34 arrested in Spain

[craig1985]

34 arrested in Spanish clenbuterol investigation | Cyclingnews.com

The investigation, codenamed Operación VIAR, began when someone was caught injecting a horse with a clenbuterol-based product at a horse-racing event at Valleseco, Gran Canaria, on May 31. This led to a wider investigation into illegal supply of the product in the Canary Islands and to the 34 arrests that were made on October 13.

 

[Pedaaldanser]

I think the most relevant part is:

However, in this case the product has allegedly been supplied to farmers to fatten up cattle

Which could help Contador in his case.

 

[hrotha]

I'm a bit puzzled that CN decided to highlight that.

Among those arrested were 13 pharmacists, eight pharmacy assistants, nine veterinarians, a cattle-breeder, a pharmaceutical salesman, a bodybuilder and a cyclist.

this case demonstrates that illegal supply of clenbuterol-based products to farmers is still taking place in Spain

The arrest of the bodybuilder and cyclist also suggest that use of clenbuterol as a performance-booster has continued despite it being banned as a threat to public health in December 2009.

I know which I'd consider more likely here.
If anything we have one cattle-breeder against at least two athletes.

 

[scribe]

I think the horse that was injected to increase blood flow to the lungs, is named Contador.

 

[python]

i agree with hrotha that it would be premature to link contador's case with the spanish clengate.

unless a direct link can be established between the beef supplier to the irgun shop where berto's meat was bought and the current arrests, there is little to go on.

but this is a new very interesting twist worth following.

Many forget, that the european msl, max residue level, for clenbuterol applies not only to meat but also to water, milk and dairy products. it suggests that clenbuterol contamination may be more wide-spread than the official numbers of negative tests on cattle show.

i also question the sensitivity of the tests on cattle. if it's poor, you simply report false negatives.

 

[SpeedWay]

I think the most relevant part is:

However, in this case the product has allegedly been supplied to farmers to fatten up cattle

Which could help Contador in his case.

Keep dreamin.

 

[L'arriviste]

I think the most relevant part is:

However, in this case the product has allegedly been supplied to farmers to fatten up cattle

Which could help Contador in his case.

Or not, because now people will be unable to picture him without linking the whole mental mess to a big criminal operation and the Canary Islands, the iniquitous mecca of sports doping.

 

[Ferminal]

Contador obviously ate a racehorse.

 

[TERMINATOR]

I think the most relevant part is:

However, in this case the product has allegedly been supplied to farmers to fatten up cattle

Which could help Contador in his case.

Let me help you and the rest of the Clentador fans out there, which apparently includes Andrew Hood over at Velosnooze

(http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...rol-ring-used-in-horses-livestock_147239?news)

1.) The Grand Canary Islands are a 3 hour plane flight from Spain and 3 days by ship. It is very unlikely that beef from cattle on the island chain is exported to mainland Spain where cattle ranches are plentiful on far cheaper land. It would be the equivalent of the Virgin Islands exporting beef to the state of Texas.

2.) In order for Clentador to use this as a defense he would in fact have to trace his "cut of meat" to this exact cattle rancher who was arrested. We both know that's not going to happen. As of right now, Clentador doesn't seem to want to even divulge where he got the meat because he knows journalists would go back there, buy some meat, and have it tested. And we all know what those test results would show.

3.) I couldn't help but notice a cyclist was also busted in this sting, and we both know that Clentador is fond of training in Tenerife Norde in the Canary Islands. I find it hilarious that Andrew Hood doesn't think this is actually evidence that will go against Clentador, since it shows that there is a clenbuterol underground where Clentador is known to frequent for training.

4.) If Clentador's case is about contaminated beef related to this Canary island case, it would seem to me that he ate contaminated meat at the Canary Islands, and then withdrew 1 liter of blood, which when later infused during the Tour de France caused him to test positive. Other than that, I don't see how you link a contaminated herd of cattle in the Canary Islands with a "cut of meat" located 1,000 miles away near the French border.

I don't care how you Pro Tour swallowers cut this side of beef, it doesn't do Jack for Clentador. The guy is a major league doper.

 

[NashbarShorts]

Or not, because now people will be unable to picture him without linking the whole mental mess to a big criminal operation and the Canary Islands, the iniquitous mecca of sports doping.

Wow. Had to look that one up, Merriam-Webster dictionary said this: "iniquitous: the word you've entered isn't in the dictionary."
Had to find 2nd source to get the meaning: "wicked, sinful". L'arriviste, I think you get a gold star today for vocubulary!

As for Contador, I think his main problem is that he is not AMERICAN. If he were, he could dismiss this Clen problem by simply playing the "France hates us" card. Thousands of fans would flock to his "Justicia para Berto" website, to donate their hard-earned Euros for his defense.

(And it would all work beautifully, until the little-known cyclist 'Joachim Alvaro Papp' took the stand. )

 

[lean mean &green]

4.) If Clentador's case is about contaminated beef related to this Canary island case, it would seem to me that he ate contaminated meat at the Canary Islands, and then withdrew 1 liter of blood, which when later infused during the Tour de France caused him to test positive. Other than that, I don't see how you link a contaminated herd of cattle in the Canary Islands with a "cut of meat" located 1,000 miles away near the French border.

I don't care how you Pro Tour swallowers cut this side of beef, it doesn't do Jack for Clentador. The guy is a major league doper.

i think we have a winner. (except i'm not sure about the amount being 1 liter )

 

[Escarabajo]

Let me help you and the rest of the Clentador fans out there, which apparently includes Andrew Hood over at Velosnooze

(http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...rol-ring-used-in-horses-livestock_147239?news)

1.) The Grand Canary Islands are a 3 hour plane flight from Spain and 3 days by ship. It is very unlikely that beef from cattle on the island chain is exported to mainland Spain. where cattle ranches are plentiful on far cheaper land. It would be the equivalent of the Virgin Islands exporting beef to the state of Texas.

...

I like your point of view, but as far as trying to link Contador to this ring was not the main purpose. I think the main objective is to send a message to the world that Clenbuterol injections on cattle still exists disregarding whether this took place in the Canary Islands or not. That is just my opinion. They are trying to rescue Contador and sink the ranchers in Spain.

Now, there is a problem where the article says that there are athletes involved (Cyclist included) selling the products. That is also incriminating. So that evens up the count.

In my opinion the plasticizer positive was the big key in the Contador saga. That was very incriminating.

 

[hrotha]

As for Contador, I think his main problem is that he is not AMERICAN. If he were, he could dismiss this Clen problem by simply playing the "France hates us" card. Thousands of fans would flock to his "Justicia para Berto" website, to donate their hard-earned Euros for his defense.

Contador doesn't need to play that card because his fans are doing it for him. But "France hates us" isn't sophisticated enough, so it's more like "this is a conspiracy involving the French (because we Spaniards always win the Tour and Roland Garros), the Italians (who banned Valverde but set Di Luca and Pellizotti free) and the Americans (because Contador beat Lance)". Research on how to work the Belgians (remember Humo?) into this is still ongoing.

 

[Squares]

I think the most relevant part is:

However, in this case the product has allegedly been supplied to farmers to fatten up cattle

Which could help Contador in his case.

Only if you ignore the part that said, "Among those arrested were 13 pharmacists, eight pharmacy assistants, nine veterinarians, a cattle-breeder, a pharmaceutical salesman, a bodybuilder and a cyclist."

You want to buy the argument that he got it through meat and ignore that there was a cyclist arrested.

If you really believe he got it through eating tainted meat, I have some beautiful beach front property to sell you...

 

[Kodiak]

Wow. Had to look that one up, Merriam-Webster dictionary said this: "iniquitous: the word you've entered isn't in the dictionary."
Had to find 2nd source to get the meaning: "wicked, sinful". L'arriviste, I think you get a gold star today for vocubulary!

As for Contador, I think his main problem is that he is not AMERICAN. If he were, he could dismiss this Clen problem by simply playing the "France hates us" card. Thousands of fans would flock to his "Justicia para Berto" website, to donate their hard-earned Euros for his defense.

(And it would all work beautifully, until the little-known cyclist 'Joachim Alvaro Papp' took the stand. )

LOL... Yep...

 

[L'arriviste]

...L'arriviste, I think you get a gold star today for vocabulary!

Thanks, man. Just trying to raise the tone around here.

The story ought to be irrelevant to Contador's case, but it's utterly impossible to distinguish this from that.

When you have a fetish word like "clenbuterol" making the rounds, you like to get inside of it, fondle it, pass it on to make yourself look hip.

A bacterium is this amazing, unique little thing. Until you find out there's billions of them. Stalin reckoned that one man's death was a tragedy, but for him the death of millions was a mere statistic. Same thing with clenbuterol. EPO was like that once. Clenbuterol is not yet too clammy to touch. People are not done fondling it.

 

[khardung la]

I get some conclussions

1-Clen was used to help a horse running faster-->it helps a cyclist to go faster

2-The clem has nothing to do with cattle. In the Canary Islands there are exactly 19.799 cattle head for 2.1 million inhabitants and 9.6 million tourists. That is close to nothing (0,3% of the total) if compared to the 6.5 million heads in the whole Spain (data from 2006 and 2005 respectively). It is silly to consider that they could use the clen in cows in the Canary Islands to support a completely non-existant industry.

3-That is not the case for horse racing or cycling, those are relatively more important activities related to tourism, which is the core of economic activity in the Canary Islands.

It would be better if UCI would expulse Contador now, less non-sense speculations

 

[Deagol]

wait till "TheHog" gets here...

If AC is busted, it will destroy cycling's credibility

 

[thehog]

wait till "TheHog" gets here...

If AC is busted, it will destroy cycling's credibility

My main concern is this forums credibility.

 

[eljimberino]

Guess a few cyclists wont be returning to train there for a while.

 

[TERMINATOR]

I like your point of view, but as far as trying to link Contador to this ring was not the main purpose. I think the main objective is to send a message to the world that Clenbuterol injections on cattle still exists disregarding whether this took place in the Canary Islands or not. That is just my opinion. They are trying to rescue Contador and sink the ranchers in Spain.

Several problems with that viewpoint.

One, there was one cyclist caught up in this clenbuterol ring, and Clentador is a cyclist who frequents Tenerife. That, to me, is the more likely implication of this ring to Contador's case in addition to the blood transfusion one I articulated before.

Two, Clentador will not be able to show that the source of the "cut of meat" he ate was in fact contaminated with clenbuterol. Merely throwing out a case on an island 1,000 miles away from where his alleged contaminated meat was allegedly purchased is hardly a compelling argument.

Three, Clentador has locked himself into a story that will likely prove to be his undoing. The person who purchased the meat will have to testify in a hearing where he got it and then the burden of proof will be on Clentador to buy some meat there, have it tested, and then, what? We all know what those test results are going to reveal. In fact, Contador's camp doesn't seem to be too eager to mention the place where the meat was purchased, and I think we all know why.

Four, if Clentador's "contaminated meat" excuse is accepted, I don't see how any sport or WADA ever enforces a future clenbuterol positive again since all an athlete would have to do is point to the Clentador precedent (not to mention the ping pong player one in China). Since WADA and CAS know this, they will never allow such a precedent to happen.

 

[biokemguy]

Canary Island Delicacy Beef

Next we're gonna hear that the beef from the Canary Islands is a delicacy fit for kings (and TdF winners).

Contador's chef will conveniently claim he uses only the best possible beef for a champion such as Contador. The missing receipt will soon show this to be the case.

 

[Squares]

Contador's chef will conveniently claim he uses only the best possible beef for a champion such as Contador. The missing receipt will soon show this to be the case.

Now we know that the receipt will show the meat was bought in Tenrife!

 

[jae2460]

Now we know why Astana's November 2008 training camp (with Contador and Armstrong) was in Tenerife on the Canary Islands...

This obviously hurts Contador. I think that's obvious to anyone with an impartial, unbiased interest of the case.

The rules were what the rules were--Clenbuterol is a banned substance and any trace is considered doping. Period.

Anything short of stripping his title and keeping him out of at least one more Tour will be a joke and quite possibly could irreparably hurt cycling.

Stripping Contador of his title may hurt cycling as well, but changing the rules after the fact would be a farce.

 

[flicker]

Now we know why Astana's November 2008 training camp (with Contador and Armstrong) was in Tenerife on the Canary Islands...

This obviously hurts Contador. I think that's obvious to anyone with an impartial, unbiased interest of the case.

The rules were what the rules were--Clenbuterol is a banned substance and any trace is considered doping. Period.

Anything short of stripping his title and keeping him out of at least one more Tour will be a joke and quite possibly could irreparably hurt cycling.

Stripping Contador of his title may hurt cycling as well, but changing the rules after the fact would be a farce.

There is a reason to let Alberto keep the tour title. Taking the title will make the whole 2010 tour meaningless.