Levi's blood values in 2005 pretty suspicious

[la.margna]

http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/sport/aktuell/rad_-_neues_buch_garantiert_positiv_-_levi_leipheimer_in_der_tour_2005_mit_auffaelligen_blutwerten_1.7088624.html

According to Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Gerolsteiner team boss Hans-Michael Holczer was informed by the UCI at the the rest day of the Tour 2005 in Grenoble that Levi Leipheimer's blood values were pretty suspicious. The coefficient for Levi's values returned 132.8. That's 0.2 away from the threshold, but strongly indicating manipulation, thereby confirming the Landis accusations.

However, Holczer mentioned that he did not follow the UCI recommendation to suspend Leipheimer and take him out of the race as he feared legal consequences. Today, he regrets it and realizes that he helped obfuscate and camouflage possible blood manipulation by Leipheimer.

Holczer was not succesful in finding a new sponsor for his team nor to get a job in the cycling industry. He will now return to his prior job as a school teacher.

That's the article's summary in a nutshell.

Personal take: Interesting that the UCI tells teams openly or silently to not engage certain riders (chicken), while others can be employed to ride GT's for the Pharmstrong-Hog army, although the UCI recommended to take them out of a race...??!!! How ridicolous is this?

[Btw, I like Levi a lot and was really hoping he could win that Vuelta where he worked hi *** off for AC and got second for a few seconds only, so I am in no way a Levi hater...]

 

[python]

this is undoubtedly a very serious news i suspect mr. novitzky would like to look at.

ps.
the offscore of 133 (even by the official definition) is 99.99% indicatve of blood manipulation.

uci's own guidelines and the majority of 'independent' team monitoring programs
recommend a value above 127 as highly suspicious.

 

[LKing25]

What is even more interesting is following Op Puerto in 2006 Levi Leipheimer bombed in the ITT finishing over 5 minutes down on the winner on a pancake flat course and yet 3 days later contested a sprint finish in the toughest stage of the pyrenees. Now consider that Levi has always been a banker on time trials doesnt anyone consider it strange that he lost 5 minutes in his favoured discipline and yet a few days later was almost winning a high mountain finish?

 

[flicker]

What is even more interesting is following Op Puerto in 2006 Levi Leipheimer bombed in the ITT finishing over 5 minutes down on the winner on a pancake flat course and yet 3 days later contested a sprint finish in the toughest stage of the pyrenees. Now consider that Levi has always been a banker on time trials doesnt anyone consider it strange that he lost 5 minutes in his favoured discipline and yet a few days later was almost winning a high mountain finish?

Levi has always had bad days. That is why he is not a champion. To win in GTs one cannot have bad days. I do not attribute bad days with doping. I always thought he doped less or not at all compared to the other contenders and champions.

 

[Big GMaC]

So, who wants to add this one to wikipedia?

 

[Race Radio]

The real question is will this news prevent him from being part of the professional dwarf tossing circuit going forward?

 

[rolfrae]

What is even more interesting is following Op Puerto in 2006 Levi Leipheimer bombed in the ITT finishing over 5 minutes down on the winner on a pancake flat course and yet 3 days later contested a sprint finish in the toughest stage of the pyrenees. Now consider that Levi has always been a banker on time trials doesnt anyone consider it strange that he lost 5 minutes in his favoured discipline and yet a few days later was almost winning a high mountain finish?

And I seem to recall that he got pretty annoyed when journalists were asking him questions about why he'd done so badly. I think he eventually used the stomach bug excuse.

 

[Mellow Velo]

2005 was when he won up the mighty Rettenbachferner, at the Deutschland tour, dropping his team leader Georg Totschnig in the process.
Best form of his life.................outside of the Bruyneel years.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

2005 was when he won up the mighty Rettenbachferner, at the Deutschland tour, dropping his team leader Georg Totschnig in the process.
Best form of his life.................outside of the Bruyneel years.

That was a "Landis" year....

Reviewing the details of this story, I think one could assemble the blood profiles of a "certain man from Texas", going so far as to re-test all of his stored blood, to create a retro bio-passport and review Armstrong.

I think that would be something Mr. Novitsky would find interesting.

Poor Levi, even with the best doping programs in the world over the years and he could not win the big one, even with a decimated 2006 field and really only Menchov and Landis with which to contend.

 

[Kennf1]

I'd be curious to know what Landis's off-score was in the '06 Tour when his hematocrit was 48.5.

 

[blackcat]

That was a "Landis" year....

Reviewing the details of this story, I think one could assemble the blood profiles of a "certain man from Texas", going so far as to re-test all of his stored blood, to create a retro bio-passport and review Armstrong.

I think that would be something Mr. Novitsky would find interesting.

Poor Levi, even with the best doping programs in the world over the years and he could not win the big one, even with a decimated 2006 field and really only Menchov and Landis with which to contend.

Colm, we know in 99, that all of USPS was at a crit of 49.

And we know circa 2004, Armstrong, in retrospect talking about his crit, said words to effect of "43 is a compelling number" re:his starting crit at the health checks.

Pretty simple, rider's crits supposedly are limited to around a 5% change in season. One cannot go from 49 to 43, even on a spinning machine that is different and improperly calibrated.

 

[saganftw]

oh what a coincidence, revealing doping while presenting your book ...no excuses for levi blood values but this is just low s*it from HMH

 

[jobiwan]

oh what a coincidence, revealing doping while presenting your book ...no excuses for levi blood values but this is just low s*it from HMH

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

What's so low. I'm glad he is telling us how it is.

Besides Leipo was already pretty suspicious

 

[jobiwan]

What's so low. I'm glad he is telling us how it is.

Besides Leipo was already pretty suspicious

I have no problem with people telling the truth. It's telling the truth just for self-promotion that I have a problem with.

 

[saganftw]

What's so low. I'm glad he is telling us how it is.

Besides Leipo was already pretty suspicious

if he s not written a book the truth would be you know where

 

[CowboyTx]

I have no problem with people telling the truth. It's telling the truth just for self-promotion that I have a problem with.

It's not like he's started a charity

 

[joe_papp]

It's utterly amazing to sit here and watch this unfold.

But oh, right, doping in 1996 really wasn't indicative of a propensity towards any particular pattern of behavior...

Bravo, Holczer! That he reveals the information in a book is completely immaterial. You guys who are breaking his balls for publishing these revelations in a book are the same dudes who break FLandis's balls for conveying his accusations via email.

 

[DrC0721]

It's not like he's started a charity

hahahaha good one

 

[DrC0721]

oh what a coincidence, revealing doping while presenting your book ...no excuses for levi blood values but this is just low s*it from HMH

It was a low move by Jose Canseco, but everyone is happy he did it. Except for, well, the men with enhanced foreheads.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Levi has always had bad days. That is why he is not a champion. To win in GTs one cannot have bad days. I do not attribute bad days with doping. I always thought he doped less or not at all compared to the other contenders and champions.

Really? Where were his bad days in the 2007 Tour? How about the 2008 Vuelta?

Levi seems to have bad days when he's off the sauce. Not exactly shocking.

The idea that Levi doped "not at all" is laughable, IMO.

 

[DrC0721]

Really? Where were his bad days in the 2007 Tour? How about the 2008 Vuelta?

Levi seems to have bad days when he's off the sauce. Not exactly shocking.

The idea that Levi doped "not at all" is laughable, IMO.

I think people fall in love with the rider's personality and it blurs their judgement causing the "well at least he didn't do it too much" reaction. A person can blood dope and still be the nicest person in the world. This only makes it worse when the truth surfaces.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Levi has always had bad days. That is why he is not a champion. To win in GTs one cannot have bad days. I do not attribute bad days with doping. I always thought he doped less or not at all compared to the other contenders and champions.

And as so often happens, it appears you were wrong.

 

[Hugh Januss]

While it is good that H-M H is speaking out. Does anyone believe that he is so stupid that he had no idea of exactly what LL was doing, or Schumacher or Kohl etc.?
Are we going to see the beginning of a new strategy in which managment and ex-managment try to throw any dodgy looking riders under the bus before the rider can do it to them?

 

[jobiwan]

Yeah, it's funny how they justify it. They seem to think by professing ignorance during the act and suddenly knowing all the details later that they will be squeaky clean with no retribution.