Doping

I will endeavour to find out...

Wow Will and Dan disagreeing with me, there's a first

Cheer up Jimmy

This is what happens when EdScoble doesn't contribute to a thread.

Sorry, I meant conversation

Kreuziger wont ride the Vuelta.

So Dr Hampton, how's this doping cyclist appeals work going for you?

I'm guessing 'no win, no fee' doesn't apply here.

The Plymouth Herald have an exclusive JTL interview

"There has been so much negativity..."

"...balance of doubt..."

No integrity. If he has truly been cheated by a failed system I cannot believe he'd pass up the opportunity to state that once again. I hope he finds a living away from competitive sport.

Well he did say in the article he might lead bike tours for travel companies.

Maybe Mikes Bikes in Amsterdam will sign him up?

He's more of a clear alcohols kind of guy apparently.

Maybe it's a Pro diet thing.

https://twitter.com/J_T_Locke/status/368692282960011264

Wine in a box more his steez

3x2 wine carton in the boot: 2xRioja,1x vodka,1x gin,2x Champagne.Hit a roundabout hard to make the lights.Heard a smash.Too scared to look!

There seems to be a vast difference between the bizarre way in which JTL has been conducting himself recently and how he was before. He always came across as one of the most intelligent and thoughtful bike riders, both in interviews and when I was fortunate enough to go on a ride with him during the winter he moved to Sky. I guess loosing a bit of sanity is understandable when you're livelihood is taken away in such a publicly humiliating way...

But is he guilty?

Apparently, he has/had a reputation for 'bouncing off the walls of nightclubs', so there may be truth in his version of events.

Seems unlikely. Do feel for the guy a bit though.

What seems unlikely?

That there's truth in it. Yeah, he may have liked a drink. But to get hammered, then spend 36 hours without taking a sip of water and then turning up to race at the highest level of your career? And to be so dehydrated that it'll give you the blood readings of a doper, but no team mates thought you looked rough and none of the coaches monitoring you like a hawk saw an issue with your performance?

There is no evidence that getting pissed and dehydrated gives you a heamatacrit reading like his. If his defence were serious about that they should have provided some convincing demonstration of their theory in practice.

#badscience

Read UKAD's reasoned decision - his defence could not explain his blood values, which the UCI experts successfully argued could only come from using EPO.

He's guilty, let's move on.

I'd had no opinion either way - I just wanted to see what people thought.

Why do we have to move on?

What else is there to discuss?

Quick question for those who follow doping more closely than I do. There was some mention of using xenon in endurance athletes during the winter olympics to induce production of HIF-1a and it's downstream effector erythropoietin. Has there been any mention of the use of xenon in pro-cycling and does anyone know whether use of xenon can be detected by an athlete's biological passport?

I believe it's mentioned up thread.

Fun fact: Shimano have never had a groupset name that is also associated with doping. Campag ftw!

They've used the same name for a groupset in cycling and fishing. Urgh,