Astana rider details Contador's doping practices

[Cobblestones]

CN has it up now.

So why didn't he test positive in the DL for clen? He won the Alpe stage. Does the stage winner, leader, and a random get tested like in GT's in the smaller races?

Because he took Clen after the DL. Read the article.

 

[MacRoadie]

CN has it up now.

So why didn't he test positive in the DL for clen? He won the Alpe stage. Does the stage winner, leader, and a random get tested like in GT's in the smaller races?

Contador used Clenbuterol after the Criterium du Dauphiné as part of a weight-loss treatment. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claims that the Spaniard had blood extracted between that race and the Tour when, crucially, traces of the banned product were still in his system.

“He had a transfusion performance after the Dauphiné Libéré [Criterium du Dauphiné], and the blood still contained a little bit of clenbuterol from a just-finished slimming treatment,” Humo reported the insider as saying.

Everything happened AFTER the Dauphine'...

 

[ChrisE]

Everything happened AFTER the Dauphine'...

I read the CN article which states he took it during the DL.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ast...dor-used-clenbuterol-at-criterium-du-dauphine

 

[mewmewmew13]

'Bruyneel' was the first thing that came to my mind......

 

[Lanark]

The Dutch article doesn't say when he took it, so that's just sloppy journalism by cyclingnews.com.

 

[Bicicleta]

I remember there were rumors that De La Fuente might go to Saxo with Contador & co. When he did not go I thought it was because he had a 2 year contract. However in an interview when he signed for Geox, he said that Astana did not renew his contract when Contador left so he went back with Gianetti. Wonder why he did not go with Contador? I have been wondering about this for a couple weeks and when I read this "Astana insider" article I thought of him. Of course last week he had an interview in the Spanish press where he stated his support for Contador.

 

[Race Radio]

Not much risk for Astana. Berto took his doping doctor, Pepe Marti, with him.

 

[hrotha]

The Dutch article doesn't say when he took it, so that's just sloppy journalism by cyclingnews.com.

Haha, everyone's pulling stuff out of their asses to report this story.

 

[ChrisE]

So what is it? AT the DL per CN, or after the DL?

Maybe CN should ask AC's brother.

 

[krebs303]

Everything happened AFTER the Dauphine'...

Wouldn't that be poor time to extract blood and take clen?

 

[Lanark]

I'll translate the quotes myself. It's not much:

Isider: During the Dauphiné Contador was slightly overweight. Normal people don't see it, but he could use one or two kilo's. That's why they use clenbuterol: losing the last kilo's, while making sure not to lose muscle mass, or even better, gaining some muscle mass.

Humo: That doesn't explain why the clenbuterol was in his urine during the last resting day of the Tour.

Insider: But wait! In the period between the Dauphiné and Tour Contador drained some blood, small bags, to keep the bloodvalues stable in hun biological passport. He drained his blood when there was still a little bit of clenbuterol left in his blood. And that clenbuterol stayed in the blood bag, until it was re injected in his body.

Humo: So they still use blood transfusion?

Insider: Of course. But in small doses of 150cc. They used to get two, three big bags of blood during the Tour, 400 or 500cc. Now they can't do that anymore, because of the biological passport, that looks at sudden changes in blood values.

 

[euphrades]

Articles that I read said that the lab in German is known for testing for Clen regardless where as other labs only test if suspect to be contained in the rider's sample.
.

 

[HoustonHammer]

The original Belgian piece is here:

http://www.humo.be/tws/actua/21126/alberto-contador-de-waarheid-over-clenbuterol.html

For translation from Dutch translate.google.com works ok. Just copy and paste.

It also says the full article will be published on Oct 12.

 

[hrotha]

I thought riders drew blood early in the season in order to get conveniently boosted blood, and therefore that drawing blood during the Dauphiné, while possible because there's enough time to recover, wouldn't be ideal. Am I remembering things wrong, have things changed due to the biological passport, or was Contador simply forced to do it because he miscalculated?

 

[ChrisE]

I'll translate the quotes myself. It's not much:

Isider: During the Dauphiné Contador was slightly overweight. Normal people don't see it, but he could use one or two kilo's. That's why they use clenbuterol: losing the last kilo's, while making sure not to lose muscle mass, or even better, gaining some muscle mass.

Humo: That doesn't explain why the clenbuterol was in his urine during the last resting day of the Tour.

Insider: But wait! In the period between the Dauphiné and Tour Contador drained some blood, small bags, to keep the bloodvalues stable in hun biological passport. He drained his blood when there was still a little bit of clenbuterol left in his blood. And that clenbuterol stayed in the blood bag, until it was re injected in his body.

Humo: So they still use blood transfusion?

Insider: Of course. But in small doses of 150cc. They used to get two, three big bags of blood during the Tour, 400 or 500cc. Now they can't do that anymore, because of the biological passport, that looks at sudden changes in blood values.

Conclusion - since there was still clen when "He drained his blood when there was still a little bit of clenbuterol left in his blood." So, clen was left from his taking it during the DL. He drained it "between the DL and the tour". No other way to read this that he took it during the DL.

My original question still stands: Why didn't he test positive in the DL for clen?

 

[Race Radio]

Conclusion - since there was still clen when "He drained his blood when there was still a little bit of clenbuterol left in his blood." So, clen was left from his taking it during the DL. He drained it "between the DL and the tour". No other way to read this that he took it during the DL.

My original question still stands: Why didn't he test positive in the DL for clen?

Welcome back Chris. It is a good question. Regardless of when he took it Clen stays in your system for a while. I would assume a rider like Contador would be tested often in the run up to the Tour. It would seem like a big risk to take it even after DL. Does he get advanced notice of tests like Floyd and lance did?

 

[Chuffy]

IIRC weren't USP supposed to have taken blood post Dauphine? Might be in the Vaughters/Andreu IM exchange or I could have it totally wrong.

 

[Chuffy]

Does he get advanced notice of tests like Floyd and lance did?

Which is the point I raised earlier. Didn't get a sensible reply.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Welcome back Chris. It is a good question. Regardless of when he took it Clen stays in your system for a while. I would assume a rider like Contador would be tested often in the run up to the Tour. It would seem like a big risk to take it even after DL. Does he get advanced notice of tests like Floyd and lance did?

I think the more possible thing is that he took the clen right after DL. Hard training block of racing, then take the clen to burn off the final 2-3 kilos. Wait for the clen to clear, then extract blood.

Does he get advanced notice? Do the Roses of Tralee get plucked?

 

[keenasmustard]

Astana doing anything of the sort would be suicide.

Actually I reckon Astana are gone under the new ethics values anyway, so this might be a way of seeking redemption and trying to convince the UCI it was just Contador, not the team.

 

[MacRoadie]

I don't see where all this confusion is coming from.

The article says that during the DL, Contador was still heavy and as a result, his performance there suffered.

Nothing in the article suggests he took the clen DURING the race, but plenty to suggest that, after the poor showing, and given the extra kilos he was carrying during the race, that he took the clen after the DL (when he was far less likely to be tested, and when it could be taken in a far more controlled training environment rather than during a stage race).

The DL ended on Sunday, June 13, and the Tour started three weeks later on July 5.

A hard training block the week following the DL, followed by a period to allow the clen to drop below detectable* levels, then a little deposit at the blood bank.


*We still haven't heard a really credible analysis of exactly how much clen would be necessary to achieve measureable weight loss over a short period of time, or just how long that amount would stay in the user's system, or what levels each lab tests too (understanding that there is zero-tolerance).

 

[Christian]

From velonation:

It is not clear if the source quoted today is an insider or an actual rider; the story uses both terms.

Also, Humo is a weird name for a magazine. Someone had to say it.

 

[thehog]

Conclusion - since there was still clen when "He drained his blood when there was still a little bit of clenbuterol left in his blood." So, clen was left from his taking it during the DL. He drained it "between the DL and the tour". No other way to read this that he took it during the DL.

My original question still stands: Why didn't he test positive in the DL for clen?

Because he wasn't tested at the German lab at the DL. That ruling came in 10 days before the Tour that CM wouldn't be used. Clen was on the "clear" list at that point.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

it is also helpful to remember that he blew at 400x below the supposed testing threshold. so he must have thought he would be ok.

also, they had that paper sitting out there lobbing up the steak excuse for him if he was under a few hundred pg/ml. just in case.

 

[Aguirre]

From velonation:



Also, Humo is a weird name for a magazine. Someone had to say it.

Humo in spanish means Smoke... the metaphor is obvious...

That's funny, Contador dopes in front of an insider, and the Astana team is not involved.

Wondering why Kreuziger signed with them