More doping positives (Kashechkin)

[sanrensho]

Kashechkin this time, for homologous blood transfusion. He was tested out of competition on August 1.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/08082007/58/kashechkin-positive-rocks-astana.html

Alberto Contador has also scheduled a press conference on Friday, for reasons unknown. Ominous sign?

[sprinter]

I just saw the Contador press conferance notice. Oh God I hope he did not cheat. It does not look good for pro cycling right now.

More on the Contador thing here

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13062.0.html

[sanrensho]

Since WADA has apparently started an investigation of Contador, I wonder if this will lead to the same pattern as another rider: Disco suspends Basso, Basso asks to be released from Disco, and Basso gets banned?

However, the presence of Bruyneel at the press conference suggests that something different is up.

[pete@nsmb.com]

It's strangely cryptic, this press conference. You're right - Bruyneel being there is unique. Nothing would surprise me. To be honest, with each new case/bust, I'm actually happy now, because it means this is a more and more meaningful cleanse of the sport. Clearly it is needed, and to see people coming out and speaking up, teams acting responsibly, and riders getting busted...it makes me think this might actually be the real cleaning up that other witch hunts were supposed to lead to, but didn't.

I do feel a bit bad for the riders - in many cases they're doing what has been the norm for a long time, and they're paying a huge price for what, on one side, you could call 'unfortunate timing' for them. Yes, they're cheats, but if they're ALL cheats, it's too bad when their livelihood is being destroyed because the media and powers that be have decided that NOW is the time to clean it up. Conveniently, NOW there is no Lance Armstrong - I'm beginning to become a bit of a Lance conspiracy theorist, actually. I really think there were some things going on in his era to make sure the poster boy of US cycling (and sports) and cancer survivor #1 didn't get smeared.

[Duncan]

Conveniently, NOW there is no Lance Armstrong - I'm beginning to become a bit of a Lance conspiracy theorist, actually. I really think there were some things going on in his era to make sure the poster boy of US cycling (and sports) and cancer survivor #1 didn't get smeared.

I disagree about Lance conspiracies ... Lance was generally reviled in Euro old-school cycling circles. Partly because he was an outsider, an American who grew up doing triathlon, and because he had a cowboy, winner-take-all attitude towards a sport that had a lot of genteel traditions. Remember the fans spitting, dumping beer on him and painting "Lance EPO" slogans on the road? If anybody had ever wanted to "out" Armstrong it would be former TDF director Jean-Marie Leblanc with whom Lance had a rocky relationship. I think protecting him would have been the last thing on the minds of the powers-that-be in cycling. Contrast this with the coddling of Michael Rasmussen by current TDF staff and director Christian Prudhomme (they allowed Ras to race in spite of knowing about his lying and avoiding drug tests). I'm not saying Lance didn't dope - if so, he has never been caught, and I'm sure there are lots of people who would like to see him go down. Lance had a lot of things going for him (Dr Ferrari and doping aside) - he is a physiological freak (lung and heart capacities double that of the average person), he had a legendary training/work ethic and a mental toughness that nobody questions. D.

[pete@nsmb.com]

I'm not going to get into the 'did he/didn't he' with you about Lance. But if you read between the lines, you'll smell the one thing that can cut through the clash between the old and new schools of the road racing world, the one thing that acted like Kryptonite against ALL the people who wanted to bring him down, because as you rightly said, there were many. The one thing that defeats all 'off-the-race course' obstacles to his success when wielded with the kind of single-mindedness, determination, and resourcefulness that characterized his career and that team in general. Sound like voodoo? Not exactly. I'm not arguing that the one thing actually is Kryptonite after all.

But they are the same colour.

[enduramil]

I disagree about Lance conspiracies ... Lance was generally reviled in Euro old-school cycling circles. Partly because he was an outsider, an American who grew up doing triathlon, and because he had a cowboy, winner-take-all attitude towards a sport that had a lot of genteel traditions. Remember the fans spitting, dumping beer on him and painting "Lance EPO" slogans on the road? If anybody had ever wanted to "out" Armstrong it would be former TDF director Jean-Marie Leblanc with whom Lance had a rocky relationship. I think protecting him would have been the last thing on the minds of the powers-that-be in cycling. Contrast this with the coddling of Michael Rasmussen by current TDF staff and director Christian Prudhomme (they allowed Ras to race in spite of knowing about his lying and avoiding drug tests). I'm not saying Lance didn't dope - if so, he has never been caught, and I'm sure there are lots of people who would like to see him go down. Lance had a lot of things going for him (Dr Ferrari and doping aside) - he is a physiological freak (lung and heart capacities double that of the average person), he had a legendary training/work ethic and a mental toughness that nobody questions. D.

You forgot to add that his body could process lactic acid at a higher rate then the average.

But at the end of the day all the genetic gifts and such mean jack shit with out the mental will to train and race hard.