Armstrong in the mire again. LeMonde reports

[thehog]

Paris - A report charges that Lance Armstrong's Astana cycling team was given "special treatment" by the International Cycling Union (UCI) during this year's Tour de France, the online edition of the daily Le Monde reported Monday. The daily cites a report drawn up by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) about the way doping tests were administered during the three-week race, in which Armstrong finished third. His Astana teammate Alberto Contador won the race.

According to the 10-page report, Astana riders were given "the latest morning doping tests" and did not respect the requirement to present themselves immediately to AFLD testers on at least one occasion.

This followed the intervention of UCI inspectors, who refused the presence of AFLD escorts, the report charges. As a result, there was a 45-minute delay between the arrival of the inspectors and the time the riders made themselves available for the tests.

"Such a tolerance, accorded without veritable justification... does not allow, in the absence of escorts, to ensure the perfect regularity of the procedure, notably that no manipulation was carried out," the AFLD report states.

In addition, blood tests of Astana riders scheduled for July 25 were not carried out because the UCI inspectors underestimated the time it took the riders to reach their hotel, the report says.

The report further notes that to help carry out tests in the run- up to the Tour de France, the UCI provided information to the AFLD about the whereabouts of all the teams, except for Astana.

"A withholding of information that is not in the spirit of the fight against doping," the report declares.

There were no doping positives during this year's Tour, which led many experts to conclude that riders were using new doping substances for which tests have not been established.

AFLD head Pierre Bordry told Le Monde after the race ended that he was convinced that "two new products were used during the Tour, two substances not yet on the market."

The two drug are believed to be hematide, a third-generation blood-doping substance similar to EPO, and Aicar, which aids in the transformation of fats into energy.

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http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article...r-d-astana-sur-le-tour-2009_1249219_3242.html

 

[Anonymous]

I think the only rational response is SSDD...

(can't remember where I last heard that )

Or, SSDY, where the Y stands for Year...

Let the Lance conspiracy theorists assume this report is all "fact" and certainly not fudged media hype...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Wasn't Bruylandts selling and promoting Aicar? That was a legal product as far as I know. Or am I confusing this with something different?

 

[craig1985]

Shouldn't this be in The Clinic?

 

[progressor]

Stranger that you should put armstrong's name in the thread title, yet the whole implied drama you posted is about astana as a whole. It's almost like you have a major anti armstrong agenda. Oh wait.....

By the way when does Sept 5th happen again ??

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Shouldn't this be in The Clinic?

Yes, it should be and now it is.

Susan

 

[bianchigirl]

the UCI better get their tame buddy Vrijmann to try and whitewash this report because its allegations are damning in the extreme - fudging test (storing samples in a car boot in the height of summer), testing during the evening when the list of banned substances is less strict (who knew?) - the no whereabouts info question will be interesting: if the UCI throw that one back to Boss Hog then that makes Bruyneel & Armstrong look bad (witholding whereabouts info? tut tut) but if they accept they didn't pass it on then the question is why, exactly?

 

[scribe]

Isn't most of this old news? It doesn't quite have the legs it did in July.

 

[SpeedWay]

Isn't most of this old news? It doesn't quite have the legs it did in July.

Give it time. If there's one thing poster's here are good at its fabricating legs.

 

[progressor]

Give it time. If there's one thing poster's here are good at its fabricating legs.

Yep.

(why must I have a minimum of 10 characters??)

 

[bianchigirl]

Not old news in the sense that the AFLD have just released their damning report which asks many an awkward question about the apparent collusion of the UCI in potentially allowing doping practices to go on.

 

[bianchigirl]

Though I admit that the UCI being corrupt and colluding in doping in the sport is definitely old - and bad - news

 

[Anonymous]

Though I admit that the UCI being corrupt and colluding in doping in the sport is definitely old - and bad - news

Yea, the history here makes this just another log on the fire. The UCI doesn't appear very serious about stopping doping, just the appearance of a clean peloton. IMAGINE!

 

[pmcg76]

Give it time. If there's one thing poster's here are good at its fabricating legs.

Thats because inevitbaly they always turn out to be true to some degree. The AFLD are the same crew that are retesting the samples from 08 that could potentially prove disastrous for the cycling world. They have proven themselves more serious about trying to defeat the doping problem in cycling than any other organisation, when they see something suspicious they call it. The double standards come from fanboys who are more than happy to accept AFLD busting other top name cyclists but suddenly call conspiracy/ exaggeration when it involves their hero Lance.

Speedway is just another one of those people, (Oldnell is another) who offer absolutely nothing constructive in the way of analysing or debating anything but just criticise others who are not prepared to accept the BS.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Give it time. If there's one thing poster's here are good at its fabricating legs.

Why not go the whole hog and simply call the French a bunch of liars?

Trouble is, the French verbally reported to the media and UCI, during the Tour.

The only thing that can be fabricated are excuses.

You should be concerned, not just over more Armstrong mud, but the implications for the sport in general.

Oh wait, of course, you aren't interested in the general well-being of the sport.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Well done to CN on getting a follow up commentwith their report quoting the Lemonde article.

Anne Gripper of the UCI made a curious comment:
“It was an issue raised and dealt with while the Tour was happening. There's nothing further than we can say on this matter. We had discussions with the AFLD on what they think happened and we've told them what actually happened.”

Well surely the UCI could enlighten us to what "actually" happened?
There are some serious allegations made against the UCI on their professionalism and impartiality - if it didn't happen the way the AFLD claim then why the secrecy on what "actually" happened?

 

[bianchigirl]

An example: eve of the Barcelona surprise tests - UCI testers found in restaurant talking VERY VERY LOUDLY about who was going to get tested the next day. Result, July 25th the entire Astana team go AWOL.

Like you say MV, the AFLD said they were unhappy at the time and have now filed their official report with WADA.

So where are the voices calling the UCI on their sloppy testing procedures - not talking now Flandis? Nothing to say Boss Strong?

 

[Ferminal]

Anne Gripper's comments on both situations - 2009 Procedures and 2008 retesting show how keen the UCI is for positives.

 

[bianchigirl]

Who got to Anne Gripper?

 

[RhodriM]

Hey come on, so what if you keep the mean old drugs testers waiting a little while - everyone's having too much fun with Ben and Robin.

It's not like anyone ever got away with doping by delaying their tests a little is it? OK yes there was Marco but he was obviously a cancer-loving bad egg.

Why can't you people believe in the Power of DreamsTM?

 

[Race Radio]

Funny to see the fanboys jump in and repeat the same mantra

"Old News" "SSDD". Always easier to try the smoke screen instead of actually addressing the issue.

Here is a picture of a UCI tester being kept waiting for 45 minutes outside the Astana team bus

 

[scribe]

I believe the claim from the Astana camp is that the testers showed up at 6am the day of a mountain stage. Obviously, it doesn't take long for masking agents to become effective, but then again, it would be nice to get a full 8 hours or more sleep ahead of an afternoon stage.

 

[Race Radio]

I believe the claim from the Astana camp is that the testers showed up at 6am the day of a mountain stage. Obviously, it doesn't take long for masking agents to become effective, but then again, it would be nice to get a full 8 hours or more sleep ahead of an afternoon stage.

This is wrong, they did not show up at 6, they showed up and 7:00. They do this often and the procedure is very clear.

They were also kept waiting for 45 minutes after the TTT stage.

 

[guilder]

The AFLD has become a political failure.

The AFLD has become a political failure.

Not surprising the AFLD and compatriots would be conflicted by the cycling world's respect and gratitude for Armstrong's return to professional racing. Much to their dismay, without question he made the 2009 tour one of the greatest, in contrast to the most boring tour ever of '08. In fact the whole season bustled with greatness as cycling appeared to be out from under the dark cloud of innuendo brought on by the AFLD and compatriots against virtually everyone based outside their borders.

It's really unfortunate the AFLD has made their power grabbing ploys a public issue. Yet they do nothing more than whine about the arguably preferential treatment given Armstrong by most everyone including the UCI.

Somehow if it were true Astana was typically at the end of the UCI's rounds, it probably makes good scheduling sense because perhaps, the boys are time wasters? If the UCI wanted to be *** about it they could have yanked LA away from whatever, like his PR schedule, which ultimately benefits the sport as it creates awareness on a world scale?

 

[scribe]

Maybe teh 6am claim is wrong, but here is the source....

http://www.examiner.com/x-12664-Lan...m7d17-Its-6-am-Wheres-your-blood-sample-Lance