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/)

Well, now things are moving along...

Not even a week after Contador's suspension, Ullrich has been sentenced:

Jan Ullrich given two-year ban from CAS

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/jan-ullrich-given-two-year-ban-from-cas)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued a two-year ban for Jan Ullrich, to run from August 22, 2011. In addition, all his results from May 2005 until his retirement in February 2007 are annulled.

The CAS partially upheld the UCI's appeal to the Swiss Cycling Federation's decision to dismiss its doping investigation into Ullrich after his retirement, and ruled that he was guilty of a doping offence.

“Given the volume, consistency and probative value of the evidence presented by the UCI, and the failure of Jan Ullrich to raise any doubt about the veracity of reliability of such evidence, this Panel came to the conclusion that Jan Ullrich engaged at least in blood doping in violation of Article 15.2 of the UCI Anti-Doping rules,” the court said.

But there is still some questions on how CAS has handled the Contador case, so much so that some riders have begun to fear eating:

Cancellara: Big question marks hang over Contador case

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-big-question-marks-hang-over-contador-case)

Having had a couple of days to digest the two-year ban handed by CAS to Alberto Contador following his long drawn out, 18-month clenbuterol case, Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara has branded the process involved in ascertaining Contador’s culpability as “crazy”. 30-year-old Cancellara, who is at the 2012 Tour of Qatar in the colours of RadioShack-Nissan, told Cyclingnews that his faith in the decision makers, and that of some of his fellow riders, has been shaken. Contador, who may appeal against the decision, was sanctioned on Monday, stripped of the 2010 Tour de France title and could face a fine of 2.4m Euros.

“I am here racing and all I’ve had time to do is read some papers, look at the internet and try to digest the facts and the rumours,” Cancellara told Cyclingnews. “They said there is 4000 pages about Alberto’s case. The Fuentes case was 8000 pages. 4000 pages for one person and 8000 for maybe 20 guys? Already, that is something crazy.

“There are so many questions. The UCI and WADA agree together, then they disagree together then they think different things. Then you have the clenbuterol – it’s such a small amount. Is it from food? Now they are saying it’s from some sort of nutrition supplement contamination. All I can see is a big question mark.

“To improve, CAS just has to work harder and faster – they should not be on holidays, and not be distracted by other things. In sport across the board so far, from the CAS point of view, this is one of the biggest delays there has been. 556 days? Plus or minus? We were told August, then November, then January and we have to wait until February. This waiting has damaged our sport.”

Cancellara went on to state that trust in both the governing bodies and the prosecution and appeal processes has been compromised as a result of the case, and he accused CAS of victimising cycling.

“Of course, normally, we have to go with the decision of the court,” he said. “The court should be the highest jurisdiction in the world. But the big question now is whether we are able to believe in the court. Yes or no? Are we going to believe them in the cases of killers, drug dealers and paedophiles? This is the problem that Alberto’s case has thrown up for all of the riders. It makes you lose faith. I wouldn’t want to be in the skins of the three judges at CAS.

“When we look at how much cycling is filing cases for doping, then cycling should not get treated in this way. There are cases of people in other sports who have done much worse and they haven’t got banned as severely. Sometimes they do not get banned at all. It is always cyclists who are punished most.”

He then cited Contador’s attention to detail and the amount that he has stood to lose as an argument against the possibility that he risked everything on a contaminated supplement.

“Now they are saying that it wasn’t even the food, it was a supplement. It is hard to believe that Alberto would take a supplement without having it tested. You get offered them everywhere but you say ‘ok’ and send them to the lab. For a cyclist, this is your insurance.

“Alberto has so many people behind him: teammates, coaches, friends, family, sponsors and the money that comes with it all. To throw away all that in a split second on one pill seems crazy. I always think this way myself - about what I have to lose.

“Your whole life can fall apart after one test. This is the fear we have as an athlete and it’s real. I believe there is always a possibility that you can test positive for things that you don’t know about. You can go to China and eat some meat and then you come back and ‘boom’. It scares me, for sure. And it affects you. I remember back in 2008 when I was implicated in the case that had nothing to do with me. The press all around were talking about me. I lost my energy, I gained 10kg in fat and I couldn’t sleep. But a cyclist has to live with that. If you live with that you can go forward. If you don’t then you give up and go home. But it’s wrong.”

Joining the elite club...

So another great athlete goes down in my book under 'Not a Fan Of'. The newest inductee to join this elite club, along with LeBron James and Derek Jeter, among others, is 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans. I wasn't a big fan of him to begin with, but his response to Contador's suspension just sealed the deal. I'm just upset that my favorite rider, Hushovd, signed with Evans' team, BMC

Evans: Contador suspension shows cycling in forefront of anti-doping

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-contador-suspension-shows-cycling-in-forefront-of-anti-doping) 

Disqualifying and banning the winner of the 2010 Tour de France shows that cycling is leading in the sports world's fight against doping, said Cadel Evans. The BMC Racing Team rider, who won the 2011 Tour de France, supported the decision to ban Alberto Contador for two years, while decrying the fact that the process took so long.

"I think the sport of cycling has done more than enough to prove it is doing the right thing," Evans said, according to Fox News.

"Now it is time for other sports to look at cycling and replicate what cycling does, so the fight against drugs in sport can maybe be beaten one day across all sports."

The Australian did not give an opinion on Contador's guilt or innocence.  "I don't know all that goes on behind there and what all the real facts are and so on.

"I go along and do my job and that's up to the authorities to decide.”

Like so many others, Evans got lost in the time-consuming twists, turns and delays in the case. "It was a case that dragged on for so long I had no idea what was going on and what was going to happen. I just read the newspapers like the rest of us."

 
However, on the other hand, Eddy Merckx had a much better response, at least in my opinion:

Merckx deplores "excessive" punishment in Contador ban

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/merckx-deplores-excessive-punishment-in-contador-ban) 

On Monday, the news of Alberto Contador's two-year ban spread quickly across the globe and triggered a variety of reactions. At the Tour of Qatar in the Middle East, race organiser and all-time champion Eddy Merckx was baffled at the CAS decision, blaming not Contador but sporting authorities for the bad news.

"It's very sad for him and for cycling in general. It's as if somebody wanted to kill cycling," Merckx told Eurosport. "I'm very surprised and disgusted. It's bad for everyone, for the reputation of cycling, for the sponsors."

He continued by insinuating that cycling's efforts to combat doping were excessive and that other sports did not apply the rules in the same way. "I think it's going too far - when a test result is like this one, 0.0000... it's only in cycling that this sort of thing happens.

"I'm the first to say that we need controls, but I think that we are going too far in cycling."

And finally, I guess its a little late for one to hope that, that Jan Ullrich's verdict will be just as swift:

Ullrich verdict set to be handed down by CAS on Thursday

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ullrich-verdict-set-to-be-handed-down-by-cas-on-thursday)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced that it will hand down a decision on the case concerning the International Cycling Union (UCI), and Jan Ullrich on Thursday.

The UCI appealed the Swiss Olympic Committee's decision to close the file on evidence linking Ullrich to the Operacion Puerto doping case. Ullrich retired after being implicated in the 2006 investigation, and was later linked to blood evidence by DNA testing.

A finding was due to be announced mid last month however, the case was again delayed having been filed at the end of March 2010.

Ullrich, 1997 Tour de France winner and five-time runner-up, retired in February 2007 having been implicated in Operacion Puerto the year prior. In July 2009, Swiss Olympic, which handles doping cases in the country, announced that it was officially opening an investigation. But again, it came to a standstill. Until February 10, 2010, when they announced that since Ullrich had quit his membership in the national federation in 2006, they had no jurisdiction over him, and the investigation was closed. However, both the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it’s this case which is now due to be resolved.

Thursday's announcement will be the latest in the big week of legal cases with United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles close down a two-year investigation into allegations of fraud and doping that involved the US Postal Service Team and Lance Armstrong last Friday and then the CAS handing Alberto Contador a two-year sanction for his positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France.

Yes, I will run this to the ground...

I know I blogged yesterday about this, but I am truly upset about the CAS's decision. I guess mostly, I am upset that it took so long to finally come to a decision. I guess I should be used to it, I mean the American Justice System is only slightly faster...

Analysis: CAS vs Alberto Contador

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/analysis-cas-vs-alberto-contador)

Monday's decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to ban Alberto Contador for two years, after his positive test at the 2010 Tour de France, was the maximum punishment available.

In other words, they couldn't have come down harder on him. For this reason alone it should be seen as decisive and definitive. Yet for many it will seem inconclusive and ambiguous, and therefore unsatisfactory. It is even possible that, in the eyes of some, the only relevant question - did Contador cheat during the 2010 Tour? - remains unresolved.

In one sense, that fundamental question does remain unresolved. Strictly speaking, Contador can be said to have been found guilty not of doping, but of probably doping. As the CAS report notes, the panel's task was to decide which of three possible explanations - that Contador ate contaminated meat; that he ingested food supplements containing clenbuterol; that he had an illegal blood transfusion - was "most likely to have caused the positive test" (or least likely).

Probably is certainly less satisfactory than definitely. But, in this particular case, it is as conclusive as it was ever going to be, for the simple reason that 'balance of probability' is all that we have when the cow in question has long since passed away, and indeed passed through the digestive systems of Contador and seven of his Astana team-mates.

Contador rejected the alternative explanations - the possibility of contaminated food supplements or an illegal blood transfusion - put forward by the UCI and WADA. He argued that the clenbuterol was in his system because he ate contaminated meat, and that the presence of the clenbuterol in the cow was demonstrated simply by the presence of the clenbuterol in his system.

You follow? Furthermore, this could not be disproved, said Contador's team, because the cow identified as the most likely source was not tested either before or after slaughter (in common with 99.98 percent of cows).

Aha, said the prosecution, but the chance of a cow farmed in Europe being contaminated with clenbuterol at a level capable of being detected in Contador's urine was a mere 0.0042 percent. WADA described the possibility of Contador having ingested clenbuterol by eating steak as "vanishingly thin."

The same could be said of Contador's defence, since the contaminated meat explanation is all he offered. In fact, if you read the 98-page CAS report, it seems fairly conclusive in determining that Contador cheated.

So why the ambiguity, and why will so many continue to believe that Contador is a victim of the system?

There are perhaps three explanations. The first is because the case dragged on so long, thus helping to create the impression that it was not clear cut: an impression that can only have played in Contador's favour.

The second is that Contador has carried on racing and winning, and even, as at last year's Tour de France, losing - in the process gaining himself some sympathy and restoring his reputation even while (or perhaps in part because) the sword of Damocles hung over his head.

Finally, there is the strange back-dating of the ban. If Contador, who raced in Mallorca on Sunday, has been suspended for two years, then how is it that he will be back in six months?

The first is the fundamental point. The fact that it took 565 days, from his positive test on the second rest day of the 2010 Tour, to Monday's ruling, kicked up clouds of confusion and obfuscation.

The first delay, from the test to the official announcement in late September, invited suspicion. When other riders' positive tests have been known almost immediately, why was Contador's kept a secret for so long?

The CAS report goes some way to explaining, noting that the UCI and WADA launched their own investigation to determine why the concentrations of clenbuterol in his system were so low, why the samples collected before 21 July (the day of the first positive test) were clear, and also "to find out whether other anti-doping violations [were] committed."

This may be enough to satisfy most conspiracy theorists, not least because it might, in the end, have helped to convict Contador. In the end, the blood transfusion theory was thought by the panel to be as likely (or unlikely) as Contador's contaminated meat theory, and they settled on a food supplement as the most likely (or least unlikely) source of the clenbuterol. The report notes that Contador took "considerable amounts" of supplements.

But the blood transfusion theory may have helped swing it. The panel rejected Contador's criticism that the blood transfusions line of enquiry was unacceptable, and they heard, at considerable length and in considerable detail, the arguments, including the unexplained fluctuations in Contador's blood parameters and the "extremely high concentration of phthalates (or plasticisers) found in Contador's sample on 20 July"; a concentration, suggested Hans Geyer of the Cologne lab, "consistent with a concentration found after a blood transfusion."

In the end, though, the Contador case has merely demonstrated that a founding principle of anti-doping remains. The burden of proof lies with the athlete. It was not up to the sporting authorities to prove that Contador had doped; it was up to Contador to prove that he had not. He failed to do that. The only possible verdict was guilty. Shame it took 565 days to reach it.

I still think he's innocent, not that it matters...

I still firmly believe that Contador is innocent and that it was in fact the meat that he ate. Unfortunately, the CAS feels different:

 CAS sanction Contador with two year ban in clenbuterol case

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-sanction-contador-with-two-year-ban-in-clenbuterol-case)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has handed Alberto Contador a two year sanction for his positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France. After a long-running saga, CAS announced on Monday that it had upheld the UCI and WADA’s joint appeal against the Spanish Cycling Federation’s (RFEC) decision not to suspend Contador.

The ban means Contador will lose race results dating back to and including the 2010 Tour de France. Andy Schleck will become the Tour de France champion while Michele Scarponi is crowned winner of the Giro d'Italia.

Contador's ban ends on August 5th, meaning he can ride this year's Vuelta.

A long-running saga

Contador’s positive test dates from July 21, 2010, although the case was not made public until September 30 of that year. In February 2011, the RFEC officially cleared Contador, accepting his explanation that the traces of clenbuterol in his sample had been caused by consuming contaminated meat.

In March, both the UCI and WADA formally announced their decision to appeal the matter to CAS, who in turn announced that a ruling would be made ahead of the Tour de France.

That turned out to be a false dawn, however, and after a number of delays, the hearings were finally held in November 2011. In the intervening period, Contador had added to the Giro d’Italia to his palmares and finished fifth at the Tour de France.

The hearing itself was tinged with some degree of controversy, with AP reporting that WADA’s lawyers threatened a walk out when anti-doping expert Michael Asheden was not permitted to testify on the theory that Contador may have had a blood transfusion on July 20.

A verdict was initially due in mid-January, but was again delayed after Leopard Trek backer Flavio Becca questioned the integrity of CAS arbitration panel head Ephraim Barak. After confirming that none of the parties involved in the case wanted to change the make-up of the arbitration panel, CAS finally issued its verdict on Monday.

Contador still has the option of appealing the CAS ruling to the Swiss federal court within the next 30 days, although any such petition can only concern procedural matters.

Although, I do like Andy Schelck's response:

Andy Schleck reacts to Contador's doping ban

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-reacts-to-contadors-doping-ban) 

Andy Schleck has reacted to the news that Alberto Contador has been handed a two year sanction by the CAS. Schleck finished second to Contador during the controversial Tour de France in 2010, in which traces of clenbuterol were found in one of Contador’s test samples.

"There is no reason to be happy now”, Schleck said in a RadioShack-Nissan press release

“First of all I feel sad for Alberto. I always believed in his innocence. This is just a very sad day for cycling. The only positive news is that there is a verdict after 566 days of uncertainty. We can finally move on.”

Contador faces all race results being stripped from him since and including the Tour title in 2010, meaning Schleck, who has never won a stage race, will become the official race winner.

“I trust that the CAS judges took all things into consideration after reading a 4,000 page file. If now I am declared overall winner of the 2010 Tour de France it will not make me happy. I battled with Contador in that race and I lost. My goal is to win the Tour de France in a sportive way, being the best of all competitors, not in court. If I succeed this year, I will consider it as my first Tour victory.”

Are you as tired of Landis as I am?

Shaking my head...

Landis convicted in hacking case

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/landis-convicted-in-hacking-case)

Floyd Landis has been convicted in a French court on charges he obtained documents that had been hacked from the computers of a French laboratory and given a suspended jail sentence.

The once 2006 Tour de France champion was charged with ordering the hacking into computers of  a WADA-accredited lab, but was found guilty only of receiving the hacked documents after prosecutors could establish no link between the cyclist and the confessed hackers. He could have been handed an 18 month sentence but was given 12 months.

AFP reported that, “prosecutors say Landis and coach Arnie Baker masterminded a plot to hack into the lab’s computer system to obtain documents as they sought to defend the cyclist’s name.”

Last year Landis was issued with an arrest warrant but remained in the US.

Landis tested positive for testosterone during the 2006 Tour de France. His doping controls were handled by the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory. In November 2006, the lab reported that its computer systems had been infected with a "Trojan Horse" virus, which was used by someone to access the lab's confidential documents. The lab said that data had been removed or changed, allegedly in an attempt to discredit the work of the organisation.

An email carrying the virus was alleged to have been sent from a computer with the same IP address as that of Landis' coach Arnie Baker. Both Landis and Baker denied any involvement in the hacking, but authorities maintain that the pair made use of pilfered documents in Landis' defense argument.

The investigation by the French Interior Ministry in 2009 led to the arrest of a French national living in Morocco named Alain Quiros, who confessed to hacking into the lab, according to the New York Times. He said he'd been paid several thousand euros to hack into the AFLD computer as well as several other European corporations including Greenpeace France - the hacking scheme was instigated by a former French intelligence agent Thierry Lorho, head of Kargus Consultants.

Lorho reportedly handed off the data lifted from the lab computer to a man named Jean-François Dominguez, who then delivered it to another person who has not yet been identified. The confidential data then made its way to the news media and was used by Landis and Baker to form the basis of his defense against charges of doping.

Last spring, the French subpoenaed Landis and his coach Arnie Baker to travel to France and testify on this matter. Neither of them went to France.

Contador's Big Weekend

So even with a big CAS hearing lingering in the shadows, Contador found time to get married this weekend. Congratulations to him and his bride.

Although, I can't help but wonder if there is any truth to Twitter's @dwuori when he posted: "Contador wedding guests refuse to eat anything at reception" :)

Contador calm and confident ahead of CAS hearing

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-calm-and-confident-ahead-of-cas-hearing)

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) is confident that he will be cleared of wrongdoing by the Court of Arbitration for Sport when it deliberates on his positive test for Clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France later this month.

The Spanish Cycling Federation cleared Contador in February, but both the UCI and WADA have appealed the matter to CAS, and the hearings will be held from November 21-24. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Contador said that he is approaching the hearing “with a lot of calmness and a lot of confidence.”

“When you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear,” he insisted. “I’m fighting as a matter of pride, and it’s unthinkable to accept any kind of sanction.”

Even though his future continues to hang in the balance, Contador is already planning his 2012 campaign. After failing in his bid to land a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double this year, he is unlikely to ride the Italian race as he looks to keep his powder dry for July.

“I don’t think so, not this year,” Contador admitted, and he also stressed that aiming for the Ardennes Classics would be “complicated.”

The only certainty on Contador’s pre-Tour de France calendar appears to be Tirreno-Adriatico, although he is weighing up the possibility of beginning his season considerably earlier than usual in Argentina, at the Tour de San Luis in January.

“I could start from the Tour de San Luis in Argentina, even if I don’t like racing in January, because I’m afraid of coming into form too soon,” he said. “I certainly want to be at Tirreno-Adriatico. It’s a race that I don’t know and it motivates me a lot in a period when I normally reach a good level of form. As for the rest, we’ll see.”

With the Olympic Games getting underway just a week after the end of the Tour de France, Contador is hopeful of making it to London, where he believes he can make an impact in the time trial.

“I’d like to be there, but there are lots of people who want to be there,” he said. “I think I can give a great showing in the time trial, which comes after the Tour.”

While Contador also hinted that he would consider riding the time trial at the world championships in Valkenburg, he admitted that he was concerned by the increasing demands posed by modern cycling’s lengthy season.

“The calendar is already over-saturated,” he said. “You don’t just count racing days, but also the days at training camps to get to the top of your condition. They’re very, very hard days. In 2011, I did 62 days of racing, but out of the first 200 days of the year, I spent 140 away from home.”

Wedding bells

While the CAS hearing dominates Contador’s professional agenda at the end of November, the month begins with an important date in his personal life as he marries long-time girlfriend Macarena Pescador in his hometown of Pinto on Saturday. After a short honeymoon in Rome, the Spaniard will enjoyed a relaxed spell at home before beginning his preparations for next year.

“I like to go hunting, walking in the fields,” he said. “Then I’ll do preparation in the gym and from the end of November, I’ll start getting serious on the bike. I’ll stay in Pinto, although if it gets too cold, I’ll go to the coast.”

In the midst of a period of considerable turbulence, Contador explained that he is pleased to have the chance to spend some time among friends in Pinto.

“I consider myself happy with what I’ve got,” he said. “I try to put aside things that would bother me: falseness, lack of understanding, vested interest friendships. In my group, this doesn’t happen. We’re a very united family, four brothers, each one with his own life, but in constant contact. My friends are the same as I’ve had all my life, and for them it’s the same if I win or lose. Cycling is what we talk about the least.”

The fate of Kolobnev...

Kolobnev, only Tour de France doping positive, gets warning

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kolobnev-only-tour-de-france-doping-positive-gets-warning)

Russian Alexandr Kolobnev, the only rider in the 2011 Tour de France to test positive for a banned substance, has been recommended a warning and fine by the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA), news.sport-express.ru reported today. The final decision is due in the next two weeks.

Kolobnev, 30, tested positive for a diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), on stage 5 of the Tour de France, and quit the race on the first rest day pending confirmation of the B-sample testing. The result was confirmed nine days later.

The Katusha rider denied doping, and judging from his punishment by the Russian authorities, he was able to demonstrate that he did not intentionally ingest the substance. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules allow for situations where athletes may unintentionally ingest banned substances through, for example, contaminated supplements.

These drugs are classified in the WADA Prohibited List as "specified substances", of which HCT is one.
The WADA web site explains, "Generally speaking, 'specified substances' are substances that are more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation. If the athlete can prove that he or she did not intend to enhance performance by using them to the satisfaction of the results management authority, the sanction under the World Anti-Doping Code can go from a warning to a 2-year ban."

However, HCT is the same substance for which Belgian Iljo Keisse tested positive, and the UCI and WADA appealed his federation's decision to let him go with minimal punishment. However, when Keisse tested positive in 2008, the current 'specified substance' rules were not in place at the time of his positive test.

The Russian federation will forward the dossier on Kolobnev's case to the UCI, which will then, along with WADA, have one month and three weeks, respectively, to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Alberto Contador and His CAS Hearing

As discussed before, Alberto Contador is supposed to go before the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a hearing about his positive test of Clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France. However, this hearing has been postponed again! For the third time. The article below says it's because they need more time "to complete their evidence and arguments relating to some specific scientific issues", which in English translates to me "we don't have enough evidence yet, but want to bust him anyway".

Contador CAS hearing postponed until November

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-cas-hearing-postponed-until-november)

Alberto Contador's hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has been postponed again, until November. The exact hearing dates have not yet been set.

Both the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the decision of the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) to clear Contador of charges resulting from his positive doping control for Clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France.

The CAS said that it “has allowed a request for a second exchange of written submissions between the parties as well as for a new procedural calendar. Such request was formulated by WADA with the unanimous agreement of the three other parties.”

According to the CAS statement, issued Tuesday afternoon, "The second round of written submissions will allow the parties to complete their evidence and arguments relating to some specific scientific issues."

The RFEC issued its decision in February, and the UCI and WADA filed their appeals with the CAS in March. The CAS hearing was initially scheduled for early June but then postponed until August.

I just wish this nightmare for Contador was over. He had a rough Tour de France because all of the spectators were against him. He hasn't tested positive before or since that one time; I think it's okay to blame the meat he ate.

Good luck Alberto; my fingers are crossed for you!