Road Bike Racing - Time for some retro-doping.

2008 Giro KOM Emanuele Sella is quite finished (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/aug08/aug06news).

You know there are quite a few pro riders sh!tt!ng in their bibs right now just waiting for the phone to ring with some bad news for them...

You know there are quite a few pro riders sh!tt!ng in their bibs right now just waiting for the phone to ring with some bad news for them...

You bet. There is no way that only two or three riders were on this stuff. When you hear words from Ricco with 'I was told there was no way I'd get caught' - there will be many caught up in this.

I've been waiting for this bit of news to come out.

You bet. There is no way that only two or three riders were on this stuff. When you hear words from Ricco with 'I was told there was no way I'd get caught' - there will be many caught up in this.

Yup.

... Brad

Sella was very impressive in the mountains. Just can't be surprised anymore.

Hello... Can I speak to Alberto please?

Retro doping? Back in the day a spoonful of medicine made the sugar go down.

http://www.speedballing.com/cokespoon.jpg

What's funny is that Ricco reportedly has a UCI certificate attesting to a natural hematocrit of 51%. If your natural is that high why bother? The fake exemption just gave him a license to cheat.

I like it. The dope police act like they have no way to test for Micera, riders use it without a second thought, then all of a sudden "hey, we have a test for that, after all".

Cyclists < Rocket Scientists

So was the positive sample taken at the Giro or on the 23rd? Bit confused.

Article says he failed an out-of-competition test, which doesn't indicate anything about his status during the Giro.

I think this is great. When riders come out of nowhere and "become great" (use words of choice - "matures", "develops", etc) it's not right. And it helps that there is something out there that meets the following criteria:
- it helps
- racers thought it was undetectable
- it's detectable
- it stays in your body a long, long time

A properly genetically gifted cyclist dominates from the beginning. They're the ones that aren't allowed to race Senior Worlds because they're too young, stuff like that. The ones that suddenly "become" good are sort of suspect.

This would sort of like if I went out and won a hilly road race. If that ever happened then I should be tested to the limits because something isn't right.

cdr

wanna take bets on who gets the next phone call?

I'll go with Schumacher

I'd test every rider that pulled out of the Olympics. If they talked it up before and now they're pulling out, it's a huge red flag.

Schumacher didn't win TTs his whole life. So +1 on him.

cdr

wanna take bets on who gets the next phone call?

I'll go with Schumacher

Already rumored to have happened. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=450374)

I'd test every rider that pulled out of the Olympics. If they talked it up before and now they're pulling out, it's a huge red flag.
cdr

Not Thor (http://http://www.velonews.com/article/81121/thor-hushovd-pulls-out-of-olympics)!! Say it ain't so. But it does seem a little shady to site health problems 5 days after having completed the TdF with a stage win.

What's funny is that Ricco reportedly has a UCI certificate attesting to a natural hematocrit of 51%. If your natural is that high why bother? The fake exemption just gave him a license to cheat.

I have two questions about the current doping issues in cycling...

1) Are the riders still able to temporarily lower their hematocrit before taking a test? (years ago it was simple for them to use a water IV to get under 50%)

2) Is it still easy and undetectable to do blood doping (auto-logos or whatever, using their own blood)?

If (1) is "yes", then Ricco could have been doping it up past 55%, and putting it back under 51% when he had to take a test. Plus hematocrit apparently naturally declines over the course of a 3 week grand tour, which some say makes blood doping/EPO so useful for grand tours in comparison to single day races.

I have two questions about the current doping issues in cycling...

1) Are the riders still able to temporarily lower their hematocrit before taking a test? (years ago it was simple for them to use a water IV to get under 50%)

They're now testing for the actual drug, not just hematocrit, so that's less effective as a cheating method.



2) Is it still easy and undetectable to do blood doping (auto-logos or whatever, using their own blood)?

If (1) is "yes", then Ricco could have been doping it up past 55%, and putting it back under 51% when he had to take a test. Plus hematocrit apparently naturally declines over the course of a 3 week grand tour, which some say makes blood doping/EPO so useful for grand tours in comparison to single day races.
I'd bet Ricco is naturally 40'ish just like everyone else. The false exemption lets him dope up to 51% without sweating anything but now that they can test for the actual drug he's toast.

I believe Cunego claims to be 53% naturally so look for him to suddenly start under performing in the coming weeks.

They're now testing for the actual drug, not just hematocrit, so that's less effective as a cheating method.


I'd bet Ricco is naturally 40'ish just like everyone else. The false exemption lets him dope up to 51% without sweating anything but now that they can test for the actual drug he's toast.

I believe Cunego claims to be 53% naturally so look for him to suddenly start under performing in the coming weeks.

Did you watch him in the TdF? He is already there. And now he pulled out of the Olympics.

I like it. The dope police act like they have no way to test for Micera, riders use it without a second thought, then all of a sudden "hey, we have a test for that, after all".

Cyclists < Rocket Scientists

Actually this is quite sneaky of WADA (or whomever). Previously when they developed a test it was advertised heavily, probably to entice the riders to stop using it. Now they appear to be actually being proactive.

I still think the reason for the "passport" is for DNA/gene testing which will be the next frontier of doping.

More suck.

Sella's so full of sheit, weeping and going on about his wedding and all that phony "joy" on the podium.

What bullsheit.

Wack him on the knees.

Clown.

You bet. There is no way that only two or three riders were on this stuff. When you hear words from Ricco with 'I was told there was no way I'd get caught' - there will be many caught up in this.

Yeah he was candid enough to reveal that he'd been tested 9 or 10 times before they caught him. Makes you wonder...

There was a test for the Mircera Ricco took.

http://www.steroidreport.com/2008/07/18/riccardo-ricco-and-mircera-pegylated-epo/

“In the case of Mircera (CERA ) thanks to the cooperation of the manufacturer of this substance (Roche) and of WADA-accredited laboratories, WADA received the molecule well in advance and was able to develop ways to detect it,” he said. “This case shows the significant work that WADA conducts in anticipating doping trends, including by closely cooperating with pharmaceutical companies at very early stages of the development of molecules or substances for therapeutic purposes to develop detection methods for anti-doping purposes.”