Basso's bio passport values during Giro show a non-doped human won - this time. But he never admitted doping, did he?

Well the profile looks "normal", just as we would expect for someone riding for 3 long weeks; and there are no outliers or anomalies that have raised suspicions. So "clean" is as likely a conclusion as it can be. The only scary bit is that our current Ivan Basso is compared with the previous version who won the Giro in a canter, as if propelled by alien forces. Yet our current Basso admitted only to intent to dope, not actual doping. So why should his earlier win be considered in any sense "extraterrestrial"? There's an element of guilty assumption about his past, and be it true or not he is now considered "clean". Unlike his super-human contemporaries of the past who remain either doubted or outed.   

Basso's biological passport numbers from Giro d'Italia published

The newspaper published results from three tests, showing a drop in hematocrit and haemoglobin values – indicating a clean performance. The first control was in Amsterdam, two days before the race started (43% hematocrit, 13.9g/dl haemoglobin), the second control was on the second rest day, between the stage to Monte Zoncolan and Plan de Coronas (40.9, 13.3) and the final control was in Verona on the morning of the last stage (38.7, 12.9).

VeloNews.com - Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: The Flèche and Trentino, two hilltop sprints, two different stories

Basso, who was excluded from the 2006 Tour, admitted that his name was among the clients (though not an active one, he said) of the Operación Puerto blood-doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes

Long interview with Stephen Roche. He supports UCI, says the past is the past, just move on

Not sure everyone will agree - I'm sure Greg LeMond won't, for starters. Should we pursue past infractions indefinitely, or just draw a line and look forward from that point?

Stephen Roche Insight: Giro, Landis, bio passport and the improving lot of French cycling | VeloNation Cycling News

SR: No, I think that we can say it is part of the past. I think that the UCI and Pat McQuaid have been doing a great job. He is making slow progress, but I think at the same time he is gaining confidence from different bodies around.

Just for the record, Serrano got 2 years for a bio passport infringement and CERA

Fairly standard stuff with 2 years for CERA use and abnormal haematocrit values. Meanwhile, the new improved Landis (with extra added honesty, maybe) case chugs along. I wonder what - if anything - will crawl out from under the woodpile over the next 2 weeks?

Serrano Suspended For Two Years On Doping Charges | Cyclingnews.com

The Spanish Cycling Federation has suspended Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez for two years, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on Thursday afternoon. Serrano was caught under the UCI's biological passport programme.

Team Lucchini Unidelta Ecovalsabbia exits Baby Giro with doping bust

The Baby Giro has had a chequered past and the last thing it needs is a team discovered with a "treasure trove" of  illicit materials. HArd to know when this will stop - perhaps never?

Leading team at the Baby Giro tossed from race after police raid | VeloNation Cycling News

On Friday evening, the night after the first stage of the Baby Giro, the NAS Carabinieri of Brescia, Florence, and Padua raided the hotel of the race and found an illicit treasure trove of doping products from one team, Lucchini Unidelta Ecovalsabbia. Only hours before, the team had taken victory by way of their rider, Omar Lombardi, in the bunch sprint that concluded the first day. Then came the fall-out.

Nothing else quite like an Italian court getting interested in a doping offence, even a theoretical one

Italian Judge Opens Investigation Into Motorised Bikes | Cyclingnews.com

According to reports in Italian media, Guariniello, who often investigates popular causes and supports class action legal battles, has formally opened a sporting fraud investigation. In the past Guariniello has investigated accusations of doping at the Juventus soccer club and concerning Marco Pantani.

"We can't just ignore what Davide Cassani said on television during the Giro d'Italia", Fanini said in a statement after his call for an investigation moved Gauriniello to act.

"When he was asked if a rider had used the bike, Cassani said: 'The person who gave it to us said yes.' Now the names have to come out.

Scott Tinley on Landis, the allegations and what money drives people to do

There's money in pro sport - nothing new there. There's also a mix of prestige, ego, accomplishment and human frailty. Now you can take the money away - go back to the amateur dream many fought so long and hard to protect - but that removes only one driver, one motivator, for cheating. Trouble is, humans dig winning and their big creative brains are always on the lookout for shortcuts. It's just one way we prosper. It's so engrained it's part of our daily lives. We cheat on our partners, we cheat on our fellow drivers by using shortcuts, by speeding, by simply pushing in front of the queue. We do all of this and rationalise it to suit ourselves, despite ethical analysis telling us it's plain wrong. So drugs - or any performance shortcut - in sport is simply here to stay. We may drive it deeper down but it'll still be there. And when we step from sport into the real world we find pharmaceuticals, alcohol, caffeine and harder recreational drugs absolutely in abundance. Of course it's hypocritical, of course it's a mixed message. Doesn't make cheating more palatable though, does it?

Floyd Landis, We Hardly Knew You. Or Did We? - Sports Blog - CBS News

Cycling wants to be given a chance, wants to put thirty years of substance abuse behind it in one clean swipe of the guillotine. But how can we pretend that the kids who grew up with one set of rules will simply walk away and let UCI administer the sport under a new one?

Floyd Landis, We Hardly Knew You. Or Did We? - Sports Blog - CBS News

"But therein lies the rub," Dr. Thomas continues. "If there is a smoking gun buried underneath all of this, either way, cycling and sport more broadly take another deep bruising for behavior that is rabidly, albeit implicitly, encouraged by the public at large. Bigger, faster, stronger, more violent--it all allows us to pimp more light beer, $250 athletic shoes, and car insurance through the rise and fall of real humans with already extraordinary abilities."

Dick Pound on Armstrong and Landis - a few days old now but worth a read if you missed it. No punches pulled

Saying it like it is... and they've never seemed to like each either, have they? Pound says he admires Floyd for finally coming clean but wishes he'd done it earlier. He has no doubt about Armstrong.

VeloNews.com - Dick Pound talks Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong and the system

“Most of the people who have looked at all of the facts have already come to the conclusion that (Armstrong) was already a user,” Pound said. “I don’t know whether that arrow has left the bow already or not. I think a lot of people really admire what he’s doing for cancer and stuff like that … there is, if you will, another song on his CD, whereas guys like Floyd don’t have that.”

Verbruggen denies and demands Landis cease his accusations, UCI and lawyers confirm

The second link (below) i steh more detailed but the point is that legal wheels are now turning on the allegation by Landis that former UCI president Verbruggen accepted a bribe to cover up a positive drug test linked to Armstrong and/or his team.

The truth will out, or not, or may come out in a few years time. Pick your preferred reality.


UCI Demands Landis Cease Accusations | Cyclingnews.com

The current president of the UCI, Pat McQuaid, confirmed to the NY Daily News that the letter was sent requesting that Landis retract his accusations that his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, accepted bribes to cover up a positive drug test by Lance Armstrong.

"They are asking him to cease and desist from making statements he's made about Mr. Verbruggen in the past few weeks because they are not true," McQuaid said.

Floyd Landis adds legal muscle, hires Greg LeMond's attorney in face of potential legal challenges

According to two people with knowledge of the situation, Landis has received an strongly worded letter from the office of Hein Verbruggen, a former president of the sport's international governing body, whom Landis accused of accepting bribes to suppress a failed Armstrong drug test. Pat McQuaid, who in 2006 succeeded Verbruggen as president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), confirmed that the letter had been sent.

Boardman warned UCI motorised bikes feasible but doubts they are in use

Former pro racer turned bike maker made some interesting observations in the article linked to below. In summary, feasible, would be hard to spot but a huge risk for anyone trying to cheat: if caught they'd be dead in the water. I imagine if anyone has tried to do it already they'd be wary of trying again, at least for now...

Boardman Warned The UCI Of Risks Of Bike Doping | Cyclingnews.com

"There is not a shred of doubt that the technology exists to cheat in this way and that a rider could get a definite return from such cheating. With little buttons controlling the gears these days I suspect it would also be pretty simple to disguise," Boardman said.

MTBer Gaddoni tests positive for testosterone

Italian Female MTB Rider Positive | Cyclingnews.com

Elena Gaddoni awaits hearing date

The Italian Olympic Committee has announced that Italian female MTB rider Elena Gaddoni (Scapin Stihl Torrevilla) has returned a positive doping test result. She tested positive for exogenous testosterone, with a T/E ratio above 4.

Blood passport - Caucchioli confirmed caught and cops 2 years - 'irregularities'

Pietro Caucchioli Banned For Two Years | Cyclingnews.com

Italian sanctioned after suspicious UCI Biological Passport data

The Italian Anti-Doping Tribunal has banned Pietro Caucchioli for two years following the discovery of irregularities with his UCI Biological Passport.

Everyone does EPO: Greg LeMond goes public again on Armstrong and Landis. His interpretation of what he remembers...

Greg LeMond has been consistent with his comments about both Armstrong and Landis, most recently praising Landis for finally coming clean, despite the Landis camp getting a bit personal earlier. And now he has got some press attention again, alleging that in a private conversation Armstrong effectively admitted that "everyone does EPO". I guess he didn't mean "everyone with a medical condition that requires it", but you never know. It's just LeMond's interpretation of what he heard - and remembers - and I'm sure Armstrong has a different take on it. Interesting that it keeps rolling along though...

Greg LeMond on doping accusations: I feel vindicated - USATODAY.com

"It seems almost crazy to dare say that Armstrong admitted he used EPO, but he did call me in 2001 and admitted that he used EPO. That was his way of saying, 'Everybody does EPO, your (1989) win was a miracle just like mine was.'

"My take on it is that I won by eight seconds. If I was doing EPO, I should have won by eight or nine minutes."

LeMond and Landis are odd partners in their shared criticism of Armstrong. During Landis' 2007 administrative appeal of his doping penalties, an associate of Landis phoned LeMond, pretending to be an adult who molested LeMond when he was a child. The call was an effort to prevent LeMond from testifying that Landis called him about doping.

"Floyd did call me," LeMond says. "And in an indirect way confessed to something, like he didn't know how to talk about it with his family and friends. He was on the fence about which way to go."

A rejection I believe - Cancellara did not cheat. OTOH everything is built on trust. I don't know the guy

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; procycling is just a game played out for our entertainment, why take it all so seriously? Ahh, but there's money and prestige involved. Of course we are also bound by ethics to be fair, just and honest in all our dealings with both ourselves and our fellow human beings. By cheating we are effectively pushing ahead in the queue or bullying for gain. It's clearly, utterly wrong. And very human.

Now I do believe Cancellara is innocent of this alleged "doping bike" cheat but I have no way to prove it. It's just a trust, a belief in the system. Why would someone of his stature have to cheat, and why would they risk all? Of course that argument doesn't stand up either, if it did then we wouldn't have seen prominent riders subverting medicine and pharmaceutics in order to cheat.

So we are just back to trust and faith.  

Team Saxo Bank Rejects Insinuations Of Mechanical Doping | Cyclingnews.com

Team Saxo Bank has issued a strongly worded statement denying that Fabian Cancellara or any rider in Bjarne Riis' team has ever used any form of ‘mechanical doping’ and has dismissed a popular video circulating on the internet that investigates the use of an electric engine as ‘a work of fiction, disguised as documentary.’

Concern over hidden electric motors grows in pro peleton

It would be a huge risk for someone of Cancellara's stature to so obviously cheat like this but the issue is gaining prominence, deservedly or not. (I believe Cancellara myself, at least at this stage!) In short, an electric motor and battery is hidden in the seat tube and supplies drive to the crank axle on demand. It is certainly feasible but doubts remain over the actual torque applied and how long the battery would last. It's one thing to demonstrate the principle on a bike on a bike stand, another to actually demonstrate its effectiveness on the road. It would also be somewhat embarrassing if the motor whined loudly, failed to declutch or simply failed to switch off when requested. However it remains technically "do-able" in the very broadest sense.

Lefevere Takes Mechanical Doping Seriously | Cyclingnews.com

Most attention has been paid to Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara, whose impressive showings of strength saw him ride away alone in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix this spring. The Swiss rider laughed the story off. “I've already heard that. Rest assured, my achievements are the result of hard work."

Patrick Lefevere, Quick Step team manager, took the possibility of “bike doping” seriously, but was careful to point out, “I don't accuse anyone.”

Unlike Cassani's comments he hadn't brushed it off so lightly. “Laugh? No, I do not laugh about it. It's too serious to laugh. That movie made me suspicious.”

"For a long time I also belonged to the non-believers, now I begin to doubt gradually," he said "Watch out. For me, everyone is innocent until proven otherwise. I do not participate in gossip, and I try not to be paranoid but now that I have seem the movie of Cassani, I see why the UCI is examining the matter thoroughly."

"It would be worse than doping,” Lefevere said. “Even pure theft.”

Bike with engine (doped bike) and Cancellara (Roubaix - Vlaanderen)

I'm not saying that this is true account of what is happening in procycling with miniaturised electric motors and batteries inserted into the seat tube, but it's within the realms of technical possibility. I do doubt that Cancellara would risk using such a device.

Valverde wiped from 2010 results, Evans the immediate winner in UCI rankings

This would be so much harder to keep track of without computers. Of course wiping Valverde's points off is easy enough to do but it really doesn't take into account the influence Alejandro had on the races concerned. Not many options here, really. (Worth noting - in case you fell asleep for a while, which is understandable - that there's no evidence he had doped in this period, the blood doping evidence all dates back 6 years or so.)

Evans Climbs To World Rankings Lead | Cyclingnews.com

Australian Cadel Evans climbed into the lead in UCI's World Rankings after the disqualification of leader Alejandro Valverde. The Spaniard was suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday for his involvement in the Operacion Puerto doping affair, and stripped of his results since January 1, 2010.

"[Valverde] has been disqualified from all competitions in which he has competed since the beginning of the year and all points allocated to him have been removed. Mr Valverde must also return all prizes received. The UCI World Ranking has been modified accordingly," a UCI statement read.

Valverde gets a holiday for his Operacion Puerto involvement

If you get a DNA match with a bag of blood that was hanging around in a refrigerator in Spain you can expect some pain. So the only surprise is that it took so long. But what of all the other bags of blood? (Insert silence here.)

Valverde Suspended For Two Years World-wide, Keeps Results | Cyclingnews.com

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has handed Alejandro Valverde a two-year suspension, effective starting January 1, 2010, for his involvement in the Operación Puerto doping scheme.

The court upheld the request of the UCI and World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) against the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC), but also refused to nullify Valverde's results prior to the start of the suspension.