Was Lance tested for HemAssist at the 2005 TdF?

[Polish]

I am guessing "Yes" based on this article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?id=6064010

Also guessing he passed....

In early 2001, anti-doping researcher Michael Ashenden contacted Baxter to ask the company to cooperate with a group of scientists aiming to develop a test for blood substitutes. Ashenden, head of the Australian research consortium Science and Industry Against Blood Doping, was coordinating the study, which was funded by WADA. He met with Estep and secured Baxter's agreement to furnish a small amount of HemAssist, along with proprietary information on how to detect it.

"We wanted to be on the right side of this," Estep said. "We thought of [HemAssist] as a product with revolutionary implications, but it could also be abused." He said Ashenden arranged for him and a Baxter lab director to meet with Boulder resident and retired marathoner Frank Shorter, then the head of the fledgling U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Under the agreement with Baxter, a small quantity of HemAssist was transferred to a lab in Montpellier, France, in June 2001. Ashenden said the scientists also obtained similar blood substitutes from other companies, and manipulated tiny amounts of them at any given time. Researchers in France worked on the study for the next two years, and the group published its results in February 2004. The test was introduced in competition for the first time at the Athens Olympics that summer.

 

[MacRoadie]

I am guessing "Yes" based on this article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?id=6064010

Also guessing he passed....

I'm guessing no one cares because that means absolutely nothing.

I'm guessing the SI article never said Armstrong used HemAssist for any specific period of time or for a long duration.

I'm guessing the point of raising HemAssist in that article was to bring to light the practice of obtaining substances, still in clinical trial, to determine their performance-enhancement benefits (if any).

I'm guessing that practice is illegal.

I'm guessing that sort of thing would interest the FDA, not whether it worked as a PED or how long it was used.

Just a guess of course.

 

[Hugh Januss]

I'm guessing no one cares because that means absolutely nothing.

I'm guessing the SI article never said Armstrong used HemAssist for any specific period of time or for a long duration.

I'm guessing the point of raising HemAssist in that article was to bring to light the practice of obtaining substances, still in clinical trial, to determine their performance-enhancement benefits (if any).

I'm guessing that practice is illegal.

I'm guessing that sort of thing would interest the FDA, not whether it worked as a PED or how long it was used.

Just a guess of course.

I'm guessing if he was tested and if he passed the test then it may have been the same way he passed the EPO test in Switzerland the testosterone tests in the US and the steroid test at the tour.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

I am guessing "Yes" based on this article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?id=6064010

Also guessing he passed....

No need to guess he passed. If he had not passed, it is reasonable to think it would have made the news.

Though, what is your point?

I truly doubt that Lance used the HemAssist product for anything more than to experiment and see if it would be beneficial. If it proved useful, he probably would have kept using. Since the ending of the clinical trials (well discussed and vetted) that there was little benefit to be gained by using and some possibly bad side-effects, my guess is this was abandoned by Lance and his doping team.

However, the issue of whether it worked or not and whether he was tested for it or not, are of no consequence in showing evidence of doping. All that would be needed is him (directly or by proxy) to have obtained it.

From the SI article, they cite a source who claims "the FDA has information that Armstrong gained access to a Baxter-made drug"... If that is true, I cannot see how Armstrong can emerge from this.

 

[MacRoadie]

Was Floyd tested for HGH and EPO at the 2006 TdF?

I'm guessing "yes" based on the known testing protocols at time.

Also guessing he passed...

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Plasticizer Test

I am guessing that a Plasticizer test will be operational/enforceable in the very near future.

I am further guessing that it will be used to examine Lance Armstrong's 2009 test samples.

I will guess again that any future news related Lance returning a positive Plasticizer test will be dismissed as SSDD.

And I will end with the guess that should the evidence indicate that Lance and his henchmen conspired to defraud the US Federal Govt out of millions of dollars, he and many of those same henchmen will end up in jail.

 

[**Uru**]

I am guessing this is all idle speculation.

 

[sniper]

I am guessing this is all idle speculation.

I'm guessing the article posted in this thread shows that independent media are no longer doubting the rumors surrounding LA and are fully engaging.

 

[dbrower]

I'm guessing "no", because it seems like a lot of samples never actually get tested, just collected to put on a show; and because all tests aren't run on all samples anyway, for lots of reasons -- available sample volume, expense. And they're supposed to be blind, so you're not supposed to able pick one out for special treatment.

The threat of tests that might be made, and might work is supposed to be a deterrent.

-dB

 

[Siriuscat]

I'm guessing "no", because it seems like a lot of samples never actually get tested, just collected to put on a show; and because all tests aren't run on all samples anyway, for lots of reasons -- available sample volume, expense. And they're supposed to be blind, so you're not supposed to able pick one out for special treatment.

The threat of tests that might be made, and might work is supposed to be a deterrent.

-dB

SERIOUS POINT - If that were true how is it possible to target riders SPECIFIC under the Bio Passport??

 

[Ecowarrior18]

SERIOUS POINT - If that were true how is it possible to target riders SPECIFIC under the Bio Passport??

Because the Biopasport has nothing to do with blind competition and out of comp testing as such. The bio passport profile is done through specific testing. Not blind.

 

[D-Queued]

SERIOUS POINT - If that were true how is it possible to target riders SPECIFIC under the Bio Passport??

Whether possible or not, we already know (from the WADA IO report) targeted riders from the Passport are NOT tested.

This is the UCI. Why would they target anyone?

Dave.

 

[Wheels Go Round and Round]

I am guessing that a Plasticizer test will be operational/enforceable in the very near future.

I am further guessing that it will be used to examine Lance Armstrong's 2009 test samples.

I will guess again that any future news related Lance returning a positive Plasticizer test will be dismissed as SSDD.

And I will end with the guess that should the evidence indicate that Lance and his henchmen conspired to defraud the US Federal Govt out of millions of dollars, he and many of those same henchmen will end up in jail.

they are NOT taking the LANCE down......... eos