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Armstrong leak riles McQuaid- The French are not acting very professionally in this

Mar 10, 2009
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Any sanctions imposed on Armstrong would only be valid in France

The head of world cycling says France's anti-doping agency (AFLD) acted unprofessionally in a drugs test conducted on Lance Armstrong in March.

The American could face punishment from the AFLD over claims he violated strict dope-testing rules, although no traces of drugs were found in his samples.

But International Cycling Union (UCI) chief Pat McQuaid questioned why the news had been leaked to the press.

"The French are not acting very professionally in this case," he said.

Although French doctors declared Armstrong's hair, urine and blood samples were all drug-free, the AFLD said the seven-time Tour de France champion behaved strangely when a tester asked him to provide the samples following a training ride in the French Riviera town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer on 17 March.

The Texan said he was unsure of the identity of the AFLD drug tester who had turned up at his French base for an unscheduled visit, leading to a 20-minute delay.


In this case it was leaked to the press and I do find that disturbing

Armstrong claimed he was given permission to shower during that period while his manager verified the tester's credentials, a fact confirmed by McQuaid.

"The tester has to have a specific instruction that the athlete must remain under his supervision from the moment he is notified until the test is concluded," he told the BBC.

"From my understanding, this was not the case. Lance Armstrong had every right to take a shower while his manager (Astana team head Johan Bruyneel) checked with the UCI that these people had the authority to take these samples.

"During that time his manager rang me and I put him on to our anti-doping manager, who confirmed that it (the AFLD) has the authority to take samples."

Further confusion arose when the AFLD tester asked for a sample of Armstrong's hair, a demand which McQuaid admitted was "unusual".

"That only happens in France, which is for research purposes," he said. "Armstrong was concerned whether he (the tester) had the authority to do this."

But because the test was conducted under French law, rather than under UCI or World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) regulations, McQuaid said the AFLD is solely responsible for investigating any irregularities in the testing procedure.

AFLD president Pierre Bordry said the body will only consider sanctions after its nine-member ruling committee has considered the tester's report.

Any actions imposed on Armstrong would only be valid on French territory, which could affect his chances of an eighth Tour de France title in July.

However, McQuaid criticised the AFLD's handling of the Armstrong case.

"The French authorities decided to make up a report on the testing procedure, forward it to the UCI, knowing the UCI have no jurisdiction on the case and at the same time that report has leaked to the press," said the former Irish cyclist.

"I would have to question why that is the case.

"Normal proceedings between institutions such as national anti-doping agencies, the international federation and Wada are normally done in a professional and confidential way until a decision or sanction has been taken.

"In this case it was leaked to the press and I do find that disturbing."
 
Mar 20, 2009
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Right... The UCI effectively wrote the book on how to act "unprofessional" regarding adequate, standardized testing procedures. This is effectively McQuaid acting the douche-bag because the French said to the UCI screw you, we'll handle testing ourselves.
 
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Anonymous

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or simply because a) the french made a pigs ear of the test b) the french should not have gone whining to the press, it should have been between them. the authorities and astana...

i think the word confidential is crucial.. i dont give a monkeys who it is, the cyclist or whoever else has a right for the test to be confidential until any action if needed is taken.. :/

mcq just saying what most people are thinking..

sorry.. but they really have made a pigs ear of this one.. theyve tried to get a rumour going about LA and its backfiring bigtime.. however good tehy are at getting results is one thing.. blabbing rumours to lequipe is another thing entirely...
 
You use the words McQuaid and confidential in the same sentence and you have yourself an oxymoron.
This same guy was accused of "leaking" Landis's result to the press. (even though it was Phonak)
It makes nil difference here.
Btw: Who leaked that none of the March 17th tests were positive?
Are the French getting the credit for that bit of good news?

Since everybody seems intent in throwing around incompetent labels: Who really thinks the big cheese of the UCI doesn't know, what the average cycling fan knows, in regard of French testing protocols?
I mean, come on. Pat is just trying to protect his assets.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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This is classic McQuaid - the man is an embarassment and an utter loose cannon. That he's in charge of the sport at all is a disgrace. First he says 'you go ahead' then he panics. I seem to remember we were going to say riders brought to book under the passport scheme in 'days, or weeks' - which are now months.

McQuaid obviously thought, like his chum Armstrong, that a spot of xenophobic French bashing would go down splendidly. Instead he once again makes a laughing stock of the sport and once again any coverage is all about Armstrong and doping. If that's good for the sport then I'm Hein Verbruggen.
 
I vote for Bianchigirl's loose cannon explanation. He constantly says stuff that makes you go WTF. I don't know whether he likes the attention, has a drinking problem, or what; but he often does not seem to consider the implications of what he is saying.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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I think the problem is he says something and then he gets a phone call from Verbruggen saying 'WTF???' - after all, Verbruggen needs Armstrong in the sport to make it attractive to the buyers he has lined up for TV rights he doesn't own...

Time for a new broom to sweep clean at the UCI and do away with the cronyism and favouritism
 
Mar 19, 2009
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bianchigirl said:
I think the problem is he says something and then he gets a phone call from Verbruggen saying 'WTF???' - after all, Verbruggen needs Armstrong in the sport to make it attractive to the buyers he has lined up for TV rights he doesn't own...

Time for a new broom to sweep clean at the UCI and do away with the cronyism and favouritism

This is true! I think this will be a "clean" Tour with non of the big favorites caught, similar to 1999.

If somebody comes into this Tour totally clean, they will get it handed to them as soon as the races hits any significant climbing....
 
Apr 1, 2009
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Another vote for Bianchi's loose cannon. McQuaid has been another clown who adds more entertaiment to the three ring circus that cycling has become. I hope our memory can remember history and revisit all the ASO-UCI issues created around the Pro Tour as well.
 
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Anonymous

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i just think this sucks.. a clean (and i believe 100% that lance IS clean and wasnt off in the bathroom masking something) will be chucked out of the tour because of a decade old argument with the french..

the ones who lost out.. the fans.. some of whom have already forked out god knows how much to be in paris this summer...

as far as i can gather. the only things that should matter are FACTS!

as far as we know..
lance took a shower (which was idiotic)
the inspector did not make sure lance was with him at all times
the inspector signed the paperwork to say all was satisfactory
the authorities chose to blab to the press that there was irregularities
the authorities sent the results to the uci who have no juristriction..

personal opinions of events past present and future are irrelevant.. i dont care about lances history, i dont care what good things the afld are achieving, i dont even care if pat mcquid is sean kellys lovechild.. the only things that matter if you judge this one case on its evidence and merits are facts...

the facts are lance is likely to be banned from racing in france for taking a shower, someting that will please only the french and the lance haters, and the afld despite there obvious problems are attempting to come up smelling of roses..
 
Mar 19, 2009
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dimspace said:
i just think this sucks.. a clean (and i believe 100% that lance IS clean and wasnt off in the bathroom masking something)

Do you believe 100% of pigs fly?

I feel sorry for those of you that cant believe in miracles... But you should believe in these pigs!

You BETTER believe you sucker!
 
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BigBoat said:
Do you believe 100% of pigs fly?

I feel sorry for those of you that cant believe in miracles... But you should believe in these pigs!

You BETTER believe you sucker!

i dont actually understand that.. are you saying you beleive he currently ISNT racing clean, or that you beleive he IS racing clean, or that you beleive that astana have signed some flying pigs for the giro?

i didnt say i was 100% sure he WAS, just sure he IS...

but congratulations.. you managed to post without mentioning total body hemoglobin ;)
 
Cycling legend Lance Armstrong has used a Twitter post to invite people to an impromptu bike ride in Scotland.

The seven-times Tour de France winner will be setting off from Ashtree House Hotel, Paisley, at 1200 BST on Tuesday.

News of the visit has been circulating on cycling forums since it first appeared on Monday.

In his Twitter post, Armstrong said: "Hey Glasgow, Scotland! I'm coming your way tomorrow. Who wants to go for a bike ride?"

Two hours later his Tweet read: "Hey Glasgow - ride's at 12 noon. Location tbd. Stay tuned! Still dialling it in. And yes, I have my rain coat!"

Armstrong confirmed the venue in a tweet posted at 0400 BST.

The 37-year-old returned to competitive cycling this year after retiring in 2005. He finished third in the 2009 Tour de France.

His achievements in the sport are considered remarkable as he has undergone several treatments for cancer after being diagnosed at the age of 25.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Seems like the UCI - AFLD tug of war is going into overdrive.

We'll just have to wait for the retesting of the 2008 TdF samples coming september to see who has the edge, which are stored with AFLD who were in charge of testing then. Perhaps UCI wants to cast some early doubt over AFLD?

It's also funny to see that Mr Armstrong's take on french conspiracies against him are being perpetuated by Mr McQuaid. Very unprofessional.

On top of that, Mr Armstrong himself has more often than not shown himself the master of leaking, he is a well established collander. Using 'predetermined' cycling strategies to call out on some colleagues, not to mention the very unprofessional twitter comments. Usually, that, like many other things, should stay in the bus.

I think I read a post from black cat asking where the delusional geriatrics section of the forum was. I think this one could be tucked in there as well.

PS> Bobby, how was leadville?
 
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Anonymous

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Yadda, yadda... Armstong's a doper... yadda, yadda... he took a shower... yadda, yadda...

If he's doping now just catch him already!! These LA-bashing threads and posts are getting old and tired.
 
Great success

pic.php
 
Jul 14, 2009
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Why would the UCI not publish a list or testers and provide them with ID's that could be verified at the point of the test, The answer is they are a mafia. Lance taking a shower and a twenty plus minute time span while JB verified the true identity of the tester is dumb. I think that fake hair or blood would have been difficult to provide even for Armstrong. Now it is out there that the tests cost less than 400 dollars at the lab level, so why not have a monthly test of every rider for all year long for a couple of years from the UCI, on top of different fed and race tests the dopers would explode while trying to juggle their life of lies. The UCI doesn't want a 100% clean zero dopers policy because it would put them out of work. Did they already sent teams a list of names of testers who could show up to your house or hotel ? No. the don't want to fix it or they would. A friend at a cancer lab in So Cal told me why not divide the blood into 3 or 4 samples stored at different places. The A sample can be tested by students for 50-75 dollars, if something is found the other samples can be tested.
 
Jun 21, 2009
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i like how this old thread was bumped :D:D

anyhoo, my two penneth, notice how mr. armstrong will be riding the tour of eire? also notice who's the race director? and who the race director's brother is? :mad:
 
workingclasshero said:
i like how this old thread was bumped :D:D

anyhoo, my two penneth, notice how mr. armstrong will be riding the tour of eire? also notice who's the race director? and who the race director's brother is? :mad:

Now, now, Lance is coming to Ireland to speak at a cancer summit in Dublin, this has been known since last year. The Tour of Ireland has been cut to 3 days due to economic difficulties despite the presence of Lance or maybe because of his presence, who knows.