Postal Riders - dopers?!

[acrafton]

I was just noticing how the three highest profile drug cases where a rider has failed a test (as opposed to operation puerto) involves three former Postal riders and after a huge win:

1. Tyler Hamilton - blood doping at the olympic win (due to a botched B he kept his medal but he failed a test there and at the vuelta.
2. Roberto Heras - failing a test at the end of the vuelta which he won.
3. Floyd Landis - failing a test at the end of the TDF which he won.

This makes me wonder -

1. Were they doping on Postal but the docs/protocols there where so good they (nor any of the their team while on postal was caught). Once they left they got sloppy.
2. Nobody on Postal/disco dopes and once they left Postal they needed an extra edge so they started doping.
3. Neither Tyler nor Floyd doped until they went to Phonak where it was how the team operated.

[same time]

A less spectacular example is Benoit Joachim's positive test for Nandroloaslkfjsad;lkddenedine while he was on US Postal, I think it was in '99 at the Luxembourg national championship race.

We'll just never know how deep these scandals go. Organized by the team, or a single rider acting on his own? Even if everybody from the team came forward and told their story, would their stories agree, and would we believe them?

[Pb_Okole]

I was just noticing how the three highest profile drug cases where a rider has failed a test (as opposed to operation puerto) involves three former Postal riders and after a huge win:

1. Tyler Hamilton - blood doping at the olympic win (due to a botched B he kept his medal but he failed a test there and at the vuelta.
2. Roberto Heras - failing a test at the end of the vuelta which he won.
3. Floyd Landis - failing a test at the end of the TDF which he won.

This makes me wonder -

1. Were they doping on Postal but the docs/protocols there where so good they (nor any of the their team while on postal was caught). Once they left they got sloppy.
2. Nobody on Postal/disco dopes and once they left Postal they needed an extra edge so they started doping.
3. Neither Tyler nor Floyd doped until they went to Phonak where it was how the team operated.


Two of the three you mentioned were riding for Phonak when they were caught. They aren't the only Phonak riders that have had doping problems. I can name at least two others from that team that have had run ins with WADA. Rather than casting doubt on Postal/Discovery, why aren't you asking about the possibility of institutionalized doping on the Phonak squad? Are you just wanting to start yet another Postal/Discovery bashing thread? If that's your intent, then ignore my reply and carry on.

Pb

[acrafton]

Two of the three you mentioned were riding for Phonak when they were caught. They aren't the only Phonak riders that have had doping problems. I can name at least two others from that team that have had run ins with WADA. Rather than casting doubt on Postal/Discovery, why aren't you asking about the possibility of institutionalized doping on the Phonak squad? Are you just wanting to start yet another Postal/Discovery bashing thread? If that's your intent, then ignore my reply and carry on.

Pb
I wan't clear in my post - my intent was specifically NOT to bash Postal/Disco but to point out a very interesting trend among ex-Postal riders for discussion. If anything I think the case can be made that Postal/Disco are clean and when riders leave for teams with less scruples they get into doping and eventually get caught. Even though I listed as an option for discussion that Postal/Disco could be doping but are so good they don't get caught, I don't really believe that there is/was ever a team-wide doping program at Postal.

[rgerve]

would be easier to list names of pro teams that do not dope.

[CyLowe97]

Boonen, Zabriskie, and Leipheimer have not come up positive to my knowledge since leaving Postal....

The Heras, Hamilton, Landis connection to USPS is anecdotal when looking at their individual cases. For Hamilton, maybe you could blame it on his two years with CSC? Just sayin'.....