General Doping Thread.

[Barnacle Bill]

Not sure what to make of these Enhanced Games yet, whether getting things out in the open is a good thing or just asking for an inevitable dangerous incident, but can't help finding it amusing to see athletes talking openly of getting "juiced to the gills".

Ben Proud becomes first British athlete to sign up to Enhanced Games
The 30-year-old, who won silver in 50m freestyle at Paris Olympics, has joined controversial event that allows competitors to take performance-enhancing substances

The Olympic silver medal-winning swimmer Ben Proud has become the first British athlete to sign up for the Enhanced Games.

The controversial event, in which athletes are permitted to take performance-enhancing substances, is scheduled for May next year and is set to be the subject of a documentary by Rob McElhenney, the Hollywood actor and Wrexham co-owner.

However, in more than two years since it was launched, only a handful of athletes have publicly committed to the Enhanced Games — and none from Britain. Now Proud, a world and European 50m freestyle champion who won silver at the Olympics in Paris last year, has put his name forward.

“My ambition has always been to be the fastest man on the planet,” Proud, 30, said. “I’ve spent years striving for that within traditional sport, but my motivations have shifted.

“Now, I want to focus on performance at its highest level and challenge myself in new ways. The Enhanced Games gives me that chance — to test the limits of human potential with the tools and possibilities of our time.”

Proud is set to race against Kristian Gkolomeev from Greece, who swam the 50m in an unofficial world-record time in February, and James Magnussen, the three-times Olympic medallist from Australia who has declared his intention to “juice to the gills” in pursuit of victory.

Asked if he thinks the Enhanced Games undermines clean sport, Proud told BBC Sport: “No. I think it opens up the potential avenue to excel in a very different way.

“Speaking for myself, I think realistically I’ve achieved everything I can, and now the Enhanced [Games] is giving me a new opportunity. I definitely don’t think that’s undermining a clean sport. I really respect the sport I’ve been part of, and I would never step back in knowing I’ve done something which isn’t in the rules.”

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Not sure what to make of these Enhanced Games yet, whether getting things out in the open is a good thing or just asking for an inevitable dangerous incident, but can't help finding it amusing to see athletes talking openly of getting "juiced to the gills".

Proud will probably just continue on whatever medical concoction he has been on all the time....

 

[Sciatic]

Not sure what to make of these Enhanced Games yet, whether getting things out in the open is a good thing or just asking for an inevitable dangerous incident, but can't help finding it amusing to see athletes talking openly of getting "juiced to the gills".

One way to look at this silly endeavor is that it could make more valid the claims of many here (including me) that the elite levels of most pro sports are rife with doping. Because I think it’s likely some of these “juiced to the gills” folks won’t beat the times of elite pros on the world stage.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Unibet Tietema Rockets rider suspended for 'unexplained abnormalities' in Athlete Biological Passport

Team announces suspension of Italian rider Giovanni Carboni with immediate effect

www.cyclingnews.com

Giovanni Carboni suspended, Team UKYO to Unibet isn‘t the same program it seems

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Unibet Tietema Rockets rider suspended for 'unexplained abnormalities' in Athlete Biological Passport

Team announces suspension of Italian rider Giovanni Carboni with immediate effect

www.cyclingnews.com

Giovanni Carboni suspended, Team UKYO to Unibet isn‘t the same program it seems

My god I watch pocagar doing thermonuclear performances looking fresh as a daisy and going 4 minutes faster than pantani. Winning monuments all season long. Gianetti and maxtin doing tv interviews. Uae doctor on the UCI comission. Uae riders win half the vuelta stages without breathing.

But thank god the UCI is catching these Italians who dope a bit for fun to compete in settimana coppi bartali and the national championships. Tahnks for cleanning up the sport guys,

 

[thetdog666]

My god I watch pocagar doing thermonuclear performances looking fresh as a daisy and going 4 minutes faster than pantani. Winning monuments all season long. Gianetti and maxtin doing tv interviews. Uae doctor on the UCI comission. Uae riders win half the vuelta stages without breathing.

But thank god the UCI is catching these Italians who dope a bit for fun to compete in settimana coppi and the national championships. Tahnks for cleanning up the sport guys,

Really is pathetic isn't it. Money talks

 

[Mr. 64%]

My god I watch pocagar doing thermonuclear performances looking fresh as a daisy and going 4 minutes faster than pantani. Winning monuments all season long. Gianetti and maxtin doing tv interviews. Uae doctor on the UCI comission. Uae riders win half the vuelta stages without breathing.

But thank god the UCI is catching these Italians who dope a bit for fun to compete in settimana coppi bartali and the national championships. Tahnks for cleanning up the sport guys,

This! Couldn't have said it better myself, it sums up my thoughts on the current doping situation so well.

 

[Rob5091]

A golden oldie gets busted again -
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dr...of-medicine-and-use-of-prohibited-substances/

Bernard Sainz, the French sports medicine advisor, has been handed a two-year sentence – with one year suspended – for illegal practice of medicine, and the use of prohibited substances or methods in the context of a sporting event.

The 82-year-old will serve a year of his sentence under an electronic tag.
Sainz, who describes himself as a 'naturopath' and who has a long history of involvement in cycling, will also have to pay a €20,000 fine and is banned from engaging in any sporting activities. He was acquitted, however, of incitement to doping. Sainz, who is known as 'Dr Mabuse', was placed under house arrest for a year in 2022 and has been barred from practising medicine after being found guilty of illegal practice of medicine and incitement to doping in 2013 and 2017.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

A golden oldie gets busted again -
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dr...of-medicine-and-use-of-prohibited-substances/

Only fools and horses are getting treated by him.

 

[Rob5091]

Only fools and horses are getting treated by him.

That's a funny comment thinking about Bahrain's boss Erzen's past.

 

[Rob5091]

The "pay-to-race"/financial bit of this story could get VERY interesting (thanks to search for the link !)
https://www.tuttobiciweb.it/article...nvestigation-vini-zabu-whistleblowing?lang=en

... the carabinieri received a confidential report from the Swiss anti-doping agency, Stiftung Antidoping Schweiz, arising from reports submitted through the whistleblowing platform: these reports spoke not only of prohibited substances but also of a system involving psychological pressure, harassment, and improper financial demands on athletes.

The collected testimonies were confirmed during the investigations: an organized mechanism emerged for recruiting riders who were without contracts or considered to have insufficient technical levels. Athletes were registered through a shell company based in Ireland, but only on the condition that they advance money or commit to returning part of their salaries. In some cases, as documented in the files, athletes were provided, always for a fee, with a professional license obtained through corrupt methods from compliant foreign federations, simulating residency transfers that never actually occurred.

From the documents, it emerges clearly that the "pay-to-race" was not an isolated episode, but a system designed to fuel two parallel drifts: on one side, the entry into professionalism of athletes lacking the necessary qualities, who were then forced to resort to doping to maintain competitive levels; on the other, the so-called "financial doping", with companies that, despite lacking resources for real contracts, managed to guarantee visibility and access to sponsorships. Crucial during the investigations was the collaboration provided by the International Cycling Union, which made available data and evidence to reconstruct the case.

 

[Rob5091]

A trip down memory lane on the previous "pay-to-race" scandal - 2017, before teams had big bucks to buy out rider's contracts -
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...anned-over-italian-pay-to-race-scandal-322080

The Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) has banned two Italian team managers for three months, ruling them out of the Giro d'Italia and other events, because they charged cyclists to race in their teams.
Trek-Segafredo rider Marco Coledan, has also been banned for refusing to testify in the case.

The federation banned Gianni Savio and Angelo Citracca, managers of Androni Giocattoli and Wilier Triestina respectively, for three months after the made riders to pay for professional contracts to ride on their teams.

Only in Italy! 2017's scandal halted by ... broken heating?!
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...g-may-never-reached-due-broken-heating-307003

From 2022 -
https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/ex-spanish-pro-reveals-pay-to-race-schemes

Spanish ex-pro Óscar Pujol revealed details of “pay-to-race” schemes soffered to him during his pro racing career.
Pujol raced a few seasons in the WorldTour with Cérvelo and Omega Pharma, and then for nearly another decade in second and third-tier teams before retiring in 2018.

After the 2011 season, he could not find another WorldTour contract, but said without naming names that he was offered what’s called “pay-to-race” schemes.

That’s when a rider must put up part or all of their own contracts to secure a roster spot on an elite team.

 

[Ripper]

A golden oldie gets busted again -
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dr...of-medicine-and-use-of-prohibited-substances/

The doctor is in! Dr. Mabuse!

 

[Unchained]

I think it's wrong for riders to be suspended for not testifying.

 

[Rob5091]

I think it's wrong for riders to be suspended for not testifying.

Omertà is a strong thing. I see it as the guy thought, I can get a short ban, or I can get both my legs broken and not get picked for any team ever again. Easy choice!

 

[Rob5091]

So 2019, the Aderlass scandal blows up and then under and post Covid lots of super charged guys. Has team doctors come up with a new way to beat the system? Bahrain went nuclear then got raided (and Colbrelli nearly died) and backed off the juice, but everyone else just got faster and faster. Big bucks came into the sport and the UCI started looking for motors when it was the guys on the bikes that needed testing.
Big bucks mean more doctors, more "team testing" (the CO incident is one) using the same equipment as WADA labs, and one nagging piece of news that surprised me was a lab getting paid a lot more then they tendered for.
Either WADA is being gamed or UCI don't care anymore as long as the big bucks keep rolling in.

 

[Ripper]

LOLZZZZZZZZ

Just tuned in to see how the Euro's were going.

Looking forward to watching some XCO in Lake Placid a little bit later!!!