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No Needles

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D-Queued

D-Queued

May 27, 2010
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fmk_RoI said:
Anyone know the proper story on the no needles policy CN and VN puffed last week? Are the UCI really considering bannng needles or are they only looking at standing down riders injecting corticoids under TUEs? Any clarity would be appreciated.

Would be funny if the UCI really were going no needle - nearly twenty years after Paul Köchli had to leave the sport.
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News Report:

The UCI today announced that they will no longer support the use of any type of needle in the sport of cycling.

The major teams and top athletes were virtually unanimous in praising the UCI for its latest move in the fight on doping. "The UCI has really outdone itself this time", said one multi-TdF winner. "They are a beacon for all other sports. I no longer have to offer them donations for blood analyzing equipment to get them to operate properly and professionally."

This far-reaching and long-awaited policy includes the heretofore barbaric practice of puncturing athletes to collect blood samples. No more sharps. No more lancets. No more blood collection needles. No needles of any kind.

Hein Verdrggen, former head of the UCI, added, "Cycling has always been at the forefront of supporting doping and I am proud of my personal appointee as he takes our battle to the next level."

Dave.
 
J

JMBeaushrimp

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D-Queued said:
News Report:

The UCI today announced that they will no longer support the use of any type of needle in the sport of cycling.

The major teams and top athletes were virtually unanimous in praising the UCI for its latest move in the fight on doping. "The UCI has really outdone itself this time", said one multi-TdF winner. "They are a beacon for all other sports. I no longer have to offer them donations for blood analyzing equipment to get them to operate properly and professionally."

This far-reaching and long-awaited policy includes the heretofore barbaric practice of puncturing athletes to collect blood samples. No more sharps. No more lancets. No more blood collection needles. No needles of any kind.

Hein Verdrggen, former head of the UCI, added, "Cycling has always been at the forefront of supporting doping and I am proud of my personal appointee as he takes our battle to the next level."

Dave.
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That was nice, Dave.

To the OP: I think you're remembering the Garmin (JV) release as to the 'no needle' policy for that team. The UCI is certainly not anti-needle.

We've been needling them endlessly.
 
fmk_RoI

fmk_RoI

Sep 16, 2010
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JMBeaushrimp said:
Sorry, I agree. That's a proposed policy from the UCI. I was refering to an actual no-needle policy in pro cycling. What's your point?
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MY point is can anyone address the confusion -

are the UCI really considering a no needles policy; or

are the UCI simply planning to stand down anyone shooping up corticoids under a TUE?

There's a big diff between the two stories.
 
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JMBeaushrimp

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fmk_RoI said:
MY point is can anyone address the confusion -

are the UCI really considering a no needles policy; or

are the UCI simply planning to stand down anyone shooping up corticoids under a TUE?

There's a big diff between the two stories.
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I don't think the UCI is considering anything that won't be forced upon them - via mouthy fan reaction or what team managers are willing to force on their team.

They are so knocked back on their heels right now, they have no idea what to do. Radios? Back into allowing AFLD to test? Who's still waiting out a ban? Who's actually banned? What the f*ck's going on?

I bet they can't wait until some odd-ball comes up with a new helmet or bike design, so they can spend their time flexing their muscles enforcing product rules without flexing their pea-sized brain to actually do something useful.
 
D-Queued

D-Queued

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JMBeaushrimp said:
That was nice, Dave.

To the OP: I think you're remembering the Garmin (JV) release as to the 'no needle' policy for that team. The UCI is certainly not anti-needle.

We've been needling them endlessly.
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Sorry, couldn't resist.

fmk_RoI said:
NO, am thinkng of the story puffed by Benson and Stokes for CN and VN last week and linked to here http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/3/16/2054036/a-needleless-policy
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This sounds, as JMB pointed out, more of a reflection of the JV/Garmin policy.

Perhaps this part was news:

The only other quote from him I've seen so far relates to the forty-eight stand-down: "It is necessary to introduce a new rule. An athlete who receives an injection of corticosteroids will be rested for forty-eight hours "
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It likely means the end, once-and-for-all, zero tolerance, for back-dating TUEs for positive cortizone AAFs.

Dave.
 
Granville57

Granville57

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A few things jumped out the first time I read this.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-no-needle-policy-a-possibility-ahead-of-giro-ditalia-says-steffen
The UCI could introduce a unilateral no needle policy before this year’s Giro d’Italia, according to Garmin-Cervélo’s Team Physician, Prentice Steffen.
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I guess we'll know sooner rather than later if that is to be.

No injections or infusions of any kind will be permitted in any racing, training or resting circumstance, no matter time of year, location, or event.
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That would pretty much seem to cover it. Not much wiggle room there.

I got a call during the Tour of Qatar from Mario Zorzoli, Medical Director at the UCI, and he had heard that we had a no needle policy...
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That sounds awfully informal to me. Medical Director at the UCI and there had been no direct communication regarding a "No Needle" policy that Garmin had been developing since 2008 and was full team policy in 2010? What does that say about the level of communication? (Dumb question? Probably. :))

AAAAAAAnd this...
There was some resistance from some of the older riders we brought in that thought it was dumb, but we stuck by it and now we’re getting some validation for it.
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Ya' don't say? :rolleyes:

Either way, I suppose we'll know by May 7th.
 
F

flicker

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I am sure needles are used for legitimate uses among the team doctors, and private doctors not having to do with doping, purely for health tests, anti-biotics, vitamns etc. It seems Giro organizers are making a show.
Nothing about stopping doping. More likely to make their race look clean.
 
fmk_RoI

fmk_RoI

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flicker said:
I am sure needles are used for legitimate uses among the team doctors, and private doctors not having to do with doping, purely for health tests, anti-biotics, vitamns etc. It seems Giro organizers are making a show.
Nothing about stopping doping. More likely to make their race look clean.
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Dunno. I tend to think of meds as the thin end of the wedge / the start of the slippery slope. Is interesting to see the historical arguments for / against em: http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/3/16/2054131/the-shadow-of-the-syringe
 
fmk_RoI

fmk_RoI

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Granville57 said:
Either way, I suppose we'll know by May 7th.
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Am willing to bet that, if we do see something by the 7th it'll be the 48-hr standdown for cortcoid injections Benson forgot to write about in the CN story. I don't see how you can bring in a sport-wide blanket ban on needles inside of eight weeks. This sport is hooked on the needle.
 
Granville57

Granville57

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This just in!

UCI approves no needle policy
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-approves-no-needle-policy

Injection ban imposed in time for the Giro d’Italia

It means riders can no longer inject vitamins, sugars, enzymes, amino acids or antioxidants to aid recovery.

If a violation occurs at a race, the whole team of the licence holder involved may be excluded from the race. Just the possession of objects used or fit for an injection is presumed to constitute evidence of a violation of the regulations.
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-------------------------

As an aside, I was just searching the forum without being signed-in and was presented with this verification question:
"Who regulates cycling, the FBI or the UCI?"

Funny how that answer may be up for argument soon. ;)
 
J

JMBeaushrimp

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Granville57 said:
UCI approves no needle policy
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-approves-no-needle-policy


-------------------------

As an aside, I was just searching the forum without being signed-in and was presented with this verification question:
"Who regulates cycling, the FBI or the UCI?"

Funny how that answer may be up for argument soon. ;)
Click to expand...

The whole team? That sounds very unUCIish... I wonder what the catalyst was?
 
Granville57

Granville57

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JMBeaushrimp said:
The whole team? That sounds very unUCIish... I wonder what the catalyst was?
Click to expand...

That just gave me a conspiratorial thought:

Doesn't this present the possibility of "planted evidence"?

Drop a needle, make a call, eliminate the competition. :eek:
 
K

kiwirider

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The thing that I like the most about the rule change is that it applies to "licence holders". By contrast, the UCI anti-doping rules as they stand apply almost exclusively to "riders", with only tampering and that type of offence applying to licence holders. So finally there's a piece of anti-drug legislation that recognises that there's a whole system behind drugs in sports and is now looking at the role that team managers, doctors and soigneurs play in the whole process - rather than just villifying the riders.

Yes, I realise that the rider has the final choice about drugs. But I've got enough friends who tell me stories of what they were given or told to take by managers/doctors/soigneurs - and the consequences for their stay on the team if they didn't - to know that the rider is just the tip of a systemic problem.

Like MJM has said, policing the policy is going to be interesting. That said, I wonder if some of the reason for drafting the rules as they are - ie., in terms of licence holders and making aiding and abetting an offence - is to hopefully encourage riders who breach the rule to "turn Queen's evidence" and start pointing fingers at the sources of their needles/drugs?
 
Granville57

Granville57

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Mrs John Murphy said:
You wonder how they will police this.
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I like the implied idea of "no exceptions." Much like the ban on IV drips, authorities won't be burdened with excuses as to why any found syringes were there in the first place. No syringes. Period. "Oh, it was just for vitamins? Too bad. You must leave now."
 
A

Anonymous

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if there are no needles are they now not doing any blood testing or are they taking blood by osmosis.
 
T

Tyler'sTwin

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TeamSkyFans said:
if there are no needles are they now not doing any blood testing or are they taking blood by osmosis.
Click to expand...

images
 
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