D-Queued said:
Didn't Steve assure us, repeatedly, that there was no doping in Canadian Cycling? Or, that cycling had the most effective anti-doping system?
Isn't there a
string of emails from Steve complaining to WADA that cycling has been unfairly singled out (e.g. as compared to ice hockey)?
It may not be fair to single him out.
Then again, he didn't have to make the statements. What could Garneau accomplish by contacting Steve, other than to mount a disinformation campaign?
Dave.
(P.S. Sorry Steve. I have tremendous respect for you generally. But, on this topic, less so. You could make a big difference by taking a different path.)
Well, I think that between Garneau and Bauer, you pretty much capture the peak of retired pro cycling in Canada. It seems like competitive cycling isn't a big sport in Canada, so it kind of follows that it's a pretty close group near the top.
I was ready to call Garneau out for employing a Saunier Duval rider, but really, that's the norm in cycling. Dirty.
It's critical to understand Bauer is complaining to the wrong agency. It sounds like the Canadian Anti-doping agency is as constrained by federations as USADA. Bauer should have taken his issue directly to the hockey federation(s?) He's not advocating less transparency for cycling. Hes advocating equitable treatment to which the larger sports federations would never agree for fear of putting a federation in disrepute. (like cycling) Instead, they just point to cycling and say, "Not my problem!!!! LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA there's no doping because the hockey federation can't see it!!! We all agreed to keep our eyes closed! Look over there at cycling instead!"
Cycling has earned it though. We can thank the UCI and somewhat the IOC for that.
dougvdh, I'd argue that cyclists have more positives because by the description in Bauer's emails, cyclists are being tested with greater frequency. Also we don't know if the test protocol is the same for all sports. We don't know if the other federations are managing their positives like the UCI does, secretly and entirely on a case-by-case basis.
If a federation is smart, they test for things that their athletes don't use, announce tests so athletes can clean up, etc. This is already a common practice in cycling. During the CERA years, Zomnegan of the Giro explicitly did not test for CERA and had a 'clean' race. This year's Vuelta stands out as another very, very suspiciously clean race despite enormous power output on the steepest stages.
My impression of the Canadian cycling federation is they at least aspire to some overall transparency in anti-doping and seem perfectly willing to out the dopers associated with a very high profile cycling personality. A temporary discomfort for the long-term good of maintaining a clean reputation. That would never happen in the U.S. because it damages Weisel's reputation as exalted leader of the USACDF and the riders he developed.
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