Breaking story on Contador

redmenace1

BBC Sport report " world governing body to recommend disciplinary action against Alberto Contador".....................................

Beasty

Report

RobFowl

Some more detail here

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6296/UCI-requests-Spanish-Cycling-Federation-to-open-disciplinary-proceedings-against-Alberto-Contador.aspx

Still not too clear but looks like some degree of suspension is inevitable.

Have to say am quite baffled by this but do not buy the Spanish beef story at all.

His past history of teams does not look good and that is what leads me to think he's done something. That said unless he does a Riis style autobiography in 20 years I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

SACH Central

This bit from @Cycling Weekly' website is interesting:

...'Contador maintains his innocence and says that the Clenbuterol came from contaminated meat he ate, but the European Union has banned its use in animals since 1996. It regularly checks farms to ensure the rules are followed. According to the Associated Press news agency, Clenbuterol showed only once in 83,203 animal tests in 2008 and 2009. 19,431 of those tests were in Spain and none showed Clenbuterol'.

If I were AC I would go and buy a lottery quick! His chances against huge odds are very good!

mgmt

RobFowl wrote: »

His past history of teams does not look good and that is what leads me to think he's done something. That said unless he does a Riis style autobiography in 20 years I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

Maybe he will go down the Landis route, create a website, get donations, blow all the money, write a book proclaiming his innocence, go insane and live in the woods, then come clean and spill the beans on Lance.

ednwireland

not before time :rolleyes:

thekidd147

Does he really think we are that gullible to believe the drug came from contaminated meat, he has to get a 2 year ban or the sport will become a farce. As for the meat industry in spain, they must be livid.....

NickDrake

where did the article go that was to be published by someone in Astana that detailed all of his doping for 2010 and how he took clem to shed weight??

Think it was on velonation.

Lumen

NickDrake wrote: »

where did the article go that was to be published by someone in Astana that detailed all of his doping for 2010 and how he took clem to shed weight??

Think it was on velonation.

This one?

NickDrake

Lumen wrote: »

This one?

That's the one thanks. Did we ever find out who he/she was?

Surely this wll be used against Contador?

Excellent article

thebouldwhacker

thekidd147 wrote: »

or the sport will become a farce.

Unfortunately I reckon it is already. tbh at this stage it really is gonna take a tectonic shift in the cycling world to rid the sport of drugs and get it some where back to the reputation it once had.
Something like everyone has one year to become clean and from next year on a life time ban on anyone testing positive. Test every competitor in every pro event, stop the users and put in disincentives for new riders so they wont take it up. At the moment the sport seems to be riddled with drugs so if one is to make it against these cheats then there is huge incentive to use. Until something like this comes in cycling will always have a shadow over it.
Very sad.

kumate_champ07

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

Unfortunately I reckon it is already. tbh at this stage it really is gonna take a tectonic shift in the cycling world to rid the sport of drugs and get it some where back to the reputation it once had.
Something like everyone has one year to become clean and from next year on a life time ban on anyone testing positive. Test every competitor in every pro event, stop the users and put in disincentives for new riders so they wont take it up. At the moment the sport seems to be riddled with drugs so if one is to make it against these cheats then there is huge incentive to use. Until something like this comes in cycling will always have a shadow over it.
Very sad.

it's been there a long time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling

RobFowl

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

it's been there a long time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling

Not just in cycling either....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_sport#History

I can't find a link at the moment but there are records of drug/stimulant use as far back as the ancient Olympics in Greece.......

kumate_champ07

RobFowl wrote: »

Not just in cycling either....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_sport#History

I can't find a link at the moment but there are records of drug/stimulant use as far back as the ancient Olympics in Greece.......

humans will always 'cheat'

TheBlaaMan

Potentially no definitive outcome in Contador case until middle of the year.......it looks like he may get to defend the TdF under appeal one way or the other. The wheels of justice move slowly.....better get it right than get it fast, I guess.


"this could mean that there will be no definitive verdict in the Contador case before the Spaniard starts the planned defence of his Tour title in July."

story here

Diarmuid

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

"this could mean that there will be no definitive verdict in the Contador case before the Spaniard starts the planned defence of his Tour title in July."

Pathetic.

Jawgap

SACH Central wrote: »

This bit from @Cycling Weekly' website is interesting:

...'Contador maintains his innocence and says that the Clenbuterol came from contaminated meat he ate, but the European Union has banned its use in animals since 1996. It regularly checks farms to ensure the rules are followed. According to the Associated Press news agency, Clenbuterol showed only once in 83,203 animal tests in 2008 and 2009. 19,431 of those tests were in Spain and none showed Clenbuterol'.

If I were AC I would go and buy a lottery quick! His chances against huge odds are very good!

The EU's assessment of the Spanish Residue Control Plan was less than impressive when it was audited in 2008. About 4000 samples were missed and in the regions of Northern Spain (Navarre & Aragon) there were long periods when no sampling took place at all.

An earlier report (from 2004) also cites an instance where the use of Clenbuterol was detected and the cattle in question disappeared.......

I'd still be skeptical about the tainted meat story - but I suppose he doesn't have to prove it was tainted meat, only that it might have been.

RobFowl

Jawgap wrote: »

I'd still be skeptical about the tainted meat story - but I suppose he doesn't have to prove it was tainted meat, only that it might have been.

Not really. WADA advocate strict liability for athletes. Basically not matter how something gets into your system it is still your personal responsibility.

To get off Contador has to prove that he was given contaminated meat and then hope the Spanish and CAS will buy the story and also be lenient.

IMO he's lost the tour already and will be lucky if he gets a year ban.

mgmt

RobFowl wrote: »

Not really. WADA advocate strict liability for athletes. Basically not matter how something gets into your system it is still your personal responsibility.

To get off Contador has to prove that he was given contaminated meat and then hope the Spanish and CAS will buy the story and also be lenient.

IMO he's lost the tour already and will be lucky if he gets a year ban.

He might have to defend against the plasticizer argument too perhaps?

High Nellie

Has Contador ever explained how he knew that beef was the source of the Clenbuterol?
Ok, maybe he ate some meat at some stage, but lots of riders do that. How does he know that it was the meat that was contaminated. Given the small dosage, could it not have been milk, eggs, or whatever.
It just sounds to me that his certaintity about the beef doesn't ring true either. The only way he could have known for sure would have been to test the beef.

horizon26

I MIGHT give him the benefit of doubt.Clenbuterol levels are so so small its not performance enhancing.Was he not tested 3 days before and passed.

If the levels of plasticizers are way way higher than normal,that must be proof of a blood transfusion and an immediate ban must happen.Surely that is more damming.Or am I being very generous to Contador,I dont know.

I know I am going to get a lot of stick for this but this is my opinion.

Beasty

horizon26 wrote: »

I MIGHT give him the benefit of doubt.Clenbuterol levels are so so small its not performance enhancing.Was he not tested 3 days before and passed.

If the levels of plasticizers are way way higher than normal,that must be proof of a blood transfusion and an immediate ban must happen.Surely that is more damming.Or am I being very generous to Contador,I dont know.

I know I am going to get a lot of stick for this but this is my opinion.

I suggest you re-visit [URL="http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056047353]this thread"]this thread[/URL] for a thorough discussion of this. Let's not go over all that ground again

Thanks

Beasty

RobFowl

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/probikekit

Pro bike kit reporting he's getting a one year ban !
No source quoted yet

lukester

More here:

The Spanish Cycling Federation (REFC) is set to announce its decision on Thursday and Contador, who is currently on a Saxo Bank training camp on Majorca, will have 10 days to appeal.
"All indications are that the sanction proposed by the committee will be one year, so he will be stripped of his last win," said Spanish sports daily Marca.

RobFowl

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/racing/alberto-contador-to-receive-one-year-ban/6151.html

Alberto Contador will receive a one year ban following his positive doping test and will be stripped of last year's Tour de France title, according to Spanish newspaper reports.
The Spaniard, who went on to win his third title after previous victories in 2007 and 2009, says he mistakenly ingested clenbuterol from beef during the second rest day of the 2010 race.
The Spanish Cycling Federation (REFC) is set to announce its decision on Thursday and Contador, who is currently on a Saxo Bank training camp on Majorca, will have 10 days to appeal.
"All indications are that the sanction proposed by the committee will be one year, so he will be stripped of his last win," said Spanish sports daily Marca.
The UCI provisionally suspended Contador in August following his positive test for clenbuterol, a banned weight loss drug also used by farmers to beef up cattle.

ednwireland

ednwireland wrote: »

not before time :rolleyes:

:rolleyes:
they should just get on with it

Fender76

Thats what Spanish media are saying....

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-to-get-a-one-year-ban

Is one year enough...?

Chips Lovell

Threads merged

Chips Lovell

I'd say there's a good chance the UCI will appeal for a longer ban. If he's on a one year ban, plenty of time for that to happen.

thebouldwhacker

I dont think a one year ban will deter others from using drugs and will do little to show the public that the cycling world is taking the issue seriously.
It should be a lot longer with secondary penalties to the team and crew to discourage such cheating.
But thats just my own view...

wayne0308

To me this seems very harsh but it's quite possible that I don't know the whole story or some new evidence has come up that we don't yet know about.

I've heard conflicting statements about how much clenbuterol was found in his system. By all accounts that I've read, the amount was quite small or "not enough to be performance enhancing".

The whole story that he tells with regard to how it got into his system seems a bit fishy for sure and the rules say that you are responsible for what goes into your body.

Surely he would have been tested throughout the tour and came up clean until this instance? Or is this substance something that they would only test for periodically? Makes sense to me if it's the later as the substance may have been leaving his system at the time of testing hence the small amount detected.

But I take it that there is a zero tolerance policy in place, that if your caught with a substance like this in your system then that's it?

Morrisseeee

One year from when ?????????????? last year's TDF ??!!
Could he ride this years Vuelta ??!!
I think he's getting off lightly, but I guess the 'actual' evidence is missing, a bit like.......what's his face..........Lancelot !! Oh and congrats to Andy..... ahem cough.....and Nicholas (14th).

Junior

The Federation will recommend a 1 year Ban UCI will appeal to CAS it will take another 6 months, he'll get 2 years and serve only 6.

Chips Lovell

He won't be able to ride once suspended, even if it is appealed.

Lumen

wayne0308 wrote: »

Surely he would have been tested throughout the tour and came up clean until this instance?

Right. So what does that prove? The clenbuterol was introduced into his body suddenly, and in a very small amount.

There are two explanations for this. One is that he ate some meat. The other is that he transfused some blood.

Chips Lovell

Or he had steak from a cow that was blood doping.

Morrisseeee

I don't know the whole story

Maybe....!! ie. .....like the evidence of plasticisers in his blood, test showed this but unfortunately test wasn't approved at the time.

Junior

el tonto wrote: »

He won't be able to ride once suspended, even if it is appealed.

I understand that, but by the time the sentence is applied he'll be 18 months down the road from the positive test, and might have only actually 6 months to serve which won't seem like justice done considering how quickly that Radioshack guy got banned.

Chips Lovell

By the sounds of it, it could be applied this week though.

wayne0308

Lumen wrote: »

Right. So what does that prove? The clenbuterol was introduced into his body suddenly, and in a very small amount.

There are two explanations for this. One is that he ate some meat. The other is that he transfused some blood.

Ah okay, I was thinking that the clenbuterol would have been used directly to effect weight loss. It didn't occur to me that it would come across from the plastic bag used in a transfusion of blood in a detectable quantity. Sorry about my ignorance, this had probably been covered earlier and in the news a few times but I didn't cop on.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens. Whats the general proceedure now? Will a full report be released after a ban is implemented, or will the details be kept from the public?

Lumen

wayne0308 wrote: »

Ah okay, I was thinking that the clenbuterol would have been used directly to effect weight loss. It didn't occur to me that it would come across from the plastic bag used in a transfusion of blood in a detectable quantity.

Just to be clear:

- Clenbuterol: drug for fat burning (cows/cyclists/whatever).
- Plasticizers: additive for making blood bags soft.

The presence of both, with the test concentrations as reported, strongly indicates blood doping. Or it would if there was a recognized test for plasticizers.

Unfortunately no one is going to get done for plasticizers since this case has been publicised. They'll probably switch to jam jars instead, until the test for microscopic quantities of raspberry becomes available.