Doping

considering ordering this jersey :-P

http://milltag.cc/shop/collaborations/dope

Dope!

*Nergs self.

.cc addresses blocked at work...

Will have to wait!

Through the looking glass; Paul Kimmage gets embedded with Sky as planned and is unnerved by something he sees or is told about and files a story. On what planet does he as a News international employee think a story impugning Sky would get published? Or as an ex employee does he think NI wouldn't use libel law to fuck him over?

He would have been as compromised as any other NI journalist on the story and why he pretends otherwise and moans about Walsh mystifies me.

I like a conspiracy as much as the next person but I think you overplay NI's ability to control journalists now. Especially ones they don't pay. If you don't take money, they can't tell you what to do.

Whilst they (Sky/NI) may have a carrot (career progression or similar) their stick isn't all that. If a journalist blogs about what he witnesses that's not defamation unless it's proved untrue. What Kimmage would do is anyone's guess but he has a lot of hard earned credibility when it comes to resisting bullies.

that jersey is amazing, BLB in something good shocker!

I consider it sufficiently proven only Danish and Dutch teams, riders and doctors are guilty. No such thing in Spain, Belgium or Britain. Nope.

Most of the Spanish actually got caught so they have nothing to confess. :)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2MRvw1vSivM

The not particularly subtle inclusion of footage of Froome amused me.

One other thing - if Sky are on AICAR it would fit with their improvement in stage races not transferring to Classics, as power to weight is less of a determinant.

GW1516 causes your brain to rot and cocaine is cheaper than AICAR. These druggies need to try harder. Telmisartan on the other hand... lets all get it on the NHS! Woot!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2MRvw1vSivM

The not particularly subtle inclusion of footage of Froome amused me.

Worth noting that the French media has been more interested in Aicar than the English (speaking) ones. I don't think I ever read about it over here. I guess we'll see in 10 years time what the fuss was about.

Or sooner, as they have developed a test that is awaiting approval, and plan to retroactively test samples.

the sooner the better.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ullrich-hints-again-at-doping-during-career

Interesting Ullrich alluding to the recent brutal stage in T-A and the competition between the Grand Tours and their upping the stakes, meaning more MTFs and fewer, easier sprint stages. This translates greater pressure on the athletes and increases the temptation to dope.

There was an old line from Anquetil railing against doping controls along the lines of if you want exciting racing and the peloton going along fast then let us take the drugs, you want a slow peloton then stop us. Interesting to hear people's reactions to that T-A stage: a lot of praise, a lot of rule no.5 being invoked, a lot of enthusiasm for the racing, yet even the stage designer was saying he got the balance wrong on the parcours. How much is our demand for spectacle, and organiser's need for sponsors and advertising, put bike riders in difficult positions?

The doping equation can be simplified too:

If probability of getting away with it × Size of reward ≥ deterrent, then juice up,

But I agree that some organisers go too far to satiate our desire for spectacle.

Rubbish.

Stages should be 500k again. Bunch of pussies.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ullrich-hints-again-at-doping-during-career

"Blah blah blah blah... There was an old line from Anquetil... Blah blah blah."

Anquetil was right; it's naive to think otherwise... Across the spectrum, from hopeful juniors to top professionals, doping, not just in cycling, but in all sports, is a much greater and still escalating problem today than it ever was. Simply look at the amount of drugs produced and follow the money...

More importantly have a look at you local sport clubs and gyms, kiddie football and so on, if we we want to fight doping (which evidently we don't) it is utterly and completely useless exclusively pursuing the top 0.000000005% of athletes, which is where we're at, at the moment.

More importantly have a look at you local sport clubs and gyms, kiddie football and so on, if we we want to fight doping (which evidently we don't) it is utterly and completely useless exclusively pursuing the top 0.000000005% of athletes, which is where we're at, at the moment.

Not seen much evidence of systematic doping in place at the under sevens footy on Sunday mornings.. Well not since the DNA passports were introduced.

it is utterly and completely useless exclusively pursuing the top 0.000000005% of athletes.

0.000000005% or 0.01%? My figure would be 1 per 10,000, suggesting that the 200 starters in TdF represent 2 million competitive cyclists.

The point of concentrating testing on Pro/Elite riders is not necessarily that doping is more prevalent there, but that it's both where it actually matters and where the up and coming riders want to end up. If we have a demonstrably clean top tier, up and coming riders will not only be more inclined to think they can reach that level without having to cheat, but they will also know that it will be harder and harder to get away with cheating as they move up the ranks.

I've said my piece and I stand by it. I consider you one of the most intelligent, knowledgeable and insightful contributors to this forum, but in this case you're talking bull.

I've said my piece and I stand by it.

You've said that concentrating testing on the Pro/Elite ranks is pointless, about which we disagree. What you haven't said is how you would pay for a similar testing regime to be applied to the other 99.99% (or 99.999999995% on your figures), and what the point of such a costly exercise would be. UK Anti-Doping spends about £1.5M p.a. on testing, you're asking for a 10,000 fold (or 20,000,000,000 fold on your figures) increase to £15bn (£30 trillion) p.a.

Or maybe you meant the £1.5M current spend is wasted? Well, obviously the right wing nutter in my house thinks it's wrong that this is funded from general taxation, but as a proportion of professional sportsmen's earnings it's a drop in the ocean (about 0.1% levy on just Premiership soccer players would more than cover it) so it should not be rocket science to get the players to fund it.

Didn't say that concentrating testing on the Pro/Elite ranks is pointless, however exclusively testing the Pro/Elite ranks is, exclusively being the key word.

Like you said, a minute levy on the Pro/Elite ranks i.e. their sponsors, could easily finance more severe testing across the spectrum.

Didn't say that concentrating testing on the Pro/Elite ranks is pointless, however exclusively testing the Pro/Elite ranks is, exclusively being the key word.

But testing is not exclusive to the Pro/Elite ranks, it's just concentrated there. I'm bound by the WADA code and subject to testing at any event I ride. You can't really extend the whereabouts/out of competition system down to my level.

Premier Calendar races normally have dope control don't they? Highest level of road racing an amateur racer can probably aspire to without joining some other programme.

Aicar + GW501516 is really working well according to many body builders (...)

This warning was issued March 21 but now sent to all Pro Tour riders:

http://playtrue.wada-ama.org/news/wada-issues-alert-on-gw501516/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wada-issues-alert-on-gw501516

So I'd assume it would be more popular on the track than the road :)

I've heard anecdotal evidence the performance gains are negliable, the stuff is dangerous, expensive and difficult obtain. Death wish stuff, so perfect for Ricco but most sensible riders will leave it well enough alone