Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton Barroom Brawl?

Just when you thought nothing else could happen in the perpetual Lance Armstrong versus the world federal doping investigation; a strange encounter ensued at a popular Aspen restaurant, which Lance Armstrong frequents: Tyler Hamilton entered with a complete legal team and supporters to dine at the establishment, and alas a confrontation erupted between the two former US Postal teammates who unfortunately happened to be in the bar at the same time, a verbal confrontation, which Tyler Hamilton claims contained threats to his reputation as a potential prosecution witness. Lance Armstrong was reported to have said, "We will rip out your lungs on the witness stand and make your life a living hell," according to Chris Manderson, Tyler Hamilton's lawyer. Manderson accuses Lance Armstrong of witness tampering and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) thinks the encounter serious enough to do an investigation into the matter. Problem is that the witnesses to the Armstrong/Hamilton discussion have no recall of what the conversation was because no one could hear them talking, there may have been some choice words spoken, but certainly not fisticuffs, the body language postures between the combatants suggested nothing of the sort. And so on. Another in a long series of he said/she said unverifiable accusations that seem central to the Lance Armstrong doping investigation, and after hours of grand jury testimony, still no indictment.

Yes, the wheels of justice move slowly, ask Alberto Contador. Declared innocent by the Spanish Sport Federation as a victim of clenbuterol meat contamination innocently introduced into the Alberto Contador diet by an unsuspecting friend who provided beef stakes from Spain. During a Tour de France rest day team meal, no less. You can't get more imaginative than that for an excuse. A work of art! Soon to be emulated by other athletes. Horrible. Anyway, the nutcase WADA and UCI faction that is supposed to be ensuring "fair play" appealed the whole contaminated meat charade to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) who promised a speedy resolution to the case, at least before the beginning of the 2011 Tour de France. Christiane Prudhomme, the Amaury Sport Organisation guru, is befuddled by this development and is in a quandary. The 2011 Giro d' Italia winner, Alberto Contador, is a man who is accused of doping, lying, and cheating in the 2010 Tour de France and has a pending doping case before the CAS. Alberto Contador could be suspended from the day of the offense if found guilty and forced to forfeit all of his prizes from that day forward. Yes, indeed, Alberto Contador could be the first man in history to forfeit two Tour de France titles and one Giro d' Italia title on the same day: an eternal monument to scoundrels world wide. Christiane Prudhomme could circumvent this possible disaster by refusing to invite the Saxo Bank Cycling Team as Tour de France participants because the Tour de France is a privately owned entity and teams are allowed to enter the race by invitation only.

Racejunkie made me laugh with her Ben Hur allusion to bladed wheels in a race, not bladed spokes. The epic Ben Hur criterium, four horse power chariots, with beautifully matched horses, and a bum dressed in purple who has an uncanny resemblance to Pat McQuaid. The chariot race can be seen here and is good for a laugh. The moral is quite clear, cheaters never win: even with bladed wheels, bullwhips, and doped horses. The tactics used in the chariot race are deplorable but so adaptable to modern bicycle racing, criteriums, classics, and grand tours. And unlike the movie, cheaters do often win, often frequently, and they never get caught! And Pat McQuaid is still dressed in purple.

The Lance Armstrong Doping Investigation Heats Up

The Lance Armstrong doping investigation is heating up with a new round of accusations by Tyler Hamilton on 60 Minutes. Most of the Tyler Hamilton allegations against Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, and the United States Postal Professional Cycling team cannot be directly confirmed, except for the claim that Lance Armstrong tested positive for recombinant erythropoietin (r-EPO) during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland. It has been reported on Fox News Radio that an investigation is currently underway in Switzerland to either confirm or deny the Tyler Hamilton allegations of a positive rEPO test for Lance Armstrong. If a positive test for rEPO exists, the Tyler Hamilton assertion that Lance Armstrong paid the International Cycling Union $100,000 for a drug testing machine and an additional donation of $25,000 to the UCI slush fund to suppress the positive rEPO test may have some relevance. Currently Pat McQuaid and the UCI deny any such cover-up deal with Lance Armstrong.

One aspect of the Tyler Hamilton interview that seems concerning is his denial of doping during the Olympic games, where Hamilton won the Olympic time trial gold medal, when the Olympic testing laboratory found markers in his blood indicating a double cell population, common with blood transfusions. This is very ingenious because there exist documents written by WADA warning Tyler Hamilton of blood irregularities long before the Olympic positive test. Tyler Hamilton was allowed to keep his Olympic gold medal because the Olympic laboratory froze his confirmation sample by mistake rendering the blood useless for testing purposes. The fact that Tyler Hamilton kept the medal, instituted a campaign to deny his doping, and even at the present time, denies any doping during the Olympic games, renders his testimony very self serving and very questionable.

Marion Jones, non analytical positives, and USADA

USA Today writer Christine Brennan wrote an article that quoted an interesting e-mail reply from Travis T. Tygart.

The fear of testing positive serves as a strong deterrent for many athletes who might otherwise make the decision to defraud sport by doping. That being said, we know that some well-resourced, sophisticated dopers with the infrastructure in place can evade a positive test. Fortunately for clean athletes, authorities also have the ability to sanction athletes using dangerous performance enhancing drugs based on reliable evidence other than a positive test.

Christine Brennan says: "That's the way the U.S. Government finally caught Jones, and it might be the way it gets Armstrong, if he's indicted."

Clearly Travis T. Tygart is correct in suggesting that teammate testimony may lead to an non-analytical positive and a suspension if there is proof of the allegations. But Ms. Brennan's conclusion is certainly incorrect, a non-analytical positive did not catch Marion Jones. Advances in doping detection and some good luck caught Marion Jones.

1) Athletes testified to the fact that they saw Marion Jones using the "clear," a newly formulated, previously unknown, and unlisted designer steroid.
2) Anti-doping laboratories chemically typed and developed a test to detect the "clear" (GC/MS) after a track coach provided a sample of the previously unknown steroid.
3) Olympic laboratories and international laboratories had stored Marion Jones urine samples "on ice" and her career urine samples were available for re-testing for the "clear."
4) The anti-doping jackals were closing in.
5) Knowing that she was caught, Marion Jones confessed to using the "clear," surrendered her Olympic medals, and admitted that she lied under oath about never using performance enhancing drugs.

Lance Armstrong, sans a possible positive test for r-EPO during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland, has never tested positive for any performance enhancing drug even though a test for r-EPO was available, and even though Lance Armstrong was extensively tested for performance enhancing drugs from 1999-2005. Thus it is very unlikely that a unknown designer steroid magic bullet exists with Lance Armstrong, a "smoking gun" that could be identified with re-testing of his urine samples. However, Lance Armstrong does have an unusual case history that seems suggestive of possible performance enhancing drug use.

1) Teammates accuse Lance Armstrong of using r-EPO and other performance enhancing substances. (1999-2005)
2) A test for r-EPO existed in 2000 to present.
3) Tyler Hamilton claims that Lance Armstrong and USPS used r-EPO during the 1999 Tour de France.
4) In 2004 French WADA accredited laboratory LNDD (Chateny-Malabry) claims to have detected r-EPO in Lance Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France urine samples.
5) Emile Vrijman hired by the UCI to investigate the 2004 LNDD "scientific" re-testing of the 1999 Tour de France urine samples declares that the testing "constitutes nothing" and recommended that the UCI take "no action," because their was a lack of security, no clear chain of custody in regards to the urine samples tested, and other problems that invited sample tampering. Other problems emerged concerning the 1999 urine sample re-tests. All four of the prologue samples tested resulted in 100% isoforms of r-EPO. Christiane Ayotte called such results "surprising" and "improbable." Ayotte explains that r-EPO is a biological agent and is therefore prone to degrade over time even when stored at -40 Celsius. The 100% prologue isoforms imply that the r-EPO was in pristine condition, almost like it was added to the samples the day before! There were other problems, the aliquots were labelled with the dates when the samples were taken and possibly the athlete doping control form numbers. Mario Zorzoli the UCI medical expert provided L'Equipe reporter Damien Ressiot with all of the Lance Armstrong doping control numbers form the 1999 Tour de France. Consequently, it is logical to conclude that Ressiot and some LNDD miscreant put two and two together and knew which samples belonged to whom and engaged in sabotage. Interestingly, L'Equipe knew the results of the Lance Armstrong 1999 Tour de France tests before WADA or the UCI. The UCI requested no rider suspensions result from the alleged r-EPO "positive tests."
6) A controversy erupts over a cortisol (cortisone) topical cream Armstrong used for saddle sores during a Tour de France. There is some argument over whether Armstrong filed a valid medical therapeutic use exemption for cortisol.
7) France accused USPS Professional Cycling Team of using actovegin after a French television station recovered some USPS medical waste from a dumpster. Actovegin used with localised platelets at the sight of injury is supposed to speed recovery. However, actovegin may have no medical efficacy other than a placebo effect. Actovegin is currently a banned substance and it cannot be imported into the United States. After a two year investigation the French government decided that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Armstrong and USPS were engaged in doping practice.
8) During the Motorola period (pre-cancer) Armstrong is accused to testing above the testosterone 6:1 legal limit.
9) Betsy Andreu claims that Armstrong admitted to using e-EPO and other performance enhancing drugs during the Motorola period (pre-cancer)in a medical interview with Indiana University Medical Center doctors. Frankie Andreu claims to have heard the Armstrong admission. No medical records of such an admission exist. Frankie Andreu also claims that USPS used performance enhancing drugs.
10) Lance Armstrong had a business relationship with "Doctor Blood" Michele Ferrari.
11) Michele Ferrari was convicted of providing r-EPO and doctored blood products to athletes by an Italian court.
12) During a Tour de France an enraged Lance Armstrong chased down and threatened Filippo Simeoni after Simeoni accused Lance Armstrong and Michele Ferrari of having an improper relationship.
13) Greg LeMond accused Armstrong of making threats during a cell phone conversation that LeMond received at an airport. Kathy LeMond supposedly transcribed the conversation. LeMond claims Armstrong stated that he could provide a hundred witnesses who would claim that LeMond used r-EPO.
14) Floyd Landis claims that the USPS team used r-EPO. Landis claims that the USPS team would stop along a Tour de France course and receive midnight team blood transfusions at rest stops on the team bus.
15) In 2009 a AFLD chaperon showed up at the Astana team facility to gather out of competition hair, blood, and urine samples. There seemed to be some dispute over the credentials of the AFLD chaperon, so while Johan Bruyneel called Pierre Bordry for confirmation, Lance Armstrong left the presence of the chaperon to take a shower, which is a direct violation of WADA code and should be construed as a punishable violation. Many critics complained that Lance Armstrong was doing more than showering, like employing strategies to defeat detection.
16) Ed Coyle, a University of Texas physiologist concluded that several factors accounted for the tremendous improvement in Lance Armstrong's athletic performance post cancer, post Motorola, and post Cofidis. Improved pedal efficiency, performance increase per kilogram of weight loss and low lactic acid production. rEPO use would also account for about a 15% increase in performance if Lance Armstrong had not used r-EPO pre-cancer. Micheal Ashenden and other excercise physiologists assert that Lance Armstrong is not a unique cyclist, his physiological parameters are a wee bit above normal, but not exceptional. The post cancer weight loss has been questioned and discounted, so how do you account for such an exceptional increase in performance post cancer if Lance Armstrong was using r-EPO pre-cancer? An abnormal hatred of Cofidis?

And yet... there is more, probably so much more... and yet...there is nothing but smoke and mirrors. The anti-doping agencies did not suddenly discover a new BALCO designer steroid magic bullet with an unknown chemical signature, or an exogenous designer steroid that did not appear on the WADA prohibited list. Consequently, the non-analytical positive sanction that USADA and the Federal Government is planning on, without an admission by Lance Armstrong of engaging in past doping, is unlikely to happen ever. So you might agree with some of the critics who proclaim that this investigation is a colossal waste of tax payer dollars that could be spent more productively on anti-doping research to catch the next batch of the "clear."

Giro d' Italia Fables and Other Fables

There has been a virtual cavalcade of bad news for Lance Armstrong lately. His trusty lieutenants from his incredible seven year Tour de France reign have turned and are now accusing Armstrong of using and encouraging the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Some of the former teammates of Lance Armstrong have mental and long term substance abuse issues. Floyd Landis confessed to use and abuse of performance enhancing drugs throughout his career. During the 2006 Tour de France, Floyd Landis tested positive for metabolites of synthetic testosterone. But, instead of an admission of testosterone use, Floyd Landis mounted a vicious innocence campaign, accusing the WADA accredited laboratory LNDD with sloppy laboratory practice. Landis had a good grounds for his attack because examination of the evidence suggested an incredibly appalling laissez faire approach to laboratory testing, poor work, errors, mistakes. In reality, WADA and their laboratories had never been challenged openly in a public arbitration hearing where their mistakes were openly exposed by the defendant, [Landis posted his Lab Document Package online]. Every numerical item of the Floyd Landis Lab Document Package was debated by experts in gas chromatography substance identification, numerous errors and omissions were detected. The problems were so severe in analyses of the Floyd Landis data that a clear question emerged, is Floyd Landis innocent? No. The single metabolite above threshold was the correct finding; synthetic testosterone was present. Over two years and millions of dollars were wasted; people were duped into contributing money to the Floyd Fairness Fund convinced of his innocence, money which Floyd Landis has never re-paid. Defenders of his honor were exposed as dupes. Floyd Landis can not be trusted, now, in the future or ever. His testimony should be regarded in all cases with a severe degree of skepticism, if not as outright fabrications or embellishments of the truth and discarded as nonsense. The man has no honesty and he is a master manipulator. Beware of this clown.

Tyler Hamilton is another case of mental illness, substance abuse, cheating, lying, and should never be believed, ever. The Tyler Hamilton Foundation "Believe Tyler" campaign of innocence, created after Tyler Hamilton tested positive for a double red cell blood population during the Tour of Spain, was a masterful show of manipulation, featuring beautiful women groupies wearing "Believe Tyler" tee-shirts shouting out "Believe Tyler!" to any dupe within hearing range. Tyler Hamilton was guilty as sin of blood doping, he was correctly detected, he lied then, denied, denied, denied, refused to surrender his Olympic gold medal, lived a lie, then dropped an atomic bomb on the world with accusations against his former patron and teammate Lance Armstrong in a 60 minute interview.

Egad! Where do these people come from and is cycling forever to be plagued by a group of mentally incapacitated people? Believe me, a good lawyer is going to have a field day with these people, their reputations as outstanding members of the community are forever tarnished by endless doping, cheating, lying, why should anyone believe their fables of wrongdoing by other people other than themselves?

If you believe Alberto Contador and his fabrications of tainted meat caused his "analytical positive" for an anabolic steroid; clenbuterol, then you are another in an endless list of dupes ready for the slaughter. Are cycling fans dupes? You would think that Diogenes could find an honest cyclist in the peloton before he could find an unobstructed bicycle lane, but alas no. If I were running the Giro d' Italia, I would have stopped every vehicle crossing the Italian frontier and demanded an inspection of the meat.

"And what, signor, do you intend to do with these steaks? To the dining table of Alberto Contador, the cyclist? What country of origin, Spain? Arrest this man! To the laboratory this meat immediately!

Damn straight. No cover-ups with fantastic fables in my Giro d' Italia!

Tyler Hamilton: Bold Accusations

Tyler Hamilton has created another seismic shockwave by accusing seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong of using and facilitating the use of recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) during the 1999 Tour de France when Hamilton and Armstrong were teammates at the United States Postal Service Professional Cycling Team. Tyler Hamilton has a long history of doping and mental illness, commented upon by this author two years ago when Hamilton was banned for eight years while United States road champion for taking a holistic substance to battle ongoing bouts of manic/depression.

"Rise and Fall of Tyler Hamilton" created some adverse comments from people who mistakenly thought that the article was an attack on people suffering from the debilitating medical and behavioral effects of manic/depression. Not true. Mania and retarded depressive disorders cause long term adverse effects that can cause disastrous long term results, not only to the people suffering from the disorder but to families, friends, acquaintances. Manic episodes have long been argued to be independent of voluntary cognitive control in some cases; "word salads" incoherent sentences of incoherent rambling thoughts totally unrelated in context to one another. Before the discovery of psychoactive drugs (lithium salts) that lowers the resting potential of the neuron from an hyper-excited level to a normal range (~-70mv) some manic patients were warehoused in the back wards of mental hospitals for years, lost causes, never to be restored to a level of behavior that would be considered normal in society.

Drug interventions stopped superstitious reasoning of mental illness that predominated during the "dark ages." Early superstitious "causes" of mania and schizophrenia were attributed to demonic possessions and required exorcisms, among other idiotic cures. However, with the accidental discovery that lithium salts caused rats to behave more tranquilly, and that this discovery might have application with human beings, did it become obvious to psychiatrists that manic episodes were a medical condition. Lithium salts do allow chronic manics to function quite well in society, absent the word salad cognition, and uncontrolled impulsive destructive behaviors. As long as they take their medication as prescribed.

As everyone knows psychoactive drugs cause side-effects and have different medical efficacy depending upon the patient, the medical condition, duration, severity. There has never been or ever will be a snake oil that will cure everything. If one drug does not help, talk to your doctor, he or she will try something else, there is no need for self experimentation with holistic drugs or herbs. In fact self-experimentation with herbs may lead to toxic results because in some drugs the therapeutic dose and toxic dose are almost identical. Blood levels of lithium salts must be monitored at all times to prevent toxicity because lithium is stored in blood platelets and can reach a toxic level even though a doctor prescribes a therapeutic dose. Thus the problem.

Therefore, Tyler Hamilton has no excuse for experimenting with a drug that had no proven medical efficacy and that also contained an ingredient that is on the WADA prohibited substance list, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone.) Tyler Hamilton admitted that he knew that the herbal remedy contained DHEA and that this substance was banned. Tyler Hamilton, was not so incapacitated at the time that he needed immediate relief from a manic state that would have resulted in behavior considered "harmful to himself or others." Suicidal ideation or behavior reported as harmful to others usually requires hospitalization of the patient, even if only for a brief period. But maybe Tyler Hamilton wanted to self destruct, his marriage was falling apart, maybe he wanted people to feel sorry for him, maybe he was feeling sorry for himself, maybe he wanted to be banned?

So what is with the new Sixty Minutes Tyler Hamilton accusations of Lance Armstrong? More self-laceration? Does Tyler Hamilton crave attention, is he envious of Lance Armstrong's seven year reign, is he another idiot like Floyd Landis? Is Tyler Hamilton seeking a large, lucrative advance on a potential book? What is his motive? And does Tyler Hamilton have any proof?

So, no, we cannot simply leave Tyler Hamilton alone. So sorry.

At the Pioneer Park Downtown Criterium

Out for a ride I ran into a couple of Ski Utah women riders at a rail road crossing, who were waiting for the train to cross. I did not speak to them at the time, not wanting to be considered an intrusive, rude bore, and because I thought they were merely out for a training ride. Little did I know that there was a crit in process at Pioneer Park. Imagine my surprise when I glanced down the street to check traffic at an intersection and saw a pack of riders flash past. Whoa, a crit! I must check this out immediately!

A group of category 5 men riders were half way through their race, the wind was blowing from the West at about ten miles an hour. The view of the race is unique for a crit because the park is very flat and there are very few obstructions to block the view. Into the wind the pack tended to spread out somewhat, but by the time the pack reached the start/finish line with a tailwind they were gruppo compacto in the classic arrowhead formation. All of the weak attacks off the front, and they were rare, were promptly reeled in by the peloton. The race ended in a classic every man for himself mad sprint to the line.

Good show. Next race, much to my surprise, was the women category 1/2/3 race, and the Ski Utah women that I saw at the railroad crossing were participating in the race! [The results are found here.] At the start the women rode gruppo compacto until a green lap. A green lap offers a premium to the riders, usually in the form of money, for the first rider to sprint across the start/finish line. In this race when the women sprinted for the line a gap opened up in the pack like magic, and in spite of my better judgement, I started shouting, "Well done! You have a gap! Go! Four of the ladies went, much to my immense satisfaction. When they completed one lap and went past again I could not resist shouting, "Work together! Form an echelon! Take a pull and rotate! When they came around again I saw the ladies riding a perfect pace line, three riders in the fast lane and one in the slow lane, pull and rotate, much to my immense satisfaction. The gap began to widen with every lap. Perfect. They will never be caught.

In fairness, I tried to convey to the chase group the same strategy as the escapees. Work together in a pace line and you will catch them. Because the chase group contained more riders than the escapees, it is only logical to assume that the work load and energy expenditure among the chase group would have been much smaller than with the escapees. Even the weaker riders among the chase group could have skipped a pull and rested because of the superior number of riders. But, if riders of the escape group would have skipped pulls, even if it was only one rider of the group, it is safe to assume that they would have been caught. And the momentum of the chase pack of riders would have had a superior push/pull effect, the front riders are pushed and the rear riders are pulled by sheer force.

Well, I thought the outcome of the race be clear, until a second green lap, when the announcer offered a fifty dollar premium to the chase group of riders only. Near the start/finish line the ladies went into an all out sprint with determined effort and bang the gap diminished to the point where I thought the escapees would be caught outright! But, after the premium sprint, for the rest of the race, lap after lap, the same lady pulled the chase group and the other riders followed in her wake, they either could not or would not work, while the escape group continued to work together and ride a perfect pace line. The escape group was never caught and finished the race and their names should be written in gold, one, [151] Laura Howat (Ski Utah) two, [153] Kristen Kotval (Primal Utah) three, [157] Chantel Thackery Olsen (Primal Utah) four, [155] Laura Patten (Ski Utah Market Star). Only one problem ladies, when you have two team members in a four person escape group you should win the stage with ease with a lead out and a sprint. Protect your teammate until the last minute, shield her from the wind, she should stick on your wheel like glue, while your opponents are playing cat and mouse games with each other and with you, while eating wind! With a sudden burst of acceleration the victory should be a forgone conclusion! You have to decide among yourselves who is strongest, and make a sacrifice for the team.

Yes, I was very happy watching the ladies on the day before Mothers Day. I was in my element surrounded by cyclists and racing. The women probably wondered who was that deranged clown, gesticulating and shouting near the start/finish line. Even so, it was a great day with lovely weather, blue skies with wispy cirrus clouds, and there were great races with A+ performances.

Wouter Waylandt killed during a terrible accident during the Giro d' Italia, R.I.P.

Giro d' Italia Follies

Poor Floyd Landis is being attacked by the UCI, again. A lawsuit is filed against Floyd Landis for impugning the integrity of the anti-doping crusaders, who claim never to protect performance enhancing drug abusing cheaters, neither suspected clenbuterol user Alberto Contador or suspected Michele Ferrari supercharged blood transfused seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong! Indeed, who would ever suggest that these two entirely clean, upstanding examples of cycling purity would need protection against alleged accusations of doping?

Not Pat McQuaid, who denied ever knowing that a clenbuterol positive for Alberto Contador taken during the Tour de France ever existed! If an enterprising German television reporter had not learned of this positive [through a verboten laboratory leak?] the world would live in ignorance and Alberto Contador would be allowed to continue to race, even to compete in the Giro d' Italia with the blessing of Angelo Zomegnan himself!

Good old Angelo Zomegnan who has decided, as a professional medical scientist, that he should determine the amount of time needed for a rider to return to a "normal" physiological level. According to Angelo Zomegnan, some riders return to a "normal" physiological level at an unusually rapid pace, and this suggests manipulation of "abnormal methods" that leads to "normal" results. Whatever that means. Of course, with everyone these days, with the exception of Floyd Landis who endures daily verbal attacks from the cycling establishment, Angelo Zomegnan refuses to comment on the Spanish Cycling Federation exoneration of Alberto Contador, who is innocent until proven guilty! What a change from the days when Angelo Zomegnan threatened to refuse to allow Alberto Contador and Team Astana to ride the Giro d' Italia, the team was relaxing on the French Riviera, drinking cerveza and scoping out lovely mademoiselles, instead of training rides and power bars, bewildered because Angelo Zomegnan was accusing former USPS director sportif Johan Bruyneel of running an organized team doping program with Astana. Nevertheless, under tremendous pressure and at the last moment, Angelo Zomegnan collapsed and invited Alberto Contador and Team Astana to participate in the Giro d' Italia, which Alberto Contador won. It is interesting that Angelo Zomegnan can accuse Johan Bruyneel and the USPS Professional Cycling Team of doping to the gills and testing positive in repeated tests, the results of which were suppressed by WADA and the UCI, and face no sanctions or lawsuits, but when Floyd Landis makes the same claims, he is sued to the gills by WADA and the UCI.

These Floyd Landis lawsuits by WADA and the UCI are a little premature are they not? The Jeff Novitzky investigation is still ongoing is it not? The Federal Grand Jury still hearing witnesses and evaluating testimony are they not? Zut alors!

The CAS Upholds the UCI Biological Passport

Just when you thought Angelo Zomegnan was fast asleep, he has resurfaced with another round of controversial statements relating to his total commitment to protecting the sanctity of the sacred Giro d' Italia from the ever present scourge of doping. Angelo Zomegnan has informed the world that the current system of punishment in doping cases is insufficient to deal with the offenses and he recommends the world adopt an "additional quarantine" or an additional period of time for an athlete to return to normal health, the same way cyclists who have suspicious biological values above the normal range are suspended for health reasons, until the values return to normal. Who can argue with that sort of logic?

This is old news, but the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has confirmed the notion that doping violations can be confirmed using longitudinal biological values, without a direct confirmed positive test for a prohibited substance, Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti were suspended for two years. The Pietro Caucchioli CAS award is included here for students who are interested in how the CAS justifies their actions, even though it is in French, because these awards suddenly vanish into the ether, never to be seen again. The Franco Pellizotti CAS award was impossible to find even after an active search of the Internet. There merely exists a carefully orchestrated CAS press release stating that Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti were suspended, without providing the awards. What seems to be the problem in examining CAS awards in cotroversial high profile cases where the public has an invested interest in knowing what the CAS is up to?

This once again is a reflection of the arrogant attitude that exists among the anti-doping crusade, this lack of access to important ground breaking awards. All CAS awards should be a matter of public record, indexed, archived, and available though a standard Internet data base at a click of a button. CAS awards should be available in both French and English for perusal. The era of the vanishing CAS award should cease.

Never mind the platitudes of WADA and the UCI. The glowing approval of the Pietro Caucchioli and Franco Pellizotti CAS awards can be found in unlimited press releases. The reversal of the Fanco Pellizotti Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) exoneration, which stated that although some suspicious blood values did exist: this did not establish guilt, therefore warranted no suspension, was in fact, overturned by the CAS. The legal reasoning for this reversal, the justification of the UCI biological passport as a legal bases for guilt without a positive test for a probhibited drug, is explained in the award, and to understand what legal logic and medical justifications the CAS used to arrive at this conclusion, the award must be read.

Spring Reflections: Bad Drivers Kill Cyclists

Spring has arrived once again in the state of Utah, with typical twenty four hour temperature fluctuations of forty degrees, with clear, broken, overcast skies, and with rain and snow all occurring in the same day; nevertheless, cyclists are emerging from their cocoons like multi-colored butterflies. Which is a good sign. Too bad the driving behavior gene of motorists in Salt Lake City has not mutated, because you see the weirdest driving behavior of local motorists on a bicycle. Automobile drivers who refuse to yield when they are required to by law, but, who refuse to proceed at an intersection when the law requires the cyclist to yield. People who use scarce bicycle lanes as a parking or construction lot. People who pass you on the left, then turn right, or worse stop and back up. There is nothing more frustrating in this world than a brain dead motorist who is unqualified to drive a car, or a twenty thousand ton bus, or a loaded "eighteen wheeler." There are people who drive down the bicycle lane instead of in the traffic lane, and who insists on merging right, right over the top of you. There are times in life where you are tempted, against the rules of cycling etiquette, against the rules of common decency and common sense, to middle finger idiot motorists who lack common sense and a brain. Unfortunately, an irresistible temptation also exists of shouting out instructions on how to drive, "put down the cell phone and pay attention to what you are doing!" The exasperation factor approaches critical on so many occasions. Of course, in these cases you invite aggressive people to perpetuate assaults, and that is a very bad idea, because cyclists are assaulted enough already for no reason at all by idiot motorists who have no business on the road.

That felt good, for the moment, erupt like Mount Vesuvius. But there is forever the sickening news reports of dead cyclists, of injured cyclists, of hit and run cyclists, who die because of inattentive motorists, or who were driven from the road intentionally by some psychopath who had a bad day. People who scream in your ear to "get off the road."

WADA director general David Howman wants to resurrect the idiot concept of abandoning the "B" urine tests that confirm that the "A" tests have validity and reliability. In all doping cases where a positive test for a prohibited substance has been found, a "B" confirmation test is currently required by WADA code if requested by an athlete, and the testing procedure may be witnessed by a scientific expert representing the athlete, if requested. David Howman considers these safeguards costly and unnecessary because WADA labs have a very high confirmation rate of "A" sample diagnoses. Once again WADA expresses the concept of an unwarranted laboratory infallibility and a flippant disregard in respect to athlete rights and protections. Howman argues that there is no need to continue to ensure protections of these rights against possibly unwarranted assumptions or accusations. Incredibly, even doping expert Don Catlin disagreed with David Howman's opinion, citing a limited quantity of sample available (blood or urine) for testing and the possible necessity of testing needed to confirm a result; a "B" test without any material available to conduct the test.

It is endlessly the same old nonsense with these people! Spend the money to ensure fairness, David Howman, that is the right thing to do.

Are National Sport Federations Inept?

A BBC reporter caught up with Pat McQuaid at a velodrome and he offers an explanation for the seemingly circuitous and protracted process the UCI took to appeal the surprise Alberto Contador Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) exoneration to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). Pat McQuaid assures everyone that the UCI considers the Alberto Contador excuse of "tainted meat" as unbelievable nonsense worthy of an appeal. Therefore, McQuaid assures us that the UCI felt compelled to appeal the Spanish decision to the CAS.

Of course, no one is going to argue the merits of an appeal of an exoneration that most cycling fanatics deem a unbelievable, unwarranted gift. The deed is done, the works are in process, it is only a question of how long will the appeal process take? Will we have a decision before the Giro d' Italia, before the Tour de France, or before the next Classic begins? Pat McQuaid was asked the very pertinent question, if Alberto Contador is allowed to continue racing until the CAS makes a decision, if Contador wins the 2011 Tour de France or the 2011 Giro d' Italia, or more Classics, will the UCI be forced to disqualify everything, in addition to the 2010 Tour de France victory? That could prove to be a sticky wicket of a legal problem for the UCI, the legal experts could argue until doomsday over the legal jurisdictional issues in the case, because as Pat McQuaid assures us, the CAS is an "independent body" of the UCI and the RFEC would have been avoided if the AFLD would have forced Alberto Contador to sign an illegal separate agreement not to race in France as long as the case was active, since they had a historical precedence for such an action.

Botheration, we are not talking of chump change here, but of thousands of Euros of prize money and an infinetly contestable circus. The whole issue cou resigned protesting French government inaction, interest, and funding of anti-doping programs, the AFLD has been reduced to the status of toothless tiger, weak and inept. Of course, Amuary Sport Organization could employ the Marco Pantani rule: all former champions who are under suspicion of doping, and their teams, will never be allowed to compete in a Tour de France, since the race is privately owned, and the teams are allowed to compete by invitation only. This would prove ASO "independence" from both the UCI and the CAS. If only they would act.

The RFEC decision will forever be regarded as a huge blunder and that is a shame, because it destroys the notion that national federations can act in an unbiased, independent fashion. Clearly, most national sport federations (Spain and Kazakhstan excepted) are very competent in zealous prosecution of performance enhancing drug abuse and they insist upon letter perfect suspensions allowed by statute. If all national federations were consistent, there would be no need for the UCI, WADA, or other alphabet soup. Imagine the savings to riders and teams who have to make mandatory monetary contributions to these organizations.

Just saying.

UCI Anabolic Steroid Thresholds: Facetious Folly

There come times in this world where the limits of human endurance are surpassed by idiotic reasoning that never should be entertained. Thus the newest logic of UCI president Pat McQuaid, who assures us with straight countenance that the WADA code of anabolic steroid strict liability should be abandoned in favor of a "threshold": based upon an arbitrary and capricious range, that would ensure performance enhancement. This is an absurd notion that would encourage the likes of Victor Conte and like minded drug innovators, who work constantly to defeat modern laboratory detection methods by introducing into athletics unknown substances and practices to cloak these substances. Better would be to leave the strict liability concept intact and instead focus on the true intent of the athlete! Accidental ingestion or mistaken use of a medicinal product that contains an ingredient listed on the WADA prohibited substance list should be forgiven as inconsequential if there was no desire upon the part of the athlete to gain an unfair advantage. There should never be any desire upon the part of athletes or their medical facilitators to manipulate anabolic steroids in ways that would ensure that laboratory tests reveal below threshold values. But under the UCI threshold argument this temptation would be ever present, in fact, a perfect danger would emerge that competition would ensue among medical experts in developing innovative tactics to ensure a below threshold value for a whole constellation of anabolic steroid drugs. In any case WADA would never agree to any threshold madness.

An introduction of threshold would also invalidate the already questionable value of the UCI Biological Passport. There are many sceptics who argue that the use of longitudinal studies purported to ferret out suspicious trends do nothing but confirm undetectable manipulations of athletic physiology by unscrupulous people. Longitudinal studies of manipulated data sets introduced by devious means do nothing to aid detection of deception, they merely facilitate cheaters. Without a clear "positive" test for a prohibited substance no number of "red flag" results can be considered "conclusive" evidence of doping. But if the insane UCI threshold proposal was allowed, then the entire passport concept would be discarded as useless because there would be a huge number of "positive" tests and the "normal" physiological values of the athlete would be taken for granted as under manipulation by any number of drugs at all times.

Idiots should remain in the asylum where they belong.

The UCI Will Appeal the Alberto Contador Exoneration

At the last moment Pat McQuaid under universal pressure acts. Instantly, the universal claims of UCI cowardliness by outraged cycling fans were circumvented by bold action.

There seems to be a general consensus that the Alberto Contador clenbuterol positive test would have never been revealed except for the diligence of a German television investigative team. When Pat McQuaid was asked to verify this positive clenbuterol test he claimed, "I don't know what you are talking about." A virtual volley of accusations and recriminations followed from a sceptical cycling world, what is the UCI doing? Are they trying to sweep the Alberto Contador positive test under the rug? Are they trying to protect Alberto Contador? Pat McQuaid could have merely stated that he did not want another Floyd Landis disaster of proclaiming guilt before the ink was dry on the "A" testosterone/epitestosterone screening sample, and that it is patently unfair to proclaim the guilt of an athlete on the front page of L'Equipe and the New York Times before an athlete has a chance to see the evidence or review the charges lodged against him or her. We could attribute this "lack of knowledge" proclamation of the UCI to an exuberance of caution, learned from painful lessons of how not to conduct press interviews or how not to leak sensitive confidential laboratory information to the press: not merely an all out conspiracy to protect a favorite.

How much will you pay for ocean front property in Arizona? Pat McQuaid had no choice but appeal the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) decision, otherwise he would have been forced to resign.

Times Change: Cycling Insanity Remain

Alberto Contador wins the Vuelta a Murcia after the unexpected gift exoneration by the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC). Imagine anyone in cycling making money after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug during a Grand Tour! Jan Ullrich who was linked to Operation Puerto was chauffeured back to the hotel from the 2006 Tour de France depart over simple allegations of a connection with Operation Puerto, villianized in the press, declared public enemy number one, suspended, and forced to retire! Phew! What rubbish! The sanctimonious born again sainted Ivan Basso, was given a escort from the premises in the same caravan of shame! Why? Suspected links to Operation Puerto! Ivan Basso suspended for two years by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)! Yes, there was an iron determination across the world in the days of yore to eliminate the use and abuse of performance enhancing substances by the UCI and WADA.

Except in a single case: Alberto Contador.

Poor Floyd Landis, miracle worker on the bike, dropping the peloton like a hot potato on tough mountain stage 17, 2006 Tour de France, oh my, such things are impossible, no matter how many water bottles you drink and pour over your head, especially if you bonk the day before. Or so goes the consensus of opinion. Failure on the bicycle during the Tour de France, from that point, all goes down hill with little prospect of recovery, without some kind of concoction, say elixir of newt, brewed by the witches of Macbeth. The UCI dost not like performance enhancing substances whence spells cast upon, or boiling cauldrons, where wayward sisters danced singing incantations. Nope. Wayward witches are very innovative with their recipes, however, so innovative, that WADA must expend extravagant amounts of money to develop tests to detect their potions. Hist! Time to get out yonder rack and force a confession whence after a protracted legal battle and certain financial ruin for the athlete, confession dost fail to be expressed voluntarily. Toil, toil, time and trouble. Have good legal representation because you are going to need it, not to mention two lost years from your life. Then a extended suspension and certain lifetime banishment from cycling forever! Yes the UCI and WADA enforce the law with an iron fist, no excuses and no exceptions!

Poor Floyd Landis: the amount of testosterone detected in his system was deemed not of sufficient quantity to enhance performance; but he was suspended anyway. The only case where the amount of a prohibited substance detected was deemed insufficient to enhance performance and allowed without sanction? Alberto Contador.

Where are the days of Dick Pound, inflexible, determined man of action, an advocate of comfortable satisfaction, strict liability, and punishment? In the new days we have Pat McQuaid, weak, indecisive, a man who proclaims the philosophy of exclusive exceptionalism. Pat McQuaid declaims from the loftiest tower that those who test positive for clenbuterol must be given a free pass; and Pat McQuaid applauds those who proclaim intentions to fight appeals of Spanish Cycling Federation madness; by the UCI or WADA; "to the utmost of mine physical and mental state" as laudable. Of course, there is nothing better when physical and mental attributes fail than to retain highly experienced legal counsel, which may be needed after all, if and when the hypocritical powers awaken to action. Alberto Contador retain your lawyers, you may need them yet, if the corrupt system is to remain in tact. And then your exclusive exceptionalism may not survive; in spite of your egotistical assertions to the contrary.

Beware the ides of March!

The UCI: To Appeal or Not Appeal?

It is official, after interminable delay, Pat McQuaid has ordered International Cycling Union (UCI) lawyers to investigate the basis for an appeal to the unexpected Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) exoneration of three time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, who tested positive for clenbuterol during the second rest day of the 2010 Tour de France. The UCI has thirty days to appeal the RFEC decision and the appeal must be filed by March 21, 2011. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) may also appeal the RFEC exoneration with an extended time limit if the UCI fails to act.

The UCI must act or face certain ridicule as an organization that tolerates innovative dopers and their confederates cheat clean riders in open defiance of the stringent WADA code. The WADA code demands a no tolerance/strict liability policy against prohibited substance use, the mere presence of a prohibited substance detected in the body, regardless of intent, constitutes a violation and warrants a mandatory one year suspension. Athletes found to have engaged in prohibited performance enhancement use or methods that would facilitate an unfair advantage; an increase in performance; are suspended for two years.

Recently, there has been a call to modify the code to take into consideration the absence of motive of athletes who test positive for prohibited substances; to declare human fallibility as a basis for exoneration from punishment. More controversially, many critical thinkers have suggested that the amount of a prohibited substance detected should be considered as a factor; a threshold value. Prohibited substances detected in blood and urine samples below a known performance enhancing level threshold would be deemed a non-violation. Although threshold as a mitigating factor would be pertinent in some cases, it would not apply to all situations. Unfortunately, the threshold argument has a weak scientific foundation, invites a danger of opening a Pandora Box of abuse by innovative doping methods and strategies by unscrupulous doctors who have formulated designs to keep performance enhancing drugs below detectable levels. Possible solution: an intelligent and thorough investigation of the circumstances of a case in an impartial way, with an independent investigative body, considering all of the factors. This would trend toward a more fair judicial determination of the merits and deem what course of action would be proper in these cases.

But for now, we have nothing but the worthless UCI appeal of the ridiculous RFEC decision based upon the inflexible concept of "strict liability." A reasonable discussion of alternatives to the present code and conduct of the anti-doping agencies is not considered possible, even in the face of the insane anti-doping world application of arbitrary and capricious rules, the unequal treatment of athletes based upon ethnic and cultural considerations, and the total failure of the system to curtail doping in sport.

Spain Makes A Mockery of the Anti-Doping Process

The Spanish Sport [Cycling] Federation (RFEC) makes a mockery of the anti-doping quest to rid sport of doping products and methods to increase performance; and thus conveys an unfair advantage to Spanish cyclists. Alberto Contador was recently absolved of all responsibility for testing positive for clenbuterol, a synthetic steroid, during the 2010 Tour de France, because the RFEC claimed that intent could not be reasonably ascertained. Rekindles memories of the WADA phrase "comfortable satisfaction."

Sounds familiar and all too predictable for the Spanish.

Alejandro Valverde was positively linked to Operation Puerto by a perfect DNA match of blood bag 18 found in the office of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes when the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) tested Alejandro Valverde during the 2008 Tour de France. Yet, in spite of this perfect DNA match, the RFEC refused to suspend Alejandro Valverde, allowed Alejandro Valverde to continue to race for two additional years, and win the Vuelta d' Espana!

Of course, the UCI and WADA were forced to act, after interminable delay and pressure from CONI, to file an appeal of the RFEC inaction to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), which resulted in a two year suspension for Alejandro Valverde for his ties to Operation Puerto.

Until very recently, in Spain, no law existed to punish dopers in athletic competitions. Alberto Contador was cleared of his involvement in Operation Puerto, because of this loophole.

Manolo Saiz, when director sportif for Liberty Seguros, ran an organized doping program with ties to Operation Puerto. Saiz was arrested by the Spanish Civil Guard. Alberto Contador was a member of the 2004 Liberty Seguros team, but was never implicated in this affair.

The UCI provisional suspension of Alberto Contador is no longer in effect. Unless WADA and the UCI file an appeal of the Spanish decision to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), Alberto Contador will be allowed to retain his 2010 Tour de France title and prize money and he will continue to race.

Allowing a man who tested positive for a performance enhancing drug during a Grand Tour "walk" sets an incredibly bad precedent. The UCI and WADA have no option but to appeal.

Spain regards cyclists as favorite sons who are incapable of error: even in the face of conclusive proof: thus making a mockery of the entire anti-doping effort to ensure "fair play." Although it would be very difficult to change Spanish culture with regards to their heroes, there still remains hope that they will understand the severity of the doping problem and modify their attitudes toward combating misuse and abuse in sport; and act accordingly.

Take That WADA! Alberto Contador Exonerated!

How now John Fahey, Pat McQuaid? The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) has just smashed the WADA code into oblivion: now you have no option but to appeal this insanity! The moniker of "strict liability" will vanish like a mirage if the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) does not salvage your sorry system! To allow Alberto Contador to race; without any punishment; after a positive test for a prohibited substance detected during a Grand Tour: Horrors! Athletes in every country everywhere will fabricate similar excuses and escape from the WADA gauntlet, um sonst!

UCI President Pat McQuaid has a big problem too. To appeal or not to appeal: that is the question. If the UCI does not appeal will the peloton turn into a shooting gallery where the most innovative methods in illegal performance enhancement prevail?

Yes, the Spanish love their man and they could not force themselves to find him guilty in spite of the evidence, much like the O.J. Simpson jury.

Remember the 2006 WADA executive meeting lamenting the fact that "wealthy" athletes spend inordinate amounts of money challenging "convincing laboratory results?" What an outdated notion! Now athletes spend nothing and win cases loaded with "convincing laboratory results!" Clenbuterol increases performance: clenbuterol was present in Alberto Contador's urine: clenbuterol is on the WADA prohibited list: these are convincing proofs! If WADA was less arrogant: invested more time and money into science and research: the plastic metabolites found in Alberto Contador's urine would have been convincing, not hypothetical bunk and speculation!

Indeed, my head spins over this decision. Compared to the brutal, draconian, treatment of past athletes; this is impossible to believe! The UCI must not allow this decision to stand or there will be an endless number of "contaminated food" arguments; and exoneration!

There is absolutely no reason to argue that doping in cycling is ongoing among a majority of riders. There is no reason to suppose that the total prevalence of doping within the peloton will ever reach more than one percent. But this decision by the RFEC will act as temptation; because riders will reason that the anti-doping establishment has loosened the reigns of vigilance and will allow provable violations to go unpunished if the excuses are imaginative enough.