The twilight zone called Portugal.

[F_Cance]

I am assuming it was at the time when a portuguese newspaper reported that he and another rider had abnormal bio passport values. I think that was prior to his crash.

 

[PhiLiz]

The best tour in the world is back.

40 year old Doposo took the opening prologue.

 

[perico]

This race kicks ass. Gotta find the easiest way to watch.

 

[carolina]

It will be available here: https://www.rtp.pt/play/direto/rtp1

It might be geo resctricted, I'm not sure. Just get a VPN to pretend you're in Portugal.

 

[Mayomaniac]

It will be available here: https://www.rtp.pt/play/direto/rtp1

It might be geo resctricted, I'm not sure. Just get a VPN to pretend you're in Portugal.

Works fine in Austria, so it shouldn't be geo-restricted, thanks for the link!
Veloso said that he's gonna take it day by day.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Why is Marque allowed to ride? Didn't he also have a passport violation, just like Alarcon?

 

[carolina]

Not that I know of.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Not that I know of.

Yes, spanish media reported that both were involved in the investigation.
Source: https://www.marca.com/ciclismo/2019/05/24/5ce7cfd6e2704ec71d8b45ea.html

 

[carolina]

They reported fake news, apparently: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ojogo.pt/modalidades/ciclismo/noticias/amp/raul-alarcon-e-alejandro-marque-sem-notificacao-10940140.html

He was never notified of anything.

And the positive they talk about, when he was about to join Movistar, was for a substance that he had a TUE for. He had a knee treatment because of a crash, if I remember correctly.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That's right, yes. However, it got held against him more because it was the year that Euskaltel folded, so Movistar, having already contracted Marque before the Euskaltel collapse, used it as a pretext to void the contract and free up some funds which they used to hire Igor Antón who had held on longer than many of his teammates and was therefore available at a comparative bargain price.

 

[PhiLiz]

Edgar Pinto suspenso devido a suspeitas de doping

Ciclista da W52-FC Porto com irregularidades no passaporte biológico

www.record.pt

Absolutely shocked!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Nocentini:
four years for irregularities in the biological passport by the National Anti-Doping Court ..
reported v.briefly in Italian here https://www.corriere.it/sport/20_dicembre_02/nocentini-maglia-gialla-tour-una-mega-squalifica-doping-16ac4cbe-349d-11eb-b1bc-a76a672bf85e_preview.shtml

 

[yaco]

My understanding is Nocentini rides for a CT team which are not part of the Biological passport program - I must be missing information.

 

[samhocking]

My understanding is Nocentini rides for a CT team which are not part of the Biological passport program - I must be missing information.

I think Nocentini has been part of a year-long anti-doping investigation by CONI. They can put any rider into biological passport. What he isn't is part of CADF testing pool where this happens automatically once you are at World Tour & Pro Conti level. ie once International level.

 

[carolina]

My understanding is Nocentini rides for a CT team which are not part of the Biological passport program - I must be missing information.

It's not mandatory, but most portuguese teams have the biological passport.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Former Tour de France leader Nocentini gets four-year retroactive ban

Italian denies doping after late-career results disqualified for biological passport violation

www.cyclingnews.com

Nocentini suggested that blood samples taken during the Volta a Portugal in uncontrolled conditions might be at fault.
"On more than one occasion with my teammates we wanted to refuse to undergo tests in unsanitary or inappropriate situations," but said riders were afraid to complain. "Once I had two tubes of blood taken and at the end of the check they gave me one in my hand, saying it was extra and I could keep it as a souvenir. Another time I had to take the test in the hotel lobby because, they said, there wasn't even a free room."
He said that during the Tour of Portugal at the centre of the dispute, "I remember that it was very hot and we had pointed out that the samples could not remain for 2 or 3 hours at 50°C. In the checks I was subjected to at home, they rightly checked the temperature of the environment."

 

[samhocking]

It's not mandatory, but most portuguese teams have the biological passport.

Biological passport in terms of UCI being the sanctioning body is WT & PCT teams only and those riders moving into those two or attempting the hour record. Beyond that, it's generally down to the NADO.

 

[samhocking]

Former Tour de France leader Nocentini gets four-year retroactive ban

Italian denies doping after late-career results disqualified for biological passport violation

www.cyclingnews.com

Should be relative simply for him to prove the temperature issue as the kits come with a temperature logger and this log is used by the labs to determine if the samples have been in conditions outside the expected criteria.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Should be relative simply for him to prove the temperature issue as the kits come with a temperature logger and this log is used by the labs to determine if the samples have been in conditions outside the expected criteria.

If Nocentini's samples have been improperly stored which has resulted in a false positive, he only has himself to blame.

Have you heard the Nocentini story?
Yesterday he got tested, but they didn't know where to store the B sample, so they just gave it back to him, making the whole test meaningless because of the missing B sample.
Source: http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/2017/08/13/103953/nocentini-e-il-regalo-a-sorpresa-antidoping-provetta-tuttobiciweb.it

 

[carolina]

Raul Alarcon gets a 4 year suspension and loses both Volta victories (2017 and 2018). This means Joni Brandão and Amaro Antunes are the new winners.

Raúl Alarcón é suspenso quatro anos por doping e perde os dois títulos da Volta a Portugal

Ciclista espanhol da W52-FC Porto tinha vencido a Volta a Portugal em 2017 e 2018.

desporto.sapo.pt

 

[PhiLiz]

Raul Alarcon gets a 4 year suspension and loses both Volta victories (2017 and 2018). This means Joni Brandão and Amaro Antunes are the new winners.

Raúl Alarcón é suspenso quatro anos por doping e perde os dois títulos da Volta a Portugal

Ciclista espanhol da W52-FC Porto tinha vencido a Volta a Portugal em 2017 e 2018.

desporto.sapo.pt

Oh no, what a shock. After Dopinblanco and Doposo, this guy got the short stick.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Oh no, what a shock. After Dopinblanco and Doposo, this guy got the short stick.

Balarcón was kind of way more obvious than them, though.

Like, not even kidding.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Balarcón was kind of way more obvious than them, though.

Like, not even kidding.

Just politics bro! Next thing you know they are gonna go after Rui Sousa.

Alarcon had the skills to become a good rouleur, he finished Paris-Roubaix as a neopro (69th place) ahead of future winners like Terpstra (2 years older than Raul) and Vansummeren (5 years older than Raul).
He didn't get another pro contract after SD/Scott folded and went back to the Spanish amateur ranks, in 2010 he won the Copa de España amateur de ciclismo, the individual ranking on the Spanish amateur/CT scene.
While his climbing performances in the Vuelta remain the stuff of legend and make even the most hardcore Volta a Portugal fans shake their heads in disbelief, the guy had the talent to be a good rouleur/one day racer.

 

[roundabout]

Just politics bro! Next thing you know they are gonna go after Rui Sousa.

Alarcon had the skills to become a good rouleur, he finished Paris-Roubaix as a neopro (69th place) ahead of future winners like Terpstra (2 years older than Raul) and Vansummeren (5 years older than Raul).
He didn't get another pro contract after SD/Scott folded and went back to the Spanish amateur ranks, in 2010 he won the Copa de España amateur de ciclismo, the individual ranking on the Spanish amateur/CT scene.
While his climbing performances in the Vuelta remain the stuff of legend and make even the most hardcore Volta a Portugal fans shake their heads in disbelief, the guy had the talent to be a good rouleur/one day racer.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6J-c8qPgtk&t=4692s

 

[PhiLiz]

Balarcón was kind of way more obvious than them, though.

Like, not even kidding.

True for DopinBlanco, debatable for Doposo, specially when he found out, at 37, the he was not only a strong climber and time trialist, but also a great puncher with a nasty sprint kick.