Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[rick james]

Re:

Even if the hotel refused to notify him, the testers have his cell number, why didn't he answer the cellphone if he had that hour open for testing? Bizarre

they are not allowed to phone him

 

[mrhender]

Re: Re:

Even if the hotel refused to notify him, the testers have his cell number, why didn't he answer the cellphone if he had that hour open for testing? Bizarre

they are not allowed to phone him

But the hotel are... And if they were commited to serving him well they would have called him...

Unless they were issued with the "no disturbance" card from Froome....

In any case, arguing the rights and wrongs on the hotel's part is exactly what Froome might have hoped for...

(as well as being compared to the bad-bad-bad Mo.....)

No one else but Froome was responsible for the missed test.... Fair or not...

 

[keeponrollin]

Re: Re:

Even if the hotel refused to notify him, the testers have his cell number, why didn't he answer the cellphone if he had that hour open for testing? Bizarre

they are not allowed to phone him

and I think this confuses a lot of people.

For very good reason, the testers aren't allowed to phone prior to a test, as this would constitute a warning period & we all know that would allow an athlete to tamper with their test data.

But, then why do the athletes provide a number ?

It seems absurd to ask for a number, & then write the rules to forbid using the number.

I persume that for a case where an athlete put a hotel in ADAMS(?) as their location, instead of ringing the door bell like the did with Mo; they instead ask the desk to ring the room, & again, like that case, they ring every 15mins for an hour, to try & get the athlete ?

 

[peloton]

Re: Re:

Even if the hotel refused to notify him, the testers have his cell number, why didn't he answer the cellphone if he had that hour open for testing? Bizarre

they are not allowed to phone him

Thanks, didn't know that.

Overnight Accommodation
If you have a few regular places where you stay, you can add all of these in ADAMS in order to make any amendments to your overnight residence easy to manage.

If you are staying in a hotel, for example, then you need to add your room number to your Whereabouts or ensure that the room is booked in your name so any Doping Control Officer can locate you easily.

http://www.ukad.org.uk/athletes/elite/whereabouts/

 

[neineinei]

According to Mads Drange, who worked for Anti-doping Norway up until two years ago, ADN called the athlete when 5 minutes remained of the hour. So they are probably allowed to call the athlete, at some point. Or Wada's rules are so unclear that the various agencies are just doing whatever they want.

Drange also writes that most of ADN's out-of-competition testing isn't done in the athletes one-hour sloth, it is predictable and not effective testing.

When the tester couldn't find Henao's home he phoned Henao and asked him if he could wait for him, This sounded quite dubious to me.

 

[keeponrollin]

Re:

According to Mads Drange, who worked for Anti-doping Norway up until two years ago, ADN called the athlete when 5 minutes remained of the hour. So they are probably allowed to call the athlete, at some point. Or Wada's rules are so unclear that the various agencies are just doing whatever they want.

Drange also writes that most of ADN's out-of-competition testing isn't done in the athletes one-hour sloth, it is predictable and not effective testing.

When the tester couldn't find Henao's home he phoned Henao and asked him if he could wait for him, This sounded quite dubious to me.

That sounds fair. You let the athlete know that they either get their ar$e to the door, or the miss goes on their record.

I wonder if this might be an interesting case for the UCI to lead the way ?

We have cameras on bikes now thanks to Cookson; how about cameras on testers ?

It would be great to have camera footage of testers as they arrived at the Dawgs hotel, or Mos front door, & they would have collabrative proof that their explaination was held up by the video evidence. What clean athlete could possibly complain ?

Now if the Video showed that Mos has a door bell that would have Quasimodo running in terror; or that the hotel staff were ringing the phone off the hook .....

 

[The Hitch]

Looks to me like a cry for attention. A way to get himself in the media a week before the Tour and look all anti doping. What he intended to do last year with that Tenerife stunt and what DB orchestrated 2 years ago with the values scam.

 

[The_Cheech]

The question still stands: how do you know for sure that he was in that hotel room when the WADA folks showed up? How do we know if he was even in Italy?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

The question still stands: how do you know for sure that he was in that hotel room when the WADA folks showed up? How do we know if he was even in Italy?

First Q - don't know, not sure why it matters
Second Q
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-reveals-missed-doping-controls
"The Sky rider said that the missed test took place while on a short break in Italy but did not divulge the precise date of the incident."

 

[TheSpud]

My round 2 pick is in the doping news. Great !

Missing a control in itself is a possibility for any rider. That's the flaw with out of competition surprise visits: the guy may give an address but be at the local pub carbing up when the testers show up.

At a guess it was not a random / surprise visit though - but a test at his known location during a time slot he had nominated.

True. And I'm trying to imagine the script, the dialogues. Dawg says the staff told him testers had shown up, which implies the individuals introduced them as such.

Scene at the front desk:

"Good morning gentlemen, how may I assist you?
- We're here to dope test Dawg.
- We don't have any Mr. Dawg registered as a guest. It must be a mistake.
- I mean Froome, Chris Froome, a.k.a. Dawg, Froomey, Skeletor. We're here to bust the SOB.
- Sorry Sir, but our policy is to respect the privacy of our guests. May I take a message?
- Look Front Desk uptight guy: we've come a long way, already missed Piti and Nibbles, almost got kidnapped in Colombia, we won't leave empty handed. All we need to do is perform a quick test and bust the a$$hole.
- Again, I apologize, but it is against our policy.
- Can you get us something at least? Did he send his clothes to the cleaner? Common man, get me the bag. I'll give you 20 bucks."

And then, imagine the casual scene at the hotel restaurant, the Froomes having breakfast:

" Would you like another glass of our fresh squeezed orange juice from Ferrara Mr. Froome?
- Sure Nigel, thank you. And please congratulate the chef: the pan y agua continental is absolutely fantastic.
- Oh, I almost forgot. Earlier this morning, two gentlemen came to perform an out of competition test. Of course, we didn't let them disturb you.
- Great. Here's a hundred pounds Nigel, to split with the Front Desk agent."

A post that has added nothing sensible to the discussion / debate ...

 

[TheSpud]

So many posts and points over the last few pages, and in true Clinic fashion a lot of sniping and looking for a smoking gun.

Fact : His missed a test earlier this year
Fact : He claims the hotel wouldn't let the testers in
Fact : He admitted to it when asked by the press

My view, as some have said, is that this has only come out as a result of the Mo F situation. It really shouldn't be a surprise that Froome (or any UK athlete) was asked about this kind of thing (ie missed tests, Farah, etc.). Froome didn't call a press conference about it - he was asked and was truthful. What more do you expect? If he had lied he ran the risk of being caught out.

We can all speculate about why he was in Italy, etc. The fact is he logged his whereabouts as there - if he wanted to deliberately go for a miss why log where you are actually going? Why not log at home in Monaco (which is likely where he was before and after anyway) and take the risk - "Ahh sorry, last minute holiday with wife, sorry - I forgot to update Adams".

For me this is no more than a random missed test, probably no more than anyone else has had. Quite plausible - but of course, that doesn't fit the logic and thinking of many of the posters on here.

Hopefully the questions will now be asked of the other top riders as to how many tests they have missed - we'll soon see how deafening the silence is ...

 

[keeponrollin]

Re:

What more do you expect? If he had lied he ran the risk of being caught out.

We can all speculate about why he was in Italy, etc. The fact is he logged his whereabouts as there - if he wanted to deliberately go for a miss why log where you are actually going? Why not log at home in Monaco (which is likely where he was before and after anyway) and take the risk - "Ahh sorry, last minute holiday with wife, sorry - I forgot to update Adams".

Well the obvious answer, is that in your proposed senario; he'd be admitting responsibility, & in his explanation, he is firmly putting the blame on someone else; hence the challange, & attempt to have the miss removed from his record.

Let's imagine that this was a 2nd missed test in a year, instead of a 1st .... it would make overturning the miss a much higher priority than most people are weighting it at, as it is.

I think people have trouble understanding that even though the occasional missed test isn't a huge problem; miss two inside a year, & you'll need to be ultra careful not to miss that 3rd test !

 

[Hugh Januss]

Re: Re:

Folk jumping in feet first just because it's Froome, he was on holiday with his wife, I'm not sure what more Froome can do, surely the hotel is to blame for this? They are the ones who wouldn't let them phone the room or give them access to Froome

I don't like the fact he has waited months to tell the public this as it makes the whole event rather fishy.

However from my own experience if you stay in a very reputable hotel where there are VIP guest the hotel staff are under strict instructions to not let any visitor disturb the guests that includes even a simple phone call, especially early in the morning. However Froome should have told the staff that there was a very minor possibility that drug testers could be on site. He was probably too busy making babies to tell them though!

No, that's not the case. You don't instruct the reception desk to restrict all and any access to your room. You make sure you are only contacted on a force majeure basis, but not restrict ALL access. Chris knows that. WADA knows that.

Chris had his phone with him (he was instructed to have a line of communication open at all times,) his wife probably had her phone with her, et cetera.

This all sounds as though he intended to miss the test. Whether he did it because he was glowing big time or just wanted to have a quiet time with the wife is inconsequential. He was FULLY AWARE of the importance of the whereabouts rule.

Back in the day, Oscar Pereiro bitched and moaned on the media about the WADA people showing up during communions, birthday parties and multitude of other private events. If my memory serves me right... he never missed a test. He bitched and moaned about it, but never missed getting tested. He would cuss at the WADA testers, but allowed for the testing to get done.

Fast forward to today... Froome, one of the favorites of the TdF "forgets," (more like playing stupid) to tell the reception desk that they are to let the WADA personnel come up to the room if they decide to show up... and people believe him?

H. U. H.??

Why didn't the tester ring him then? If they had his phone number then call him.

He "forgot" to leave it turned on?

 

[Tonton]

A post that has added nothing sensible to the discussion / debate ...

I like to have fun TheSpud. Don't you?

 

[Dear Wiggo]

A post that has added nothing sensible to the discussion / debate ...

I like to have fun TheSpud. Don't you?

Don't worry mate. I appreciated the injection of levity. The irony of his post adding 0 content itself possibly escaped him - at least yours added humour.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

So many posts and points over the last few pages, and in true Clinic fashion a lot of sniping and looking for a smoking gun.

Fact : His missed a test earlier this year
Fact : He claims the hotel wouldn't let the testers in
Fact : He admitted to it when asked by the press

My view, as some have said, is that this has only come out as a result of the Mo F situation. It really shouldn't be a surprise that Froome (or any UK athlete) was asked about this kind of thing (ie missed tests, Farah, etc.). Froome didn't call a press conference about it - he was asked and was truthful. What more do you expect? If he had lied he ran the risk of being caught out.

We can all speculate about why he was in Italy, etc. The fact is he logged his whereabouts as there - if he wanted to deliberately go for a miss why log where you are actually going? Why not log at home in Monaco (which is likely where he was before and after anyway) and take the risk - "Ahh sorry, last minute holiday with wife, sorry - I forgot to update Adams".

For me this is no more than a random missed test, probably no more than anyone else has had. Quite plausible - but of course, that doesn't fit the logic and thinking of many of the posters on here.

Hopefully the questions will now be asked of the other top riders as to how many tests they have missed - we'll soon see how deafening the silence is ...

Wow! Keep lecturing others: nothing in your post except the highlighted, which since The Chicken is a lesson learned. "deliberately going for a miss"...keep lecturing . Instead of trolling on me, how about The Hitch's post? That one is worth debating. And I agree with him.

 

[Tonton]

A post that has added nothing sensible to the discussion / debate ...

I like to have fun TheSpud. Don't you?

Don't worry mate. I appreciated the injection of levity. The irony of his post adding 0 content itself possibly escaped him - at least yours added humour.

I am done ruining my mental health with cycling. I'd rather laugh about it. Be the buffoon that calls the King "stupid" instead of being belligerent. Let's face it: cycling is a joke. So let's have fun about it, call for changes, and many signs indicate that pros, teams, and others actually read our criticism. Maybe, hopefully, some good will come out of it. In the meantime, I took a spin with my 10 year old today and had a blast.

 

[joe_papp]

Two missed tests in five years. Meh.

Even I've missed one in the past four years.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Re:

Two missed tests in five years. Meh.

Even I've missed one in the past four years.

Yeah but you're dodgy as, mate.

 

[The_Cheech]

Re:

Two missed tests in five years. Meh.

Even I've missed one in the past four years.

And which squad are you going to be leading to win the TdF a second time?

 

[Archibald]

A post that has added nothing sensible to the discussion / debate ...

BS. That was gold, and rather refreshing from the rest of it all

 

[TheSpud]

A post that has added nothing sensible to the discussion / debate ...

I like to have fun TheSpud. Don't you?

Yeah, fair enough i'll give you that. I only said it didnt add anything sensible, not that it didnt add anything at all. No trolling intended (in answer to your later post) - it seems your patience with cycling ran out long before many others on here. Note to self that this is a forum and reasoned debate wont necessarily be tolerated ...

 

[gillan1969]

the thing that doesn't add up is that you would expect that the testers would not be aware of any previous testing history...i.e. they would not know if he was on 1 or 2 missed tests...you would reasonably expect them therefore to be rather stringent in their attempts to get to Froome due to the importance of the implications...equally, if the implications were made aware to hotel staff and the circumstances i.e. this is a location and a time your guest specifically told us we could contact him and if you don't he could lose millions of pounds...then you might think that a duty manager would have at least thought that this might be a circumstances where the usual hotel rules may be usurped..

that assumes he specifically told them he didn't want to be disturbed by anybody...or indeed he was even there

i would like to think a journo might now ask those questions......and in the absence of details why, with his dodgy background speculation is fair game...

if he wants a pass all he need do is release his pre-vuelta data...it's that easy...

 

[hrotha]

Huh? The testers don't need to know that, but even if they did, the first missed test was long enough ago that it didn't count.

 

[Singer01]

i haven't read the whole thread since the story broke, but have the testers who attended made any comment, surely if he is telling the truth (that the staff wouldn't allow the testers to disturb him), then they owe it to him to confirm.