Valverde charged

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/valverde-charged-over-cycling-doping-scandal-1659610.html

The Italian Olympic Committee. Hmm...

I thought he was one of the good guys. D'oh.

i like Valverde, but he was so on the gear.

Jesus, they all are!

The issue is, what are the politics behind CONI's decision?

How about this for a deal: all racing cyclists will pledge to quit the dope just as soon as all sporting governing bodies abstain from corruption.

i like Valverde, but he was so on the gear.

Same. Think he's been off it for the last few years tho'

Lol

BMMF: yeah, totally. that's why i still like valverde. he has a certain panache about him, even if he was doping at a time when everyone else was too. agreed that it's interesting that it's CONI giving him grief. trying to divert attention from the number of high-profile italian cyclists who were busted last year? still bitter about Basso being forced to cop a ban?

/grassy knoll.

Oi! Sugar! Sort yer fecking bars out mate.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm pro doping.

• it's the only way to have a level playing field.
  
• it's a sign that you're serious about winning.
  
• it's another element of technological innovation, which goes hand in hand with the most exciting sporting moments in history.
  
• it helps the phsyio-genetically elite go faster, stronger, longer - how exciting is that?!?
  
• progressive legislation, along the lines of decriminalisation for recreational drugs, would better educate users and non-users (spectators, team staff) alike, and promote the health and safety of riders by avoiding seedy clandestine operations.
  
• etc.
  
  

Feel free to try to convince me otherwise.

legal doping would probably discourage amateurs who will perceive that they have no chance of getting near the pro's unless they spend thousands on doping programs, and who also don't have access to the same medical treatment as in pro teams, which makes it a bit more dangerous.

sure, 99.9% of amateurs would never get near the pro's anyway, but kids gotta dream, right?

i didn't really have a moral problem with doping when i genuinely believed they were all on it. now i think a lot of riders are clean, so the "everybody's doing it" excuse doesn't wash so well.

I'm very indifferent personally, I was involved in power-lifting for about 3 years solid, and the temptation is truly great, even in so called amateur "natural" competitions, everyone was on the gear, test, HGH, Insulin etc....I think if you want to do it then great, do it, just make sure you know the risks, personally I chose to never touch the stuff, having seen the long term and short term health risks, I weighed it all up and decided it wasn't for me, but I don't judge people that do use, just the idiots that think gear and gear alone will help them get the results they want, me and a lot of the guys used to piss ourselves laughing at those twats, you can spot em a mile off! No clue about diet/training/genetics and so on.
The problem with steroids (and the people that use them in large quantities) is that the effect is psychologically addictive, you realize what is achievable with x y and z steroid at whatever dose, think fuck this is great, how great would it be if I took a b c with x y z and then upped the dose just a little bit.....and i'm sure you can see where that leads, especially in sports where the level of competition is so intense.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/apr09/apr01news3

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) requested a two-year suspension on Wednesday in Rome for Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde. CONI reportedly used DNA evidence to connect the 28-year-old Caisse d'Epargne rider to the Operación Puerto investigation. Head anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri linked DNA samples taken during last year's Tour de France – from the rest day in Italy on July 21 – to blood seized in the Operación Puerto investigation. In May 2006, Spanish Guardia Civil had seized coded blood bags during its raid on the offices of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. (Read EPO blood bags attributed to code names.)

   A few months ago, Torri [summonsed Valverde](http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/feb09/feb11news3) to appear in Rome based on the evidence.  Valverde, with Italian lawyer Frederico Cecconi, met Torri on [February 19](http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/feb09/feb20news).  
   CONI sent its recommended suspension to the Italian anti-doping tribunal. The tribunal should make its ruling in the coming weeks. Valverde will likely appeal any ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
   Valverde has raced since 2006 despite reported links.  Last week, he won two stages in the [Castilla y León](http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2009/mar09/castillaleon09/castillaleon095) stage race and finished ninth overall.
   He is a winner of two editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the 2006 Flèche Wallonne and the International Cycling Union's (UCI) ProTour classification in 2006 and 2008.

I'm very indifferent personally, I was involved in power-lifting for about 3 years solid, and the temptation is truly great, even in so called amateur "natural" competitions, everyone was on the gear, test, HGH, Insulin etc....I think if you want to do it then great, do it, just make sure you know the risks, personally I chose to never touch the stuff, having seen the long term and short term health risks, I weighed it all up and decided it wasn't for me, but I don't judge people that do use, just the idiots that think gear and gear alone will help them get the results they want, me and a lot of the guys used to piss ourselves laughing at those twats, you can spot em a mile off! No clue about diet/training/genetics and so on.
The problem with steroids (and the people that use them in large quantities) is that the effect is psychologically addictive, you realize what is achievable with x y and z steroid at whatever dose, think fuck this is great, how great would it be if I took a b c with x y z and then upped the dose just a little bit.....and i'm sure you can see where that leads, especially in sports where the level of competition is so intense.

You can put those dumb-bells down now, James. No, really. ;)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm pro doping.

• it's the only way to have a level playing field.
  
• it's a sign that you're serious about winning.
  
• it's another element of technological innovation, which goes hand in hand with the most exciting sporting moments in history.
  
• it helps the phsyio-genetically elite go faster, stronger, longer - how exciting is that?!?
  
• progressive legislation, along the lines of decriminalisation for recreational drugs, would better educate users and non-users (spectators, team staff) alike, and promote the health and safety of riders by avoiding seedy clandestine operations.
  
• etc.
  
  

Feel free to try to convince me otherwise.

I'm certainly not pro-doping, but I do think it's the logical consequence of the ridiculous amount of pressure and competitiveness that exists in pro cycling.

If the ethos changed and people developed an enlightened attitude towards competition (cue numerous platitudes about ideals etc.), 'doping' would disappear.

BMMF: yeah, totally. that's why i still like valverde. he has a certain panache about him, even if he was doping at a time when everyone else was too.

Valverde's an excellent one-day rider and always will be, even without doping. What he is not is a particularly outstanding stage race rider--that's what he needs doping for. It's odd that people often develop ambitions that are so far removed from their actual strengths.

NB I'm talking about strengths compared to the rest of the pro peloton (doped or undoped), of course, not to ordinary riders.

And, lest we forget, other sports have hardly any controls despite a lot of doping going on.

CAS has banned Valverde for two years

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/471193/alejandro-valverde-suspended-for-two-years.html

meh. Scapegoat for UCI to look tough on doping post-Landis media storm. Poor bastard, because you can bet there's a load of other folk in the same boat who are getting the benefit of a blind eye depending which team they are riding for or which doctor they might be using.

Not really. The UCI have hardly pressed on this matter. It's a couple of years since his DNA was matched. The Spanish federation and the Spanish judge in charge of the case are most to blame for the delays. I think the head of the Spanish federation recently described Valverde as a "flawless rider and a flawless person".
At least he loses the titles and prize money he won this year though that is little compensation for him having earned a shit load between the DNA match and the start of this year.
And it means Evans will be moved up to number one in the world rankings.

Evans #1

Valverde should have been removed from racing far earlier. What happened to the ban when implicated thing or does his team simply ignore that? Fuckwits

There was a bit of hesitation as Evans is Australian and they weren't sure that it was right to allow someone like that at the top of the ranking, but eventually they had no choice.