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

[neineinei]

“To hear Jonathan say things like the UKAD anti-doping hearing was a mickey mouse court, I think that’s very foolish and not a wise thing to have said. I’m giving him a message that’s quite clear, he’s putting himself in a deeper and deeper hole. He would be wise to accept his sanction and if he wants to return in two years then let’s see what happens.”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-cookson-warns-tiernan-locke-over-foolish-comments

Doesn't sound like JTL will get to ride the 2016 Tour for Bora or MTN after all.

 

[TheSpud]

Was he referring to Froome or Wiggins? If he dropped either of those names then that would be quite interesting.

I doubt it - his words were "quite high-profile people". I wouldn't describe two former TdF winners that way - I would call them "very high profile". Same with riders like Kittel, Cavendish, etc.

Could be major domestiques from any of the main GT teams - I wouldn't necessarily say he was referring to SKY riders, but I guess that would be the logical assumption given his (I assume) limited exposure in the top tier of teams.

 

[the sceptic]

JTL responds

"Whilst I know I can't compete, I have no respect for the sanction and won't waste my time reading the terms," he told Cyclingnews.

"Obviously I can't take it any further, but I now have no faith in the governing body or the process I went through. I've spent the majority of my life involved with cycling and that's not going to change. I will continue to be involved during my ban, and continue coaching and giving advice to athletes. Nobody can stop me doing that."

JTL seems very upset. I hope he goes nuclear and tells everything he knows.

 

[TailWindHome]

JTL responds



JTL seems very upset. I hope he goes nuclear and tells everything he knows.

Link's dead.

 

[TailWindHome]

Link's broken on the news page

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Or, he had a life and a girlfriend and wasn't a yes-man who does whatever JV demands. Imagine the relationship that sets up from the get go... Plus he probably had enough contact in the BC world to know he had a chance with a good team like Sky.

Correct. He had a letter of intent from Sky in April/May of that year. He was always signing with Sky.

Vaughters posturing on the matter is more an attempt to push "garmin, clean team" propaganda than JTL avoiding internal team dope testing. Not that a one off internal team test would show much anyway.

Vaughters says he had JTL in on March 28th though, which pre-dates when the supposed Sky confirmation came.

The main concern is that JTL was unable to make a date in his calendar, knowing Garmin were interested in him, at a convenient time. For example, he was in the Vuelta a Murcía at the start of March (finishing 2nd on GC), and did not race for over two weeks after this, before going to Settimana Coppi e Bartali where he was utterly anonymous (a pattern that then continued until the Tour Alsace when he was back to his best). He thus tested for Garmin a few days after his DNF in Coppi e Bartali, but couldn't make room for what could feasibly have been, at the time, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a ticket to the top level, while he knew they were interested in him and he was in the vicinity. Murcía to Girona is a long drive, but if I had the potential to triple, quadruple or whatever my salary, I'd be prepared to jump in the car.

At the very least, doing a power test and getting Vaughters' blessing (Sky used Garmin's power data and didn't suspect anything was up, so they say) fans some of the flames of suspicion when he's negotiating with other teams later.

 

[TheSpud]

JTL responds



JTL seems very upset. I hope he goes nuclear and tells everything he knows.

He's in denial like nearly all dopers. He doped, he was stupid, he got caught, and now he doesnt like it.

 

[sniper]

He's in denial like nearly all dopers. He doped, he was stupid, he got caught, and now he doesnt like it.

to me he sounds like he doesn't want to be the fall guy for a whole generation of dopers.
can you blame him?

 

[IzzyStradlin]

to me he sounds like he doesn't want to be the fall guy for a whole generation of dopers.
can you blame him?

I have no idea of his talent as a rider, but his talent at using drugs is obviously pretty poor.

 

[thehog]

Vaughters says he had JTL in on March 28th though, which pre-dates when the supposed Sky confirmation came.

The main concern is that JTL was unable to make a date in his calendar, knowing Garmin were interested in him, at a convenient time. For example, he was in the Vuelta a Murcía at the start of March (finishing 2nd on GC), and did not race for over two weeks after this, before going to Settimana Coppi e Bartali where he was utterly anonymous (a pattern that then continued until the Tour Alsace when he was back to his best). He thus tested for Garmin a few days after his DNF in Coppi e Bartali, but couldn't make room for what could feasibly have been, at the time, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a ticket to the top level, while he knew they were interested in him and he was in the vicinity. Murcía to Girona is a long drive, but if I had the potential to triple, quadruple or whatever my salary, I'd be prepared to jump in the car.

At the very least, doing a power test and getting Vaughters' blessing (Sky used Garmin's power data and didn't suspect anything was up, so they say) fans some of the flames of suspicion when he's negotiating with other teams later.

He tested with Garmin, once. Vaughters says he likes to get at least a triangulation of power and blood tests over a period of time (months).

He tested with Garmin and by May he was all but signed with Sky. The hedging with Garmin was probably just that, hedging. He didn't want to completly close the door on Garmin but he also didn't want to be seen testing/training with them when Sky had written him the "letter of intent". They would be disrespectful to Sky.

Again, it's just Vaughters posturing after the fact. All of us would behave the same way. If one employer has made a serious play for you and you want to accept on good terms, you don't run about talking with ever other employer in town. That would be bad form.

 

[Granville57]

If JTL finds himself with a credibility problem, then I would expect him to lash out at all those dopers before him that created the fabric for that. That's how I would react...if I were totally innocent.

If I were in JTL's position, I'd be taking clear aim at Millar and that lot. All their born-again preaching about how things have changed has neglected to acknowledge the impossible legacy they left behind for the wrongly accused.

And JTL is being wrongly accused here, isn't he?

If not for decades of dopers and liars preceding him, he might never have found himself in his current situation. Not to mention those dirty Kazaks who were recently nabbed. I'd be furious with them, too, for making the new "clean" generation look bad.

But not a word of any of that from JTL. Just defiance and indignation regarding his own punishment. Sorry, but that's not very convincing, because, ya' know, we've heard it all before.

 

[thehog]

JTL responds



JTL seems very upset. I hope he goes nuclear and tells everything he knows.

I believe he is saying "Listen Brian, I'll coach if I want to, because I know how many of those passport letters disappear, so stop threatening me".

 

[IzzyStradlin]

I believe he is saying "Listen Brian, I'll coach if I want to, because I know how many of those passport letters disappear, so stop threatening me".

But how much could he really know? The dude has barely spent any time at the Pro Tour level. Most of which he was OTB, training and racing.

Unless the Sky guys are totally insanely reckless, JTL doesn't know sh!t.

 

[thehog]

But how much could he really know? The dude has barely spent any time at the Pro Tour level. Most of which he was OTB, training and racing.

Unless the Sky guys are totally insanely reckless, JTL doesn't know sh!t.

Well he had trained with Sky since April of 2012.

Also the fact that Sky had originally told him that the letter "go away". And from that he might have been told the other names who had letters that dissappeared. Or others in the team told him not to worry about it.

Let's see. It appeared to strike a nerve in Cookson, he went straight into defensive, Pat McQuaid mode.

 

[IzzyStradlin]

Well he had trained with Sky since April of 2012.

Also the fact that Sky had originally told him that the letter "go away". And from that he might have been told the other names who had letters that dissappeared. Or others in the team told him not to worry about it.

Let's see. It appeared to strike a nerve in Cookson, he went straight into defensive, Pat McQuaid mode.

Might have been around at a training camp or two, but he raced a full season at Endura
http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/rider_palm.asp?riderid=1501&year=2012&all=1&current=0

No matter what he says, Sky comes out of this looking the worst. At least until this late rally by Cookson.

 

[skidmark]

He tested with Garmin, once. Vaughters says he likes to get at least a triangulation of power and blood tests over a period of time (months).

He tested with Garmin and by May he was all but signed with Sky. The hedging with Garmin was probably just that, hedging. He didn't want to completly close the door on Garmin but he also didn't want to be seen testing/training with them when Sky had written him the "letter of intent". They would be disrespectful to Sky.

Again, it's just Vaughters posturing after the fact. All of us would behave the same way. If one employer has made a serious play for you and you want to accept on good terms, you don't run about talking with ever other employer in town. That would be bad form.

But how does any of that relate to the point that was being made, namely that it's suspicious that he 'didn't have time' to meet with a pro team? Like, you're not trying to say you think he wasn't doping, right? Or maybe you're trying to say he probably just never really wanted to go to Garmin anyway so that could be a reason for him not going for testing in Spain? In which case, why would he go later? Maybe it was really convenient in Italy and it simply wasn't in Spain, but I dunno, I agree with LS about how I'd be willing to hop in that car for that opportunity, even if it wasn't my only option. Or maybe you're just saying that you don't believe Vaughters that he was 'always' putting it off, more like he put it off once when it really wasn't convenient and now Vaughters is trying to make it sound like it was a bigger deal than it was to retrospectively make them seem like they did due diligence because they're 'clean'. Either way, my opinion is that it's pretty suspicious that he'd avoid a test in peak form.

 

[nevada]

I'm sure he knows what goes on in the UK scene.

 

[sniper]

But how does any of that relate to the point that was being made, namely that it's suspicious that he 'didn't have time' to meet with a pro team? Like, you're not trying to say you think he wasn't doping, right? Or maybe you're trying to say he probably just never really wanted to go to Garmin anyway so that could be a reason for him not going for testing in Spain? In which case, why would he go later? Maybe it was really convenient in Italy and it simply wasn't in Spain, but I dunno, I agree with LS about how I'd be willing to hop in that car for that opportunity, even if it wasn't my only option. Or maybe you're just saying that you don't believe Vaughters that he was 'always' putting it off, more like he put it off once when it really wasn't convenient and now Vaughters is trying to make it sound like it was a bigger deal than it was to retrospectively make them seem like they did due diligence because they're 'clean'. Either way, my opinion is that it's pretty suspicious that he'd avoid a test in peak form.

but we don't know if he 'avoided a test'. that's JV's story.
if you have two job applications, one of which you want badly, there are plenty of reasons to skip the other. TheHog is pretty spot on there.

 

[TailWindHome]

I believe he is saying "Listen Brian, I'll coach if I want to, because I know how many of those passport letters disappear, so stop threatening me".

so.....blackmail then?

excellent stuff.

 

[sniper]

But how much could he really know? The dude has barely spent any time at the Pro Tour level. Most of which he was OTB, training and racing.

Unless the Sky guys are totally insanely reckless, JTL doesn't know sh!t.

JTL probably wasn't sure about the reliability of his intel either.
But he too must have noticed Cookson isn't denying any of it.
It was a trial balloon from JTL, and Cookson's reaction was a tell all.

 

[ebandit]

JTL probably wasn't sure about the reliability of his intel either.
But he too must have noticed Cookson isn't denying any of it.
It was a trial balloon from JTL, and Cookson's reaction was a tell all.

Cooksons response was dignified.....a dignified response doesn't need to include denials from a two-bit doper.....
Cookson knows exactly what he is dealing with

Mark L

 

[sniper]

Cooksons response was dignified.....a dignified response doesn't need to include denials from a two-bit doper.....
Cookson knows exactly what he is dealing with

Mark L

the likes of pat mcquaid, zorzoli, and verbruggen would no doubt call this a dignified response.

 

[thehog]

so.....blackmail then?

excellent stuff.

Yes, Cookson threatening a person in public would probably be constituted as blackmail

 

[TailWindHome]

We really are through the looking glass here.

 

[thehog]

We really are through the looking glass here.

Perhaps, but like in the landis situation, if it reveals the imbalances in the anti-doping process, then it's a good thing.

Cookson shouldn't be worried about a doped up second tier rider, right?

The passport is a wonderful tool.