Jonathan Tiernan-Locke written to by UCI, asked to explain blood values

[ToreBear]

Factual - a team with more money and more scientific testing than any on the planet, hires a rider that was on the GB U23 national team in 2004 and lots of contact with since. He then becomes rocket man iv. Lots of ways to sort it out.

Soft - you need to get up close and see who bumps into this crew and recoils away and the types it embraces. Think Sutton and Brailsford.

His story is suspicious. But perhaps they thought he had an illness that had cleared up? Also perhaps there was public pressure to sign him for sky? Perhaps they were afraid someone else would take him?

Lots of possibilities.


But now the road race is entering the rounds and I'm a horrible multitasker..

 

[gooner]

exactly

in any case this nicely rebuts gooner's claim that sky were caught off-guard by walsh's ST piece.

Nice tabloid work. That's not what I said. Of course they knew all about it but they were caught off guard that it went public at this time. Check what I said below. I'm growing a small bit tired of my posts being twisted and intentionally misinterpreted.

Twist anything to carry on the mantra that he's some sort of sellout. If you were around the forum this morning you would have seen that Sky released a statement right for thing at dawn. All things point that they weren't expecting this to go public as quickly as this.

 

[sniper]

Nice tabloid work. That's not what I said. Of course they knew all about it but they were caught off guard that it went public at this time. Check what I said below. I'm growing a small bit tired of my posts being twisted and intentionally misinterpreted.

let me get this straight.
so they knew it was gonna leak, but not exactly when.
and so they thought let's just wait formulating a response.
we probably have all the time in the world.
sounds plausible.


btw, you say the nature of their response somehow suggests they were caught off guard.
i don't see that.
it's a brief, businesslike response, as you'd expect.

 

[The Hitch]

You could tell from the leaked 2010 Tour de France suspicion index that Sky weren't bothered by dodgy values. In fact quite the opposite. They seemingly actively targeted some of the most suspicious riders...

Good point.

 

[Race Radio]

It is clear SKY made little effort to examine a rider who many in the sport had questions about. Smith may speak up for him today but even Endura riders questioned his performances in 2012. Sky relied on blood values collected by another team, did no performance tests of their own, and hired a rider who had massive swings in form.

While SKY may try to trumpet that JTL did not dope on their team this is likely more to do with the increased testing of being on a ProTour team and not anything SKY was doing.

Would be interesting to know JTL's testing stats. If he did have suspect values in 2012 he likely would be target tested. It would not take long for Sky to figure this out and ask why a under performing rider of theirs was getting tested so much.

Based on what is known so far it appears SKY did little in the way of due diligence either prior to, or after, hiring JTL. Garmin did more and they did not even hire him

 

[sniper]

It is clear SKY made little effort to examine a rider who many in the sport had questions about. Smith may speak up for him today but even Endura riders questioned his performances in 2012. Sky relied on blood values collected by another team, did no performance tests of their own, and hired a rider who had massive swings in form.

how do you know?

 

[Freddythefrog]

It is clear SKY made little effort to examine a rider who many in the sport had questions about. .........

Based on what is known so far it appears SKY did little in the way of due diligence either prior to, or after, hiring JTL. Garmin did more and they did not even hire him

You do not get a funded place on the GB U23 program without being tested a lot at Manchester. BC/Sky had plenty of information on him. Might not be bio-passport compatible, but there is no way his change of career trajectory in 2012 would not strike them as strange as it did so many of the rest of us. Such a change would surely then generate the questions - how ?

Just like hiring Barry or Leniders, know what you must not ask and you don't get any lies - easy init !

 

[Race Radio]

how do you know?

I don't,

The Walsh article and the interview with Smith http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/former-endura-manager-defends-tiernan-locke Talk a lot about the Garmin tests, but make no mention of Sky testing prior to hiring him. Would think that if they had indeed done their due diligence they would have said something by now.....but they have said nothing

Smith clearly heard the questions about his rider and says he tried to get him tested more. Garmin tested him.....but I have seen no indication that SKY did.

Perhaps they tested him at the training camp he attended in Tenerife? If so they should say something

 

[the sceptic]

The official Skybot talking points are beginning to take shape. They are a combination of chronic fatigue syndrome plus outrage that everything was not kept secret by the UCI. Those and they are conveniently overlooking that JTL has been training with Sky's Tenerife group for a long time, long before he signed for the team.

Im surprised he hasnt been training in Kenya.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Perhaps they tested him at the training camp he attended in Tenerife? If so they should say something

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tiernan-locke-called-to-clarify-irregular-blood-values

''has received a letter from the UCI calling into question his blood values dating back to September 2012. ''

versus:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/former-endura-manager-defends-tiernan-locke

''Sky approached him and took him to a training camp in Tenerife at the start of May. I am not sure what testing Sky did or when [they] started. No matter what he was still under Endura. Sky looked after him at Worlds then the process started at their off season training camp. What happened during Sky training camps, I don't know. As far as I’m concerned Sky showed all due diligence in looking after him. I think I even sent the results from Jonathan Vaughters’ tests to them. They’ve seen all the data.''

So, JTL was under the wings of Team GB/Sky when he had the tests last year. They also had all the data from earlier 2012 according to Smith who sent Sky the testing results. The question subsequently should be why Team Sky's inner anti - doping bureau did not flag his tests of this year? They need the great UCI for that? Strange, those guys are known for their eye for details. Their own blood expert Freeman was quoted for going through Froome's blood files, there was nothing wrong with it. He must have forgotten to look at JTL's?

 

[taiwan]

Can't be assessed to read the thread, but this is not good pr for Sky. Only way this is useful to them is in some lesser of two evils, damage limitation sort of way.

Just made national news in UK.

Good for Cookson though because he appears not to be protecting that team..

If JTL had won something big this year you wonder if this would be coming out. There's an irony - if he kept the same programme as on Endura he might be "too big to fail" now.

 

[MatParker117]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tiernan-locke-called-to-clarify-irregular-blood-values

''has received a letter from the UCI calling into question his blood values dating back to September 2012. ''

versus:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/former-endura-manager-defends-tiernan-locke

''Sky approached him and took him to a training camp in Tenerife at the start of May. I am not sure what testing Sky did or when [they] started. No matter what he was still under Endura. Sky looked after him at Worlds then the process started at their off season training camp. What happened during Sky training camps, I don't know. As far as I’m concerned Sky showed all due diligence in looking after him. I think I even sent the results from Jonathan Vaughters’ tests to them. They’ve seen all the data.''

So, JTL was under the wings of Team GB/Sky when he had the tests last year. They also had all the data from earlier 2012 according to Smith who sent Sky the testing results. The question subsequently should be why Team Sky's inner anti - doping bureau did not flag his tests of this year? They need the great UCI for that? Strange, those guys are known for their eye for details. Their own blood expert Freeman was quoted for going through Froome's blood files, there was nothing wrong with it. He must have forgotten to look at JTL's?

Sky have other British riders in Tenerife a lot I doubt they test the lot of them.

 

[The Hitch]

I've no doubt that he'll make another BS comment along the lines of his ToC 2011 (or was it 2012?) comments as the Feds were deposing USPS riders

What did he say?

 

[skippy]

For some time i have said that the UCI have been holding back on the " Sanctions "( see my velonews comment ). It must be clear to all , that this story was known about before Thursday , since that is when JTL pulled out of the Mens Race .

It is almost certain that Cookson would have been aware , since the Team & JTL were aware ? With that phat the rat is a prime suspect for trying to tip this matter into the " Election Equation "! Why it did not get out in the Congress on Friday , surprises me , phat has always had timing problems ?

Now this Sept 2012 matter is interfereing with " Marginal Gains Sky " , it seems that ALL the " sanctions " since the Giro dÌtalia are about to surface .

Some time ago i stated " Justice delayed , is justice denied "! This is yet another example of how crooked the UCI hierachy has become in recent years .

Cookson needs to get into the Aigle Office on Monday and reveal ALL the sanctions held back on phat's orders , so that the Swiss Authorities , WADA & IOC can ACT , perhaps a padded cell for phat can also be arranged ?

Who knows what sh#te will appear but my blog details 10 important points that Cookson needs to address , not because i think they are important , but because they are the right way forward for convincing the Fans that Transparency is at the top of the UCI Future Agenda .

 

[TheGame]

So:

is really suspicious?

Do you have any idea what he was doing between 2005 and 2010? Until 2005 he was an amatuer, then he stopped racing altogether because of Epstein Barr, then he returned and was hit by a horse.

He only started racing as a pro in 2010.

Thats not to say his 2012 isn't HIGHLY suspicious, but to plot a CQ ranking chart for 6 years when he wasnt riding is like saying Nibali didnt score any CQ points when he was 12.

 

[TheGame]

Hahahaha, there already is an explanation: JTL has CFS. Yep. The truth is out there.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/29/team-sky-jonathan-tiernan-locke-cycling

''The 28-year-old Tiernan-Locke joined Team Sky at the end of 2012 after a stellar season in which he won the Tour of the Mediterranean, the Tour du Haut Var and the Tour Alsace as well as the Tour of Britain.

He has a history of chequered health, pulling out of the sport for two years earlier in his career due to chronic fatigue syndrome and glandular fever due to overtraining. Something similar seems to have happened this season after he joined Team Sky, as he struggled to find form and said that fatigue and illness were to blame. He did not defend his Tour of Britain title, but returned to racing in August after a lengthy break mid-season and appeared to have got back to form to earn selection for the world championship.''

So, badzillah, CFS, what is next? AIDS? Chris Horner?

very innacurate article. it was not cfs.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Thats not to say his 2012 isn't HIGHLY suspicious, but to plot a CQ ranking chart for 6 years when he wasnt riding

You should check the doing a Wiggins threat then. Lovely graphs. Dont blaime me for the graphs brotha. I dont care for his pre - diseases, too bad for the fellow himself of course, the only interesting thing for me - as a data analist - are his results since lets say august 2011.

 

[TheGame]

You should check the doing a Wiggins threat then. Lovely graphs. Dont blaime me for the graphs brotha. I dont care for his pre - diseases, too bad for the fellow himself of course, the only interesting thing for me - as a data analist - are his results since lets say august 2011.

Yes, his results since 2011 raise questions. But dont do a graph including 6 years when the guy wasn't even racing as a pro to emphasize your point.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Yes, his results since 2011 raise questions.

Indeed, so lets talk about that instead of those silly insults. Brotha.

 

[The Cobra]

The official Skybot talking points are beginning to take shape. They are a combination of chronic fatigue syndrome plus outrage that everything was not kept secret by the UCI. Those and they are conveniently overlooking that JTL has been training with Sky's Tenerife group for a long time, long before he signed for the team.

JTL had also been kicking *** in the peloton a long time before attending Sky's Tenerife camp. JTL was arguably more impressive at Haut Var and Tour Med than anything he did after being contacted by Sky.

JTL's performance leap is as ridiculous as anything we've seen in recent years however he has had well documented health issues in the past which means we cant exclude the possibility that its not doping related imo.

 

[LugHugger]

What did he say?

I paraphrase 'Lance is a friend of mine. I rode with him at Motorola. There wasn't any doping on our team and I never saw any doping. This investigation is all in the past, how does affect now? This is all a waste of time and money.'

 

[The Hitch]

I paraphrase 'Lance is a friend of mine. I rode with him at Motorola. There wasn't any doping on our team and I never saw any doping. This investigation is all in the past, how does affect now? This is all a waste of time and money.'

I thought I remembered Smith saying that too, but I remember last year when Smith called Contador a doper I brought that up and someone told me I had got mixed up and Smith was a lifelong staunch anti doper.

 

[argyllflyer]

I paraphrase 'Lance is a friend of mine. I rode with him at Motorola. There wasn't any doping on our team and I never saw any doping. This investigation is all in the past, how does affect now? This is all a waste of time and money.'

Fear of a lawyer's letter shut up plenty. If Smith made a habit of slandering (as the available evidence was disputed at the time) people on air, Eurosport wouldn't keep him long.

 

[roundabout]

Shut up? That was full kiss on the cheeks from Smith if true.

 

[Samson777]

Fear of a lawyer's letter shut up plenty. If Smith made a habit of slandering (as the available evidence was disputed at the time) people on air, Eurosport wouldn't keep him long.

Haha.. You gotta be kidding me.. You think he had to say what he said, to keep his job? In that case I'm gonna boycot Eurosport, but I would like to see some proof.