"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Lance - Most Tested?

I keep hearing Lance Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the world when it comes to drug use. I have a good idea where this starts, the guys on OLN say it all the time. Frankly I doubt it, American Football has some pretty strict random testing rules for guys who have been caught and I'm sure many other sports are the same (e.g. once caught tested a lot).

But when I tried to look things up on the net about cycling in general and Lance specifically I found almost nothing. I've seen some very knowledgeable posts on this site and hope someone here actually has some hard facts.

BTW I'm not one of the Lance is using guys or the other side either. I'm fairly middle of the road. I'm inclined to think he is pushing the rules to the edge and using anything legal to get an advantage. I would not be surprised if he has stepped over the line, but I would be very surprised to find that any rule breaking when it comes to Lance is outside the norm for cycling.

So once again does anyone have any real information? The UCI rules about drug testing, esp. out of competition testing would be a whole lot more than I've seen so far.

Thanks in advance,

Keith

I don't have specifics on Lance's testing but one thing that is a factor here is that in the NFL for instance you are only tested during the season, the UCI can do random tests 365 days a year 24hrs a day.

I believe he also gets tested after every stage in which he wore the yellow jersey. I think that extends to the first few riders in the GC as well. So, near the end of the tour it's like 6 times in a week.

I believe in the NFL, during the season, only 6 random players per team per week are tested. Maybe it's hyperbole to say he's the most tested but Lance does go through alot of testing. And I haven't heard arguments from anyone else to say no, I'm the most tested.

Someone like Petacchi, McEwen or Boonen who wins 20+ races a year are likely to be tested as much or more that LA.

I keep hearing Lance Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the world when it comes to drug use. I have a good idea where this starts, the guys on OLN say it all the time. Frankly I doubt it, American Football has some pretty strict random testing rules for guys who have been caught and I'm sure many other sports are the same (e.g. once caught tested a lot).

But when I tried to look things up on the net about cycling in general and Lance specifically I found almost nothing. I've seen some very knowledgeable posts on this site and hope someone here actually has some hard facts.

BTW I'm not one of the Lance is using guys or the other side either. I'm fairly middle of the road. I'm inclined to think he is pushing the rules to the edge and using anything legal to get an advantage. I would not be surprised if he has stepped over the line, but I would be very surprised to find that any rule breaking when it comes to Lance is outside the norm for cycling.

So once again does anyone have any real information? The UCI rules about drug testing, esp. out of competition testing would be a whole lot more than I've seen so far.

Thanks in advance,

Keith

You must not have read his book (I can't remember which of the two), but the testers constantly were showing up at his house at odd hours and always unannounced. I wonder how many football players are visited often at their homes?

You must not have read his book (I can't remember which of the two), but the testers constantly were showing up at his house at odd hours and always unannounced. I wonder how many football players are visited often at their homes?

Yep, even once he related in one of his books, on their way out of the house to the airport or something like that, and they would proceed with the test no matter how much time it took even if they were going to miss their flight :eek:
(then again, when I reread this passage for the second time, I started my own conspiracy theory that he and his wife were fleing from the testers, yeah that's what happened! :D )

Yeah Lance apparently is tested up to a few times a week even in the off season, and apparently during the TDF, its not only during his stage wins...it can be as often as every day.

Remember the NFL season isn't very long either...so on top of the fact that only a half dozen of them get checked each week....That's only during the season and maybe the training camp.

Guys like Pettachi haven't been winning 20+ races per year for 6 years in a row either...so I doubt they've been tested near as much as Armstrong...

In his book he even tells of a time where the testers arrived early on Christmas morning one year.

Last year, Armstrong mentioned that during a pre-tour race in France, he was part of some random drug testing.

Then joked that in France, "random" means: anyone who's last name starts with "A".

Last year, Lance mentioned that during a pre-tour race in France, he was part of some random drug testing.

Then joked that in France, "random" means: anyone who's last name starts with "A".

I wouldn't be surprised that the testers have kept some of Lance's blood samples to retest some of those samples with the newer testing protocols, like the one that nabbed Tyler.

how much blood do they take? it couldnt be very much or they'd bleed a guy of his strength at the kind of frequency you guys mention.

any one know?

I wouldn't be surprised that the testers have kept some of Lance's blood samples to retest some of those samples with the newer testing protocols, like the one that nabbed Tyler.

Oh, they absolutely do! All of the riders have "archived" samples. But Lance probably the most because there are a lot of guys out there absolutely obsessed with "catching" Lance. They boast about how they have all these samples in storage and will someday nail him.

The NFL is a VERY poor sport to compare against. Until this week, the MOST off-season tests that could be administered on a player was two. Most guys got none. There are a lot of sports that do a lot more testing than Football. Running, swimming and lifting come immediately to mind.

THE most tested? Maybe. One of the most tested? Absolutely.

Chris

Pro sports testing in the US is an absolute joke. Just ask congress. Nuff said.

I'll reask the original question. Anything besides Lance or OLN saying something. If people will reread my post I said the NFL has some pretty strict rules for guys who have been CAUGHT and I'm pretty sure other sports do also.

Classic1 pointed out (and I agree) that other guys in cycling who ride and win a lot more races during the year are lilely tested just as much or more. In fact for someone who is sure Lance uses drugs his preparation for the Tour that is more training and less racing is evidence that he is trying to avoid testing. (I do not think that, but I do see how it could be the case).

In fact for someone who is sure Lance uses drugs his preparation for the Tour that is more training and less racing is evidence that he is trying to avoid testing. (I do not think that, but I do see how it could be the case).

How could that possibly be the case? UCI and WADA protocols allow for all athletes to be random tested at any time, including the off-season. Racing has nothing to do with it. You'd better believe that he gets tested regularly, not just when he's in the TdF, same as the other big names (Ullrich, Petacchi, Mayo...)

Those protocalls seem pretty hard to find, but one thing I could find was that the banned list is different for in and out of competition tests. That alone is surely enough for someone to argue that Lance is doing something where he wants to avoid some of the testing.

BTW I do not think he is, it is just I'm very tired of the Lance worshipers saying he is the most tested without ever citing any real numbers. I am quite convinced he is more than adequately tested and at the very worst he is using as much as his major competitors.

the thing that i don't get about people saying an athlete is tested, therefore he must be clean is... why would any athlete be stupid enough to take something they are testing for? i mean WADA and the UCI publish a list.. all an athlete needs to do is take something that is not on that list... they get a test for EPO... athletes go to homologous blood transfusions.. the get a test for homologous blood transfusions athletes go to auto-blood transfusions... or the multitude of designer drugs out there a al Balco. Tyler said his team had there own equipment for doing all the test that WADA was doing and when there was a discrepancy they went out and bought the exact same brand and model of the machine that WADA was using... so they could make sure his hematocrit was maximized... i mean being measured properly (went from .35 to .497, .5 is an automatic fail, when WADA sent him some letters saying.. he buddy what's going on here). get real, these guys aren't stupid and they have the resources to keep the testers at bay... athletes get caught it's because they have been careless end of story

athletes will always be one step ahead of the testers, but its also an odds game. What ever their motivation is for taking banned drugs that they have test for, its gamble many take. I guess its like a casino for many, cyclist, baseball players, weight lifters, runners, etc..., the payoff can be huge, but there are many downsides to it.

As for Lance, yeah he probably gets the hell tested out of him.

yeah, but the point is, if they are testing for A, B and C and if i'm smart I take D... they can test me 10 times a day 365 days a year and they are not going to find anything... hell, they can test me every hour, 365 days a year and are not going to find anything... so it's REALLY faulty logic to think that because someone is being tested more than someone else that there is a greater likely hood that they are clean... it just doesn't follow... it just doesn't make any kind of sense.

I wonder if they bother to test for that new stuff, what's it called again.......oh yes! CRACK.
http://img23.echo.cx/img23/4562/lanceflash1800ii.gif

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Guys like Pettachi haven't been winning 20+ races per year for 6 years in a row either...so I doubt they've been tested near as much as Armstrong...

Yes, but the OP raised a present tense question.