Pellizotti been given a 2 year ban [was - prematurely- Pellizotti acquitted !]

[thehog]

"I am very satisfied with this acquittal," Pellizotti told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I threw away a season and now I am going to ask to be reimbursed by the International Cycling Union for the damages."

 

[Señor_Contador]

Hey, if the guy who developed the plastics test telling WADA not to run his test because it hasn't been developed enough yet doesn't stop WADA from carrying out the tests... kinda makes WADA a joke.

These people have no shame. They're ruining the sport.

Good for Pelli!! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

 

[Barrus]

"I am very satisfied with this acquittal," Pellizotti told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I threw away a season and now I am going to ask to be reimbursed by the International Cycling Union for the damages."

That's what I was expecting, trying to get his money worth

 

[staubsauger]

haha fantastico fantastico

he served 1 year now, and wasn't able to win this years giro. so it's ok, he has served more time now than contadope have ever done till now.

omg

ricco, anton, scarponi, nibali/basso, pellizotti, di luca = 6 overall guys on eye level everyone with different special skills + 7 mountain top finishes + 1 mtt + garzelli, sella, pozzovivo, kreuziger/tiralongo, arroyo & other great outsiders to watch.

this will become more historic than giro 05 , 08 , 10 together schuuuuusch

 

[janraaskalt]

It's bad news that the biological passport is not working as intended, because if it did it would be a very useful anti-doping tool. I still think it's good if it can prevent doping from getting too silly, but even for that purpose Pellizotti being acquitted is bad news. Of course if he's innocent it's good news that he got off, but while I don't believe all riders are dopers, I do think it's quite likely Pellizotti in particular dopes.

I also think the biological passport is good because it can open new paths for anti-doping in the future.

I do agree with you that the blood passport is the most promising anti-doping tool for the future. It won't keep riders away from doping 100%, but they have to use micro (or pico) doses in order to not being detected.

Regarding the Pellizotti case, I am not a scientist. I do believe in the scientists behind the passport. Pellizotti acquitted doesn't mean he did not use doping, it just says there was no 100% guarantuee he did use it.

 

[Beech Mtn]

"I am very satisfied with this acquittal," Pellizotti told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I threw away a season and now I am going to ask to be reimbursed by the International Cycling Union for the damages."

Glad Pelli is suing the UCI for damages. Now Di Luca probably wishes he could have found a way to pull off something that bold.

However, Uncle Pat may be short of funds. He already owes Moreni some money, courtesy of the CAS Vino decision. Maybe Patty can get Pelli to accept a used Sysmex machine in lieu of cash.

 

[Oldman]

Glad Pelli is suing the UCI for damages. Now Di Luca probably wishes he could have found a way to pull off something that bold.

However, Uncle Pat may be short of funds. He already owes Moreni some money, courtesy of the CAS Vino decision. Maybe Patty can get Pelli to accept a used Sysmex machine in lieu of cash.

That would make it easier to stay within "parameters", wouldn't it?

 

[frenchfry]

Up to now the passport has perhaps reduced the level of doping.

Now that it has been overturned as a sanctioning tool, it may as well be thrown in the garbage - hardly keeping it just for statistical purposes given its cost.

 

[Altitude]

Unreal.. an entire season ruined for nothing-- not to mention the fact that they waited until just before the Giro to announce it. I'm surprised Pellizotti didn't do something rash.

 

[Highlander]

Personally following this excellent announcement I am 100% convinced that Pellizotti is as innocent as a lamb, like the rest of the Liquigas boys (Kreuziger, Nibali etc.), and has never gone near anything stronger than a sugary cup of tea in his quest to wins lots of races and pots of money.

The fact that Pellizotti went from laughing group to King of the Mountains in the 2009 Tour is proof that hard work and bread and water can indeed turn middling riders into gods of the bike.

You do realize that while winning the King of the Mountains that he still only 37th place and over 56 minutes behind Contador? Meanwhile, he has shown steady improvement in the Giro with multiple top 10 finishes before breaking out in 2008 and 2009. It wasn't as if he just appeared out of the blue and no one had ever heard of him before.

 

[Vonn Brinkman]

Unreal.. an entire season ruined for nothing-- not to mention the fact that they waited until just before the Giro to announce it. I'm surprised Pellizotti didn't do something rash.

Well he'll probably get a year's salary by the UCI.
I would be pretty ****ed if I didn't in his case.

 

[ultimobici]

Up to now the passport has perhaps reduced the level of doping.

Now that it has been overturned as a sanctioning tool, it may as well be thrown in the garbage - hardly keeping it just for statistical purposes given its cost.

The problem with the biopassport is the same as the old 50% rule. All it does is mask the level of doping as well as allowing a lesser physically gifted rider to "top up" to the same level as a rider who has a higher HCT level. If anything it is worse than before EPO.

The only viable way to combat blood doping & EPO use is to adopt the strategy Lemond suggested where riders are tested to see what their physical capabilities are and monitored via SRM's all season long in and out of competition. That way a rider would find it very difficult to conceal a hike in their performance. Couple the SRM with a GPS and the whereabouts system would be almost impossible to deceive too.

 

[Squares]

Regarding the Pellizotti case, I am not a scientist. I do believe in the scientists behind the passport. Pellizotti acquitted doesn't mean he did not use doping, it just says there was no 100% guarantuee he did use it.

I am a scientist, and I take all this to mean that if there is not a positive test for a foreign substance (CERA, recombinant-EPO, Clenbuterol, synthetic testosterone, HE-Starch) that there will not be any sanction by a governing body in the future. The 50% hematocrit limit might be gone as well.

Riders, with the proper medical guidance, can maintain their blood parameters like hematocrit and retic count in the right range through EPO and transfusions and gradually raise the counts and then race without testing positive for doping. Welcome to the wild west, where the rider that has the best doping doctor can reach top form and win a GT.

It was also said a few months ago that the UCI was holding out on naming a few big names that were under watch for suspicious blood values. I suggested at that time that the UCI was waiting to see how this trial turned out before losing a similar battle over Lance Armstrong, Contador or Schleck. With this news today, you will never hear another word about those cases.

 

[HoustonHammer]

Italy is worse then Spain I tell you.

Really. What if a couple bags of Pozzato's blood happened to turn up in an illegal doping clinic in Milano? I wonder what they would do.

 

[luckyboy]

Others have got away with doping it would be a tad unfair if he got 2 years for suspicious blood values.

Could say that about anyone really.

The 50% hematocrit limit might be gone as well.

Haha

 

[El Pistolero]

Really. What if a couple bags of Pozzato's blood happened to turn up in an illegal doping clinic in Milano? I wonder what they would do.

I'm guessing you're referring to Valverde. He got a 2 year ban.

Meh, there's a reason why Italy isn't shining anymore in the classics. All of the good ones are finally banned.

 

[Aguirre]

I am a scientist, and I take all this to mean that if there is not a positive test for a foreign substance (CERA, recombinant-EPO, Clenbuterol, synthetic testosterone, HE-Starch) that there will not be any sanction by a governing body in the future. The 50% hematocrit limit might be gone as well.

Riders, with the proper medical guidance, can maintain their blood parameters like hematocrit and retic count in the right range through EPO and transfusions and gradually raise the counts and then race without testing positive for doping. Welcome to the wild west, where the rider that has the best doping doctor can reach top form and win a GT.

It was also said a few months ago that the UCI was holding out on naming a few big names that were under watch for suspicious blood values. I suggested at that time that the UCI was waiting to see how this trial turned out before losing a similar battle over Lance Armstrong, Contador or Schleck. With this news today, you will never hear another word about those cases.

interesting, very interesting...

 

[Arnout]

Unreal.. an entire season ruined for nothing-- not to mention the fact that they waited until just before the Giro to announce it. I'm surprised Pellizotti didn't do something rash.

This. UCI showing its best side again. Just trying to figure out how the bio passport works and how they can use it while keeping a rider away from racing shows a lack of class at the very least.

 

[brianf7]

This is bad news.

Why
it is good news for cycling and the Giro if he is proven inocent then he must have had a good day.
Sue them all for missed oppertunity that will quieten them down a bit.

 

[hrotha]

Why
it is good news for cycling and the Giro if he is proven inocent then he must have had a good day.
Sue them all for missed oppertunity that will quieten them down a bit.

Read the whole thread.

 

[HoustonHammer]

I'm guessing you're referring to Valverde. He got a 2 year ban.

Meh, there's a reason why Italy isn't shining anymore in the classics. All of the good ones are finally banned.

Oh, did RFEC ban him? Well maybe they're more honest than I gave them credit for. I stand corrected.

Still, I wonder if the Italians could show that kind of Spanish courage.

 

[scribe]

Does anyone have any detail on what the suspicious values were exactly?

 

[Merckx index]

I am a scientist, and I take all this to mean that if there is not a positive test for a foreign substance (CERA, recombinant-EPO, Clenbuterol, synthetic testosterone, HE-Starch) that there will not be any sanction by a governing body in the future. The 50% hematocrit limit might be gone as well.

Riders, with the proper medical guidance, can maintain their blood parameters like hematocrit and retic count in the right range through EPO and transfusions and gradually raise the counts and then race without testing positive for doping. Welcome to the wild west, where the rider that has the best doping doctor can reach top form and win a GT.

Basically correct. Gavia at Podium Cafe reports:

According to Eugenio Capodacqua, the rider's data from the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2009 raised questions. Pellizotti's blood values went slowly up in one case, but stayed the same in the other. Under normal circumstances, current scientific theory holds that a rider's blood values should drop over the course of a three week grand tour. The Tribunal ruled that these anamolies did not offer sufficient proof of doping to sanction Pellizotti.

This is the problem. Riders can keep their values stable, so you're never going to catch them with a sudden dramatic change unless they make a mistake. What they can't do is hide the fact that they are keeping the values stable over the course of a GT, because they need to do that to perform well. But CAS is basically saying that they don't believe the evidence is good enough that an undoped rider will always show a large fall in HT and certain other parameters over a GT. If that's the case, then the passport is of little or no help.

Maybe the problem could be resolved with more data. But if they don't have the data after all this time, I doubt it. I think they discovered that if they analyze a large group of riders over a GT, they find parameters fall for some, maybe most, but not all, or not a great deal for all, so stability is not strong evidence of doping.

It was also said a few months ago that the UCI was holding out on naming a few big names that were under watch for suspicious blood values. I suggested at that time that the UCI was waiting to see how this trial turned out before losing a similar battle over Lance Armstrong, Contador or Schleck. With this news today, you will never hear another word about those cases.

IIRC, LA posted some blood values last year, and a number of people pointed out that they were suspiciously stable over the course of the GT (Giro, I think). Soon after, those values disappeared from that site.

 

[Boeing]

Good news. Love this guy. He puts real pain in the peloton

Is he still with Liquigas?

 

[royalpig180]

That's what I was expecting, trying to get his money worth

Well if somebody made YOU quit your job for a year and then later found out they were wrong to do it to you, wouldn't you want them to pay for the mistake?