Another Favorite Rider...

Let's see...Lance Armstong, Jan Ulrich, Ivan Basso, Alejandre Valverde, Alberto Contador, and Frank Schleck, just to name a few off the top of my head. These are all favorite riders of mine who have been suspended for doping (or retired before they would be suspended). However, another one of my favorite riders came out today and admitted he doped for 12 years:

Michael Rasmussen confesses to 12 years of doping

Michael Rasmussen has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs throughout the majority of his professional career. The former Rabobank and CSC rider called a press conference today, admitting that he doped from 1998 until 2010. He has been served with a two-year ban by Anti Doping Denmark after providing "substantial assistance" in the fight against doping.

"I used EPO, growth hormone, testosterone, DHEA, insulin, IGF-1, and cortisone and did blood transfusions," Rasumssen said reading a prepared statement, looking pale and emotional but in control.

"I've informed the anti-doping authorities of what I specifically used, when and how. My agreement with them is confidential, which means I can't disclose further details at this time. That time may come later."

"When I stand up today, I will be a relieved man. I am glad that I no longer have to sit and lie to you today, as I have done for so many years. From today my cycling career is over. I want to cooperate with the Danish institutions. I know I cheated and I cheated other riders. I'll accept my punishment."

Anti Doping Denmark report that Rasmussen, who was ejected from the 2007 Tour de France while wearing the mailot jaune, for lying about his whereabouts, has offered to cooperate fully with the investigation. Rasmussen has also confessed to using drugs during the 2007 race, in which he passed all anti-doping test.

“In this context, interrogations of Michael Rasmussen have been conducted last week in Amsterdam and this week in Copenhagen,” a press release read.

“The Doping Commission of the NOC of Denmark now opens a doping case against Rasmussen, and the case will be raised before the independent panel (the Doping Tribunal of the NOC) when all conditions are met. Within a few days, Michael Rasmussen will receive a temporary suspension.”

Rasmussen’s confession and cooperation hasn’t just been confined to the Danish authorities, with NOC and Sports Confederation of Denmark), The Netherlands (Doping Autoriteit) and the USA (USADA) and WADA all being consulted.

Having evaluated Rasmussen's statements, it is the opinion of the anti-doping authorities that Rasmussen has offered "substantial assistance" and accordingly the preconditions for a reduced sanction are met. The NOC's Doping Commission therefore intends to prosecute Michael Rasmussen before the Doping Tribunal, requesting a suspension of 8 years, but reduced by three quarters to 2 years, starting on 1 October 2012, i.e. from after Rasmussen participated in his last race.

Rasmussen competed on the cross country mountain bike scene between 1995 and 2001, before joining Bjarne Riis' CSC-Tiscali team in 2002. He won the tough Giro dell'Emilia one-day race in Italy and then raced with Rabobank between 2003 and 2007. He fled the 2007 Tour de France just hours after taking the yellow jersey with victory at the summit of the Col d'Aubisque. He was banned for two years for lying about his UCI Whereabouts status before the Tour de France but made a modest comeback in 2009 and then helped create the Christina Watches team in 2011.

I always did think that Rasmussen looked especially good in the KOM Polka-Dot Jersey in the Tour de France!

(above photo used from: http://www.procyclingphotos.com/)

Frank Schleck's Verdict / Ivan Basso's Past

Wow! I haven't posted anything about Frank Schleck since July 8th of last year, when he came in 10th on the 8th stage of the Tour de France. Not long after that stage, he abandonded the Tour because he tested positive for a diuretic: Xipamide.

He had stood by his claim that it was unintentional, through a contaminated product. But like everyone else who tests positive, his case had to be heard by the Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency. So from July 13th, 2012, until the verdict today, January 30th, 2013, Frank Schleck's fate was unknown.

However, today we learned, that he will be given only a 1 year ban, since the diuretic levels in his system were so low. And, the ban had been backdated, so it starts from the time he abandoned the Tour. This means, after July 14th of this year, Frank can race again. So while he has to miss the Tour de France, he comes back in enough time to race in the Vuelta a Espana - just like Alberto Contador last year.

Contador came back from a 2 year suspension last year just in time to race in the Vuelta...and he won! Now while I don't think Frank is going to come back and win the Vuelta, I do think if he trains during his ban (not with the team, of course) then he has the potential to place in the Top 10 GC of the Vuelta.

I guess we will just have to see...

Fränk Schleck given one-year doping ban

 

Fränk Schleck has been handed a one-year suspension by the The Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency for testing positive for Xipamide during the Tour de France in 2012 according to the RTL. The ban has been retrospectively applied by the Disciplinary Board, meaning that the RadioShack rider is free to ride after July 14, 2013. He will therefore miss this year's Tour de France.

The Disciplinary Board could have issued a maximum two-year penalty, but went with one year after noting the extremely low amount of the banned substance.

"Of course I am disappointed by the verdict that has just been announced. I think that the decision to suspend me during one year is too severe considering the fact that the Council acknowledged that I unintentionally consumed a contaminated product. Unfortunately the provisions of the UCI are such that an involuntary contamination is sufficient in order to pronounce a punishment," Schleck said in a statement.

“However I am relieved that the judges acknowledged that the present is not a case of doping and that I had no intention to enhance my performance. This is very important for me, my family, for my team and all those who support me”.

“We will now analyse the decision in detail and decide on potential further steps. However I bear a positive aspect of the decision in mind: the judges acknowledged that I am not a cheater.”

“I wish to thank all my friends and fans who kept their faith in me during this tough period.”

On July 14, 2012, the UCI advised Schleck of an Adverse Analytical Finding in a urine sample collected from him at an in-competition test.

The WADA accredited laboratory in Châtenay-Malabry detected the presence of the diuretic Xipamide in Schleck's urine sample.

Team RadioShack Leopard released a statement, saying: "The Management of Leopard S.A. has taken note of the verdict of the CDD (Conseil de Discipline contre le Dopage) in the case of Fränk Schleck's positive test for xipamide during the 2012 Tour de France."

"Leopard S.A. is content that the anti-doping authorities have now reached a verdict, but will not make any further declarations about the case until it has studied the argumentation of the CDD more closely."

One of my other favorite long-time riders, Ivan Basso, has also served a 2 year suspension during 2006-2008 for alleged ties in the Fuentes case. However, he has made a clean comeback, and I look forward to seeing him race more this year.

Ivan Basso: "I've regained my dignity"

Ivan Basso is scheduled to testify via video at the Operacion Puerto trial on February 11 but the Italian would prefer to put his involvement in the Spanish blood doping ring behind him and focus on his racing.

"I've been called to testify, but for me it's a formality because it was part of my life six or seven years ago," Basso told Cyclingnews in an exclusive interview in Tuscany as he trains for the 2013 season.

"I was banned by the Italian Olympic Committee and was found guilty in an Italian court, so it only brings back bad memories for me." 
 
The Team Cannondale captain initially denied his links to Dr. Fuentes when Operacion Puerto exploded during the final days of his dominant victory at the 2006 Giro d'Italia. Yet he was forced to flee the start of the 2006 Tour de France in Strasbourg by a backdoor when the allegations of blood doping became much stronger. 
 
While still in denial, Basso quit CSC and joined the Discovery Channel team during the winter of 2006. He rode several races but was then formally placed under investigation by the Italian Olympic Committee in April and was given a two-year ban.

Basso made a comeback with the Liquigas team in 2009 and went on to finish fourth in the Vuelta and then won the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Now 35, Basso is no longer the rider he was while working with Bjarne Riis at his peak. He finished fifth in the 2012 Giro d'Italia and 25th at the Tour de France.

He has published some of his blood data and power metre profiles online, but has always refused to speak in detail about his past as a doper or speak to help make cycling cleaner for the future. True to his hard working and reserved nature, Basso prefers to let his racing do the talking.

"When you've lied so much, people don’t want just words. The wind blows words away, as we say in Italian. People want facts. I've got to produce facts, as I did in 2009 and 2010," Basso told Cyclingnews.

"I won the 2010 Giro d'Italia, finished on the podium in another Giro and was on the podium at the Vuelta. People want facts: my results are my facts, as is the possibility to look at the details: your values, what the anti-doping associations says about you, your biological passport.

"There's no point in me telling fairy tales. People have eyes, heart and a mind to evaluate what they're see."

"I know people were very disappointed with me but then I came back and won the Giro d'Italia again and a few weeks later a magazine published info on my biological passport and said 'This race was won by a clean rider'. I think that's important. I didn’t only say I'd done all the controls, the people were able to see it."

Can people now trust Ivan Basso?

"Yes. 100 per cent," he replied. "I know I can't be considered a saint. That'd be wrong. But I think I've regained my dignity.

"When I came back in 2008, I made some promises and I've kept them. I was also lucky to consolidate them with some important victories and just by being transparent."

Basso claims he has not followed the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong or the Texan's partial confession. He has little to say on the expected Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"It's nothing to do with me. I've served my two-year ban. I'm focused on doing a great 2013 and 2014 and maybe even later," he said.

"It's not up to me to take the moral high ground and judge other people. A true leader is followed in silence. It's about 'leading by example', that's my mission now. It's about having the respect of my teammates. I don’t want to think about the past. I want to think about the present and about the future."

Finest Moments for Sastre

Carlos Sastre: Top 10 Career Moments

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/carlos-sastre-top-10-career-moments)

Carlos Sastre's career wasn't littered with victories. In fact, the Spaniard had less than a dozen during his 15-year pro career. However, especially during the latter part of that career, Sastre was often centre stage in the major tours at key moments, racking up no fewer than 6 podiums and 15 top 10 finishes in the three-week events that were his forte.

He will, of course, be best remembered for his Tour de France victory in 2008, the one occasion when he topped the podium in a major tour, but he had plenty of other high points during in long stint in the pro peloton, as Peter Cossins recalls...

Alpe d’Huez, Tour de France 2008: The crowning moment of Sastre’s career came after he seized the initiative at the foot of the Tour’s most iconic climb. With team-mate Fränk Schleck holding a narrow lead over Cadel Evans and a long time trial to come, CSC boss Bjarne Riis knew it was imperative to gain more time on the Australian. CSC kept the pace high approaching the Alpe, and Sastre seized his opportunity by making the first attack, with the Schleck brothers ready to counter if their Spanish team-mate was chased down. But no concerted response came and Sastre edged inexorably away to finish the stage more than two minutes clear and take the yellow jersey. His 94-second advantage over Evans proved more than enough to enable him to maintain his grip on the maillot jaune all the way into Paris to secure him his sole grand tour title, but in the biggest race of them all.

Plateau de Bonascre (Ax 3 Domaines), Tour de France 2003: Riding in support of CSC leader Tyler Hamilton, Sastre was given a freer rein by Riis after the American cracked his collar-bone, and the Spaniard repaid his team boss’s faith with what is arguably the best-remembered victory of his career. Although memories of Sastre’s attack on the final climb may have dimmed, few will have forgotten his unique celebration as the crossed the line at the summit, pulling his daughter’s dummy out of his back pocket and popping it into his mouth as he claimed what was only the second victory of his career.

Vuelta a España 2000: Sastre got very few opportunities on a ONCE squad that featured so many big-name riders, but took one of those that did come his way when team leader Abraham Olano fell out of contention on Sastre’s first appearance in his national tour. Although he missed out on a stage win, victory in the King of the Mountains competition ahead of Roberto Heras, Roberto Laiseka, Felix Cardenas and Gilberto Simoni demonstrated he could climb with, and often better, than the best. Eighth place overall showed he was consistent too and was the first of 13 top 10 finishes in the major tours.

Tour de France 2006: Sastre was all set to repeat the role of first lieutenant to Ivan Basso that he’d played so impressively at the Giro d’Italia just weeks before when Basso was sidelined from the Tour when the Puerto affair erupted. Suddenly elevated to a role as team leader at CSC, Sastre went on to finish third – following Floyd Landis’s disqualification – and emerged as the race’s strongest rider in the mountains. He went into the final time trial just 12 seconds down on surprise leader Oscar Pereiro, but finished almost five minutes down in 20th place to tumble to fourth overall until the Landis’s positive test boosted him back up to a podium finish.

St Amand Montrond time trial, Tour de France 2008: Although generally classed as a specialist climber, Sastre showed on more than one occasion that he’s no mug as a time triallist, not least when he confirmed his victory on the penultimate day of the 2008 Tour. Going into the 53km test with an advantage of 1-34 on Cadel Evans, the Spaniard only yielded 29 seconds to the Australian, who was still feeling the effects of a crash earlier in the race. Underlining the fact that his strength tended to hold up in the latter part of the three-week stage races, Sastre caught and passed team-mate Fränk Schleck, confirming that the right CSC rider had taken control of the Tour on Alpe d’Huez.

Monte Petrano, Giro d’Italia 2009: Leader of the newly established Cervélo TestTeam, Sastre went into the 2009 Giro aiming for victory. Although he eventually lost out to Denis Menchov, Sastre spiced up the final week of the race with two storming stage wins, the first of them on Monte Petrano. It came at the end of mammoth 230km stage in brutally hot conditions, the kind of day where Sastre’s grittiness was guaranteed to keep him in contention. He made his winning move 6km from the line, quickly dropping the maglia rosa group, and then overhauling Damiano Cunego and Yarslav Popovych as he went clear to win. The victory pushed him up to third overall and back within striking distance of race leader Menchov.

Mount Vesuvius, Giro d’Italia 2009: As quickly as Sastre had ridden himself into contention for the maglia rosa on Monte Petrano, he fell out again with a below-par ride on the Blockhaus. Although disappointed that his GC challenge had fizzled out, the Spaniard reasserted himself with a well-judged victory on the slopes of the volcano that stands above the city of Naples. Sastre’s attack from the maglia rosa group from 9km from home took him across to lone leader Ivan Basso. The two former team-mates stuck together until 5km out, when Sastre pressed again. He later admitted he’d suffered like never before when winning a stage and that at no time did he feel he was the strongest of those in contention for the win. But the dogged Spaniard was not to be denied. The victory moved him up to fourth on GC. He was subsequently promoted to second following the disqualifications of Danilo Di Luca and Franco Pellizotti for doping offences, completing a full set of podium finishes at the grand tours.

Alto del Angliru, Vuelta a España 2011: Sastre’s final season didn’t go as he or his Geox team would have hoped, their failure to secure WorldTour status denying him a farewell appearance at the Tour de France. There was some consolation, though, when he produced a strong ride in support of team-mate Juan José Cobo. In what turned out to be the final race of his career, Sastre’s best moments came late on in typical fashion. The first of them came on the Vuelta’s most devilish ascent, the Angliru. Away in a small group at the foot of the climb, Sastre attacked on the early ramps to get clear on his own. Coming into the steepest sections of the climb, Cobo jumped across to join his veteran team-mate, allowing Sastre to set the pace before Cobo made what proved to be both the stage- and race-winning move.

Andorra Arcalis, Vuelta a España 2000: Sastre rode the Giro in his second season with ONCE, but it was a year later that he first came to prominence with that mountains win at the Vuelta. It was no coincidence that his best day was ONCE’s worst. They started it with Santos González in the leader’s jersey, but the team was primed to defend the interests of Mikel Zarrabeitia and Abraham Olano. Sastre was sent up the road late in the stage to assist his leaders on the final climb, but Zarrabeitia crashed out of the race, while Olano and González lost more than six minutes. That left 24-year-old Sastre with a rare opportunity to ride for himself, and he didn’t disappoint on the final climb. Roberto Laiseka denied him victory, but Sastre took second place ahead of a number of established names, including Santi Blanco, Roberto Heras and Fernando Escartín.

Klasika Primavera 2006: While he was always likely to contend at any grand tour thanks to his strength and durability, Sastre had much less of an impact in one-day races, where his comparative lack of acceleration and almost total absence of a finishing kick left him without an obvious race-winning weapon. His sole one-day victory showed, though, that guile can get you a long way. Up against Damiano Cunego, Joaquim Rodríguez and Alberto Contador coming up to the finish of the Klasika Primavera in the Basque Country, Sastre managed to outwit all three, guessing that none of them would want to chase down his late attack knowing that the other two were likely to come past in the final sprint.