Lance said a lot. He said over and over that he never doped.
I caught some of the tour of Britain coverage the other night and was surprised to hear Hamilton’s name - he’s riding in it for Rock Racing. I thought to myself he’s got brass balls coming back after cheating like that - did he every say sorry or express regret?
I don’t mind guys like David Millar who get busted, confess all, and return penitent. It’s guys like Landis who just never admit it that really take the piss out of the sport and the fans.
On a side note, cycling is getting some great coverage in the UK right now; no way would the Tour of Britain get a look in on TV in previous years. Cavendish plus the Olympic team have really invigorated the perception of the sport here. It’s even filtering down to the roads - I’ve almost seen it affect drivers on my ride to work. Almost.
Yes, , but he never said anything about anyone else and that’s my point.
So, if I can find an example of Lance saying something about someone else, your point would be lost?
So, if I can find an example of Lance saying something about someone else, your point would be lost?
This particular point, yes. I’m not sure you’ll find anything though. It has to be something a bit more substantial than “I admit at one point there was a drug problem in cycling”. I’m looking for details not just a vague statement.
To be clear, I still think he doped but to single him out is a bit unfair. In fact if he were to say, “Damn right I doped and so did everyone else and you know what? I beat them all”. I’d have a great deal of respect for him. I’d disagree with him philosophically but I’d respect him.
To clarify my point a little bit: He clearly thinks doping is wrong otherwise he wouldn’t spend so much moneydenying it all of these years specifically trying to get a denial printed in L.A. Confidential. A lot of other people deny doping as well, of all the people busted has anyone other than Ricco or David Miller or Eric Zabel or Bjarn Riis ever even admitted it (Riis and Zabel weren’t busted. Maybe others have admitted it, but my point is lots of people deny it even in the face of positive drug tests)? I realize it takes a lot of courage to admit your own usage but it’d be nice to see. If you’re CLEAN and stay quiet, that just baffles me to no end.
I was exaggerating when I said I hate them all. I don’t even have anything against Lance (I’m not a fan, next year my money’s on Andy Schleck - visit a cycling message board and you’ll find that plenty of people suspect him as well). I don’t think I’ve missed a Tour De France since about 96 and I’ll watch it next year. It’s jsut that this whole Omerta cycling seems to have just pisses me off to no end, that’s all. I just wish I knew what I was watching.
Re: Drug Testing. Am I correct in that doping with one’s own blood is undetectable as long as one keeps their hematocrit level below 50%?
Why don’t they just have a Doping Tour and a 100% Natural Tour.
Anyone caught cheating on the latter is automatically bumped to the other Tour.
In what position?
Ahhh… good question - and it leads to the subject of the “Biological Passport”. Which I might add, is actually a very, VERY good thing in the world of drug testing.
You see, our red blood cells grow at a linear rate, and they live for a linear length of time (usually 120 days), and they replenish themselves in a linear fashion. Our white blood cells do too, but red blood cells carry the food and oxygen you see. Hence, when athletes agree to take a biological passport at a young age, efectively, they’re agreeing to a fingerprint of how their blood should behave for the rest of their life. As I said, it’s a very good thing for this reason.
The latest version of EPO known as “Micera” is a remarkably potent version of the hormone which has a molecular structure so large that it doesn’t pass through the urine. However, Rosche Pharmaceutical, knowing this to be the case, secretly worked with the World Anti Doping Agency right from the word go to provide a molecular trace element which would metabolise off the EPO molecule, which in turn WOULD pass through the urine - moreover, the trace element is a unique benign molecule which is known only to Rosche and WADA - and by extension, the only way it can be present in your system is if you have taken this latest super duper version of EPO. I love it. Those guys who got busted on this last tour so totally didn’t see that one coming!
Anyways, the biological passport is a measurement of how your red blood cell fingerprint is supposed to look. If you take a later blood test and all of a suddden you have a massive influx of new red blood cells the testers can assume that a version of EPO has been at work - or perhaps some other new stimulating agent. Conversely, if your blood test shows an abnormally high percentage of red blood cells all from certain age group - say 90-120 days, then the testers can assume that blood doping has been at work too - regardless of your hematocrit levels.
I love the biological passport. It’s probably the single greatest breakthrough in drug testing in the history of sport, because even if you take gene therapy, your passport is going to show up the changes.
Wow, that’s fantastic! I had heard the term biological passport but didn’t really get the gist of it. Is that what Garmin and Columbia is doing?