Tour de France - Ricardo Ricco fails le Tour drugs test

I learned that slang term about seven years ago, and any doubts about it's veracity were dispelled when Homer Simpson used it. :D

+1

Maybe you need to start making yourself your hero. I've gone to bed early on friday and saturday college nights to wake up at 4 am in the morning to get ready to go and race or wake up at 7 or 8 to go and ride in the winter when it's well below freezing outside. I don't ride because the pros ride, I ride because I love riding. I don't want to be as good as the pros, I want to be as good as I can be. There are enough athletes to look up to, i.e. marathon runners competing with prosthetic limbs so they can do what they love to do. If that doesn't give you motivation enough, nothing will.

Look no further. Team Hoyt. (http://www.teamhoyt.com/)

can someone post the translation of jerome pinot's (?) blog entry about ricco that was just mentioned on the eurosport stream?

http://www.velomagazine.com/

HI... just a question, these guys shared rooms right?? in the case of the other teams that got people out for doping, those guys had to share rooms whith somebody also... if those somebody elses didnt want to talk is because of something??... somehow they had to know something and they are even more guilty than the dopers (pussies). If piepoli and ricco shared rooms that means that maybe piepoli knew something and thats why he was fired and the team director has all the rights to do what he did with piepoli... If i was piepoli i would be hitting Ricco's face with a hammer from paris to rome... and thats like 15 hours by train :P

thanks.

Yes - according to cyclingnews.com

I read the article critically. It's slightly ambiguous.

can someone post the translation of jerome pinot's (?) blog entry about ricco that was just mentioned on the eurosport stream?

http://www.velomagazine.com/

Here's the [quick and rough] translation of the title and the paragraphs that mention Ricco:

I’m happy he’s spending the night in jail

[...]
For two days the race has been concerned with more than just athletics. There was the Moises Duenas case yesterday, and I was impressed at how quickly the police were deployed and the way they surrounded the hotel we were staying at during the rest day along with Barloworld in Tarbes. And then, today at noon, we found out that Ricco tested positive for third-generation EPO, the so-called “undetectable” EPO. I’ve heard about the drug for some time, and have since done some research on the web where I read up on its composition.

This delayed-reaction EPO called CERA is not as indetectable as we thought, as the Ricco affair proves. And I’m happy it was Ricco who took it; he’s arrogant and has a bad reputation. I have Italian friends who, when they used to ride with him at 15, told me he bragged about doping and even showed them how he did it. When you’re in it up to your neck, the least you can do is to have the decency not to be in everyone’s face like he is, especially when we’re in the eye of the storm here. He thought he was a star. He taunted us. I’m quite happy he’s spending the night in jail tonight.

I’m ambivalent tonight. On the one hand, I’m sad once again for what this does to cycling’s image in the eyes of the public. I’m sad for the kids who dreamed about Ricco and what he did in the Pyrenees on TV. On the other hand, I’m pretty statisfied with the antidoping efforts, which are routing out the cheaters, and those who make us look bad – unfairly – when they attack.

In my opinion, the fact that Saunier Duval ran off in such a cowardly way is a concerted admission of doping. In cases like these, it’s important to have an immediate reaction. Either the team stays in the race and expresses it’s dismay over the events, with the image of Barloword, which for me, was an isolated case. Or, the team tries to evade questions and chooses to run away like a scolded child.

Piepoli wasn't fired for "doping". Reading comprehension 101:

Piepoli, the winner of stage 10 (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/tour08/?id=results/tour0810) to Hautacam, is not reported to have failed a drugs test, but the team decided to fire him after conducting an internal investigation.

In other words, he probably knew about Ricco.

If they shared rooms for sure piepoli knew...

Piepoli wasn't fired for "doping". Reading comprehension 101:



In other words, he probably knew about Ricco.


Or the team had other evidence of doping besides a positive test. It's one possibility.

I'm curious - was S-D riding the Scott "Addict"?

Actually Ricco did use a Scott Addict.

http://cyclingnews.com/road/2008/tour08/tech/probike.php?id=/tech/2008/probikes/riccardo_ricco_scott_addict_tour08

So he got popped using a previously unknown test, developed and performed by a lab with a history of sloppy work, that has not been published or independently verified? Do I think he was doping? Yes. Do I think there needs to be major changes in how these programs are run? Yes.

So he got popped using a previously unknown test, developed and performed by a lab with a history of sloppy work, that has not been published or independently verified? Do I think he was doping? Yes. Do I think there needs to be major changes in how these programs are run? Yes.
He got popped with a test WADA developed in secret, in tandem with the drug manufacturer (Roche). The dopers believed that the structure of CERA would make it even harder to detect than EPO; turns out they were wrong. WADA didn't announce the test because they wanted, for a change, to stay one step ahead of the cheats.

The cops found syringes, catheters and medical bags in his hotel room. Duenas, nailed by the same lab, was described as having a "pharmacy" in his room. Do you need any of that stuff for your Saturday club ride or Cat 4 races? ;)

So, guess what? There is a major change; it's the cops seizing relevant and corroborating evidence as soon as there is an adverse finding. Works for me.

Yeah, they really seem to be getting more organized. If nothing else, bringing the turn-around time on tests down to about a week goes a long way toward preventing another Landis situation where a cheat makes it all the way to Paris and the prize check. However this Ricco goon's positive sample would have been in hand while he won 2 stages. So there is still room for improvement.

For those more in the know on testing, what is the fastest a sample could be processed?

He got popped with a test WADA developed in secret, in tandem with the drug manufacturer (Roche). The dopers believed that the structure of CERA would make it even harder to detect than EPO; turns out they were wrong. WADA didn't announce the test because they wanted, for a change, to stay one step ahead of the cheats.

The cops found syringes, catheters and medical bags in his hotel room. Duenas, nailed by the same lab, was described as having a "pharmacy" in his room. Do you need any of that stuff for your Saturday club ride or Cat 4 races? ;)

So, guess what? There is a major change; it's the cops seizing relevant and corroborating evidence as soon as there is an adverse finding. Works for me.

I do like the cops involved, but the tests need to be independently verified and the methods published. If they aren't rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny, they shouldn't be used. Period. Cat's out of the bag now - we know there is a test for CERA. Currently, the test could be two guys playing rock paper scissors.

The cops found syringes, catheters and medical bags in his hotel room. Duenas, nailed by the same lab, was described as having a "pharmacy" in his room. Do you need any of that stuff for your Saturday club ride or Cat 4 races? ;)

Missed this -

Only if I want to not suck, man, only then.

I do like the cops involved, but the tests need to be independently verified and the methods published. If they aren't rigorous enough to withstand scrutiny, they shouldn't be used. Period. Cat's out of the bag now - we know there is a test for CERA. Currently, the test could be two guys playing rock paper scissors.

Given LNDDs history, that might not be too far off.

I read the article critically. It's slightly ambiguous.
Not sure I see it that way but now it makes no difference as he "reportedly" confessed to his team DS that he had used EPO, "I have done the same as Riccardo."

You missed one ;)

I guess this video is still up to date (and funnier if you understand French)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaZLlrwvzPQThat is effin funny

You missed one ;)

I guess this video is still up to date (and funnier if you understand French)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaZLlrwvzPQ


That's a keeper...lol :roflmao2:

Not sure I see it that way but now it makes no difference as he "reportedly" confessed to his team DS that he had used EPO, "I have done the same as Riccardo."

It's refreshing to hear some truth in this doping environment. However, perhaps he'll pull a Tom Boonen, and confess one week, and then proclaim that he was set-up the next? :lol:

... Brad

It's refreshing to hear some truth in this doping environment. However, perhaps he'll pull a Tom Boonen, and confess one week, and then proclaim that he was set-up the next? :lol:

... Brad

If the report is accurate, at 38, his days in the Pro peloton are over.

Don't think this has been posted yet - apparently he tried to bail on one of the tests -

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2008/news/story?id=3499871

(from ESPN, I know...weird.)

Don't think this has been posted yet - apparently he tried to bail on one of the tests -

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2008/news/story?id=3499871

(from ESPN, I know...weird.)

First I've seen it ...... too funny! :roflmao2:

Ricco ....... you're such a jerk ...... you will not be missed.

... Brad

Don't think this has been posted yet - apparently he tried to bail on one of the tests -

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2008/news/story?id=3499871

(from ESPN, I know...weird.)

very funny.

--

Reuters reported this morning that Saunier Duval's Riccardo Ricco tried to avoid doping testers. According to French Anti-Doping Agency, Ricco tested positive for EPO after the stage 4 - despite trying to make a run for it. "When he saw that he was to be tested, he escaped," AFLD President Pierre Bordry told reporters before the 16th stage. "But he was caught by the stewards between two cars. We then told him that as he had tried to avoid the test, he would be tested every day." Ricco was thrown out of the race by ASO, and then fired from his team.

--

later.

When was the last time pro cycling saw a punk as despicable as Ricco?

I think in his short career he got pretty far up there on the all-time list.

Riccardo Riccò was caught by a special molecule placed in the banned substance he is said to have taken, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio today. John Fahey said that Roche Pharmaceuticals had placed a special molecule in the product CERA when it developed the drug, which would help the anti-doping authorities to detect its illegal use.

"I can't tell you the details of how he was detected," Fahey said. "I can indicate the particular substance is called CERA … which is a perfectly legitimate substance to deal with anaemia. In the development of that substance close cooperation occurred between WADA and the pharmaceutical company Roche Pharmaceuticals so that there was a molecule placed in the substance well in advance that was always going to be able to be detected once a test was undertaken."

Fahey noted that there was increased cooperation between sports authorities and drug manufacturers. "There's more and more of this occurring," he said. "The more cooperation the scientists can have with the drug companies in the detection of performance-enhancing drugs the greater the likelihood is they will be detected when tests are undertaken."

Riccò tested positive for EPO after winning two stages in the Tour. He was expelled from the Tour and fired by Team Saunier Duval-Scott.


That's pretty cool. Kudos to Roche.

Saunier Duval is pulling the plug....thanks Ricco you asshat.