Alberto Contador Fails Drug Test

[gh]

To be precise, you have to have been banned for 6 months or more. Less than that and the rule doesn't apply.

[guru]

Right - that's why I posted that eurosport link in response to jazzcyclist.

[bambam]

To be precise, you have to have been banned for 6 months or more. Less than that and the rule doesn't apply.

True - ever hear of anyone banned for less than 6 months anymore?

[gh]

Jamaicans, the last two years.

[guru]

Welp, looks like Contador's going to fight

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/n ... id=6068044

[gh]

To be precise, you have to have been banned for 6 months or more. Less than that and the rule doesn't apply.

The plot thickens. While I can find no end of references to "6 months or more," I now also find this on TrackAlerts, relative to the Shelly Fraser case:

<<...According to the IOC, many misinterpreted the rule.

In their reply to TA, the IOC stated: "Each doping case is of course different and subject to potential legal procedures, but the IOC's rules, which came into force just before Beijing in July 2008, are clear: The Osaka rule states very clearly that any athlete sanctioned for more than six months will be banned from participation in the next edition of the Games."

"This rule is still valid and applies to all athletes. So in the case of Shelly-Ann Fraser, who was banned for six months and no longer, the Osaka rule does not apply and she is eligible for the London Games should she qualify."

[thedodge]

Only one year!! that's mighty white of them. The face of the sport gets caught and he only gets a year. How many years does Joe Blow get?

[26mi235]

Only one year!! that's mighty white of them. The face of the sport gets caught and he only gets a year. How many years does Joe Blow get?

Joe Blow gets ten games because Joe Blow is in a 'major' sport.

This is the Spanish Fed, which has been a little light in the anti-doping brigades (the little Spanish star heard on many tapes, whose first several weeks of response was 'I did not sell drugs' rather than I did not have anything to do with them), is a Spanish Fed official), was being looked at intensely so as not to just pass it off as a mistake. Contador (0) is appealing, but so might WADA (2 years).

[guru]

Spanish federation reverses course, plans to "clear" Contador

http://www.universalsports.com/news/art ... 17625.html

A perfect example of why we have WADA.

[26mi235]

This, unfortunately, has undercurrents of the Spanish system (including comments from the Federation and the government) and reticence to pursue things effectively.

[odelltrclan]

This is why athletes continue to cheat. They have people (i.e. friends in high places and governments) willing to help them out in getting away with it for the "greater good".

[502CD]

Looks like he gets to keep his Tour victory and can race in this year's Tour. WADA can appeal the decision though.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/more/02/15/contador.doping.ban.ap/index.html

[26mi235]

from Cyclingnews:

"Although Contador and his legal team were unable to produce a sample of the meat that they have claimed was tainted with the clenbuterol that resulted in the positive test, the fact that it could not be shown conclusively that Contador had deliberately taken the product worked in his favour."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/confirmed-alberto-contador-cleared-of-clenbuterol-charges

"El País is among the newspapers reporting that the four lawyers on the committee may also have been swayed by a tweet posted last Thursday night by Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero that said “there are no legal grounds for sanctioning Contador”. The newspaper adds that the committee spent the weekend mulling over their decision and were expecting to announce it officially on Monday, but were delayed by the complexity of the argument explaining their decision to absolve Contador."

The testing agencies can never show conclusively that an athlete had deliberately taken the product.

What is more, the only thing that was new between the original 'verdict' and this revision is that pressure was brought to bear, as far as I can tell.

[guru]

Whatever happens with Contador and WADA/CAS, one thing's for sure - they need to move that test for plasticizers into standard testing protocol.

[26mi235]

Whatever happens with Contador and WADA/CAS, one thing's for sure - they need to move that test for plasticizers into standard testing protocol.

The thing is, they can use the test for plasticizers. They could not use it to ban him but they can to indicate that this offered explanation has some counter evidence. In that case, it should be easier to reject the 'easy-out' Spanish solution. How do you get this hinging on following Spanish law on when he is notified. How does that pattern inhibit his defense or matter in any way here. This is not a criminal prosecution with a different standard for evidence etc.

I certainly hope that WADA appeals this.

[guru]

CAS rules, stripping Contador of 2010 Tour win, and issuing retroactive 2-year ban. Will miss this years Tour, as well as Olympics.


http://www.universalsports.com/news-blo ... ped+banned


http://www.tas-cas.org/d2wfiles/documen ... .02.06.pdf

[jhc68]

Tragic... another cyclist falls victim of those damn Spanish beefsteaks!

[jazzcyclist]

And stripped of his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro titles.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-san ... terol-case

[odelltrclan]

Wasn't Lance third in 2010, now second? Before we know it he may end up actually winning the 2010 tour, LOL.

[Conor Dary]

Wasn't Lance third in 2010, now second? Before we know it he may end up actually winning the 2010 tour, LOL.

He was third in 2009.

[mal]

Whatever happens with Contador and WADA/CAS, one thing's for sure - they need to move that test for plasticizers into standard testing protocol.

The thing is, they can use the test for plasticizers. They could not use it to ban him but they can to indicate that this offered explanation has some counter evidence. In that case, it should be easier to reject the 'easy-out' Spanish solution. How do you get this hinging on following Spanish law on when he is notified. How does that pattern inhibit his defense or matter in any way here. This is not a criminal prosecution with a different standard for evidence etc.

I certainly hope that WADA appeals this.

Appeals what?

The confirmation of his doping?

The backdated penalties? They were due to the endless appeals. Not his issue (technically)

[guru]

mal - that post you're quoting is from last February(2011)

[Dilan Esper]

To me, it's really silly, and accomplishes nothing, to suspend and strip the titles from individual competitors in a sport where doping was ridiculously widespread.

People bash on what Major League Baseball did, and it isn't perfect, but they have the basic framework right-- there was a "steroids era" when they weren't testing for all these things and while the Mitchell Report and the Barry Bonds case named some names, they aren't going to go back and erase the record books. That's much better than scapegoating a few unfortunate ones who got caught doing what almost everyone, or everyone, else was doing.

[JumboElliott]

Honest question: What cyclist doesn't dope?

[jazzcyclist]

Honest question: What cyclist doesn't dope?

I think the sport is as clean now as its been in years as evidenced by the slow times across the board at last year's Tour de France. Similarly, I know a couple of well-respected track coaches who feel that 2007 was the cleanest year of the World Championship era.

[26mi235]

Honest question: What cyclist doesn't dope?

I think the sport is as clean now as its been in years as evidenced by the slow times across the board at last year's Tour de France. Similarly, I know a couple of well-respected track coaches who feel that 2007 was the cleanest year of the World Championship era.

Eddy M was quoted as saying to not make too much of the times, as wind and other factors play a role (and the wind was an issue last year, and they worked hard just to get to the bottom, so they were compromised. Still, he said that they sport will never be 100% clean but he thinks that it is pretty clean now ~95%, IIRC.

[Tuariki]

aAlthough the test confirmed the actus reus (the positive test), I don't know whether Contador had the mens rea (that is he knowingly took a PED) element. Only Contador will ever know that.

Is Contador a drug cheat in the mold of Ben Johnson. The Court of Arbitration has ruled "yes". Or is he really in the category of a Rick Demont?

I don't know much about the subject but the reports say he had miniscule amount of Clenbuterol in his system that could conceivably have come from an over the counter food supplement. If that is what happened I feel sorry for the guy. If he is a ben Johnson then he got his just deserts. But if it is that easy to get "contaminated" would you ever want to buy food from countries like China where adding all manner of drugs and other crap into food is a national past time. Melamine into milk powder because it gives high but false protein readings - never mind that it kills babies.

Yes, life as an athlete was much easier in the 1970s when I was competing. I can only say that I am glad I was never personally exposed to PEDs. At WSU I am confident no one was on PEDs. I remember there was one thrower who quit WSU because Coaches Mooberry and Chaplin wouldn't help this guy get access to them. He left WSU pretty quickly and transferred to another school. 6 months later when I saw him he had put on a massive amount of weight and had stretch marks across his pecs. I guess it was worth it for him because his distances also had improved very significantly.

[jazzcyclist]

Honest question: What cyclist doesn't dope?

I think the sport is as clean now as its been in years as evidenced by the slow times across the board at last year's Tour de France. Similarly, I know a couple of well-respected track coaches who feel that 2007 was the cleanest year of the World Championship era.

Eddy M was quoted as saying to not make too much of the times, as wind and other factors play a role (and the wind was an issue last year, and they worked hard just to get to the bottom, so they were compromised. Still, he said that they sport will never be 100% clean but he thinks that it is pretty clean now ~95%, IIRC.

But the G.C. contenders don't catch any wind on the flats, so they should have still arrived at the base of the climbs as fresh as in previous years. And once you start climbing, wind isn't much of a factor unless we're talking about Mount Ventoux. And remember, while Contador and the Schlecks were slower than in previous years, Evans matched his times from previous years. And they were slower on all the major climbs, not just one of them.

viewtopic.php?p=711259#p711259

[JumboElliott]

Honest question: What cyclist doesn't dope?

I think the sport is as clean now as its been in years as evidenced by the slow times across the board at last year's Tour de France. Similarly, I know a couple of well-respected track coaches who feel that 2007 was the cleanest year of the World Championship era.

Or they're microdoping.

[26mi235]

Honest question: What cyclist doesn't dope?

I think the sport is as clean now as its been in years as evidenced by the slow times across the board at last year's Tour de France. Similarly, I know a couple of well-respected track coaches who feel that 2007 was the cleanest year of the World Championship era.

Eddy M was quoted as saying to not make too much of the times, as wind and other factors play a role (and the wind was an issue last year, and they worked hard just to get to the bottom, so they were compromised. Still, he said that they sport will never be 100% clean but he thinks that it is pretty clean now ~95%, IIRC.

But the G.C. contenders don't catch any wind on the flats, so they should have still arrived at the base of the climbs as fresh as in previous years. And once you start climbing, wind isn't much of a factor unless we're talking about Mount Ventoux. And remember, while Contador and the Schlecks were slower than in previous years, Evans matched his times from previous years. And they were slower on all the major climbs, not just one of them.

viewtopic.php?p=711259#p711259

They caught a lot of wind because Contador jumped and then there was a lot of chasing in small groups with Evans, the Schlecks, Contador, etc all working hard for a long time before the finish.

[jeremyp]

Glad to see Andy Shleck get his deserved win.

[jazzcyclist]

They caught a lot of wind because Contador jumped and then there was a lot of chasing in small groups with Evans, the Schlecks, Contador, etc all working hard for a long time before the finish.

Are you talking about the Alpe D'Huez? If so, what about the Galibier, Luz Ardiden and Plateau de Beille? And even on Alpe D'Huez Frank Schleck and Evans never caught any wind.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-d ... 011/stages

[mal]

They caught a lot of wind because Contador jumped and then there was a lot of chasing in small groups with Evans, the Schlecks, Contador, etc all working hard for a long time before the finish.

Are you talking about the Alpe D'Huez? If so, what about the Galibier, Luz Ardiden and Plateau de Beille? And even on Alpe D'Huez Frank Schleck and Evans never caught any wind.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-d ... 011/stages

True.