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General Doping Thread.

Page 44 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Unnamed US law enforcement agency reported to be on the trail of Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, who popped a positive for HGH ahead of the Tokyo Games, under the controversial World Anti-Doping Police legislation, the Rodchenkov Act.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article...cy-probing-blessing-okagbare-anti-doping-case

A major United States law enforcement agency is now pursuing the anti-doping case involving provisionally suspended Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
 
The Blessing Okagbare case just got better. As well as the HGH AAF from a July 19 OOC test, and as well as the unnamed US law enforcement agency hot on her trail, the AIU has just hit her with a second AAF to contend with, an EPO positive from a June 20 OOC test.
The athlete has also been charged with the presence and use of a prohibited substance following the detection of recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) in a sample collected out-of-competition on 20th June in Nigeria. The AIU requested EPO analysis be conducted on the sample on 29th July and the adverse analytical finding was reported to the AIU on 12th August. Ms Okagbare was notified of the adverse analytical finding on 20th August.
Is EPO enjoying resurgent popularity, is the number of recent EPO cases just down to this being an Olympic year, has EPO testing (glow time) changed?
 
I’m watching the NFL football game in Tennessee today and thinking about the ridiculous difference between the NFL on one hand, and pro cycling on the other, regarding restrictions /expectations about PED use. Not only does the NFL not test for all the possible PE drugs, and not only do they not do any reasonable out-of-competition testing, and not only are the penalties minuscule (4 games for steroid positive), there’s also the glaring difference in what’s normative. Yeah, of course cyclists are using injections of illicit substances but the UCI is at least trying to make it more difficult with the no-needle policy. Whereas at this game in Tennesse where, yeah it’s a little warm for late Oct, players are getting fluids in IVs on the sideline DURING the game and some of them will go back in to play. Imagine a ghastly hot mountain stage in the Tour or Vuelta, having the team car come up alongside a suffering rider and sticking an IV line in his vein to get a bag of fluid into him!
 
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I’m watching the NFL football game in Tennessee today and thinking about the ridiculous difference between the NFL on one hand, and pro cycling on the other, regarding restrictions /expectations about PED use. Not only does the NFL not test for all the possible PE drugs, and not only do they not do any reasonable out-of-competition testing, and not only are the penalties minuscule (4 games for steroid positive), there’s also the glaring difference in what’s normative. Yeah, of course cyclists are using injections of illicit substances but the UCI is at least trying to make it more difficult with the no-needle policy. Whereas at this game in Tennesse where, yeah it’s a little warm for late Oct, players are getting fluids in IVs on the sideline DURING the game and some of them will go back in to play. Imagine a ghastly hot mountain stage in the Tour or Vuelta, having the team car come up alongside a suffering rider and sticking an IV line in his vein to get a bag of fluid into him!
Absolutely none of the players in big NA team sports are taking PEDs.
 
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I’m watching the NFL football game in Tennessee today and thinking about the ridiculous difference between the NFL on one hand, and pro cycling on the other, regarding restrictions /expectations about PED use. Not only does the NFL not test for all the possible PE drugs, and not only do they not do any reasonable out-of-competition testing, and not only are the penalties minuscule (4 games for steroid positive), there’s also the glaring difference in what’s normative. Yeah, of course cyclists are using injections of illicit substances but the UCI is at least trying to make it more difficult with the no-needle policy. Whereas at this game in Tennesse where, yeah it’s a little warm for late Oct, players are getting fluids in IVs on the sideline DURING the game and some of them will go back in to play. Imagine a ghastly hot mountain stage in the Tour or Vuelta, having the team car come up alongside a suffering rider and sticking an IV line in his vein to get a bag of fluid into him!
The sports have obvious differences and, to be kind to cycling; NFL football has a hugely different fan base to entertain. That situation and the INSANE financial incentives to perform contributes to the NFL"s unique definition of norms for everything.
NFL players need to be phenomenally quick to initiate the play and be capable of levelling an opponent in zero to 2 strides off of the snap. They also need to endure a full sprint fall or blind impact from an opponent that may be 60 lbs larger. Not fat 60 or skinny cycling 60/hc. Mean 60 lbs. They need players strong enough to play and able to recover quickly; the players are more than willing to embrace personal therapy. See Ludwig Wacker's reason from walking away from competition at 21 as a hopeful counterpoint, here.
Cycling just needs naturally inclined athletes to do what they do for 6 hours. Maybe 21 days out of the next 24 would be the same deal and much less hospitable for the riders' recovery. Riders on big UCI teams get a luxoclub as a bus; their NFL counterparts get a bit bigger sleeping situation.
As for the Vuelta; wasn't a Spaniard on a Spanish team dying on the road with their team car alongside and willing to give them any boost they could to get them to continue? Problem was; they had already done the IV treatment before the stage and forgot to check the storage temperature instructions on the bag and maybe the even the Donor?
So with that other Tour de France race: an entire team left because of poor blood culinary skills when they served the squad a little IVbadcheese.
The NFL hasn't quite topped that feat.
 
Team Sapura's Pierpaolo Ficara has recently tested positive for Clostebol.
https://granfondodailynews.com/2021...-challenge-star-tests-positive-for-clostebol/
Interesting that the Italian NADA is doing OOC testing for the CT-level athletes.
Ficara is still training in Sicily with his teammate Celano (the guy's probably one of the reason's why there's OOC-testing for CT rider now...)
Seems very big in the Granfondo scene and an interesting drug, but I guess easily detectable.

Ficara and Celano have been very strong for a few years but nobody bigger gave them a shot after the Celano fail at caja rural.

When a guy is so strong at conti level, joins a PCT/WT team and does nothing it's clear what's going on
 
Seems very big in the Granfondo scene and an interesting drug, but I guess easily detectable.

Ficara and Celano have been very strong for a few years but nobody bigger gave them a shot after the Celano fail at caja rural.

When a guy is so strong at conti level, joins a PCT/WT team and does nothing it's clear what's going on
Yeah and both of them rode for Amore e Vita, who would pobably even sign a returning Ricco (see Appollonio and Pirazzi, they signed them right after their ban had ended).
Ficara was never as over the top as Celano, always good in hrad on day races, but never as obvious as Celano.
That said, he suddenly improved after the u23 ranks when riding for a shady CT team (by Italian standards).
 
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Yeah and both of them rode for Amore e Vita, who would pobably even sign a returning Ricco (see Appollonio and Pirazzi, they signed them right after their ban had ended).
Ficara was never as over the top as Celano, always good in hrad on day races, but never as obvious as Celano.
That said, he suddenly improved after the u23 ranks when riding for a shady CT team (by Italian standards).
As I write yours is the last post in the Clinic since Dec 9 - 1 week. I know its the off season in the Northern Hemisphere but this place is getting the wobbles? I hope not :(
 
As I write yours is the last post in the Clinic since Dec 9 - 1 week. I know its the off season in the Northern Hemisphere but this place is getting the wobbles? I hope not :(
"The year is 2026 and it's now been five years since last there was a post in the Clinic that wasn't about posts in the Clinic. What started as navel gazing has reached the point where the Clinic has disappeared up its own fundament."

Here's a suggestion: lead by example if you're really that bothered.
 
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