Contador positive!!!!!

[gregkeble]

In my view the blood transfusion explanation is clearly the most plausible. His whole team would have tested positive if the contaminated meat explanation was correct. Contador's team would not have been able to detect Clenbuterol at that level so they inadvertently created a marker for the blood transfusion to be detected.
A cheating blood transfuser gets busted. Hooray! I just wish they could catch the rest of them. Such a shame that there is such an effective way of cheating that is still largely undetectable (unless the testers get lucky with a trace marker)

 

[Animal]

A cheating blood transfuser gets busted. Hooray!

Yes, but the bust has to be for the transfusing.

50 picogrammes per ml of Clen isn't "dirty enough" to do the job of booting him from the sport properly.

 

[Polyarmour]

In my view the blood transfusion explanation is clearly the most plausible. His whole team would have tested positive if the contaminated meat explanation was correct. Contador's team would not have been able to detect Clenbuterol at that level so they inadvertently created a marker for the blood transfusion to be detected.
A cheating blood transfuser gets busted. Hooray! I just wish they could catch the rest of them. Such a shame that there is such an effective way of cheating that is still largely undetectable (unless the testers get lucky with a trace marker)

Yes great theory except for one thing, they didn't test the rest of the team.
Shame hey?

 

[53 x 11]

.

It should be noted positive tests such as these are more common than the public are aware. They just don't hear about them.

This has always been my understanding. which is why I really cannot work out why such a big deal is being made out of this..............yet.

 

[Jamsque]

There will be more news coming out of Spain today or first thing tomorrow substantiating Contador's theory.

It should be noted positive tests such as these are more common than the public are aware. They just don't hear about them.

Unless they can get some cattle farmer to testify that he deliberately broke EU farming legislation and fed his cows a banned substance I don't see how anything is going to come to light that will help Contador's story seem more credible.

The two biggest misconceptions in this thread are first that the contaminated meat story is plausible, which it isn't, since feeding Clen to animals is banned in the EU and (as an earlier poster pointed out) there hasn't been a recorded case of contamination in Europe for fourteen years, and second that were this story to be accepted as true Contador might be able to get a reduced sentence, which he can't, since the rules very clearly state that all athletes are responsible for whatever is found in their samples regardless of how it got there. The rules are completely unambiguous on this point. He had a banned substance in his body, so he should be banned, whether it got there through a blood transfusion or a steak or magical Clenbutarol faeries is irrelevant.

 

[rolfrae]

Unless they can get some cattle farmer to testify that he deliberately broke EU farming legislation and fed his cows a banned substance I don't see how anything is going to come to light that will help Contador's story seem more credible.

The two biggest misconceptions in this thread are first that the contaminated meat story is plausible, which it isn't, since feeding Clen to animals is banned in the EU and (as an earlier poster pointed out) there hasn't been a recorded case of contamination in Europe for fourteen years, and second that were this story to be accepted as true Contador might be able to get a reduced sentence, which he can't, since the rules very clearly state that all athletes are responsible for whatever is found in their samples regardless of how it got there. The rules are completely unambiguous on this point. He had a banned substance in his body, so he should be banned, whether it got there through a blood transfusion or a steak or magical Clenbutarol faeries is irrelevant.

So if we take these facts into consideration we are left with a choice, to decide if Contador has been illegally doping, or if a Spanish farmer has been illegally doping his cows.

I find it so hard to come down on Contador's side, the whole story so reminiscent of Landis' case - except that Contador has had a month to come up with an excuse and Landis was put on the spot, hence his too many Jack Daniels theory etc.

 

[Barrus]

Clen is still legally in use as a medicine for cattle and horses

and it can be the case that there have been more contaminationc ases with such minute traces, however up until recently labs were not able to find these minute traces and also if it only effect regular folks, you would never hear about it, as they are not tested for this, so lord knows how many of these contamination cases there have been in reality, no way to know whether this has not happened for 15 years

 

[roundabout]

unless Contador's team tracks down the farmer he'll need to rely on rules getting changed specifically for him if he's going to avoid being suspended for at least 1 year.

 

[Paco_P]

Why would AC take the meat and eat it from some place in Spain when he in Pau and knows that the eat has clen in it? Why would he get meat all the way from Spain?

You have to think like a Spaniard - Spanish beef (food in general) is better than beef (food) in any other place in the world - and having to eat bad French food gets very tiresome.

 

[Jamsque]

So if we take these facts into consideration we are left with a choice, to decide if Contador has been illegally doping, or if a Spanish farmer has been illegally doping his cows.

I find it so hard to come down on Contador's side, the whole story so reminiscent of Landis' case - except that Contador has had a month to come up with an excuse and Landis was put on the spot, hence his too many Jack Daniels theory etc.

I agree. Either a series of incredibly unlikely co-incidences occurred that resulted in Contador accidentally testing positive for a banned substance, or he doped. It's not impossible that a Spanish farmer happened to break the rules and dope his cows and a Spanish race organiser happened to buy some of that meat and it happened to still have some Clenbutarol in it and he happened to take it and give it to Contador who just happened to be the only person to eat any of it, but Occam's razor suggests the simpler explanation is the more likely one.

 

[Paco_P]

There will be more news coming out of Spain today or first thing tomorrow substantiating Contador's theory.

It should be noted positive tests such as these are more common than the public are aware. They just don't hear about them.

Not really. The Spanish press have already observed that, according to the public health authorities in Guipuzcoa, there hasn't been a documented case of clenbuterol poisoning of a cow there since 1999. The Spanish beef industry will soon be offended at the insinuations about its beef, and the damage to its image ....

 

[Paco_P]

"Spanish sports secretary of state Jaime Lissavetzky, meanwhile, expressed his support for Contador.

'Alberto Contador is a clean person and a clean athlete,' he said. 'We all need to be careful before judging anyone, because we are waiting for a scientific study.'

Lissavetzky explained that Contador had called him, giving him a 'word of honour' that he had not taken illegal substances."


http://www.monstersandcritics.com/n...ng-scandals-rock-Spanish-cycling-News-Feature

Case closed.

Lissavetzky is running for mayor of Madrid. He won't say anything that could be construed by the media as criticizing a Spaniard.

 

[mikeNphilly]

Have you actually looked at the facts. Where in any of the facts and the discussions since has it been proven that AC doped.
I cant stand the guy, but even i can work out that he wasnt taking it as a PED ,and the amount is so miniscule there are only two ways it could have got in his system. Contaminated food, and possibly transfusion for which their is currently no test.

Contador may get banned, who knows, but if he does, it wont be for doping, it will be for a technicality. And I for one dont think that is good for the sport,ban people for epo, ban people for ped's, ban people when there is evidence, but dont ban people for bull**** like this.

There are no facts except a banned substance was found in his blood. The rest are statements--not facts-- made by said caught doper and his allies. I simply don't believe the BS stories anymore from dopers.

 

[Paco_P]

I searched this thread for "teammate" and did not get any hits, so here are a few questions for thought/discussion, all based on Alberto's claim that tainted food resulted in the positive test result.

1. When does Alberto think he ingested the tainted food? At the Tour?

2. If at the Tour, don't his teammates eat the same food prepared by the team cooks?

3. Did any of his teammates turn up with positive results for Clenbuterol?

4. If ingested at the Tour OR at any other time before the Tour, could a one-time dose result in a positive test?

They have a long, detailed, complicated story answering all of those questions. See El Pais: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/pista/solomillo/Irun/elpepudep/20100930elpepudep_22/Tes

The title translates as "on the trail of the filet from Irun". The subtitle is roughly "chronology of how Contador came, supposedly, to eat a filet contaminated with clenbuterol". The tone is one of slight disbelief.

 

[peloton]

Some people have become violently ill after eating clenbuterol-tainted meat; experts say the tiny amount of the substance that showed up in Contador's system was not enough to make him sick. Many countries have outlawed the practice of dosing livestock with clenbuterol or steroids, but there is evidence that low-level environmental contamination remains pervasive. In a 2009 scholarly paper co-authored by Prof. Wilhelm Schaenzer, the Cologne lab director, he and two other German experts concluded: "With a detectability of clenbuterol at this low concentration, positive findings in residue analysis and doping control could be due to the consumption of trace amounts found in [livestock] feed or principally also in the water supply. Threshold concentration amounts for clenbuterol in doping control have, therefore, to be considered in the future." Catlin agreed, saying he thinks the rules are too strict.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?columnist=ford_bonnie_d&id=5634190

There must have been many, many cases like Contador's that we haven't heard of, especially if the water part is true.

 

[Polyarmour]

Clenbuterol is banned in Europe? So what? So is marijuana and as a non smoker, non drinker I even manage to find it in my own house....courtesy of my teenage kids. If a Spanish farmer sees a buck (or Euro) in administering steroids to his cattle then it will be happening somewhere. A stud bull sold for $50,000 here a few months ago, ... you know,.. a big, muscly, lean stud bull. Completely clean of course.

 

[Grand Tourist]

Would the process of cooking & digestion 'affect' the Clenbuterol in the infamous tainted fillet?

I'm finding it difficult to believe it would make its way from the fillet into AC's blood. That being said I'm not a medic / nutritionist. Any idea's?

 

[Ferrari]

Thank you very much. To clear things up, I first saw that story just come up on Cyclingnews as i refreshed my page. i then sent it a text to the SEN text line to report the story. kevin bartlett only a few minutes later said that there is unofficial reports from a recent text that Alberto Contador has tested positive for clen...later that hour I received a call from SEN who gave me a dinner for two to the Lobster Cave. NONE of the other media sources had reported the story yet.

You must be really proud of yourself. What an achievement. Now I understand your signature.

 

[laziali]

You must be really proud of yourself. What an achievement. Now I understand your signature.

Now, now Ferrari, pay credit where its due. Plus, with the Worlds in Geelong, ACF is entitled to feel generally very pleased with everything cycling. Only blot I can see on ACF is his irrational support of Collingwood who surely missed their chance last Saturday

 

[auscyclefan94]

You must be really proud of yourself. What an achievement. Now I understand your signature.

Yes, i am a news breaker. People never seem to recognise what great knowledge I have on cycling and life in general and the great investigative skills I have.

Now, now Ferrari, pay credit where its due. Plus, with the Worlds in Geelong, ACF is entitled to feel generally very pleased with everything cycling. Only blot I can see on ACF is his irrational support of Collingwood who surely missed their chance last Saturday

WE WILL SCREW THE SAINTS RIGHT UP TOMMOROW!

 

[boianchimoon]

Not sure if it has been mentioned on any thread but lance tweeted at 2pm on August 2 "now it all makes sense" the same day alberto was informed of his test result, is this a response do you think?

 

[theswordsman]

Would the process of cooking & digestion 'affect' the Clenbuterol in the infamous tainted fillet?

I'm finding it difficult to believe it would make its way from the fillet into AC's blood. That being said I'm not a medic / nutritionist. Any idea's?

It was actually found in a urine sample, so it doesn't take much to get it from stomach to pee.

The Science Of Sport has updated their blog to address the idea of transfusion. They also responded to some comments from other people who are putting in some research time.

http://www.sportsscientists.com/

The Cycling News story about what L'Equipe has said includes things not in the brief article on the website, so they must have gotten the paper version.

It surprised me (in a good but still wary way) that people in the Cologne lab are going over Contador's whole passport with a fine tooth comb. It's great that someone is doing it, but there was no mention of who is calling the shots. I'm still curious about the source in Spain for "the exact figures" that the German journalist came up with. Also, how did they get access to data from a test the day prior to the positive? I hope WADA is overseeing all of this.

 

[thehog]

Not sure if it has been mentioned on any thread but lance tweeted at 2pm on August 2 "now it all makes sense" the same day alberto was informed of his test result, is this a response do you think?

Same day Floyd lodged his whistleblower suit.

 

[SpeedWay]

how do you guys put up with this crap? road racing has become the lindsay lohan of cycling. What a joke. Lemond this, Lance that, and so on. Then all of us wannabes chiming in at the water cooler. It's embarassing. See you guys later. I forget that my kid's watching me.

It is what it is. The sum of the parts really do equal the whole - and it's very entertaining. THEY CAN'T HELP THEMSELVES.

 

[frenchfry]

It is all so obvious. First of all, Alberto was a bit homesick for some home-grown steak so he did what any normal person would do and ask a Spanish Race organiser to bring him a piece of meat from the home country. In order to ensure that the transportation of raw meat didn't pose any health problems, the race organiser had the butcher shrink wrap the meat. The cow from which the meat came from was from a bourgeois family and being anorexic had been taking clenbuterol in order to keep the kilos off. Said race organiser arriving on the rest day and Alberto experiencing a major nostalgic crisis for Spanish protein he wolfed down the steak without sharing any with teammate Vino - who in any case much prefers goat meat.

Clearly Alberto's positive is the result of an anorexic Spanish cow's meat shrink wrapped for hygienic inter-country transport. Nothing at all to do with a cyclist doping and getting caught.