No internal testing at Team Leopard/Trek - a good idea ?

[webvan]

Makes sense although I'm not sure it sends the right message...http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/no-internal-anti-doping-controls-for-leopard-trek

At least the Team doctors won't be doing their best to help the racers stay within the "limits"...

The Leopard Trek team will not conduct any internal doping controls. Andreas Gösle, the head of the five team doctors, said that the riders are checked often enough by the International Cycling Union (UCI) with both doping controls and physical examinations.

Several years ago, many teams hired specialist firms to conduct internal controls. Gösle said that additional controls were not necessary. “What do these firms want? We have the bio-passport, the transparent athlete,” he told the Luxembourger newspaper Tageblatt.

“They are tested more than 30 times a year and for their health, there are an additional four standard check-ups required by the UCI. That's a lot.”

He also questioned whether the teams which several years ago announced significant internal controls with independent firms continue to do so. “Ask those teams, if they still do it. I don't know, but I don't think so.”

 

[isayic]

Internal testing would be better or some day Andy and Stu will be tested positive for Whisky and the can't explain it by saying they had eaten meat from a drunken cow.

 

[flicker]

Of course, no internal testing saves money.

 

[Siriuscat]

just following the Pharmstrong/Trek model......

 

[Velocentric]

I did address this earlier off the forum and seem to have struck a chord with people.

For a team that's got not only Kim Andersen as a Directeur but a rider who has proven links to Fuentes you'd think they'd be falling over themselves to do whatever they can to prove that they're clean.

I'm gutted to see Jens & Fabian on this Team because the somewhat pessimistic realist in me see's a big fall coming.

 

[AussieGoddess]

I guess - I mean what is the point of the team paying for a program from one pocket, and testing from the other ?

 

[Ferminal]

Well, I don't like these "internal anti-doping programs" which are basically just there to safeguard against any risk of sanction, rather than being an actual deterrent to doping in the first place.

A lot of the team has enough experience in this area, they don't need to waste money on it.

 

[Willy_Voet]

Other teams' internal testing programs get cynically laughed off--I'm not sure why anyone would waste the money...

Besides, the peloton is cleaner than ever thanks to the Biopassport program.

 

[laziali]

Of course, no internal testing saves money.

+1 flicker. A shed-load of money in fact. I seem to recall costs in excess of $100k pa which pays for two decent domestiques

 

[hfer07]

Why would they ever spend the money on internal testing, when they have the "blessing" of this guy?...

 

[flicker]

If the manager/owner of a team doesn't know the reputation of a rider, well what can I say, the manager/owner is living in a pool of denial.

If you listen to Landis, Landis was an outfront cheat, he even made an indecent proposal to the owner of Phonak. The born twin yet another obvious fueler. Still, he was hired with Phonak.

It is like hiring an embezzeler to manage your companies retirement funds, simply not done!

 

[Anonymous]

Great idea. McQuaid already has stated pro cycling to be clean.

Good enough for me.

 

[theswordsman]

It's a waste of money if it's not done properly, and for the right reasons. I don't think anyone's buying it as a sign of a clean team any more. I haven't read the most recent Vaughters interviews, but he's spoken in the past about having his riders tested at unusual times, and planned to use the plasticizer test.

I can see it having value when trying to attract or keep certain sponsors who want to avoid possible scandals. I can also see internal testing used to make sure guys stay within passport parameters while maximizing their doping.

I recently read the stories about the Gusev problems and an internal tester taking things too far, so it doesn't necessarily add a layer of protection for a team.

 

[BroDeal]

I think it shows that the much ballyhooed internal testing programs were never anything more than a public relations scam that was put into place to deflect blowback from the 2006 and 2007 doping scandals.

 

[Hugh Januss]

If the manager/owner of a team doesn't know the reputation of a rider, well what can I say, the manager/owner is living in a pool of denial.

If you listen to Landis, Landis was an outfront cheat, he even made an indecent proposal to the owner of Phonak. The born twin yet another obvious fueler. Still, he was hired with Phonak.

It is like hiring an embezzeler to manage your companies retirement funds, simply not done!

Awesome how your 20-20 hindsight works to single out the guys who actually failed tests while giving a free pass to all the guys who were somehow able to ride at the same level without (?) drugs.
Hint: Denial was not what was going on.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Clearly they feel that employing a team doctors, sufficient to run a clinic is a better way to ensure the team does not fall foul of any doping infractions.

 

[ttrider]

Internal testing is a load of rubbish
Its done by a bias source so no one really values the results and it wastes money
Pointless pr exercise and no indication of a clean team

 

[flicker]

Awesome how your 20-20 hindsight works to single out the guys who actually failed tests while giving a free pass to all the guys who were somehow able to ride at the same level without (?) drugs.
Hint: Denial was not what was going on.

My point is Tyler,Floyd cheated, were caught went to arbitration, lost ,killed Phonak, shamed US cycling. Many lost their jobs because of those 2.

Same thing with Ricco and Piepoli, top fuelers were caught killed a pro team Sanier Duval, many lost their jobs made Italy look stupid.


These guys were hired in the first the place, so is it the employers fault.

I would probably say yes, in the first medical tests it should be seen that the riders are or are not dopers.

 

[biopass]

We have the bio-passport, the transparent athlete

That made me smile. Althought i dont know if i smiled because i couldnt bare to cry.

I guess what im saying its too tragic to cry about.

 

[Boeing]

I am of the mind that so called internal testing is more a front than deterrent

 

[pedaling squares]

I think it shows that the much ballyhooed internal testing programs were never anything more than a public relations scam that was put into place to deflect blowback from the 2006 and 2007 doping scandals.

That and a great way to fine tune the athletes within the parameters of the bio-passport program.