another nail in the coffin

[Alessandro Petacchi]

He always says that he has never failed a drugs test.My late Grandfather was in the Army and received the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal,its nickname was the 18 years of undetected crime medal .I think there could be a parallel here.

 

[dellzeqq]

at the time of Watergate Nixon used what became known as the 'non-denial denial'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-denial_denial

 

[slowmotion]

Ah yes, Bill Clinton.....

"Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you.[sup]"


Yeah...right.[/sup]

 

[yello]

re the alleged UCI cover-up of the positive, UCI has somewhat curiously said (link from the beeb)

"The UCI can only confirm that Lance Armstrong has never been notified of a positive test result."

Yet more 'non-denial denial'? "Never been notified"?! And that's their press release? Their official statement? There's so much distance between that and a straight forward denial as to actually fuel suspicion. Classic UCI response!

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Yet more 'non-denial denial'? "Never been notified"?! And that's their press release? Their official statement? There's so much distance between that and a straight forward denial as to actually fuel suspicion. Classic UCI response!

That's actually very important. Notification is a formal procedure. What this statement says is that it is perfectly possible that a positive test occured but that for whatever reason, the formal notification process never took place. In other words, they are acknowledging indirectly that what Hamilton and Landis and others have said could indeed have taken place. They've also said that it is impossible that the Head of the UCI at the time, Verbruggen, could have accepted a bribe. Maybe, but it doesn't have to have happened at his level.

 

[dellzeqq]

Yet more 'non-denial denial'? "Never been notified"?! And that's their press release? Their official statement? There's so much distance between that and a straight forward denial as to actually fuel suspicion. Classic UCI response!

Crikey! '...can only confirm,,,'. Is this the beginning of the end?

 

[johnr]

I've been struck by the rapidity and vehemence of the UCI response: they either knew about it, have thoroughly investigated and are confident there is no case; or someone's got something on them and is calling the shots; or... they just don't have a clue.

It's a bunch of blazers versus a multimillion dollar business machine... they'll get completely swept away if this goes the distance... which would be a shame

 

[yello]

What this statement says is that it is perfectly possible that a positive test occured but that for whatever reason, the formal notification process never took place. In other words, they are acknowledging indirectly that what Hamilton and Landis and others have said could indeed have taken place.

Well yes, that's there as you say "in other words". I don't disagree one bit with that. But it's the words they decided to use that made me laugh! You've got to admit that as public statements and press releases go, it is a cracker! It is up there with the best of them!

 

[rich p]

From the Hamilton piece in cyclingnews the other day:-

The incident involving the alleged doping test cover-up has garnered the attention of United States federal prosecutors as well as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

"60 Minutes" obtained a letter from USADA in which the Swiss lab which tested Armstrong at the 2001 Tour de Suisse considered Armstrong's sample "suspicious" and "consistent with EPO use". The CBS news program learned that the director of the Swiss lab had met with both Lance Armstrong and team director Johan Bruyneel concerning the test from the Tour de Suisse.

The Swiss lab director has since given a sworn statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). "60 Minutes" has learned that the lab director testified that a representative of the UCI wanted the matter of the suspicious test to go no further. The lab director also testified that the meeting between himself, Bruyneel and Armstrong was arranged by the UCI.

Someone is lying. Either the lab director or the UCI. Hmmm!

Is "suspicious and consistent with EPO use" not deemed to be a positive? Just a reason for LA and JB to meet and have a chat about it?

 

[yello]

Yes, I read that on another forum and was stunned. Adding the two bits together (UCI statement and the above), it is pretty hard to avoid the conclusion that there was a test positive that, somehow, got lost. UCI appear to be edging towards spinning it as no fault of Armstrong's. How that squares with the lab's testimony that they all met to discuss it needs to explained though.

I eagerly await a clarifying UCI statement!

 

[rich p]

Yes, I read that on another forum and was stunned. Adding the two bits together (UCI statement and the above), it is pretty hard to avoid the conclusion that there was a test positive that, somehow, got lost. UCI appear to be edging towards spinning it as no fault of Armstrong's. How that squares with the lab's testimony that they all met to discuss it needs to explained though.

I eagerly await a clarifying UCI statement!

Verbruggen statement saying that Armstrong has never, never, never doped is weird too. How the hell could he possibly know!

 

[Crackle]

Well if we are talking about the UCI saying strange things, you might be interested in this thread I found on my travels yesterday

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=13355

 

[Mac66]

Verbruggen statement saying that Armstrong has never, never, never doped is weird too. How the hell could he possibly know!

My incredulity index went off the scale when i read that. Don't know the duration of his UCI post but am I right in thinking it coincided with the clean racing of the 90s?

 

[rich p]

Well if we are talking about the UCI saying strange things, you might be interested in this thread I found on my travels yesterday

http://forum.cycling...ead.php?t=13355

Great read Crax. Took some time but well worth it. What a cope of chumps McQuaid and Verbruggen make.

 

[yello]

I reckon Verbruggen must have been one the sauce when he said that, or just panicking and loosing the plot. I'd like a psychiatrist to unpick his statement because I reckon you'll find fear amongst other things... or perhaps it's another carefully coded, PR drafted confession that I'm just not seeing.

But check out this article from Velonews

Interestingly, in conference call with reporters on Thursday, World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound said he was convinced that the information L’Equipe used to link numbered-but-anonymous laboratory results to riders’ names actually came from Verbruggen himself.

The above referring to the alleged UCI cover-up of alleged Armstrong positive tests that L'Equipe reported.... then check out the date of the article.