Re: Le Tour de Pharmaceutical 2012

by JGK Fri 24 Aug 2012, 03:22

Armstrong drops drugs fight

August 24, 2012 - 12:18PM

Lance Armstrong says he will no longer fight charges from the US Anti-Doping Agency that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his unprecedented cycling career, a decision that could put his string of seven Tour de France titles at risk.

Armstrong says he is innocent, but announced on Thursday night that he has decided against fighting USADA because he is weary of the doping accusations that have dogged him for years.

His decision could lead to a lifetime ban from cycling and perhaps the loss of the Tour titles he won from 1999-2005.

USADA says Armstrong used banned substances dating to 1996, including the blood-booster EPO and steroids, as well as blood transfusions. Armstrong sued in federal court to block the charges but lost.

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Armstrong, 40, retired from cycling in 2011.

AP

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/armstrong-drops-drugs-fight-20120824-24qk5.html#ixzz24QURKJAh

by bodyline Fri 24 Aug 2012, 03:23

Sure he's innocent - that's why he dropped the fight.

by embee Fri 24 Aug 2012, 03:36

bodyline wrote:Sure he's innocent - that's why he dropped the fight.

He's as innocent as every other pro cyclist

by tricycle Fri 24 Aug 2012, 03:46

As long as they don't award those races to Ullrich or any other cheating qunt behind him. Not to mention, the eyewitness testimonies of riders who made their careers of his team's programme.

Contador may be shitting a brick considering his doping doctor Marti is named in this.

This is a bit like 2010 investigation of Azharrudin instead of Salman Butt.

by JGK Fri 24 Aug 2012, 04:03

How does the USADA have the power to strip LA of his TdF titles?

by tricycle Fri 24 Aug 2012, 04:38

Aye, I thought of that too and still don't know how, but the USADA chief executive did say that Armstrong's titles will be stripped and he'll be receiving a life ban. Maybe some obscure rule there.

"USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives," such as politics or publicity, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote.

Pertinent point if this is taken into account.
link

by beamer Fri 24 Aug 2012, 08:22

tricycle wrote:As long as they don't award those races to Ullrich or any other cheating qunt behind him.

Surely they should just re-run all 7 tours with as many of the same riders who can still get on a bike, but racing clean! Holding them back-to-back would do it, that would really test them...

by skully Fri 24 Aug 2012, 09:55

On the Nooz it said USADA has the power to strip Armstron of his 7 titles. So it now seems a foregone conclusion. Sad, but he he has long had the spectre of "drug cheat" hanging over him.

That letter from Conte in t's link is stunning. How lame of the Drug Agency to cease the random testing regime. Cost cutting, no doubt.

by taipan Fri 24 Aug 2012, 09:59

tricycle wrote:Aye, I thought of that too and still don't know how, but the USADA chief executive did say that Armstrong's titles will be stripped and he'll be receiving a life ban. Maybe some obscure rule there.

"USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives," such as politics or publicity, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote.
Pertinent point if this is taken into account.
link

Still don't see what jurisdiction the USADA can have over the TDF

by Henry Fri 24 Aug 2012, 10:08

I suspect he would rather drift into obscurity as a disgraced former cyclist than remain in the spotlight as a disgraced former cyclist.

Basically, he knows he's f*cked.

by tricycle Fri 24 Aug 2012, 10:16

taipan wrote:Still don't see what jurisdiction the USADA can have over the TDF

First question here answers that.

by PeterCS Fri 24 Aug 2012, 10:18

The problem was, he wasn't wearing Immunity Sidewigs.

by taipan Fri 24 Aug 2012, 10:26

tricycle wrote:
taipan wrote:Still don't see what jurisdiction the USADA can have over the TDF
First question here answers that.

So they can't strip him themselves.

by tricycle Fri 24 Aug 2012, 10:31

Depends on how much the UCI has bedded itself with Armstrong, but if they don't comply it could mean that a place in the olympics could be cost for not complying with the WADA code along with any semblance of credibility that the sport's struggling to muster already.

by JGK Fri 24 Aug 2012, 10:46

I reckon the UCI will fight it.

by tricycle Fri 24 Aug 2012, 11:14

Aye, guess it will end up in another long winded case at the CAS.

by beamer Fri 24 Aug 2012, 18:50

tricycle wrote:Depends on how much the UCI has bedded itself with Armstrong, but if they don't comply it could mean that a place in the olympics could be cost for not complying with the WADA code along with any semblance of credibility that the sport's struggling to muster already.

Cycling's no more likely to be dropped than Usain Bolt is to win the marathon in Rio... although I suppose they could ditch the road version and keep track?

Anyway, football is well documented as not meeting anti-doping requirements and retains its (barely deserved) Olympic place.

by beamer Fri 24 Aug 2012, 19:32

By the way, here are the new champions from 1999 to 2005:

By Mike Foss, USA TODAY

Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles, meaning that the "real" winners will finally get their due.

Let's meet the new champions:

1999 - Alex Zulle
Bio: Zulle admitted to using the performance enhancer Erythropoietin (EPO) while competing with Team Festina.

2000 - Jan Ullrich
Bio: Ullrich had all of his results after May 2005 voided and was suspended two years for doping in February.

2001 - Jan Ullrich

2002 - Joseba Beloki
Bio: Beloki was held out of the 2006 Tour when Spanish police suspected him of doping. He was later cleared. But still associated so the list continues.

2003 - Jan Ullrich (comment: He almost won a lot of these, didn't he?)

2004 - Andreas Klöden
Bio: The German National Anti Doping Agency is mulling the possibility of investigation Kloden, who was accused of an illegal blood transfusion during the 2006 Tour.

2005 - Ivan Basso
Bio: Basso admitted to blood doping in 2007 and served a two-year suspension.

It's a good thing the ripples of doping don't expand beyond Armstrong, right?

by beamer Fri 24 Aug 2012, 19:40

And this comment sums it up pretty well (assuming the likely consequence is seven or more "void races"):

In fact, combine this latest decision with all the Floyd Landis, Alberto Contador, Ullrich, Bjarne Riis, Operation Puerto scandals/mia culpas, and as far as I can tell no one actually won the Tour de France from 1996 to 2007. The cyclists rode 20,000 miles and climbed countless mountains to exhaustion for no reason whatsoever. Tour de France announcers Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen should have spent those 12 Julys at the beach instead.

by tricycle Sat 25 Aug 2012, 00:58

beamer wrote:
tricycle wrote:Depends on how much the UCI has bedded itself with Armstrong, but if they don't comply it could mean that a place in the olympics could be cost for not complying with the WADA code along with any semblance of credibility that the sport's struggling to muster already.
Cycling's no more likely to be dropped than Usain Bolt is to win the marathon in Rio... although I suppose they could ditch the road version and keep track?

Anyway, football is well documented as not meeting anti-doping requirements and retains its (barely deserved) Olympic place.

Aye, little doubt that it won't happen. The difference with regards football and this case is that if WADA or any other anti doping agency finds a club running a systematic doping programme and expunges their records, then the governing body has to accept it at last till the appeal. Not that that'll ever happen considering that it's not too hard to dodge controls, which aren't as stringent in football. And I think football's issue is the whereabouts clause. Tennis and even Indian cricketers had issues with that if I remember correctly.

I hope they ditch road cycling from the olympics, it's not even the biggest achievement of the month, let alone year.

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