Omega Pharma-Lotto bombshell?

[BillytheKid]

Lets demystify some of easily verifiable facts.

(i) the investigated product was ordered NOT from an underground lab (as the cn article implies) but from a legitimate australian company:

MediVet
P.O. Box 6058 Blacktown BC
Blacktown NSW 2148 Australia
Phone: 1800 356 505
Fax: + 612 9708 0041
Email: info@medivet.net.au
Web: http://www.medivet.net.au

(ii) there is NO secret distribution network but a legitimate export PERMIT NUMBER -PER11688, issued by the australian government
http://www.tb500.com/pdf/PER11688.PDF

(iii) the product if used as intended (on animals) does not appear illegal in Europe.. it has a cas no (77591-33-4) and is available from many other suppliers.

all the above does not mean that some other belgian or wada laws haven't been broken.

but getting through chaff should be the first step in finding the truth.

A substance does not have to be on the banned list for it to qualify as an doping product as molecular structures can be slightly change and have the same effect as a drug that is banned. Also, there are many drugs have PED effects yet to be identified. Clenbuterol is used where allowed on animals. Something close to it would not be out the question. As far as I know, the UCI rules include any new arrivals, whether officially identified or not.

 

[Bala Verde]

What bothers me is that this is all too easy. The first time they bust him, is two weeks before the TDF. He orders by international mailorder, while if you have ever imported something from outside the EU, you know that Belgian customs have a high rate of opening packages. At least that shows it can't be a long time thing, because they would have caught him a lot sooner. He doesn't even use the "it's for my farm animals" excuse, but flat out denies that he ordered those meds. I'm not jumping to conclusions because it's obvious we don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet. But it sure seems that whoever orchestrated this, isn't the smartest of the bunch.

I agree that we can't really judge the case yet, given the little/conflicting information that has been released by various sources, whether come from OPL, Vansevenant, or reputable cycling sources (such as sporza etc). In the end, it doesn't really matter what I think about the case anyway

On the other hand, I would not too easily credit (all) doping users/traffickers with extraordinary abilities to arrange these deliveries.

I honestly laughed out loud when I read Johan Museeuw's method:

Museeuw buys doping disguised with reading glasses

I also remember Marc Lotz who was suspended after the police found EPO in his fridge. Didn't he also just 'walk into a pharmacy' to buy the goods?

 

[soulor]

TB500 and Medivet

Lets demystify some of easily verifiable facts.

(i) the investigated product was ordered NOT from an underground lab (as the cn article implies) but from a legitimate australian company:

MediVet
P.O. Box 6058 Blacktown BC
Blacktown NSW 2148 Australia
Phone: 1800 356 505
Fax: + 612 9708 0041
Email: info@medivet.net.au
Web: http://www.medivet.net.au

(ii) there is NO secret distribution network but a legitimate export PERMIT NUMBER -PER11688, issued by the australian government
http://www.tb500.com/pdf/PER11688.PDF

(iii) the product if used as intended (on animals) does not appear illegal in Europe.. it has a cas no (77591-33-4) and is available from many other suppliers.

all the above does not mean that some other belgian or wada laws haven't been broken.

but getting through chaff should be the first step in finding the truth.

Why would he buy it from Oz rather than the US where it is made (in Santa Cruz as far as I can see)? Or from another, closer supplier? As far as I can see it is only available to vets for trial purposes from Medivet, which counts out Vansevenant as a customer (he is not a vet) unless this is just for show:

http://www.medivet.net.au/tb500.html

The .pdf link for the export permit is broken, has someone pulled it?

 

[Bala Verde]

The following is a summary of the conversation in thesporza link with the professor:

According to the professor, the product in question is considered doping by WADA standards, because:

1) It is not approved for human consumption (technical violation)
2) the substance is considered a "peptide hormone" which he seems to compares to EPO and HGH.

Although it is a peptide hormone, they can't be sure of its performance enhancing effects, because it is not for human consumption and has not been tested on human beings, only on animals.

Then the reporter asks a question about why people would seek out animal products, and the professor responds that it is most likely to circumvent doping controls.

Ultimately the reporter asks why the product would have been purchased in Australia. The professor mentions that the biotech industry serving the horse sector is very well developed in Australia, so those type of medications are cutting edge.


-----
Isn't the horse racing/equestrian industry one of the biggest and/or most developed in Australia?

 

[roundabout]

Why would he buy it from Oz rather than the US where it is made (in Santa Cruz as far as I can see)? Or from another, closer supplier? As far as I can see it is only available to vets for trial purposes from Medivet, which counts out Vansevenant as a customer (he is not a vet) unless this is just for show:

http://www.medivet.net.au/tb500.html

The .pdf link for the export permit is broken, has someone pulled it?

http://www.tb500.com/pdf/PER11688.pdf

works without capital letters

 

[just some guy]

The following is a summary of the conversation in thesporza link with the professor:

According to the professor, the product in question is considered doping by WADA standards, because:

1) It is not approved for human consumption (technical violation)
2) the substance is considered a "peptide hormone" which he seems to compares to EPO and HGH.

Although it is a peptide hormone, they can't be sure of its performance enhancing effects, because it is not for human consumption and has not been tested on human beings, only on animals.

Then the reporter asks a question about why people would seek out animal products, and the professor responds that it is most likely to circumvent doping controls.

Ultimately the reporter asks why the product would have been purchased in Australia. The professor mentions that the biotech industry serving the horse sector is very well developed in Australia, so those type of medications are cutting edge.


-----
Isn't the horse racing/equestrian industry one of the biggest and/or most developed in Australia?

It very big with a lot of Money involved some legal other not so much

 

[BillytheKid]

Why would he buy it from Oz rather than the US where it is made (in Santa Cruz as far as I can see)? Or from another, closer supplier? As far as I can see it is only available to vets for trial purposes from Medivet, which counts out Vansevenant as a customer (he is not a vet) unless this is just for show:

http://www.medivet.net.au/tb500.html

The .pdf link for the export permit is broken, has someone pulled it?

Pherhaps he thought it had less chance of being flagged at customs.

 

[soulor]

http://www.tb500.com/pdf/PER11688.pdf

works without capital letters

Thanks: I am not sure this export permit really tells us anything, though. If it is not for use on humans and it was supplied to Vansevenant for his own use this would be in breach of the permit, surely.

 

[soulor]

Pherhaps he thought it had less chance of being flagged at customs.

Maybe. Or maybe you can't export it from the US to EU? Anyone out there know?

 

[euanli]

This is the Omega Pharma Lotto (Blonde) Bombshell

http://yfrog.com/h0hfmktj

 

[Anonymous]

This is the Omega Pharma Lotto (Blonde) Bombshell

maybe its time to drop Gilbert from my fantasy team.

 

[euanli]

maybe its time to drop Gilbert from my fantasy team.

you don't drop Gilbert, Gilbert drops you. etc etc etc

 

[python]

my goal in the post above, as stated already, was to get to the verifiable facts because the cn article misplaced them.

i did NOT concern myself with the specifics of vansevenant procrument or the legal side of his actions. that's for the belgian investigators to discover.

i'm ok with waiting for their findings.

oh and does appear, tb-500 is not illegal in horse racing.

 

[L'arriviste]

...BTW, I hope Vansevenant didn't dope himself... I always sticked to the hope that one at least could achieve a low GC rank clean

There will be a lot of hilarity about the three time Red Lantern involved in a doping case...

As I mentioned on the No way Gilbert is clean... thread, Vansevenant may not have been clean in his day. He was one of the first riders to return a high haematocrit violation in 1997, soon after the 50% "sin bin" system had its debut.

 

[sniper]

what's in a name

whatever's next for Omega Pharma Lotto, they thoroughly deserve it with such a name.

Buy your omega 3 fatty acid at lotto's grocery store.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Your team is sponsored by, oh, I dunno, OMEGA PHARMA and you're getting your drugs from Australia? Eh? Sponsor won't cut you a bro deal?

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

This is the Omega Pharma Lotto (Blonde) Bombshell

LOL. Guess who else sported a blond hair-do before getting kicked out of the TDF?

It's a sign

 

[ulrikmm]

It seems like that's pretty much how the doping cells work now. Not formal team programs but it's based on trust and people are going to trust current/former teammates and countrymen before others.

I doubt this will affect OPL status at the Tour but it might affect their performance. I assume this is a criminal matter and any naming of names for leniency would probably be for his suppliers rather than his customers. But they will go through his financial records, computer, phone, etc. so something could fall on riders that way.



Monstersheep!! I don't actually know what those are but they sound great and like they take a lot of drugs. Can we start calling OPL riders Monstersheep now?

How about Team Mega Pharma Monstersheep?

 

[hfer07]

who would have thought that those AUSTRALIAN folks-with an impeccable reputation would've ever been involved in such illegal activities like this? after all, the dirtiness in cycling ONLY belongs to those nasty Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese, Colombians & all nationalities apart from Anglo-Saxon/English speaking background...............

 

[L'arriviste]

LOL. Guess who else sported a blond hair-do before getting kicked out of the TDF?

...

It's a sign

I could go on ...

 

[thehog]

The hair dye and peroxide helps nullify the drug hair testing. Its an old trick but works like a charm.

 

[hrotha]

The hair dye and peroxide helps nullify the drug hair testing. Its an old trick but works like a charm.

I'm not convinced of that. If that were true, dyed hair would (have) be(en) far more widespread, but we've seen it come and go along the general trends in our society at large. Furthermore, half the 1998 Festina squad had dyed their hair blonde, and their hair tests still were positive for a number of PEDs.

 

[Parrulo]

who would have thought that those AUSTRALIAN folks-with an impeccable reputation would've ever been involved in such illegal activities like this? after all, the dirtiness in cycling ONLY belongs to those nasty Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese, Colombians & all nationalities apart from Anglo-Saxon/English speaking background...............

oh this is pure gold

 

[Anonymous]

I could go on ...

like this fellow?

 

[roundabout]

I'm not convinced of that. If that were true, dyed hair would (have) be(en) far more widespread, but we've seen it come and go along the general trends in our society at large. Furthermore, half the 1998 Festina squad had dyed their hair blonde, and their hair tests still were positive for a number of PEDs.

Yeah, let's put it down to his, er, special fashion sense (see the suit he wore at his wedding).