King Boonen said:
The Ashenden paper states the ABP requires a test once a month and that on average this is happening (I'm remembering rather than reading this but I'm pretty sure that's right). This is not limited testing for the ABP, it is the correct amount of testing. Any more and it will not function properly.
I am sorry, but I find quite a strong negative reaction happening when I write, repeatedly, that the riders are tested, on average, 3 times OOC, for around 300 days of OOC, non-racing time. This is 1 test every 100 days, or approx 1 test every 3 months.
To then have you write:
1. Ashenden says BP is fine, software is at fault
2. Ashenden says testing should happen once a month
3. Ashenden says this is happening
kinda makes me want to look at you with a frown on my face and mutter, "<something derogatory>" under my breath.
average IC days: 60
average OOC days: 290
I am going to trust you can do maths and see that testing once per month is not occurring OOC.
If you're going to pick out specific riders then I'm afraid you need to show that for every rider.
I work more from a pattern oriented, implicit basis rather than an exhaustive, explicit basis.
eg: every single rider who was training OOC in Colombia has avoided being OOC tested since 2008 until just this last Winter. I provided an example in Quintana, but it applies across the board. Not everyone is doping to podium GTs, some will be doping just to get dropped and lose 30 minutes every day riding as a domestique.
I also have to go on the limited information available, so again, demanding examples for every rider or none at all is an interesting demand, but one you can perhaps rescind coz it's short sighted at best.
We see on average 6 IC tests, but keep in mind, this includes the IC phase of PRE-COMP, ie 2-3 days before a GT commences.
Another example of an individual rider, and you're just gonna have to suck it up because I do not have BP results from every GT winner:
in 2012, Ryder won the Giro. The BP values released by JV were analysed and given a clean bill of health via the "testing equipment poorly calibrated" police. When you look at his 5 blood tests you see:
1. he has 2 more tests than average, so someone, somewhere, is having less than 3 tests
2. one of those 5 tests was known, as all pre-comp tests are known (apparently most are tested)
3. he was tested
3.1 after being in the pink jersey for 3 days
3.2 the day
before he won back the pink jersey
3.3
twice on the last day
Let's put that into context: he won the pink jersey and then held it 2 more days and was
then tested. He lost the jersey and was tested again a while later, winning back the pink jersey the
day after he was tested, and wasn't retested that day. JV's phone call with Hein, discussing their
arrangement comes to mind... Note: he was not tested the day Garmin won the TTT.
This is the Giro and I am pretty sure the Tour works differently. Someone tweeted recently that Nacer Brouhani has been tested 6 times in the first week of competition at this 2014 Giro, so I am sure testing is different at the Giro also.
IMO, more than 3 OOC tests need to occur. 1 / month would be a marked improvement on the current 3 / year, but bump the number to 10 OOC / year for most riders.