What are these mysterious pills found on the roadside at Paris-Roubaix?

[Archibald]

Well, there you go. Sounds like a well-documented find.

Why he's "sure it's nothing sinister" is curious. Why would he be sure either way?

I know when I'm riding I carry around vials marked thusly all the time. Totally normal. I'm sure we'll get the all-clear from UKAD in short order.

Is that when UKAD announce that 'said rider' stated that "it wasn't theirs and that they were looking after it for someone else", and we believe them...

The fact that the soigneur didn't bother about it at all is a far greater hint, though. If it were a doping product, he might've been bothered a lot more. If it had been picked up, the only evidence of it ever happening would've been a photo where you see a vial falling from a rider's pocket. Now there is the actual vial with contents.

this is, of course, if the siongeur knew anything about it's origin other than some random spectator pointing at something on the ground...

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Looks to me like a Skyborg battery fell out.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Riders are testing new equipment all the time.

Seems just as likely that this is a test formulation of some electrolyte pill or other legal supplement as it is some nefarious new doping product.

Indeed. I hope UKAD actually publishes some findings about the found objects.

 

[barn yard]

cant be very effective if it came from a rider just in front of the broom wagon at half way through the race

 

[Justinr]

A wild guess..

The only way a brit can be sure about this would be if the rider in question is a brit himself, or possibly from the new clean generation.

So maybe it is Wiggo after all.

So when exactly in the race did Wiggins crash / get involved in a crash? And if he did was it in the place referred to in the article? Wild guess indeed ...

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Sceptic, just stop it, man, it is too obvious, you need to learn more from the hog.

 

[MartinGT]

I still dont believe the stuff from these students.

Seriously though, does the photo show it actually falling from the riders pocket, or just in the air near the rider? I just do not believe it.

Nothing will come of this.

 

[jens_attacks]

a vial written on it test product...i could swear it fell from an ag2r rider pockets

 

[Justinr]

a vial written on it test product...i could swear it fell from an ag2r rider pockets

Also given the label is mashed we don't know in which context "test product" was written. Is it a description or an instruction?

My wife's hair dye has "test product on a small patch before using" - clearly an instruction. Many mobile phones (cellphones) that are used in displays have "Dummy Product" or "Test Product" written on them - clearly a description.

Who knows what it stands for on that tube.

 

[JimmyFingers]

The likelihood is surely it's a 'finishing bottle'`like the ones Phinney talks about in this interview:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...etting-the-pill-culture-out-of-the-sport.aspx

So a cocktail of caffeine, glucose, sodium and possibly tramadol, stuff to give you a late boost in the race and at the moment all legal. I suppose the word 'test' might hint at some next-gen drug so far unknown, or not yet completed clinical trials, but that is fanciful. Also with most doping taking place out of competition, I curious if anyone has any theories, if it does turn out to be a PED, what the substance could be? Late race presumably we're talking a stimulant, like La Bomba, rather than a conditioning drug.

 

[bobbins]

It wouldn't matter what results came back, there's no chain of custardy and anyone could have planted any old pill. This is a bogus story.

 

[Hawkwood]

UK Customs

A couple of people have posted on the Telegraph article that how stupid would you have to be to pick this vial up, and then return to the UK through Customs with a possible illegal drug in your possession.

 

[Benotti69]

I still dont believe the stuff from these students.

Seriously though, does the photo show it actually falling from the riders pocket, or just in the air near the rider? I just do not believe it.

Nothing will come of this.

Especially if he does not get the pills tested independently.

 

[Benotti69]

It wouldn't matter what results came back, there's no chain of custardy and anyone could have planted any old pill. This is a bogus story.

It could be bogus. We will never know after UKAD test them.

 

[Justinr]

It wouldn't matter what results came back, there's no chain of custardy and anyone could have planted any old pill. This is a bogus story.

Well the pills / powder are kind of yellowish...

(Sorry couldn't resist that one)

 

[Race Radio]

So when exactly in the race did Wiggins crash / get involved in a crash? And if he did was it in the place referred to in the article? Wild guess indeed ...

Yup,.....and when was Wiggins jersey shredded?

For some this is like Christmas eve. "Please Santa, I have been a good boy. Please let it be Wiggo!"

 

[VO2 Max]

Whole thread =

Why he's "sure it's nothing sinister" is curious. Why would he be sure either way?

Because he's English and this is the normal way of being modest about things. (We do the same thing here in Wales). He'd still say it this way even if he actually thought he had the smoking gun to take down one of the big names of cycling. Which he obviously doesn't.

But basically

 

[martinvickers]

Yup,.....and when was Wiggins jersey shredded?

For some this is like Christmas eve. "Please Santa, I have been a good boy. Please let it be Wiggo!"

Santa is somewhat more reliable.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

The likelihood is surely it's a 'finishing bottle'`like the ones Phinney talks about in this interview:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...etting-the-pill-culture-out-of-the-sport.aspx

So a cocktail of caffeine, glucose, sodium and possibly tramadol, stuff to give you a late boost in the race and at the moment all legal.

So who was lacking the final punch in the closing km of the P-R?
plenty of suspects except Terpstra.

 

[proffate]

This is an intriguing story even if it seems quite unlikely anything will come of it. Perhaps if there really is a chain of pictures, the rider in question could be targeted for future "random" testing. The posters in this thread who are in a huff over the idea that this twitter pill could be used to hurl accusations at their favorite rider need lighten up. It really boggles my mind that you need to even respond to accusations if they are actually so "baseless". No one ever got sanctioned over baseless accusations.

 

[Justinr]

Whole thread =


Because he's English and this is the normal way of being modest about things. (We do the same thing here in Wales). He'd still say it this way even if he actually thought he had the smoking gun to take down one of the big names of cycling. Which he obviously doesn't.

But basically

Tidy ... ...

 

[skidmark]

If it's going to UKAD, that seems it would be because the rider is British, not just the guy who found the pills, right? Not even knowing that, it's silly to speculate. If it's a British rider, these were the ones in P-R according to CQ: Thomas, Wiggins, Rowe (Sky), McEvoy (NetApp), Millar (Garmin), Dowsett (Movistar, DNF). That's as far as can be gone with that bit of fun, I guess.

 

[Catwhoorg]

This is an intriguing story even if it seems quite unlikely anything will come of it. Perhaps if there really is a chain of pictures, the rider in question could be targeted for future "random" testing. The posters in this thread who are in a huff over the idea that this twitter pill could be used to hurl accusations at their favorite rider need lighten up. It really boggles my mind that you need to even respond to accusations if they are actually so "baseless". No one ever got sanctioned over baseless accusations.

Even if there is a banned substance in these pills, it cannot lead to a sanction, no matter how good the series of pictures.

For the simple fact that the chain of custody has been broken. No chance of a conviction, rider's lawyer argues that the people who picked up the vial added something. That's reasonable doubt right there.


But for sure said rider that the vial came out of could be put right into a very unpleasant bullseye for testing.

 

[Catwhoorg]

If it's going to UKAD, that seems it would be because the rider is British, not just the guy who found the pills, right? Not even knowing that, it's silly to speculate. If it's a British rider, these were the ones in P-R according to CQ: Thomas, Wiggins, Rowe (Sky), McEvoy (NetApp), Millar (Garmin), Dowsett (Movistar, DNF). That's as far as can be gone with that bit of fun, I guess.

It would be because its British guys who found it, so its the easiest group to get involved.

Cookson also suggested the French authorities in his Tweet.

 

[Justinr]

If it's going to UKAD, that seems it would be because the rider is British, not just the guy who found the pills, right? Not even knowing that, it's silly to speculate. If it's a British rider, these were the ones in P-R according to CQ: Thomas, Wiggins, Rowe (Sky), McEvoy (NetApp), Millar (Garmin), Dowsett (Movistar, DNF). That's as far as can be gone with that bit of fun, I guess.

I think its going to UKAD because the guys that picked it up were British and then brought it back home. I guess if they had been Dutch they probably would have given it to the Dutch AD agency. Or maybe have sold it off in Amsterdam ...