Doping git thread

[rich p]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/simon-yates-returns-positive-doping-test/
Let's hope this is as anodyne as Orica say it is.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/simon-yates-returns-positive-doping-test/
Let's hope this is as anodyne as Orica say it is.

Just seen it too. Been a shít week for British cycling.

 

[Big Dave laaa]

Doctor failed to apply for TUE apparently. Seems a bit of a big mistake to make if that's the case. Terbutaline doesn't really give enough of a performance kick to risk it. So hoping this can be cleared up.

 

[400bhp]

Really gutted for Yates. One of my favourite riders

 

[PaulB]

There's a lot of TUEs floating around, aren't there? It's actually extraordinary how many pro cyclists have asthma when you think about it. It's a very high percentage; far higher than that in the rest of the population. This allows their doctors to issue them with prescriptions for broncho-dilators which of course eases their asthma.

Cynical, me?

 

[ColinJ]

OTOH pro riders are out there in all sorts of crappy weather giving themselves a real hammering so it would be understandable if their lungs objected from time to time. The air quality in some countries is also a problem - races in China for instance.

It could be that most of us have a touch of asthma from time to time but we don't have team doctors monitoring us all the time to pick up on it. I often struggle to breathe properly until well warmed up.

Does a rider's asthma need to be life-threatening before a TUE can be given, or is a slight problem enough?

 

[DogTired]

OTOH pro riders are out there in all sorts of crappy weather giving themselves a real hammering so it would be understandable if their lungs objected from time to time. The air quality in some countries is also a problem - races in China for instance.

It could be that most of us have a touch of asthma from time to time but we don't have team doctors monitoring us all the time to pick up on it. I often struggle to breathe properly until well warmed up.

Does a rider's asthma need to be life-threatening before a TUE can be given, or is a slight problem enough?

The Boots web-site says the stuff below and Asthma UK reckons 1 in 11 in the UK have some degree of asthma. So personally, despite literally seconds of research I am none the wiser. Genuine need or marginal gain?

(I'm sure I once saw a list of TUEs per athlete but couldnt find it. Might've been on the TdF website...)

Exercise-induced asthma
Exercise-induced asthma is a type of asthma triggered by exercise or physical exertion. Many people with asthma experience some degree of symptoms with exercise. However, there are many people without asthma, including Olympic athletes, who develop symptoms only during exercise.

With exercise-induced asthma, airway narrowing peaks five to 20 minutes after exercise begins, making it difficult to catch your breath. You may have symptoms of an asthma attack with wheezing and coughing. Your doctor can tell you if you need use an asthma inhaler (bronchodilator) before exercise to prevent these uncomfortable asthma symptoms.

 

[ColinJ]

My consultant sent me for a lung function test after I complained of breathing problems when cycling. Nothing showed up but doing a test in warm hospital conditions isn't the same as riding hard up a climb and breathing in cold, damp air!

Like PaulB, I am a bit cynical about whether ALL of the TUEs are justified, but I bet that many are.

 

[DogTired]

My consultant sent me for a lung function test after I complained of breathing problems when cycling. Nothing showed up but doing a test in warm hospital conditions isn't the same as riding hard up a climb and breathing in cold, damp air!

Like PaulB, I am a bit cynical about whether ALL of the TUEs are justified, but I bet that many are.

Go to admit, I'd never heard of exercise induced asthma before but the following link is interesting - describes what you mention about a sensitivity to temperature changes. No idea if its more of a problem with pros with body fat around 5%. I'm built like a seal addicted to kebabs so suffer no such problem...

http://www.webmd.com/asthma/features/athletes-guide-exercise-induced-asthma

 

[Firestorm]

I used to have to put in the equivalent of A the every seaon for my Asthma inhaler (salbutomol) and this was just to compete in Athletics Southern League div 7 !
The year they introduced it our club secretary said she was surprised at the amount of applications she had to make.
I was never tested, but one official did comment about it when he saw my inhaler in my spike bag.

 

[Beebo]

I developed exercise induced asthma in my early 30's. The final straw was running a marathon on a very cold foggy day, the cold damp air did me in, and my lungs have never recovered. I now take clenil modulite 250 mcg twice daily, which keeps it at bay.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

The Boots web-site says the stuff below and Asthma UK reckons 1 in 11 in the UK have some degree of asthma. So personally, despite literally seconds of research I am none the wiser. Genuine need or marginal gain?

(I'm sure I once saw a list of TUEs per athlete but couldnt find it. Might've been on the TdF website...)

Exercise-induced asthma
Exercise-induced asthma is a type of asthma triggered by exercise or physical exertion. Many people with asthma experience some degree of symptoms with exercise. However, there are many people without asthma, including Olympic athletes, who develop symptoms only during exercise.

With exercise-induced asthma, airway narrowing peaks five to 20 minutes after exercise begins, making it difficult to catch your breath. You may have symptoms of an asthma attack with wheezing and coughing. Your doctor can tell you if you need use an asthma inhaler (bronchodilator) before exercise to prevent these uncomfortable asthma symptoms.

On exercise-induced asthma (Guardian):

Asthma symptoms are common in high-level athletes - one study showed that 70% of British top level swimmers and around a third of Team Sky were registered asthmatics - but many register symptoms of what is termed “exercise-induced asthma”, brought on by rapid, heavy breathing combined with external factors such as chlorine in the swimming environment and cold air.
​

Those are very high percentages!

I don't think that Orica-Greenedge's statement is anywhere near enough. The doctor needs to come forward publicly and give information (with Yates' permission because of confidentiality) on when Yates was diagnosed as asthmatic and when symptoms were first noted. O-G are 3rd parties in this and an upfront mea culpa from the doctor will help Yates clear his name.

 

[Dogtrousers]

What precedents are there for this? Yeah, I know about LA and his retrospective TUE for cortisone, but ordinary precedents where the offered explanation/excuse for a positive was a missing TUE. Although it's a reasonable explanation rules is rules. Surely he won't escape sanction.

 

[DogTired]

What precedents are there for this? Yeah, I know about LA and his retrospective TUE for cortisone, but ordinary precedents where the offered explanation/excuse for a positive was a missing TUE. Although it's a reasonable explanation rules is rules. Surely he won't escape sanction.

The WADA guidelines for asthma TUEs (https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resourc...tion-to-support-the-decisions-of-tuecs-asthma) give detailed requirements in order to define a need. Rules is rules but you'd expect it to be dealt with realistically if it was a provable ongoing condition and it was clear OG messed up just one tue application. If it magically turned up in one race, maybe not so sympathetic...

But yep, there has to be a sanction and also the headline is 'Cyclist caught taking drugs' - thats what the public see...

 

[Crackle]

Well there is a precedent for a retrospective TUE, as we know