"There is a very high likelihood they will prohibit me from riding on the Tour"

[Robert Merivel]

http://www.livestrong.com
http://www.livestrong.com/

 

[Robert Merivel]

Could this influence the decision?

WADA "whereabouts" rule contravenes EU law: panel

Thu Apr 9, 8:39 am ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Many parts of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) "whereabouts" rule contravene the bloc's privacy laws, a key European Union (EU) panel will say next week, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A panel of 27 national experts met on Tuesday and Wednesday and will publish their legal opinion after Easter on the rule requiring athletes to give detailed schedules of their whereabouts for drug testing.

The rule has angered many individuals and sports organizations and has led to legal challenges.

"The panel sympathized with the motives behind the rule and saw the merits of it. But it also found that many aspects contravened EU laws on data protection, privacy and freedom," one source with knowledge of the opinion said.

The panel's decision will form the basis of a broader and far-reaching binding legal opinion by the European Commission, the executive arm which oversees EU legislation within the 27-nation bloc due to be published before the northern summer.

 

[lookkg386]

Isn't that their intention all along????

 

[BroDeal]

http://www.livestrong.com
http://www.livestrong.com/

Armstrong surely knew the rules, and he intentionally broke them. I can only think of two reasons why.

1) He needed time to mask something. This is the obvious answer, especially with what we know of 1999, so I won't go into that.

2) He is deliberately punking out. In 2003 he had twenty different excuses, one or two every day, as to why he might lose the Tour. It was like listening to George Bush try to justify the the need to invade Iraq. The reasons shifted daily if not hourly. Hiding from the dope tester seems like a convenient way to get out of riding the Tour while blaming it on someone else.

 

[bianchigirl]

A body language expert would have a field day with the continual blinking, looking down and to the left and folded arms in that little piece.

Seems the AFLD are pretty handy at making videos too:
http://www.afld.fr/video_controle_antidopage.php

 

[Zoncolan]

Armstrong surely knew the rules, and he intentionally broke them. I can only think of two reasons why.

1) He needed time to mask something. This is the obvious answer, especially with what we know of 1999, so I won't go into that.

2) He is deliberately punking out. In 2003 he had twenty different excuses, one or two every day, as to why he might lose the Tour. It was like listening to George Bush try to justify the the need to invade Iraq. The reasons shifted daily if not hourly. Hiding from the dope tester seems like a convenient way to get out of riding the Tour while blaming it on someone else.

Right you are!

 

[BigBoat]

I want Lance's *** busted and embarassed! I dont want him going down in this manner... I want them (Italians) to open up his motorhome at the Giro and see what he has in the Fridge! Ha!

 

[bianchigirl]

He quite obviously wants this get out from the Tour desperately so I hope the AFLD say 'no, it's OK, you're free to ride' - far more humiliating

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Hiding from the dope tester seems like a convenient way to get out of riding the Tour while blaming it on someone else.

In spite of his occasional petulance...

I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that he's not going to win anything. The age, the three years off, the extra upper body weight, the broken collarbone, etc.

It would have been wiser for him to either just stay retired, or just come back and say he was riding for fun, and in races like the Tour of Missouri. But I think his ego is too big for that. And I think that's what's sinking him. As unlikely as it would seem that he would dope now, considering how driven he is to win, and very likely he did in the past...

Assuming he rides the Giro, he's going to falter because of the age/time off/weight/injury. And I also think he's going to really suffer on the first real mountain stage in the Tour as well.

Though I suppose he could issue a statement saying the broken collarbone isn't healing right and he won't be able to ride in the Giro or Tour, in a sinister way being able to blame AFLD or "the French" for his comeback being halted might be more beneficial to him, and save face over being humiliated by a slew of climbers more than 10 years his junior riding away from him in the mountains for all the world to see.

 

[LugHugger]

In spite of his occasional petulance...

I think it's becoming increasingly apparent that he's not going to win anything. The age, the three years off, the extra upper body weight, the broken collarbone, etc.

It would have been wiser for him to either just stay retired, or just come back and say he was riding for fun, and in races like the Tour of Missouri. But I think his ego is too big for that. And I think that's what's sinking him. As unlikely as it would seem that he would dope now, considering how driven he is to win, and very likely he did in the past...

Assuming he rides the Giro, he's going to falter because of the age/time off/weight/injury. And I also think he's going to really suffer on the first real mountain stage in the Tour as well.

Though I suppose he could issue a statement saying the broken collarbone isn't healing right and he won't be able to ride in the Giro or Tour, in a sinister way being able to blame AFLD or "the French" for his comeback being halted might be more beneficial to him, and save face over being humiliated by a slew of climbers more than 10 years his junior riding away from him in the mountains for all the world to see.

Spot on. This return has always been unlikely to reap any sporting rewards and only serve to massage Armstrong's ego. The sport has moved on since his retirement and doesn't need to look back and watch a great champion fading into the distance.

 

[ElChingon]

Well if he is banned or a no-show at this years Tour will it really be a loss? No.

We all know the world is out to get him so why doesn't he just do a Tour during July in his great city of Austin, invite all his pro buddies to race him and offer them the same amount of prize money? Heck his followers and drones could pony up the money for it so they could watch it, right?

France is such a bad country with such bad people, so why is he so bent on doing the Tour de France?

 

[tifosa]

A body language expert would have a field day with the continual blinking, looking down and to the left and folded arms in that little piece.
Seems the AFLD are pretty handy at making videos too.]

I've seen both the Armstrong and AFLD videos.
Firstly, the AFLD is not the enemy.
Lastly, at the beginning of Armstrong's video, notice the left shoulder shrug at 0:22 when he says "everything seems to be good". Another left shoulder shrug at 1:38 when he says "blood".

Again, Mr. Armstrong, I think you are protesting Way too much. FYI, the shortest explanation is usually the best, and most truthful. When your lips keep moving, they're lying.

 

[Avoriaz]

A body language expert would have a field day with the continual blinking, looking down and to the left and folded arms in that little piece.

Seems the AFLD are pretty handy at making videos too:
http://www.afld.fr/video_controle_antidopage.php

Agree with the blinking and jerky movements, but a liar would tend to look up and to the right. He seems to be looking down and to the left.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Firstly, the AFLD is not the enemy.

Completely agree with that. For years on end riders caught cheating, or trying to cheat, have repeatedly made a run at the "attack the lab" defense, and tried to have that judged in the court of public opinion.

"All the evidence may be against me, and I may be found guilty, but at least I can get a lot of fans to believe me."

The other repeated tactic is to scream that the system isn't fair, and tilts against them, when any objective viewer can see it clearly is tilted in their favor. For example, in cycling (just like baseball, track & field, XC skiing, etc.) there have obviously been thousands if not tens of thousands of false negatives in the testing process, and only a handful of false positives in recorded history of testing - most of which were righted eventually when all the evidence was brought forth. All of this after exhaustive and extensive inspection under extremely high standards.

This goes just beyond Tyler Hamilton, Flandis, Lance, Jan, and even beyond cycling. What's alarming isn't that there's any truth to the labs being dirty (there is ZERO evidence that any has ever been in any of those cases), but how gullible some people are and buy into it such a defense, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And I suppose that's why athlete after athlete pleads their case to the public using their personality, and takes the same attack the lab and the testing isn't fair approach time and again.

 

[Anonymous]

Agree with the blinking and jerky movements, but a liar would tend to look up and to the right. He seems to be looking down and to the left.

blimey.. weve all watched 7 episodes of "lie to me" and suddenly we are experts..

i thought looking down was shame/embarassment... i may need to take the test again...
http://www.fox.com/lietome/lightmantests/

 

[golancego]

Jeesus..!

I think you french knobheads would have enough with antidopingwork to do with your own riders for christ sake!Why dont you run after Sandy Casar every f..... hour?

Do you folks really believe that Sandys riding clean

What does the history tell us about this lovely little Sandyboy??

 

[Mellow Velo]

Jeesus..!

I think you french knobheads would have enough with antidopingwork to do with your own riders for christ sake!Why dont you run after Sandy Casar every f..... hour?

Do you folks really believe that Sandys riding clean

What does the history tell us about this lovely little Sandyboy??

You might impress folks more, with the depth of your cycling knowledge, if you could name a different French rider, in your xenophobic twaddle, other than poor old Sandy Casar, every time.
Try googling, if you get stuck.....there are hundreds.....but watch out for Christophe Bassons.

 

[James Jordan]

You all might want to do some more in depth research in regards to body language interpretation. A number of studies recently have shown that the traditional thinking, such as look down to the left for deception, is proving to be less then reliable. The indicators that have been noted in the thread are common to the subject over time and therefor could be providing false positives.

 

[Anonymous]

You all might want to do some more in depth research in regards to body language interpretation. A number of studies recently have shown that the traditional thinking, such as look down to the left for deception, is proving to be less then reliable. The indicators that have been noted in the thread are common to the subject over time and therefor could be providing false positives.

blimey.. so not only are riders going to be drug tested from now on, but post race interviews are going to be studied for signs of doping through body language...

whos going to be the first rider who fails the left eyebrow twitch three times and gets suspended.. ?

and what about someone like cadel who shows no facial expressions except grumpiness.. were going to end up with false positives, and him requiring his b-sample tested..

 

[mr. tibbs]

RE the original, topic: One Mr. Prudhomme expects Armstrong at the Tour. I think that's a good sign he'll at least be invited.

 

[BikeCentric]

I would really like to see Armstrong at the Tour. The reality is, he's going to get his *** kicked even if he could somehow get away with shooting himself so full of blood dope that he's riding with a 70% hematocrit. It would probably be good for the sport if we can see from the race results that the sport has moved on from the Lance era. It would also be good for the Tour to have him there, with all the attention and controversy he brings with him.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

You might get your wish.

 

[BigBoat]

"At the agency, the version of events is that only when the tester threatened to call in gendarmes did Bruyneel agree to let testing proceed..."

-Associated Press

It sounds like the tester was ID'd as an AFLD government tester and Johan Bruneel was adament to still not let him in order to buy time.

One thing I take from this is that, if this was just "some French guy with a backpack" how would that hold any credibility if he collected Lance's urine and blood? It would not make any difference. So there really is no excuse at all--if your open and honest it will show.

If you need time to run back and stick a 21 guage needle in your arm to train off 3 units of blood, and then hemodilute on lactate ringer that can all be done in 25 minutes and AFLD knows it, the UCI knows it and certainly the public should know it.

 

[Anonymous]

RE the original, topic: One Mr. Prudhomme expects Armstrong at the Tour. I think that's a good sign he'll at least be invited.

from mainpage "The Tour de France's director expects to see Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France this July despite the American's own doubts that he will be allowed to race. Christian Prudhomme told Cyclingnews on Saturday that despite the American's recent trouble with the anti-doping authorities in France, he sees Armstrong participating in this year's Tour.

"I imagine he will be at the Tour de France and I imagine he will also be at the Giro d'Italia," said Prudhomme to Cyclingnews Saturday."

or is that just covering himself so when the afld chuck him out of france CP can say he wanted lance to race..

but yes.. its a positive sign...