Pro-cycling thread

Right after reading the Guardian article it is clear to me this is an Aussie plot to fuck over British cycling ahead of the Olympics. Double whammy, Sutton and now OGE

Boom! Told ya

Are there any numbers on how many riders in the peloton are diagnosed with exercise induced asthma? 1/3 of Sky riders is, after a quick Google scholar search, high (average from one study of elite athletes was 26% [self-diagnosis was 39%]; a guardian article reports that 70% of swimmers have asthma! http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/28/asthma-elite-athletes-study-swimmers-cyclist-eid)

I would say there's a pretty good chance asthma medication is being abused amongst elite athletes.

http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/11224807

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tests themselves may report above average positive hits:

"the heavy training with the extremely high level of physical fitness and maximum oxygen uptake (V’O2max) reached nowadays by elite athletes, may make it difficult to discriminate between physiological and pathological limitations to maximum exercise. This underlines the need for developing good diagnostic criteria for EIB and BHR in relationship to sports."

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1398-9995.2008.01662.x/full

Superficially the inhaler sounds like a vaguely plausible excuse. Should I buy it?? Will I just get burned??? I thought they were the good guys..!!

Oh you and your conspiraussie theories.

If it is soo hard to work out who is asthmatic and who isn't, and it appears these drugs are generally considered side effect free (I.e. not dangerous), is there merit in the UCI considering just allowing their use across the board?

Plenty of other supplements have claimed to increase your capacity to breath. Those funny nose strip things and vicks vapour rub type stuff on the shirts of footballers for a while.

Seems to me, anyone considered not asthmatic will feel like their possibly very slightly asthmatic peer is getting an advantage and so decides that maybe after all, they do feel a bit asthmatic, just to make sure they are not missing out on any advantage.

I've seen conflicting studies of asthma meds. Most say there's no benefit but some have shown a benefit.

To me this doesn't seem that nefarious, especially if the doc had the medication on the paperwork for the rider but had neglected the TUE. It does raise the question of why a rider is racing if he needs a TUE. The stress an athlete puts his body under means they are more prone to asthma and virus' as is, surely racing when you are sick just exacerbates that.

UCI don't control the banned list it's WADA, and if you don't follow the WADA code then no soup Olympics for you.

Breathing trouble due to asthma != sick, or unfit to race or train.

Had a really heated debate about this the other day with a "why don't they just let them take all the drugs" view holder.

My reasoning is that whether there is or is not a benefit from taking it, it's legal if you follow the correct protocol, and if there is a tiny gain to be had even though it might be unethical, then as an athlete they should take it, it's not their responsibility to make the rules. When it's legal if you follow protocol - a line in the sand is drawn. In Yates' case, he tripped over the line and crossed it, but still crossed it (I may have run with that metaphor a bit too much)

In the same way that most athletes who took Meldonium probably didn't have a heart condition, most athletes that take asthma drugs probably don't have asthma. The problem is that asthma is very much on a continuum and putting a line along that, where some are asthmatic and some aren't, is extremely hard. In the case of Yates it seems he genuinely does have asthma; if Owain Doull is a reputable source:
https://twitter.com/owaindoull/status/725973890221137920

(how on earth do I embed tweets on here btw?)

(how on earth do I embed tweets on here btw?

copy & paste? :)

Except if the team are telling the truth, Yates didn't cross the line, the doctor put it on his paperwork for the race, so announced to the authorities he was taking the flipping stuff, but forgot the TUE. Pretty moronic if true.

I'm really gonna run with this line in the sand thing here, but...
If the line is you can use it as long as you fill out the paperwork and do the TUE, then he hasn't met those criteria and therefore crossed the line, and it's then been flagged up.

Really sad as I really do like Yates and he's gonna have this for the rest of his career now

@hippy oh right, fair enough, cheers :)

World Tour doctor job description

1. Prescribe everything that isn't on the WADA list
   
2. Prescribe anything on the WADA list and obtain TUE
   
3. Check the fridge is plugged in
   
   

C'mon Skippy!

World Tour cyclist job description

Take everything that isn't on the WADA list
Take anything on the WADA list and obtain TUE
Save some cash to pay your doc to cover your arse if you fail a test

Engerland Engerland Engerland!

Meldonium

That's going to blow over as WADA are now having to take advice/research how long it stays in the body. The current suggestion is that those who were on it for a long time (prescribed like Shriekapova) will continue to test positive for it for up to two years after they last took it.

So they can all then claim "I stopped taking it when WADA added it to its banned list (1st Jan 2016) so I've done nothing wrong."

So they can all then claim "I stopped taking it when WADA added it to its banned list (1st Jan 2016) so I've done nothing wrong."

Which, based on what you wrote above, may very well be true.

hippy job description:

1. Eat all the pies.
   
2. Drink all the beer.
   

Tour "de" Yorkshire just getting underway on ITV4 and on til 5pm. How are people going to get their fix of Minder and such like?

Winner!

brodouevenTivo?

I don't know what this means. Is it Australian?

Crash literally seconds after the flag dropped.

Boulting and Millar on commentary with Imlach and Boardman in studio. Why can't all bike racing be like this?

BC in 'not helping themselves' shock:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/29/orica-greenedge-british-cycling-leak-simon-yates