martyrye's blog

This was blogged by former professional cyclist Tom Zirbel

Sound advice... quote from the post here...

"..Maybe we should spend more time and energy into changing the culture of doping in sports being as the current drug testing is seemingly so ineffective. Of course there are always going to be cheaters and D-bags in every profession but if we could minimize that from within, build trust that the guy or gal next to you is clean, we might be able to effectively clean up sport."

Good on you.

Entire post available at:

http://tomzirbel.blogspot.com/

This is actually an old quote from a racer during the Tour de France over 10 years ago -- Christophe Bassons. The former rider has an admirable and insightful position about doping which is expounded upon in a current news piece. The article quotes him yesterday in response to the recent Floyd Landis interview as follows:

“I don’t think I was courageous not to take drugs,” the former Festina, Française des Jeux and Jean Delatour rider told Cyclingnews.

"...Doping is always a response to a void, a need – whether it’s for money, or success, or love, or something else.”

Original item from 1999 tour here:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/1999/jul99/jul18.shtml

And the current Cyclingnews.com piece available here:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bassons-wont-judge-landis-and-armstrong

Last week's news of the positive test for the masking agent Hydroxyethel starch in rider David Garcia was overshadowed by the positive test for the doping agent EPO by the Spanish professional yesterday. The provisional suspension handed down initially by the UCI (Union Cyclist International) will likely be followed by a stricter penalty.

Upon further examination Hydroxyethel starch has been shown to have potentially significant adverse health effects in peer-reviewed laboratory tests. See the paper by the German team from University of Aachen et. al by clicking http://ccforum.com/content/13/1/R23 Hydroxyethyl starch impairs renal function and induces interstitial proliferation, macrophage infiltration and tubular damage in an isolated renal perfusion model.

Story on Garcia found at cyclingnews.com

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/garcia-positive-for-epo-at-vuelta

Former World Duathlon Champion and current RideClean team member Paul Thomas is proof you can race against the best and not have to resort to extreme measures. A recent picture from the 2010 Tour of the Gila shows Paul and friends in the bunch.

In the light of recent UCI "blood passport" controls, the Giro organizers are claiming stricter controls for the running of the 93rd edition of this Grand Tour.

From a recent article on Cyclingnews.com... the relevance is that the quote below regarding Frei indicates there are still athletes that claim to be able to beat the testing with simple procedures -- similar to years past when velodrome specialists would take cocaine before competition.... secure in knowing that the test for cocaine actually looked for metabolites that would not show in the body until hours after the tests were administered.

From Cyclingnews.com....

BMC Racing Team rider Thomas Frei recently tested positive for EPO and claimed that he would have beaten the test for his microdosing had he drunk enough water after taking the injection.(UCI President Pat) McQuaid however implies that a rider in his situation would only get away with it for so long.