Superstar vs. Regular Joe

[Steel4Ever]

Boonen gets busted for doing cocaine (and retroactively tested positive THREE times for coke) and gets....ZILCH!!! NOTHING happened to him! Neither the courts nor the sport's governing bodies gave Boonen any kind of punishment.

Now, another Belgium rider, David Knopp (who?!) gets busted for testing "positive for cocaine at a Belgian national race on September 11, 2008" (over ONE YEAR AGO?!?)...and he gets handed a 1-year suspension. Awesome.

1. Okay, Knopp's positive did come out of a sanctioned race -- punishment due.

2. Why wouldn't he do coke? Superstar Boonen gets to do it with a free ride!

3. It's not THAT hard to test for cocaine! Why did it take the labs 14 months to deliver results? Perhaps there is a back-log of Belgium rider/cocaine re-tests going on...

4. Just goes to show you, star power does exists -- as pathetic as that reality is.

Good day.

 

[Andrichuk]

Boonen got busted out of competition while Kopp got busted at Nationals.

Boonen never got a free ride out of doing coke, he was just able to get away with out much punishment. His results have suffered, he was let out of the 2008 tour, and sponsor money and fan base have probably both dropped.

I'm sure if Boonen got caught in competition he would also see a 1-2 year suspension, regardless of his celebrity status.

I don't know why the results took so long to get delivered, but getting caught for a drug that isn't banned from racing out of competition is allot different than getting caught while in competition.

 

[craig1985]

IIRC Kopp has podiumed at Ghent Wevelgem, he is not a complete hack. But I always thought Kopp was German, so I guess he must hold his racing licence in Belgium?

 

[Steel4Ever]

Boonen got busted out of competition while Kopp got busted at Nationals.

Yes, that's a fact.

Boonen never got a free ride out of doing coke, he was just able to get away with out much punishment. His results have suffered, he was let out of the 2008 tour,

So....he got to do his job poorly and got time off work...wow...such punishment!

...and sponsor money and fan base have probably both dropped.

It's Belgium. It's Boonen. I very highly doubt either have dropped.

I'm sure if Boonen got caught in competition he would also see a 1-2 year suspension, regardless of his celebrity status.

I don't know why the results took so long to get delivered, but getting caught for a drug that isn't banned from racing out of competition is allot different than getting caught while in competition.

It is also a civil crime -- not just a UCI thing. THREE times he was tested positive for cocaine in his system and the courts did nothing -- even when he broke conditions of his "parole" by doing even more coke!

Justice really is blind in cycle-crazy Belgium, especially so in the presence of "superstars".

 

[US Patent Exploding Cyclist]

The fact that these guys tested positive for cocaine is what I find ridiculous. The drug generally stays in the system for 3-5 days without any attempts to flush it out. So I understand Boonen because it was out of season and there is no way to know exactly when he will get tested, still no excuse for THREE positives; but this Knopp guy is an idiot. He knew he was going to be tested for Nationals. Buddy just take a week off the stuff and party after the race. He should get an extra year ban for being an a$$hole.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

The fact that these guys tested positive for cocaine is what I find ridiculous. The drug generally stays in the system for 3-5 days without any attempts to flush it out. So I understand Boonen because it was out of season and there is no way to know exactly when he will get tested, still no excuse for THREE positives; but this Knopp guy is an idiot. He knew he was going to be tested for Nationals. Buddy just take a week off the stuff and party after the race. He should get an extra year ban for being an a$$hole.

Get his name right, please. It is Kopp, not Knopp.

Get the facts right, too, please. Kopp's test had nothing to do with Nationals. He tested positive September at a local Belgian race.

Susan

 

[US Patent Exploding Cyclist]

I was going by the original poster's spelling and information. Either way he tested positive at a race where he can assume with near certainty he will be tested. Therefore I stand by my statement, he's an idiot.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

OK, I'll forgive you for the name, but there's a big difference between a national race and Nationals.

Susan

 

[US Patent Exploding Cyclist]

Fair enough. The "Nationals" cam from the second poster. Next time I'll at least "gooogle" to get the facts.

 

[gillan1969]

the UCI have control over their competitions

Boonen never tested postive in any of their competitions

so....eh, why exacty would he get sanctioned???

Yours confused

 

[D Avoid]

I saw the thread title and though,Yes I could compare and come last, My first race was with Bradley at Eats Whey in 03 when he did his victory laps for completing, not competing, in The Giro. He led us out at 47 although I'd been dropped on the third of thirty odd laps.

Having improved vastly I chased the Broomwagon(Tf.Br.) in 06 from Swiss Cottage to Hyde Park, they held the road open for, I don't know but they did,The broom wagon was averaging over thirty over speed humps and again I got dropped, although the crowd enhancement was huge. I realise now, in my deperate need to give this exclusive, that it's exclusivity prevenyts it from any connection to the thread, which is misleading anyway and enabled my need to perform to partly invent this story. All the full stops, commas and apostrophes are true and the rest is up to you. Tom Boonani won the day and there was a awful crash with a mooted bike outrider.My result was better this time as it was not included.