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Andre Cardoso positive for EPO

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Re:

carolina said:
From his facebook page:

Today, I received notification from the UCI that my A Sample, from a urine test done at my home on June 18th, tested positive for Erythropoietin. I have requested to the UCI that my B sample be tested as soon as possible.
Getting the chance to ride at the pinnacle of professional cycling is the greatest honor I could ever hope for, and I was looking forward to doing my best for my team and myself at the Tour. I believe in clean sport and have always conducted myself as a clean athlete, but I realize that this news puts a dark cloud on not just myself but also on our sport and my team, teammates and staff. Before anything else, those people are my friends and colleagues for whom I have unlimited respect, and under no circumstances would I ever do something that could put them, their families or their reputations in jeopardy.
I am fully aware that I will be presumed to be guilty, but it's important to me to say that I am devastated by this news and I wanted to state that I have never taken any illegal substances. I've seen firsthand through my career the awful effects that performance enhancing drugs have had on our sport, and I would never want to be a part of that. I've always tried to be a constructive influence in the peloton and on young, aspiring cyclists. It is my great hope that the B sample will come back as negative and clear me of any wrongdoing.
Until then, I hope that those who know me, trust me when I say that I'm innocent, and that my colleagues and cycling fans everywhere don't judge me too quickly during this difficult time.

TL;DR: I'm clean bla bla bla I'm clean
I guess we have to wait and see, but false positives are pretty rare.
 
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
Valv.Piti said:
Zubeldia will probably have no problem with this. Cardoso would be a pretty meaningless mountain domestique anyways in this race, so no harm.
He would likely have been Contador's 2nd best domestique in the mountains behind Pantano, so not meaningless at all.
I'm happy for Zubeldia, but he's not going to be as valuable as Cardoso, not even close.

2nd time one of Contador's most important domestiques gets popped just before the Tour. Coincidence?
Im pretty sure both Felline and Mollema will be of more use, Cardoso is basically just a follower in case of a mechanical, very equal to Jesus Hernandez.
He was really strong at the Dauphiné and ready to give everything for Contador. I don't expect much from Mollema and Felline is not a rider for the high mountains.
 
Re:

carolina said:
From his facebook page:

Today, I received notification from the UCI that my A Sample, from a urine test done at my home on June 18th, tested positive for Erythropoietin. I have requested to the UCI that my B sample be tested as soon as possible.
Getting the chance to ride at the pinnacle of professional cycling is the greatest honor I could ever hope for, and I was looking forward to doing my best for my team and myself at the Tour. I believe in clean sport and have always conducted myself as a clean athlete, but I realize that this news puts a dark cloud on not just myself but also on our sport and my team, teammates and staff. Before anything else, those people are my friends and colleagues for whom I have unlimited respect, and under no circumstances would I ever do something that could put them, their families or their reputations in jeopardy.
I am fully aware that I will be presumed to be guilty, but it's important to me to say that I am devastated by this news and I wanted to state that I have never taken any illegal substances. I've seen firsthand through my career the awful effects that performance enhancing drugs have had on our sport, and I would never want to be a part of that. I've always tried to be a constructive influence in the peloton and on young, aspiring cyclists. It is my great hope that the B sample will come back as negative and clear me of any wrongdoing.
Until then, I hope that those who know me, trust me when I say that I'm innocent, and that my colleagues and cycling fans everywhere don't judge me too quickly during this difficult time.

TL;DR: I'm clean bla bla bla I'm clean

Let's wait first. Bla bla bla sounds harsh.
 
People still confused about EPO. Remember that microdosing still existed in the peloton until recently when there was an improved test for it. It worked in combination with blood transfusion in order to stabilize the bio passport. So getting busted for EPO is still possible for some riders.

Other theory, is that he thought he was clear to dope and then boom, the unexpected vampires showed at the door. There are always riders playing their chances.
 
Re: Re:

LaFlorecita said:
Valv.Piti said:
LaFlorecita said:
Valv.Piti said:
Zubeldia will probably have no problem with this. Cardoso would be a pretty meaningless mountain domestique anyways in this race, so no harm.
He would likely have been Contador's 2nd best domestique in the mountains behind Pantano, so not meaningless at all.
I'm happy for Zubeldia, but he's not going to be as valuable as Cardoso, not even close.

2nd time one of Contador's most important domestiques gets popped just before the Tour. Coincidence?
Im pretty sure both Felline and Mollema will be of more use, Cardoso is basically just a follower in case of a mechanical, very equal to Jesus Hernandez.
He was really strong at the Dauphiné and ready to give everything for Contador. I don't expect much from Mollema and Felline is not a rider for the high mountains.
Not a difference maker. Felline and Mollema potentially are. Will you do me a favour and stop acting like Mollema is illoyal before its actually proven he is? He may just ride his heart out. Its tiring so hear that over and over again.
 
Re: Re:

masking_agent said:
His timing couldn't have been worse.

Actually, it could have been worse. If he had been suspended a few days later, no replacement would be allowed, and T-S would be starting with a team of eight.

Remember Vino couldn't start the 2006 Tour, not because he was suspended, but because so many of his teammates were.

As far as the EPO positive goes, he might have used it following a transfusion to counter the suppression of reticulocyte synthesis, as Escarabajo alludes to. But the test was about two weeks before the start of TDF, meaning at least 3 weeks and more like 4 weeks before a mountain domestique would really need the boost. But there may be an attempt at balancing the best time for avoiding testing with the best time for performance benefit.

Also possible is that he withdrew blood just before a transfusion, as part of a program to withdraw and transfuse with the aim of producing a blood bag or two ready for the TDF. If he did that, though, he shouldn't have needed EPO to bring up his retics. Maybe the blood used for transfusion had enough EPO in it, from previous manipulations, to trigger a positive?
 
Re:

ontheroad said:
My initial reaction is, how can a rider be so stupid to get busted for EPO in the modern era of cycling.

Weren't there supposedly undetectable new forms of EPO from China people were talking about? Any ones I saw mentioned were the same basic molecule with extra bits and pieces added (vs a totally different one whose critical site fitted in the same receptor) so tests to detect them were inevitable.

Escarabajo said:
Other theory, is that he thought he was clear to dope and then boom, the unexpected vampires showed at the door. There are always riders playing their chances.

They still get two free no-shows a year (three if you're Lizzie Armitstead) so either he thought he wasn't glowing or he's been sailing too close to the wind.
 
Re: Re:

vedrafjord said:
ontheroad said:
My initial reaction is, how can a rider be so stupid to get busted for EPO in the modern era of cycling.

Weren't there supposedly undetectable new forms of EPO from China people were talking about? Any ones I saw mentioned were the same basic molecule with extra bits and pieces added (vs a totally different one whose critical site fitted in the same receptor) so tests to detect them were inevitable.

Escarabajo said:
Other theory, is that he thought he was clear to dope and then boom, the unexpected vampires showed at the door. There are always riders playing their chances.

They still get two free no-shows a year (three if you're Lizzie Armitstead) so either he thought he wasn't glowing or he's been sailing too close to the wind.

Vaughters says no missed OOC tests at Cannondale
 
Re:

fmk_RoI said:
One group will say: typical bloody UCI, busting someone ahead of a Grand Tour just to let people think anti-doping works.

Another group will say: riders doping before the biggest objective of the season, whoever woulda thunk it?

LOL! I'll chime in with, "But I thought the whole sport was ALOT cleaner and not doping as much as before"?

Did anyone actually believe Cookson or UCI would "clean up the sport"?

I also loved Trek's blind admission:"We had no idea...blah blah blah", sure you didn't.

Oh wait, Trek used to sponsor Wonderboy, how did they not know?
 
Re:

carolina said:
From his facebook page:

Today, I received notification from the UCI that my A Sample, from a urine test done at my home on June 18th, tested positive for Erythropoietin. I have requested to the UCI that my B sample be tested as soon as possible.
Getting the chance to ride at the pinnacle of professional cycling is the greatest honor I could ever hope for, and I was looking forward to doing my best for my team and myself at the Tour. I believe in clean sport and have always conducted myself as a clean athlete, but I realize that this news puts a dark cloud on not just myself but also on our sport and my team, teammates and staff. Before anything else, those people are my friends and colleagues for whom I have unlimited respect, and under no circumstances would I ever do something that could put them, their families or their reputations in jeopardy.
I am fully aware that I will be presumed to be guilty, but it's important to me to say that I am devastated by this news and I wanted to state that I have never taken any illegal substances. I've seen firsthand through my career the awful effects that performance enhancing drugs have had on our sport, and I would never want to be a part of that. I've always tried to be a constructive influence in the peloton and on young, aspiring cyclists. It is my great hope that the B sample will come back as negative and clear me of any wrongdoing.
Until then, I hope that those who know me, trust me when I say that I'm innocent, and that my colleagues and cycling fans everywhere don't judge me too quickly during this difficult time.

TL;DR: I'm clean bla bla bla I'm clean

:rolleyes: EVERY doped rider says that.....positives don't lie, riders who dope(and get caught) do. :D
 
Re: Re:

GuyIncognito said:
vedrafjord said:
ontheroad said:
My initial reaction is, how can a rider be so stupid to get busted for EPO in the modern era of cycling.

Weren't there supposedly undetectable new forms of EPO from China people were talking about? Any ones I saw mentioned were the same basic molecule with extra bits and pieces added (vs a totally different one whose critical site fitted in the same receptor) so tests to detect them were inevitable.

Escarabajo said:
Other theory, is that he thought he was clear to dope and then boom, the unexpected vampires showed at the door. There are always riders playing their chances.

They still get two free no-shows a year (three if you're Lizzie Armitstead) so either he thought he wasn't glowing or he's been sailing too close to the wind.

Vaughters says no missed OOC tests at Cannondale


LOL! He's also lied REPEATEDLY about he himself not doping, until he admitted he doped. Vaughters is a clown.
 
Re: Re:

Merckx index said:
masking_agent said:
His timing couldn't have been worse.

Actually, it could have been worse. If he had been suspended a few days later, no replacement would be allowed, and T-S would be starting with a team of eight.

Remember Vino couldn't start the 2006 Tour, not because he was suspended, but because so many of his teammates were.

As far as the EPO positive goes, he might have used it following a transfusion to counter the suppression of reticulocyte synthesis, as Escarabajo alludes to. But the test was about two weeks before the start of TDF, meaning at least 3 weeks and more like 4 weeks before a mountain domestique would really need the boost. But there may be an attempt at balancing the best time for avoiding testing with the best time for performance benefit.

Also possible is that he withdrew blood just before a transfusion, as part of a program to withdraw and transfuse with the aim of producing a blood bag or two ready for the TDF. If he did that, though, he shouldn't have needed EPO to bring up his retics. Maybe the blood used for transfusion had enough EPO in it, from previous manipulations, to trigger a positive?
Curious: do we know if it's CERA or first gen EPO? Recall last year about 10 days before Rio two athletes tested positive for CERA; a Brazilian road cyclist and Belarus mid-d runner. Though dosing with CERA is only once or twice per month, it has a long glow time (about a half-live of 130 hrs) and maybe he was timing the clearance period for the Tour pre-tests & didn't expect an OOC target test?
 
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Not a difference maker. Felline and Mollema potentially are. Will you do me a favour and stop acting like Mollema is illoyal before its actually proven he is? He may just ride his heart out. Its tiring so hear that over and over again.

Cardoso is an excellent domestique. He would have been around the 20th strongest climber in the race, as he always is, he would put in the same level of performance every day, and as a career domestique with zero personal ambitions he's supremely loyal. Because he never, ever, rides for his own chances he is often underrated. He's not a "difference maker" in the sense that he's suddenly going to smash the race up and reduce the leader's group to six riders or something, but he's very, very useful.

Agreed on the Mollema part, by the way.
 

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