General Doping Thread.

[V3R1T4S]

This opens several questions for me.

I just assumed Quintana got a BB on the rest day, which is where his positive came from. This small fry I am less sure about. I'd first assume he was just using it in training and not racing. If so, I am curious why they test for Tramadol in the blood and not urine? Just seems bizarre how they are going about this.

 

[samhocking]

It's only a blood spot test for Tramadol so a couple of drops of blood from finger tip or sometimes upper arm. As he wasn't a winning rider he will have been random tested I'd assume. iirc there's usually half a dozen random anti-doping tests each day, some are targeted using inteligence or biopassport information. They are decided during the race and then pulled from the finish line so there's no warning. Stage winner and GC leaders are tested every day and so Tramadol would be part of the procedure for all those riders passing through AD. Maybe UCI do more than ITA for Tramadol, I'm not sure

 

[V3R1T4S]

Thanks for the info! So I suppose some riders really are dumb enough to take this in-competition, then? I am shocked but not surprised. I guess this is the result of limbo in classification of it. Just bizarre.

 

[fmk_RoI]

If so, I am curious why they test for Tramadol in the blood and not urine?

The DBS test is quick and easy.

 

[Escarabajo]

Because AD testing is intelligence-led, it's not just dropping a hook in the river and hoping to catch something.

If you want to follow your logic, they shouldn't be wasting money using DBS testing on MPCC teams seeing as they've foresworn Tramadol.

It could have been just random testing?

 

[Escarabajo]

Can someone shed some light on the issue and tell me why this one came so late? shouldn't these type of positives come faster than usual, like with Quintana?

 

[fmk_RoI]

Can someone shed some light on the issue and tell me why this one came so late? shouldn't these type of positives come faster than usual, like with Quintana?

Look at the number of labs involved and question how busy they might be and what priority these would have been given.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Baudin on his Instagram writes that he doesn’t accept the positive test result, and wants to fight it at the TAS court.

What do you guys think of his attitude?

Obviously they found Tramadol in his blood. What could be the reason(s) for that?

Is it possible that he did not take Tramadol - the test result nevertheless was „positive“, anyways?… Do you think this is possible?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Bad farming practices?

Everyone be on the lookout for cows off their tits in Northern Italy.

 

[Rob5091]

Because AD testing is intelligence-led, it's not just dropping a hook in the river and hoping to catch something.

If you want to follow your logic, they shouldn't be wasting money using DBS testing on MPCC teams seeing as they've foresworn Tramadol.

I take it "intelligence-led" is a euphemism for "snitch"? And as you say why test a guy on a MPCC team unless they know before hand.

 

[fmk_RoI]

What do you guys think of his attitude?

Kübler-Rossing it.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I take it "intelligence-led" is a euphemism for "snitch"? And as you say why test a guy on a MPCC team unless they know before hand.

It is possible that someone on the team noticed that the guy was self medicating and not stopping when they told him, so they wanted to teach him a lession.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Baudin on his Instagram writes that he doesn’t accept the positive test result, and wants to fight it at the TAS court.

What do you guys think of his attitude?

Obviously they found Tramadol in his blood. What could be the reason(s) for that?

Is it possible that he did not take Tramadol - the test result nevertheless was „positive“, anyways?… Do you think this is possible?

He's on a MPCC team, so a positive would cost him the spot on the team/would be enough to terminate his contract, so he's probably clutching at straws.
If it wasn't a MPCC team you'd be better of saying that you made a really stupid mistake by taking a painkiller without checking the ingredient/asking the team doctor and apologizing to the team and your teammates.

 

[Walter1234]

Baudin on his Instagram writes that he doesn’t accept the positive test result, and wants to fight it at the TAS court.

What do you guys think of his attitude?

Obviously they found Tramadol in his blood. What could be the reason(s) for that?

Is it possible that he did not take Tramadol - the test result nevertheless was „positive“, anyways?… Do you think this is possible?

I fear for the guy career. In the teams statement there was no kind of support to the rider. The rider in his statement couldn't make any kind of useful argument of why an appeal would make sense.

 

[Walter1234]

Surely not random 22 year old AG2R rider doing the Full-Ferarri GT prep with bags on the rest days to come 73rd in the Giro

Learn from Nairo's mistake, just admit it and say you didn't know it was banned or that you had horrific pain somewhere and needed it is the play here I think.

I read they were taking "dried blood samples". I wonder if they would just go by all riders with bandages and take same bandage sample with blood...
I really hope a 22 year has a good explanation on what is happening. Better then Nairo did....

 

[Me gal in da rain]

It's impressive how many ways there are to say you know diddly-squat about DBS testing. Truly impressive.

lol.... people are so mean to each other on by here

wouldn't mind some elaboration though - i know so little about dry blood testing that i had never heard of it before

 

[SafeBet]

Is UCI notifying all the doping violations they kept in the drawer the past few years?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1686725266070999040

View: https://twitter.com/AlpecinDCK/status/1686725266070999040?s=20

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Is UCI notifying all the doping violations they kept in the drawer the past few years?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1686725266070999040

View: https://twitter.com/AlpecinDCK/status/1686725266070999040?s=20

It's like something made them very eager to point out they're actually doing stuff.

 

[Rackham]

Retroactively testing older samples with new methods maybe? It's so strange to see a rider suspended for offenses committed 4 years ago.

 

[Ripper]

Retroactively testing older samples with new methods maybe? It's so strange to see a rider suspended for offenses committed 4 years ago.

UCI proving they are really on this and able to address things in real time!

 

[Ripper]

It's like something made them very eager to point out they're actually doing stuff.

It's called post Tour PR time

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Only reasonable explanation would be that they're re-testing old samples with "better" methods. Otherwise that's just totally bizarre but given that the UCI is currently on a rampage of randomly timed decisions (Transgender, MLA, Filip Maciejuk) it would probably surprise nobody if they just cluelessly sat on that news for 4 years for whatever reason.

 

[Rackham]

Only reasonable explanation would be that they're re-testing old samples with "better" methods. Otherwise that's just totally bizarre but given that the UCI is currently on a rampage of randomly timed decisions (Transgender, MLA, Filip Maciejuk) it would probably surprise nobody if they just cluelessly sat on that news for 4 years for whatever reason.

If they really were genuinely testing old samples properly (a bit like when Armstrong's 1999 TdF samples returned an EPO positive... in 2005), then boy oh boy, I bet quite a few pros will be sweating right now.

But I bet it's something way more boring & politically motivated. I mean I'd love to see a snowball effect here (which spreads to other sports as well) but I seriously doubt it. Robert Stannard seems like a very strange catch in any case.

 

[Escarabajo]

Is UCI notifying all the doping violations they kept in the drawer the past few years?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1686725266070999040

View: https://twitter.com/AlpecinDCK/status/1686725266070999040?s=20

Is the team supposed to do something? or is the UCI going to sanction him? I guess they can by the statute of limitations but I guess there is a process to follow and if they didn't it then it will be just PR.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Is UCI notifying all the doping violations they kept in the drawer the past few years?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1686725266070999040

View: https://twitter.com/AlpecinDCK/status/1686725266070999040?s=20

Exactly my thought.

„Decades“ without positives, then two cases in three days…