Contador fails drug test

[scook94]

Ah you miss my point... sure the contamination could have come from a transfusion of stored blood. My point is he didn't actively, knowingly ingest clenbuterol during the tour. With me?

Oh, and re: the plasticisers. Whether its true or not is irrevelant I think to WADA or UCI. I understand the testing for them is not agreed? So it can't have any bearing on Contador's case. Not saying he didn't contaminate himself this way but rather it will not hang him!

Not according to WADA director general David Howman-

He also claimed that the World Anti-Doping Agency has not validated a method for detecting plastic from blood transfusion bags. This was contradicted by Howman, who said that a method was "fully validated and has been used in the food industry for years.”

“Its use for anti-doping purposes is partially validated and evidence from it, among others, can be used before tribunals.”

 

[Bill Gates]

No surprise in the Peloton according to Chavanel

For me that speaks volumes. I've always had my doubts about him. His powers of recovery are too good to be true.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

It’s like the tree that hides the forest.

Don't get all hung up about the size of the dose or whether the plasticer test is validated by the UCI.
These are all technicalities.
Contador has got some explaining to do, so it's over to him.
He's just got to make it a lot more convincing than he has so far.

Anyone who dopes will always have given thought to an excuse. He might have chosen to use clenbuterol during winter training because, despite it's ease of detection, he believed the contaminated Spanish meat stories would provide him with an excuse if necessary.


It's behaviour as a doping agent is also well known and can be used in training 'safely' as its half life in the blood is well documented (with previous testing sensitivities). He would only be caught if he was subject to random out of competition testing and then the contaminated meat story would swing into action. (He might even have a friendly local butcher in Spain who could supply the investigators with 'samples').


But if he stored his blood during the winter believing the levels to have dropped to zero then this more sensitive test would have caught what I think may well be common practice amongst the riders.

 

[raindog]

Contador has got some explaining to do, so it's over to him.

He's due to appear live on the France 2 sports programme here on sunday afternoon. He says he's ready "to cut both hands off" to prove his innocence, but this is developing so fast that by sunday he probably won't want to turn up.

Anyone else sick to death of this constant bloody mess in bike racing?

 

[chevin]

Contador has got some explaining to do, so it's over to him.

This may seem outrageously naive, but maybe he doesn't know, given how low the levels are. I'll bet there's all sorts of things in food, even when carefully sourced, which 'shouldn't' be there.

 

[yello]

Anyone else sick to death of this constant bloody mess in bike racing?

Yes. It's a mess from so many angles too. I was initially really p*ssed off when this news broke, I thought I was right back were I was 4 or 5 years ago. But fortunately, I was able to find the division that worked for me then and treat the issues separately.

I want to pick up on something said by Chavenel in that article linked to...

It’s up to Contador to prove his innocence.

...and also touched on my chevin above; is it realistic to expect Contador to prove his innocence?

Let's say for a moment that he is completely innocent; he did not take clenbuterol, he did not transfuse. Just HOW is he to prove his innocence? Perhaps all he can do is conjecture, produce reports that suggest that his conjecture is plausible (and arguably even that shouldn't be required). How long has this German lab taken to develop it's super accurate testing methods? How many people are employed doing it. How much has it cost to do so? Is Contador expected to replicate all of that to mount a defence?

 

[the_mikey]

"I notice on Eurosport, the Sidi cycling shoes ad has replaced Alberto Contador with Filippo Potazzo.. "


Heh, I was wrong! They just showed the Alberto Contador ad for shoes, also Selle italia are advertising a replica Alberto Contador saddle!

 

[iAmiAdam]

Yeah, he might of doped, don't think he did tho, but he's still won three tdfs and many grand tours, and you can't really take them away, unless UCI do or whatever.

 

[Crackle]

If the rumour about the plastics in his blood is true, then that seals the deal for me.
Gutted I spent all that time watch the tour de france - what a waste of time.

Yep, that seals it for me. Doping is a clandestine business and whilst I'd like to believe it's simple contamination, cycling has previous and lots of it, Contador is no Diana Modahl and even if he manages to wriggle out of it, in my mind he's cooked and I'm afraid I'm heavily suspicious of Andy Schleck too.

 

[Skip Madness]

Ah you miss my point... sure the contamination could have come from a transfusion of stored blood. My point is he didn't actively, knowingly ingest clenbuterol during the tour. With me?

Maybe not during the Tour, but it may be that he actively, knowingly ingested it before he had his blood stored, in which case I don't think it could be described as contamination.

 

[Skip Madness]

I'm heavily suspicious that Andy Schleck is a tosser, dope or no dope.

 

[Smokin Joe]

...and also touched on my chevin above; is it realistic to expect Contador to prove his innocence?

Yes it is.

There comes a point in any investigation where the balance of proof swings to the accused. For instance, if the police believe you to have commited a murder it is up to them to find the evidence to prove their case. If they then find the murder weapon and it has your DNA and fingerprints on it then it would become your responsibility to provide a plausable explanation as to how it innocently got there.

Contador was found to have an illegal substance in his sample, that is beyond dispute. He now has to show how it got there without his knowledge.

 

[yello]

He now has to show how it got there without his knowledge.

We're back to square one. It's there but he doesn't know how it got there... how can he prove what he does not know?

 

[Ball]

Yes it is.

There comes a point in any investigation where the balance of proof swings to the accused. For instance, if the police believe you to have commited a murder it is up to them to find the evidence to prove their case. If they then find the murder weapon and it has your DNA and fingerprints on it then it would become your responsibility to provide a plausable explanation as to how it innocently got there.

Contador was found to have an illegal substance in his sample, that is beyond dispute. He now has to show how it got there without his knowledge.

He doesn't actually have to at all. The onus isn't on him to prove his innocence, except of course if he wishes. It's basically up to those who decide, to decide whether they feel there is sufficient evidence to convict him. That's it. I agree with the above poster that it would be way too complex for him to ever really prove his innocence, because innocence would imply his having absolutely no idea how that clenbuterol got there, and where on earth would he start!

 

[raindog]

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...tigate-source-of-contador-s-mystery-meat.html

this made me grin

Given Contador has not named which butcher's shop his friend Jose Luis Lopez Cerron bought the meat in, yesterday Irun was apparently crawling with journalists visiting all 37 butchers in the medium-sized border town to try and find out which one it was.