Oh dear, not just Ricco

[Jim]

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...astianelli_tests_positive_article_264450.html

 

[wafflycat]

That's a weight-loss drug as opposed to performance enhancing. As someone who struggles with her weight, I can empathise, but I wonder why it's on the banned list. Unless she's normally the same size as me, I can't see it being a performance enhancer as such. Perhaps someone will enlighten me.

 

[Paulus]

Seems a lttle strange that she only eats salad according to the Italian cycling boss. Surely not enough carbs and calories for a pro cyclist to survive on.

 

[yenrod]

http://www.steadyhealth.com/Flenfluramine_phentermine__Fen_Phen_t54390.html

Looks like shes gonna cry.

 

[Skip Madness]

Might the drug be on the banned list as taking an appetite suppressant before the race might stave off the hunger knock? I don't know, I am just wondering. Although the obvious way to stave it off would be to eat properly during the race, and if the concerns of Di Rocco are true then it sounds like she may have some quite serious problems. It is strange, you would think that as long as you get the miles in your legs training and competitively then putting on weight would scarcely be an issue, especially for a young rider like Bastianelli. I hope she is okay.

 

[Skip Madness]

Everyone is weighing in now:

Max Bonanomi (president of the Dilà team):

Marta has been with us for a month and we have got to know her honesty and professionalism (...). At this difficult moment of her career, our team is right behind its athlete in every way. Bastianelli is a great prospect in women's cycling and this act of thoughtlessness should not compromise the personal or sporting future of such a young cyclist.

Franco Ballerini (technical director of the Italian national team):

This is not true doping to me because I do not believe that the drug in question can be of benefit to an athlete (...). Today there is such a number of product on the banned list. Should someone want to take medicines it is necessary to consult people who are very well-informed (...). It is a shame that people see an act of carelessness splashed all over the media like this, because it is wrong to put all cases like this in the same bag (...). I listened to her yesterday and she explained what happened, and in her voice there was the total desperation of someone who had done something so naïve.

Vittorio Adorni (world champion in 1968):

It could be that Marta did not think about the problem of doping and the battle that it takes to overcome this cancer. She has made a naïve mistake because even if she didn't mean any of this, it's still a positive the same as Riccò's (...). One should not be making mistakes like this.

The president of the Italian Olympic Committee:

If the initial results are confirmed then we will be absolutely firm. Marta Bastianelli has betrayed CONI, the Italian federation and the world of cycling.

Marta Bastianelli in her own words:

I went to the pharmacist for a product that would help me drain excess liquids - this was a period when I wanted to lose a few kilos. I made sure that the substances be legal. It is practically a herbal product. In one of them, nevertheless, there is a molecule which is banned. (...). I asked my doctor, I consulted some other people to make sure there was nothing forbidden. Since I was young, I have always consulted the doctors even when it was just the matter of taking aspirin (...). I did everything possible to make sure that the product I bought would not contain banned substances. In fact, in the capsules that the pharmacist prepared for me there are five products, none of which is on the banned list - as stated on the label. How was I to know that inside one of the five elements there is a molecule which acts as a stimulant? (...) The press and media relayed this information as though it was a fact that I deliberately used illegal substances (...). I have never doped, no-one has ever suggested to me that I should dope, I am always very attentive. There is a substantial difference between my case and someone who takes drugs deliberately (...). I hope to be able to clear my name and demonstrate to the world that this is not a matter of doping but just a little bit of carelessness, and to get back on track.

 

[Chuffy]

I went to the pharmacist for a product that would help me drain excess liquids

Hmmmm, that's a diuretic isn't it? And iirc diuretics are banned because they can help speed up the process of flushing naughty substances through the body.

I wonder if we'd be as sympathetic if it had been a TdF rider caught under the same circumstances?

 

[Skip Madness]

I wonder if we'd be as sympathetic if it had been a TdF rider caught under the same circumstances?

You may well be right about diuretics, although "product to drain excess liquids" is a little vague (it doesn't help that my translation is probably not the sharpest).

My concern is not because of an immediate assumption that she is not guilty but instead the fact that she has tested positive for a dieting drug in conjunction with Di Rocco's comments that she does not eat a lot and obsesses over her weight. It may be a bit alarmist, but in my opinion it is a reasonable ground for mild distress which is far more important than cycling. Speaking for myself, were it a male Tour de France rider in the same position then I would be equally concerned (not least because of the dismissive way in which men with eating disorders are sometimes treated).

Hopefully there is nothing more to it than she has already let on in terms of her own health, although - without wishing to be judgmental - as I said before I do wonder what a cyclist like her needs to be worrying about with weight-loss assistance anyway. Either way it is a positive test, and innocent explanation or not I can't see her getting out of a suspension.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

The use of diuretics by endurance athletes is also dangerous. The doping rules aren't only there to level the playing field, they're also there to protect the athletes from themselves.

Weight issues, particularly amongst women athletes, is a complex issue to which the coaching staff should be continually vigilant. If nothing else this is evidence that she has the balance between her performance and her health out of kilter. You only hope that there will be the support during any ban to help her resolve these issues.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Tell you something though, athletics has worse problems and particularly it seems in Russia which appears to have not entirely abandonned tried and (ahem) tested training methods...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7535380.stm

 

[andrew_s]

Assuming that Ms Bastianelli's story is the pukka gen, this shows why I've never liked the magazine articles by the likes of Joe Beer about how supplements etc can improve your performance. It's all perfectly legal, but once you get into the mindset of taking "stuff" in search of a slight improvement, you are very vulnerable to duff information or carelessness (not necessarily your own). Eg Greg Rusedski testing +ve for nandrolone because of supplements supplied by the ATP?

If you want more vit C, eat more oranges.

 

[fossyant]

I agree with Andrew here - there was lots about Creatine when I was racing - but lots of it is a money spinner - diet, training, and natural ability is where it is at - if you can't get there clean then don't. Lot's of 'supplements' can be very damaging to someone who has a 'good' diet.

Lots of common cold cures are on the list as well - especially those that 'free up the air ways' - unless you were an asthmatic, that was one as an amateur I didn't take - just my opinion on the issue !