Tag: drugs

Categories
News

South American Bans

It has been announced that seven South American riders have been provisionally suspended by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for doping violations in response to reports from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). A WADA accredited laboratory in Montreal highlighted ‘Adverse Analytical Findings of Stanozolol metabolites in urine samples’ from four riders – Tiago Damasceno, Flavio Reblin and Wagner Alves (all Brazil) and Manuel Villalobos (Chile) – during the 2011 season at the Tour of Reo (July 28-29) and the Volta Ciclistica do Sao Paulo (October 17-20).

 

Brazil’s Elton Silva tested positive for performance enhancers at the Volta Ciclistica do Sao Paulo, whilst Peru’s Ronald Luza and Bolivia’s Fernando Espindola have also been provisionally suspended after another WADA  accredited laboratory in Bogota found traces of ‘cocaine metabolites and presence of 19-norandrosterone as well as Boldenone PC and metabolite’ in their urine samples. All provisional suspensions will remain in place until the riders’ respective national federations can consider the findings.

 

Categories
News

Alex Rasmussen: Dope

Alex RasmussenFour-time track cycling world champion Alex Rasmussen has been unceremoniously dumped by his HTC-Highroad team for failing to attend a doping test. The 27-year-old Dane, who was a member of Team Saxo-SunGard in 2009 and 10, has had his licence suspended by the Danish Cycling Union and will now miss the upcoming road world championships in Copenhagen (September 19-25), where he was due to compete in the time trial.

 

HTC, currently riding high in the Tour of Britain having taken a one, two with riders Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish on Stage Five, dismissed Rasmussen as soon as the missed dope test became apparent. Team manager Rolf Aldag commented: “These are clear violations of the team’s code of conduct. We act on these violations immediately.” An official statement further confirmed: “Upon notification of a missed test, Alex Nikki Rasmussen’s contract with HTC-Highroad has been terminated with immediate effect for breach of the team’s code of conduct. The UCI, NOC and Sports Confederation of Denmark notified the team today that a missed test occurred and has been verified by a UCI review. The team was also notified that Rasmussen had two missed tests in 2010 prior to joining HTC-Highroad that had not been previously reported to the team.”

 

However the bad news doesn’t end there for Rasmussen. With the effective disbanding of HTC at the end of the current season due to lack of headline sponsor he was due to join Team Garmin-Cervelo for 2012, but with Garmin having built their reputation on a strong anti-doping stance they too have decided that Rasmussen is no longer for them.

 

Categories
News

Contador Case Moved. Again…

In June Cyclo reported that the Contador doping hearing had been rescheduled – yet again – from the original pre-Tour de France May date until a now come-and-gone end of June date and then to an August 1 date. Now we hear that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is likely to address issues relating the Spaniard’s alleged illegal use of clenbuterol (similar to the asthma drug salbutamol and gives advantageous aerobic capacity) during the 2010 Tour de France not before November. The decision comes partly as a result of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) asking for more time to compile evidence and “resolve arguments about scientific issues.” A statement on the CAS website reports: “As a consequence of the parties’ request, the hearing which was scheduled for 1, 2 and 3 August 2011 is cancelled and will be rescheduled for new dates, probably in November 2011.”

 

Since testing positive for the banned substance during the 2010 Tour Contador has remained adamant that he accidentally ingested the performance enhancer via contaminated meat. He was initially cleared by The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) before that decision was challenged by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The shadow of doubt continues to hover over the Saxo Bank-SunGard star but the sport as a whole…

 

Categories
News

Bad Blood

Team KatushaIt seems like only yesterday that Team Katusha were proudly declaring the first ever all-Russian Tour de France squad – headlines today make for rather less grandstanding reading as it’s announced that their rider Alexandr Kolobnev has had his “B” sample tested positive for a banned substance; making him the first rider in this year’s event to fail a drugs test.

 

Kolobnev spent his early days with Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo before a stint with both Rabobank and Team Saxo Bank, taking Stage 3 of Paris–Nice and hitting second at the UCI Road World Championships, along with a host of other two-wheeled successes including Olympic bronze in 2008. Those glory days could be behind the 30-year-old now; on July 11 a UCI statement read “Earlier today, the UCI advised the Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev of an Adverse Analytical Finding (presence of Hydrochlorothiazide based on the report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Châtenay-Malabry) in the urine sample collected from him at an in competition test at the Tour de France on 6 July 2011.”

 

With his second (“B”) sample also having tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide – a diuretic banned as it can mask the presence of other performance enhancing substances – his team have announced his immediate suspension. If ultimately found guilty of doping, he will, in all likelihood, face a two-year ban.

 

Categories
News

The Final Word?

Yes, yes another news story about Alberto Contador, but as the controversy rumbles on for the troubled Spanish rider it seems an end, of sorts, could be in sight. Since testing positive for the banned drug clenbuterol, just days before his victory at the 2010 Tour de France, the Saxo Bank-SunGard star was cleared by The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) before that decision was challenged by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Clearly there are many, many acronyms involved…

 

CAS have now issued a brief missive stating that the case will be investigated by a panel of three –  Israel’s Efraim Barak, Switzerland’s Quentin Byrne-Sutton Germany’s Ulrich Haas. In terms of the time-scale for the hearings, the CAS statement concludes: “The written proceedings in this matter are likely to be concluded at the end of May and the CAS envisages to hold a hearing in June 2011, which would allow the settlement of the dispute before the end of June 2011. The hearing date will be published once it has been fixed.”

 

Whilst we are heartened to hear that a conclusion to the case may (or may not) be imminent, Cyclo can’t help feeling that such protracted procrastinations do little for the sport’s image and with the CAS announcement set to be so close to the start of the 2011 Tour de France (July 2) it can do nothing – assuming his innocence – for the preparedness of the defending champion.