Lance witch hunt in france

[scott_cny]

So are they accusing him of altering the test with a quick blood transfusion? Or was the test negative. Which is it? Us smart people all know the answer...

 

[quadsRme]

Rules are rules and the people that make them can slam the hammer when they feel like it. We have seen them do it many times in the past. Don't let your emotions get the best of you......

 

[scott_cny]

Quads- you hit it right. Lets not read into it. The test was negative. Either there is an accusation that Lance tainted the sample or otherwise he is CLEAN. Which is it. Viva la Lance.

 

[quadsRme]

Well, to be honest with you I don't think it has anything to do with the result of the test.

 

[scott_cny]

Everyone must agree that a random individual flagging you down on the street, claiming to be with the "Agency" seems to be a little absurd. This is the seven time winner of the Tour de France, not some semi-pro. You don't show up with a needle saying give me a vein cause I said so!

 

[scott_cny]

Of course they won't make the result the story. But if there is an accusation that Lance must of done something funny to alter the result- then they should say it. Or they should apologize or show proof that this single tester is the new method and show examples of how other riders have submitted to the SAME TACTIC.

 

[Black Dog]

Signed and done

If the tester signed off at the end of the test that all was ok then that is that. there can be no complaints. He should not have signed the document if he had concerns or should have noted them down and had Armstrong sign the document. I am no big fan of Armstrong and this smells of sensationalism. If the tester did not want Armstrong to leave his sight then he could have insisted. Both Armstrong and Johan are fluent in french and there is no doubt that his wishes would have been understood. If the tester did not know the rules then that is the fault of the ALDF not the test subject.

For what ever reason the ALDF has got their nickers in a knot and this is simply bad for the sport but may be good press for the ALDF and fodder for the media. I was impressed by their work at the tour last year but this is simply BS. Oh yea, I wonder how many french football (Soccer) players the ALDF has tested?

 

[ridley]

I have to agree with Alpe d'Huez on his points -
The 'He said, she said' scenario is going to be one that will prevail here as the tester said the athlete has to remain under surveillance, and yet LA, knowing this, was taking a shower.

But, after a number of hours ride, with a dude with shakey credentials and paperwork, running around with needles nad scissors and urine bags in a country that hates my guts. I would be a little apprehensive too before I will let anyone poke a sharp object into me.

The French could have sent their most junior person, just to get another story and some journalism sensation out of this - it is April and July is fast approaching with no 'big' scandal on the horizon !!

 

[quadsRme]

If Lance was a gracious host he would have invited the tester in for a bit of wine and bread. I guess Johan wanted the wine for himself. Although the Belgian probably prefers beer. mmmmmm

 

[Dr. Wattini]

Dudes,
read on:
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news...ng_news&cate_img=145.jpg&cate_rss=news_Sports
Apparently the guy with the backpack and niddles is a respected professional.

Hmmm cycling is a circus!!!!

 

[pmcg76]

I think this whole argument is ridiculous. Lance and his posse put their own spin on everything like politicians.

They claim the testers credentials were dodgy, well of course they were cos there was a problem. I dont follow twitter but I understand Lance announces when he is tested. Did he comment then that the tester was a bit dodgy or was it only metioned in response to the reported problem by the AFLD.

The fact is, a lot of people believe everything Lance says whilst I believe the golden rule of following cycling should be dont believe in anybody 100% either way. If Lance was caught doping red-handed doping and denied it, his fans would still believe Lance, period and nothing in the world is gonna change that. No positive tests or anything, they would always claim there was a conspiracy.

I remember back in the day Lance saying, if he had been doping in 99, there is no way we would have got away with it whilst living in France, yet Frankie Andreu was living in France in 99 and he was doing it. Makes you think,

 

[53x11 in DC]

If the tester signed off at the end of the test that all was ok then that is that. there can be no complaints. He should not have signed the document if he had concerns or should have noted them down and had Armstrong sign the document. I am no big fan of Armstrong and this smells of sensationalism. If the tester did not want Armstrong to leave his sight then he could have insisted. Both Armstrong and Johan are fluent in french and there is no doubt that his wishes would have been understood. If the tester did not know the rules then that is the fault of the ALDF not the test subject.

Excellent point, BD. FOLKS, THERE IS NO "HE SAID, SHE SAID" HERE. If the damn AFLD tester had ANY issues with the proceedings, he should have clearly outlined them in the documentation. He did not. Case closed.

This is passive aggressive BS that we've come to expect from the AFLD. With as much good as they've done (CERA/Ricco, etc.), their credibility is damaged substantially with each new odd circumstance they create.

 

[Anonymous]

Dudes,
read on:
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news...ng_news&cate_img=145.jpg&cate_rss=news_Sports
Apparently the guy with the backpack and niddles is a respected professional.

Hmmm cycling is a circus!!!!

respected proffessional..

this is of course according to an anonymous source who didnt wish to be identified... :?

(we do of course all know that the reason they where so suspicious of the tester was cos of the uncanny resemblance to AC.. i just find it amazing that AC is willing to pose as a drug tester to get lance off the tour team.. )

oh.. just appeared on lances twitter...
Just took a shower. Got it down under 10 mins. Whew.
11 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

get the feeling he;s not taking this whole thing too seriously..?

 

[TShame]

I agree that this does seem a little witch hunt like but I'd just like to comment on one thing you said.



It's not about the time period itself but rather when can deliberately be done in that time. The argument is that he was left alone for 20 minutes and that would give someone the opportunity to deliberately alter their test results by taking masking agents or diluting the blood or urine etc etc etc. That's why there is a rule that the rider should not be left alone and that's the rule they claim has been broken.

It doesn't mean that he actually did anything in those 20 minutes in the same way that not being where you report that you were is proof that the chicken was doing anything wrong but it is againt the rules.

There is a waste diffrence between asking to shower and being granted it and saying that you are somewhere and then being somewhere completely diffrent. So I would be very surprised if anything does happen from this and it feels a little petty by the AFLD.

If Armstrong did get banned for this then that would only make him a martyr and in the long run make it harder for real anti-doping work to succeed.

Masking agent? I think not, this was a training ride, not a race.
It is harrassment unless other riders were tested.

 

[TShame]

Everyone must agree that a random individual flagging you down on the street, claiming to be with the "Agency" seems to be a little absurd. This is the seven time winner of the Tour de France, not some semi-pro. You don't show up with a needle saying give me a vein cause I said so!

What is most surprising, with the French anti-lance mentality, is that they brought up this technically minor side point now. They should have saved this whole report until after the opening prologue, then brought this up and demand his whole team be thrown out of the tour. Lance isn't going to win the Tour, but he sure could help insure that Contrador will win easily.

As I understand it, Lance gave the hair and urine sample before taking a shower.
Why wasn't the UCI or any cycling union involved? The labratory itself does not have authority towards these actions unless directed by some agency. This is breaking protocol in the first place, even if they are allowed in France to collect random samples.

 

[msjett]

I have read the comments here, and one thing I don't understand about this situation....if they believe and have proof he did something wrong during the testing process then why haven't they taken action in the form of suspension or the likes?

Is it possibly cause he actually didn't do anything wrong?

And this is just a load of hoohaa by the press, sort of, kind of, maybe based on some facts?????

 

[BroDeal]

I have read the comments here, and one thing I don't understand about this situation....if they believe and have proof he did something wrong during the testing process then why haven't they taken action in the form of suspension or the likes?

Uh...that is what the AFLD is in the process of doing right now. They are deciding whether Armstrong hiding from the tester and doing who knows what while he was supposedly taking a shower should be sanctioned. The dude could have been injecting clean urine into his bladder, taking some sort of masking agent, etc. There is a reason why the athletes are not supposed to leave the sight of the testers.

Since Armstrong ran away from the tester sent by his own independent testing program run by Catlin, it looks like something fishy is going on.

 

[Advancedone]

Where is everyone getting there information about regarding what LA did and the AFLD didn't do.

I've read the information on CN & other places and it seems that some of you guys think you know a lot more about this than the actual information out there. Is LA sending you some private twitter feed or something???

He's supposedly so well tested he should know the drill, he's just another pro cyclist you know not the Messiah (although according to some fanboys you do have to wonder). Why should he get any different treatment to any other rider. he was well within his rights to confirm credentials but, he knows the rules. What is a tester meant to do if a rider refuses to stay after being asked to remain in sight? Should the tester have tackled Lance to the ground and held him while Johan confirmed his papers?? Just take the test Lance!!

And not saying he is doping at all, but to think that cyclists only dope during races is incorrect.

 

[Argon Man]

Hopefully common sense will prevail in this situation and it moves on without too much more drama. We will never know the exact details only speculation from both sides. Whether you like him or not a sanction for Lance would be a major dilemma for the tour in terms of extra dollars generated into the French economy and tour towns that Lance draws in tourism, it would not be surprising if a heavy nudge from the ASO puts this thing to bed.

 

[rhubroma]

whether or not lance doped, he fecked up. regardless of his 'missing 30 mins': it is another blow to the integrity of cycle sport.
Irish radio who don't even cover the tour de france result, their sport's headlines started "cycling once again fell foul to drugs today..........."

Lance will not be riding the tour de france now, but pulls so much power that he got the giro route altered yesterday. One rider changed a national tour's direction . The rider with this much power must be beyond question or he will damage everything on two wheels.

http://www.bikepure.org
join and help start a new era of cycling, and protect our future.

I couldn't agree more. Angelo Zommegan, the Giro's director, has responded as any unscrupulous businessman would have (and rember, folks, ProCycling is first and foremost a business). Armstrong, unfortunately, is practically a trademark, an industry who moves millions of bucks wherever he goes. Without Armstrong at the Giro, it just doesn't sell as well. With such a maket law being the guiding principle, any serious attempts at beating doping are futile. People like Zommegen (and Armstrong) know this all too well...

 

[Mellow Velo]

To help the xenophobic trolls, who clearly are clueless to dope test protocols:
A bit of the CN piece:
As the national anti-doping agency, the AFLD has the authority to test all athletes on French soil, regardless of where their licence is registered. This is the same international rule that permitted CONI to carry out anti-doping tests during last year's Tour de France when the race visited Italy, and also enables USADA to carry out tests on riders at races such as the Tour of California.

Yes, thats right. US testers can knock on some French or Italian rider's door and demand a test, when on US soil.

The CV of the "Idiot" tester:
For this big fish, the agency sent a man with 15 years of testing experience who teaches other would-be testers about the job and who has worked at the Tour, the Rugby World Cup and the athletics world championships, according to a French official closely connected to the affair, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

So there is no way this guy would OK lance taking a shower.

At the agency, the version of events is that only when the tester threatened to call in gendarmes did Bruyneel agree to let testing proceed, and the French official pooh-poohed Armstrong's claim that the tester let him shower. The agency says the tester reported that he repeatedly warned Armstrong that he had to keep him within his sight at all times. The agency says it hasn't yet decided to launch disciplinary proceedings.

Yes, as he was breaking French law......in France, by not complying.

The sad fact of the matter is, the hatered being spewed in the direction of the French and this phantom conspiracy, is solely because they could bar him from riding the Tour.
The French are a long way from doing that...........at the moment.

If the ASO decided they didn't want Mr Armstrong at the Tour, the could have done so from the outset of his return. It's their race and the have sufficient cause.
All they needed to do was cite the AFLD 1999/2005 EPO "B" test positives as grounds and formally announce he was not welcome.
They haven't.
So that's another conspiracy theory that doesn't hold water.

 

[Johnkopp]

It appears to me that the testing official screwed up and is trying to cover his **** with the AFLD. After all the WADA rule as quoted by cyclingnews requires the testing official be responsible for the monitoring of the athlete. I don't care how experienced he is, he clearly was not professional in this case, or we would have heard news stories earlier. Remember he is French, and this is not sarcasm. I only need remind you of the French ice skating judge at the winter olympics several years ago who cheated on the scores of the pairs skaters, under pressure from that country's officials.

The real problem with cycling and doping tests is that the riders do not have a strong union like other professional sports in the US and, I presume, Soccer worldwide. Over here, the unions and team owners will not put up with that BS.

 

[bianchigirl]

This is all fairly easy to verify - but unfortunately testing organisations are bound by the WADA protocol to not give their side until action is taken. This is why the AFLD official has to remain anonymous and why they can't release the testers documents, report etc.

MeanwhileArmstrong and his merry band of craft folk can spin spin spin as they please putting out a load of disinformation - I'm very much reminded of the Catlin exercise and what happened there. Was that Catlin's fault? Was it his fault that Armstrong ran from the tester who came to take the one and only sample Catlin got hold of?

Wonder if the reason Armstrong isn't taking it seriously is that he now has the perfect exit strategy - the 'fanboys' will still be convinced he would have won, the 'haters' are denied the sight of him getting beaten and he saves himself the humiliation of making a laughing stock of himself by falling off again and/or finishing in the bus. Meanwhile he can ride the Giro with no pressure playing the wounded soldier and brining succour to the Italian earthquake victims. Win win, legacy intact, next stop the Governorship of Texas.

 

[BroDeal]

Remember he is French, and this is not sarcasm. I only need remind you of the French ice skating judge at the winter olympics several years ago who cheated on the scores of the pairs skaters, under pressure from that country's officials.

When logic fails there is always birgotry to fall back upon.

Let's try this out:

"Remember he is American, and this is not sarcasm. I only need remind you of the American Olympic committe that hid Carl Lewis' doping positive"

"Remember he is black, and this is not sarcasm. I only need remind you of the black double murderer O.J. Simpson."

"Remember he is Jewish, and this is not sarcasm. I only need remind you of the Jewish banking conspiracy to take over the world."

For some reason it does not sound quite as convincing when blaming ethnic groups and races other than the French.

The real problem with cycling and doping tests is that the riders do not have a strong union like other professional sports in the US and, I presume, Soccer worldwide. Over here, the unions and team owners will not put up with that BS.

Yes, if only they had a stronger union. Then they would be able to dope without those pesky testers bothering them.

 

[golancego]

Im sure that mellovellov can explain the following problem because he/she seems to know everything..

WHY DIDN`T THE TESTER FOLLOW LANCE TO THE SHOWER?