CAS rules on irregular blood values.

by Mark Frank on Nov 25, 2009 11:39 AM EST Comment 7 comments

Cycling News has the story (link below). Speed skater Claudia Pechstein is apparently the first athlete to be suspended for having irregular blood values. The CAS ruling may have opened the floodgate for riders to be suspended for having suspicious blood values. The UCI apparently has five cases waiting in the wings and may now be ready to act on them. More news and reaction to follow this I'm sure. ( Three more words.)

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The five cases are the ones announced this summer

De Bonis, Cauchioli, Serrano Astarloa and Lobato

(before someone starts the wild speculation)

by Jens on Nov 25, 2009 12:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

party pooper

by Jimbo... on Nov 25, 2009 5:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We can add Stephan Schumacher to the list of the hugely disappointed.

According to CN the CAS is going to rule on his case in a few weeks time. How can his lawyers dance around this? Maybe this?
I think this means the blood passports are going to start doing for the sport what so many hoped they would.

"Drawing on my fine command of language I said nothing."- Groucho

by Mark Frank on Nov 26, 2009 11:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Schumacher

His appeal is different, though, because he was caught for CERA. He is challenging the testing, not the suspension based on abnormal values.

by gavia on Nov 26, 2009 11:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hrm, is the science pretty solid on this?

It seems a little sketchy to be punishing people who haven’t tested positive for anything. The human body can do freaky things on its own.

I guess they did the same thing back before there was a test for EPO (memory is vague but wasn’t it that if your hematocrit was over 50% they assumed you were doping?)… but it always seemed a little weird to me then too.

by tgartner on Nov 30, 2009 2:34 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

No, they never actually assumed you were doping, though admitedly everyone else did. What they did assume was that you were too unwell to race and had to take a fortnight’s gardening leave.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Nov 30, 2009 10:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs