Alpe d'Huez said:
Don't post much in the Clinic these days but just wanted to put my 2 cents in and say this is no surprise to me at all. Or should it be to any serious fan if you want my honest truth.
Some interesting responses here. Keep them coming.
It's like we've learnt nothing from every other doping scandal. I understand fans want to downplay events on doping, facing the question that your favourite athlete is doper is hard for some to contemplate. In cycling, when there's a sniff of a doping problem it inevitably turns out to take down the biggest stars.
As for the whistle blower; he spent £60,000 of his own money to try and bring it to the attention of those with the power to do something about it. Why would he do that if it was a bunch of Cat 3 riders spending £800 a visit?
Fuentes had a assistant, he was severely dyslexic. It is thought he messed up the Siberia blood bags as the letters became jumbled. He was the interface to the riders. Small time guy doing the leg work for the Doctors.
Then there was "white dove"; she delivered EPO to riders in the might in the 2000s. She was a nurse from a hospital in Spain, hence her name.
Landis received his blood bags via an autograph hunger at the Tour....
Point being; nothing about doping has ever been normal, or looked anything realistic. Doping is ridiculous, it's use is even more ridiculous. A doctor wearing a pink shirt with a plaid jacket big noting himself to athletes is the norm. That's how doping is. It's these types of people & nut jobs who get involved in it because it is so ridiculous...
The story has legs and fairly obvious there's a lot more to it then this first sampling....
Manzano recounted how riders paid a nurse whose nickname was the Paloma Blanca (white dove) to transport the doping products between hotels to avoid detection from police and racing officials.
“She was paid 27,000 euros to do this. Each cyclist paid 3000 euros,” he said. “She carried EPO, testosterone, synthetic hemoglobin from hotel to hotel.”