chapeau to the vampires for the quick turnaround. Lets just hope that accuracy wasn’t sacrificed to get this out before the race hits the mountains.

Just when i thought we would have a sportfocused Tour.
LIQ , why am I not surprised?

Any clean LA lieutenants left?

Riccardo Ricco was also tested four times in five days. They’re testing and testing lots.

as this will now become today’s headline rather than his stage win.

hate to see it dominate the news when the race has been so intersting, and generally getting good press so far. Plus now tthe guys at VS are going to have to work overtime to find video of Beltran riding his bike backwards to update their ads.

Ressiot is not exatcly the most relieable journo out there…

Guess VeloNews idea of a good health tour just went out the window.
People please, the temptation is just too great. Espially when you are used to the game.
But, maybe if they keep bustin fools, they will eventually give up?
Word to tha mutha, straight outta Aurillac

It’s not like the guy is making a huge salary, or is reported to be preparing for some new goal of being a GC contender.
He’s 37!
He is almost at the end of he career which should have been the end of this year, or maybe next year at the most before he would be far too past his prime.

That is the part which doesn’t make sense.

The recent article (I’d link, but can’t remember where I saw it) on the difficulties involved with catching EPO users with current testing procedures was quite revealing and alarming. I fear EPO micro dosing is still a big problem. Some of these guys, particularly from teams without an internal testing program, still think they can get away with this.

hide the hair gel!

hopefully, possession of massive quantiites of hair gel is not a criminal offense under french law. the police search will certainly find plenty of it.

as a side note, nibali and kreuziger have joined the i’m doping free thingy with cunego.

it has spoiled my Tour already.

I was so pissed that Astana (the few teams with an inside AD program together with Columbia, CSC and Garmin), got booted, for ridiculous reasons.

Think what you want of the team, but if they pass the tests they should’ve been there, unlike Liqui that has NO anti-doping program, as doesn’t Rabo, Lotto, Liqui or Caisse have either….

Is he now suspended or dq’d? Does anyone even wait for his B-sample? Is Liqui out of the whole race? What is his suspencion if the B-test is positive too? And what happens if that’s negative? 1-2-4years? TdF not under the UCI rules, so he could maybe race UCI races?
What a mess.

According to the director of the race. No Bennati for the Vuelta?

http://www.as.com/ciclismo/articulo/vuelta-espana-contara-liquigas-confirma/dasclm/20080711dasdascic_5/Tes

From CN’s coverage:

“We will await the outcome of further investigations and at the same time, albeit with pain, we are prepared to take stricter measures, with full respect for the values that has always been evident in our team.”

Now they’ll get strict? Sorry, I can’t follow everything they do about doping, but between this and the hasty Basso signing, they are a PR nightmare.

updated above.

As an alternative to the tattoos, I like the “clean is cool” line of cycling clothing from a major German online cycling shop.

http://www.bobshop.de/en/article/anti-doping-jersey-clean-is-cool-1/

I left this bit out of the main story. But:
In the ‘99 samples case, there were three riders who returned positive results for epo during the prologue according to the report written by Ressiot. One of those three riders, I believe, was Beltran. Little wonder, he joined the list for targetted testing.

lol, let me know if anything exciting happens ;-)

tighten up its criminal laws again before the TDF?

the DS of Columbia, Astana, Garmin, or CSC I would find it mighty tempting to whisper in say Roman Kreuziger’s agent’s ear that perhaps he might like to jump ship.

New York Times article -

about how this race is being examined by the french anti-doping agency and not under UCI rules due to the ASO – UCI argument.

I am not suggesting what the story is ….. but definitely a story (several different and obvious angles)

they’d dump and fine every team whom’s rider tests positive?

Didn’t think so too either…

Telekom=T-Mobile=High Road=Team Columbia.

That is almost a decade of doping, where their docs were busted for a massive drug program.

+ Most of the DC’s & ex-riders have admitted doping…

where it states that if a rider is found positive, it would be up to the team to decide if it sayed or not unless it was found (somehow) to be team-approved/managed doping

Jesus Manzanos and Jorg Jakshes to come clean and verify whether or not systematic doping existed within teams.

(I’m sure that several types of doping programs-team run ala Saiz, free-lance ala Raimondas Rumsas, and “nudge-nudge, wink-wink” ala Giancarlo Ferretti’s “advice” to Dario Frigo-existed and probably continue to exist,

SO, the sporting sanctions need to be shifted so that the principals of a management company (e.g. Riis Cycling, High Road, or Slipstream—but NOT necessarily the sponsoring company) loses the right to organize sponsorship with companies or contract with riders for a specified period if one of their riders is deemed to have tested positive after all of the various appeals processes have worked through.

AND cyclists need to risk a work stoppage in order to develop a meaningful cyclists’ union. In that sense, the collapse of the UCI might be a good thing if it could prompt the emergence of a powerful riders’ union.

Come on! Step back and no one gets hurt! More clear thinking like that and you’ll be in trouble!

of Beltran’s results. I know it’s a taped show, but I thought for sure they’d have a “crawl” like last year.

Spanish Authorities have 6 months to hand over VV’s bag…or…else….what? The CAS will ban Spain?

he not say much more.

Only was relieved that Liquigas continue in the Tour, and today it bit a circus at front of hotel, with many reporters.
The all team was surprised, and had a big tension in the team.

“Às vezes agente acha que conhece bem as pessoas, mas depois se engana com elas, muito chato isso.”
Sometimes we think that we know well that person, but afterward we made a mistake.

It is always a bit strange for me how fans and media of a given country can turn a blind eye to their own stars re: doping and yet criticise others

I can’t understand why David Millar is such a hero and seen as a role model by so many brits. Bizarre. I find it nauseating that after being caught red handed he now feels he has the right to lecture others about doping.

Likewise, the french lionized guys like Virenque despite his part in the Festina debacle and yet many love to throw dirt at Armstrong.

Personally, applying tough criminal charges against blatant dopers is a great idea to save the sport.

says that Beltran was released this morning after 2 hours of questioning.