Congratulations - Contador was using doping.

[www.uci.ch]

[www.bbc.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-30 07:06 by mtaylor.

Well, seems Contador cheated......... hopefully the eleven football players didn't...

That's not good news

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Keep On Rolling

Too bad

Quote
Edith Grove
GO KEITH !!

So, Keith, next year, please, you go again for the Tour. Ain't no doubt, you'll make it once again, and forget about 'em amateurs!

Hello,

Much as I was displeased with some of Contador's behaviour in The Tour, I will wait and see what the full story is before getting @#$%& upset at the possiblity of another cheat.

Word is that we are talking about really miniscule amounts here, but we'll find out more soon.

Tell you what, I don't much care for Pat McQuaid (head of the U.C.I.) either!

Cheers,

Si.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-30 11:59 by SimonN.

Quote
mtaylor
Congratulations - Contador was using doping.

[www.uci.ch]

[www.bbc.co.uk]

Yes Mick.

By CIARAN GILES and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writers Ciaran Giles And John Leicester, Associated Press Writers – 7 mins ago
PINTO, Spain – Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador blamed contaminated steak Thursday for his positive doping test, vowing to clear his name and not let cycling's latest drug scandal "destroy everything that I have done."

The Spanish rider was provisionally suspended after a World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Germany found a "very small concentration" of the banned substance clenbuterol in his urine sample on July 21 at the Tour, according to a statement from cycling governing body UCI.

"It is a clear case of food contamination," Contador told a news conference in his hometown near Madrid, during which several times he appeared close to tears. "I am sad and disappointed but hold my head high."

"I think this is going to be resolved in a clear way," he added. "With the truth behind you, you can speak loud and clear, and I am confident justice will prevail."

Contador said the beef was brought across the border from Spain to France during a rest day during the Tour at the request of the team's cook.

Contador said the beef was brought by a Spanish cycling organizer, Jose Luis Lopez Cerron. Cerron said earlier Thursday on Spanish radio that he was a friend of the team chef, who had complained of poor quality meat at the hotel where the team was staying.

Lopez Cerron said he bought filet mignon for the team in the Spanish border town of Irun on his way to Pau, France, to watch a few stages of the tour.

Contador said he ate the meat on July 20 and again on July 21. He called the UCI's suspension of him "a true mistake."

Clenbuterol is sometimes given to cows, pigs and other animals to increase their growth rate.

Contador said he learned of the positive test on Aug. 24 and met with UCI doctors two days later.

"On the 26th we talked at length about how all this had happened. The UCI itself told me to my face that it was a case of food contamination," Contador said.

He said he has been in conversations with the UCI ever since "to handle this the most appropriate way possible and analyze it and see clearly that it is a case of food contamination in which I am the victim."

Contador said it would have been better for cycling's image if the case had not been made public.

"It's almost normal for people to doubt this sport now," he said.

But he added: "The idea of anyone questioning my Tour victory does not worry me. I am not going to let something like this destroy everything I have done."

Contador beat Andy Schleck of Luxembourg by 39 seconds in winning his third Tour in four years.

"What a crazy day in cycling with the news about Contador," Schleck said on Twitter. "I only heard about it in the press. I hope he is innocent and I think he deserves the right to defend himself now."

The allegations are the latest to a hit a sport whose credibility has been battered by doping scandals. Within hours of Contador's case becoming public, the UCI announced that two Spanish riders failed drug tests during the Spanish Vuelta in September — runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera and David Garcia. The UCI said they tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch, which increases blood volume.

The UCI said the amount of clenbuterol in Contador's sample was "400 time(s) less than what the antidoping laboratories accredited by WADA must be able to detect."

Both Contador's A and B samples tested positive, and the cyclist has been "formally and provisionally suspended," the UCI said.

With seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong now back in retirement, Contador is cycling's biggest star, so it could be devastating for the sport if the Spanish rider is found to have cheated.

The UCI's statement gave no indication of whether Contador will be stripped of his latest Tour title or be banned.

"The UCI continues working with the scientific support of WADA to analyze all the elements that are relevant to the case. This further investigation may take some more time," the statement said.

The company that runs the Tour said race organizers were awaiting the UCI's definitive decision and offered no further comment in a short statement.

If Tour officials strip Contador of his title, he would be just the second cyclist so punished. The first was American Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title after a positive test. For years, Landis denied doping but admitted this spring that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Contador said he and four other Astana teammates ate the beef that was brought in from Spain but that he was only one that underwent a doping test on July 21.

Contador said that since he was the Tour leader at that point, he underwent three doping controls before the July 21 test that was positive. He said nothing awry turned up in the earlier tests.

"This is something strongly in my favor," Contador said.

He said that in tests over the two days after his positive result, the clenbuterol level first went down drastically, then was virtually negligible.

Contador insisted the amount of the drug found in his urine was so small it could not have been administered and had to come from food, and that in any case was so tiny it would be useless as a performance-enhancer.

Contador said the UCI knows where the meat was purchased in Spain, but he would not name it so as to protect its reputation.

Having invested millions of dollars in recent years in what is widely regarded as the one of the most stringent anti-doping regimes anywhere, cycling authorities hoped to be turning the corner on widespread doping by riders that had long made a mockery of the sport and repeatedly sullied the Tour, its showpiece race. Although just 27, Contador is already the greatest rider of his generation. His victories at the Tour starting in 2007 and at other major races were seen as a possible break from cycling's dirty past.

"This is serious and this case needs to be clarified," Pierre Bordry, the outgoing leader of France's anti-doping agency, told RTL radio. "Clenbuterol is a forbidden substance, whatever the amount which is detected. If they really found it, it's forbidden."

WADA director general David Howman told The Associated Press that testing positive for even the most minute amounts of clenbuterol could be enough to sanction an athlete, although he declined to discuss the specifics of Contador's case.

"The issue is the lab has detected this. They have the responsibility for pursuing. There is no such thing as a limit where you don't have to prosecute cases. This is not a substance that has a threshold," said Howman, reached by telephone as he was changing planes in Dubai on his way to the Commonwealth Games in India.

"Once the lab records an adverse finding, it's an adverse finding and it has to be followed up."

"Clenbuterol is a substance that has been used for over 20 to 30 years," he added. "It is not anything new. Nobody has ever suggested it is something you can take inadvertently."

Douwe de Boer, a Dutch anti-doping expert hired by Contador to study his test, said the rider told him that smaller traces of clenbuterol also were found in his urine in the two days after the positive result but were so minute that the UCI classed them as negative.

All of Contador's tests before July 21 were negative, De Boer said. The July 21 test was conducted on a rest day at the Tour, when the race was near France's border with Spain.

"My conclusion is that it is very likely that this extra-low concentration (of clenbuterol) entered his body without him knowing it and one of the scenarios is contaminated meat," de Boer said in a telephone interview. He said the UCI's "lack of speed" in deciding whether to sanction Contador suggests the cycling body is "seriously" considering the contaminated food argument.

Clenbuterol has anabolic properties that build muscle while burning fat. It is commonly given to horses to treat breathing problems. In medicine, it is used to treat asthma. In similar ways to stimulant drugs such as amphetamine or ephedrine, it can increase the heart rate and body temperature.

Athletes and body builders are thought to use it in combination with other performance-enhancers such as growth hormone and steroids to build and define muscles. It is listed by WADA as an anabolic agent that is prohibited for use by athletes at all times, both in and out of competition.

Contador's positive test distracted attention from cycling's world championships in Australia. Some riders there were not yet ready to condemn Contador.

"I 100 percent give Alberto fully the benefit of the doubt," said British rider David Millar, himself banned for two years in 2004 after admitting to using the banned blood-booster EPO. "It doesn't make much sense in that it was a rest-day control and it's a micro-dose ... Alberto gets controlled every day when he's in the yellow jersey and that would have come up the day before or after the race."

Yes it's the meat :

A- the Clenbuterol found in his blood was 400 times below the legal limit

B- Jean-Pierre de Mondenard the French doping expert who framed the super-lier dope-fiend Lance Armstrong years ago says using Clenbuterol in 2010 is non-sense. It's a thing of the 70's and today there are far more potent substances available.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-30 18:34 by dcba.

Quote
dcba
super-lier dope-fiend Lance Armstrong

I find this a very negative, unfair, unnecessary and unproven statement.

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Keep On Rolling

For the time being I say Contador and his staff are innocent. So no blame on Alberto (yet).

I agree kleermaker, but I am affraid that this is just one of those things that somebody will never get rid off.

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Keep On Rolling

Well done dcba. I see that you edited your message after my response, just to make your point about Armstrong even clearer.
Just a wild guess ... Are you French ?

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Keep On Rolling

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Associated Press
"It is a clear case of food contamination," Contador told a news conference in his hometown near Madrid, during which several times he appeared close to tears. "I am sad and disappointed but hold my head high."

Contador said the beef was brought across the border from Spain to France during a rest day during the Tour at the request of the team's cook.

I think that the beef came from China...

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Rolling Hansie

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dcba
super-lier dope-fiend Lance Armstrong

I find this a very negative, unfair, unnecessary and unproven statement.

Agreed! Armstrong is a true champion. Contador, on the other hand, was probably doctor Fuentes' best customer.

Quote
FreeBird
Contador, on the other hand, was probably doctor Fuentes' best customer.

I really don't get this. This is the same kind of message as the one from dcba.
It is just the other way round.
Again I find this a very negative, unfair, unnecessary and unproven statement.

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Keep On Rolling

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Rolling Hansie

Quote
FreeBird
Contador, on the other hand, was probably doctor Fuentes' best customer.

I really don't get this. This is the same kind of message as the one from dcba.
It is just the other way round.
Again I find this a very negative, unfair, unnecessary and unproven statement.

He was mentioned during Operacion Puerto, but later he was cleared. Was it because he's Spanish? Inquiring minds want to know. We haven't heard the last about this affair.

"Posted by: shortfatfanny ()
Date: July 3, 2010 02:28

Tour de Farce ?
No,thanks."


...by smartassfanny

Blood doping.

He had just forgotten to clean the blood for everything before reinjecting the blood in to his body.

Quote
mtaylor
Blood doping.

He had just forgotten to clean the blood for everything before reinjecting the blood in to his body.

Yes, apparently some "plastic" (Diethylhexyl phthalate) samples were found at the same time in his blood (blood bags are made with diethylhexyl phthalate).

BTW :

Two more Spanish cyclists have failed drugs tests, world cycling’s governing body has announced.

Ezequiel Mosquera and Xacobeo-Galicia team-mate David Garcia tested positive for the blood booster hydroxyethyl starch in urine samples during the Vuelta a Espana.

[www.walesonline.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-10-01 12:04 by Massimo68.

German journalist claims UCI denied Alberto Contador positive test, says rider may have received transfusions
by VeloNation Press at 1:25 PM EST
Categories: Pro Cycling, Tour de France, Doping Alleges traces of a plasticizer in blood bags were found in rider’s blood sample



Read more: [www.velonation.com]

Alleges traces of a plasticizer in blood bags were found in rider’s blood sample
Hans Joachim Seppelt, a journalist with the German TV station ARD, has cast doubts on Alberto Contador’s explanation for his Clenbuterol positive, making the explosive claim that chemical traces in samples taken during the 2010 Tour de France suggest he may have received a blood transfusion.

Seppelt, who specializes in doping matters and who was German sports journalist of the year in 2007, was speaking on ARD’s Mittags Magazin programme. He claimed that they contacted UCI president Pat McQuaid yesterday and received a complete denial that Contador was being investigated.

“We have been on this case for weeks and we knew a few days ago,” he said during the television interview. “We tried to contact the UCI yesterday, but they said they won't give a comment. We then called Pat McQuaid. He said 'I don't even know what you are talking about'."Then later the press release came out. So the UCI was lying yesterday.”

The news that ARD was poised to break the story could explain why Contador’s press agent released the news hours before the Elite world championship time trial.

Seppelt felt that the governing body was deliberately stalling. “The UCI has had many problems with credibility in the last few years, like in the case of Lance Armstrong. [In Contador's case] the A and B sample were already taken, the procedure was done and still the public wasn't informed. It appears they want to keep this case under the covers or give Alberto Contador the opportunity to find arguments for his innocence. This should not happen. To me it appears to be a cartel from those who want to conceal.”

A more explosive claim relates to another matter. Contador held a press conference today and said that the most likely source for the Clenbuterol traces found in his urine sample was from a piece of tainted meat someone brought across the border from Spain.

ARD’s contention is that the traces could be in blood that was taken out of the rider during a non-competitive period, then reinfused back in around the time of the second rest day, when the urine sample in question was taken. The inference is that not enough care was taken to ensure that Contador was clear of the substance when the blood was taken out.

Even if this was checked in a laboratory, the Cologne lab used for analysing Tour samples has far more sensitive equipment when it comes to looking for substances such as Clenbuterol.

“ARD has obtained the exact values from Spain. This shows that it is not very likely that we are dealing with contaminated foods, especially in light of the fact that in Europe, it is highly unlikely that foods, such as meat, are contaminated with clenbuterol. It happens in Asian countries, but it is strictly prohibited in Europe. Also, there were no other positive test cases with contaminated meat, so the statement from Contador is not credible.

“There are other, very, very incriminating suspicious facts against Contador. Other values have appeared that are ten times over the higher value from so-called plasticizers [such as di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) – ed.] which are used in blood bags. These values were measured one day before the positive dope control. These blood bag softener values could indicate that autologous blood doping may have been performed.”

“The UCI completely kept this under the covers,” he continued. “They didn't say anything to this yesterday. Again the question about the credibility of the UCI comes up.” Seppelt didn’t reveal the source for his information about the plasticizer values, or explain why the urine sample that pinpointed this didn’t also show high levels of Clenbuterol.

Contador has provided supporting evidence from experts he has commissioned, and said that he is confident that he will be cleared. He argues that the levels concerned, 50 trillionths of a gram, are 400 time less than what antidoping laboratories accredited by WADA must be capable of detecting, and are so miniscule as to confer no possible benefit.

Despite this assertion, Seppelt argues that the rider will ultimately be both disqualified and suspended.

“If the other incriminating factors are added, if potential autologous blood doping was used and if it can be proved - which is currently strongly debated - then there is the question if Alberto Contador can keep his yellow jersey. I am pretty certain that just like Floyd Landis, the title will be taken away from him in the foreseeable future. It is not only the Tour winner who looks to stand in a shady light, but especially the UCI, which couldn't prove its credibility.”

When asked if it was a serious issue for cycling, he suggested that it could be wider than that. “You can ask the question if it is a cycling problem or a problem of organised sports,” he said. “I think the UCI has a problem and a president who lies. He clearly stated that there is no doping case, only to say the opposite the next day.”

Rasmus Damsgaard, who previously ran the internal anti-doping programme in the Astana team, has already suggested that the Clenbuterol traces might be linked to a transfusion of blood taken out earlier in the season.

“If the data is correct then it’s most likely that it is a ‘Landis’,” Damsgaard told Danish TV station TV2 via SMS. “It would suggest that he has received a transfusion of his own blood, taken out a few months earlier when he used clenbuterol, which he has gotten back into his body.”

Germany has a history of being tough on doping matters. Contador is certain to dispute what ARD is claiming, but Seppelt’s claims add another dimension to the debate. They also indicate that the Tour winner may have a very tough fight on his hands.



Read more: [www.velonation.com]

"Armstrong is a true champion"

LOL and the sooner you realize pro sport is GANGRENED by doping the better...
And I'm not even mentioning phoney bets on sports made by Mafia guys from Macau or HK that'll finish the job. Referees, whores, bribes... The 72 Stones tour was cleaner than modern sport

LOL HMN, great picture

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Keep On Rolling

So the meat was packed in plastic?

Quote
dcba
"Armstrong is a true champion"

LOL and the sooner you realize pro sport is GANGRENED by doping the better...
And I'm not even mentioning phoney bets on sports made by Mafia guys from Macau or HK that'll finish the job. Referees, whores, bribes... The 72 Stones tour was cleaner than modern sport

Exactly how many times did Armstrong test positive again. I guess I missed that FACT among your so enlightening posts?

I believe Lance cheated, he(his Dr.) figured a way to stay ahead of the testing technology, and I think he cheated cause he had to, because so many others do it and it was his only way to win, and the money was so luring. Having said that I think he was a supreme athlete and if Lance and nobody else cheated, he stood a very good chance of winning numerous times,but not sure about the 7.

A lot of Spanish cycling pros revealed as dopers lately. And in the World Cycling championships in Rockman-land, just outside Melbourne, they've not exactly brought home the medals...
Look what happens when the dopers are out! Some nations can't perform as they usually do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-10-04 10:10 by Addicted.

Armstrong used erythropoietin aka EPO in 1999-2000 because his dealer told him it was undetectable. Which was true : at the time no lab on Earth could make the difference between endogen EPO (the one your body and mine produce daily) and exogen EPO (the one Lance stuck in his ass with a needle). So he took it and he won the Tour white as a newborn lamb...

BUT years later when technology made possible the detection of exogen EPO Lance's urine samples from 99-00 were pulled out of the freezer, tested... and bingo!

Fiy : [en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-10-04 10:57 by dcba.

Quote
sweetcharmedlife

Quote
dcba
"Armstrong is a true champion"

LOL and the sooner you realize pro sport is GANGRENED by doping the better...
And I'm not even mentioning phoney bets on sports made by Mafia guys from Macau or HK that'll finish the job. Referees, whores, bribes... The 72 Stones tour was cleaner than modern sport

Exactly how many times did Armstrong test positive again. I guess I missed that FACT among your so enlightening posts?

Armstrong tested positive during his first tour win and then produced the famous backdated TUE.

Armstrong is also a proven customer of Ferrari who is a known doping doctor and was proven as such in court, although I think that was then overturned at a later date. Contador is only rumoured to be a Fuentes client.