted blood. The timing of taking a bag in time for a big stage matches the failed test date.
Clenbuterol is used to aid fat burning and hence weight loss though.
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Oct 2012
10:17am, 11 Oct 2012
21,854 posts
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Velociraptor
I don't think anyone comes out of this looking good. Including the whistleblowers, all of whose statements have a big whiff of admitting to a great deal less doping, and greater reluctance to dope, than is realistically likely to have been the case, and none of whom is likely to have come forward and volunteered information that put themselves in the frame unless the consequences of not doing so would have been more personally damaging. All this "I made the wrong decision" and "I apologise to my family" and "I quit doping in 2006" stuff is just PR bollox. But they've at least done the sensible thing now, and I approve of sensibleness. And I can absolutely understand why they doped, and wouldn't be immune to temptation myself if beating other athletes in races was how I put bread on my table.
There are still professional cyclists out there whom I really, really hope are clean, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Brailsford was being a little disingenuous in his comments about the USADA statement, or if some current big names were looking at ways of obliterating their e-mail trails and bank transfer details.
And some elite runners I really, really hope are clean too ...
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Oct 2012
10:28am, 11 Oct 2012
7,359 posts
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mulbs
as an ignoramus on the subject can I just ask if any of the subtances taken offer long-term enhancement, I know some are short sharp boosts but I'd have thought that stuff like hgh (regardless of its detection time) kind of had an effect that wasn't reversible . . . so I guess what I'm saying is that someone who has been clean since 2006 competing against someone who has been clean their whole life might still have gained an advantage from stuff done prior to 2006 . . . am I just whittering? can anyone offer a sensible answer?
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Oct 2012
10:34am, 11 Oct 2012
21,855 posts
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Velociraptor
Good question, mulbs.
In the longer term, the effects of steroids (both anabolic and glucocorticoid) are likely to be more harmful than beneficial, and there's unlikely to be any long term benefit from other frequently-used PEDs though they're also unlikely to cause long term health problems. So someone who doped prior to 2006 is unlikely to have any residual advantage apart from knowing the practicalities of doping if they decide to start again. And having doped, then stopped, is likely to have a placebo effect on the individual which would tend to exaggerate the drop in their drug-free performance.
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Oct 2012
10:38am, 11 Oct 2012
7,363 posts
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mulbs
wonderfully clear answer Vrap, thanks for that, I like to know there is a level playing field again
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Oct 2012
11:27am, 11 Oct 2012
17,556 posts
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SPR
2006 was when the Operation Puerto scandal broke AND sponsors started leaving so it does make sense for many to have stopped in 2006.
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Oct 2012
11:31am, 11 Oct 2012
1,872 posts
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The Teaboy
Armstrong retired at the end of 2005. That probably helped too.
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Cheating in amateur sports
Apr 2017