CONTADOR tests positive during Tour!!

[Geronimo '74]

Traces of CLENBUTEROL were found in Alberto's pee on the second day of the Tour de France.... A and B samples tested positive

Tour champion Contador tests positive for steroid - Yahoo! News.

According to Contador this has to be due to contaminated food.....
The only way I see his food being contaminated is when one of his vials breaks and leaks on his FF'ing sandwich....
The fact that found only traces is IMO because he just did not stop early enough to avoid detection.



PUH-LEEZE, you got caught, have some guts and admit it.


Apparently, the UCI is supporting him, telling that it was only traces and that it have come from a variety of sources....
They're protecting the No 1, the face of cycling, the image. Weak, very weak IMO.

[dd74]

What you are witnessing is UCI damage control. After Floyd Landis, the sport in general has taken a horrific credibility hit, which is why Contador is being somewhat dismissed. And he has been suspended pending further investigation.

Still, the story made the local L.A. news here - it's that big - but again with the caveat that the detected amount was "400 time(s) less than what the anti-doping laboratories accredited by WADA must be able to detect."

The fact is this: every sport is dirty with PEDs. Cycling, football (U.S. and ROW), baseball, golf, even auto racing.

What's said in NASCAR is so true when it comes to PED use in sports overall: "...if you ain't cheating, you don't want to win." (sic)

[Porsche-O-Phile]

According to this article, the concentration is "400 times less than the threshold required"...

Huh? 400 times less or 400 times more?

And 50 picograms is an almost incomprehensibly small amount - 10^-12

This is:

0.000000000005 grams. 50 TRILLIONTH of a gram.

- - - - -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/30/alberto-contador-positive-test

- - - - -

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador could be stripped of his Tour de France title.

The triple Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has been provisionally suspended after traces of the bronchodilator clenbuterol were found in a urine sample given by the Spaniard on the second rest day of the Tour de France, 21 July. The sample was taken in Pau the day before the most important stage of the race through the Pyrénees. If the finding is confirmed, the Spaniard could lose his Tour title.

Contador was notified of the finding on 24 August, his spokesman said yesterday. A statement from cycling's governing body, the International Cycling Union, issued this morning said that the concentration of clenbuterol found in Contador's urine was 50 picograms, 400 times less than the threshold required by a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory, and that investigations were in progress.

"This case required further scientific investigation before any conclusion could be drawn. The UCI continues working with the scientific support of WADA to analyse all the elements that are relevant to the case," said the statement. Contador himself claimed that he could only have ingested the substance through contaminated food.

"From the time of the first communication from the UCI, 24 August, Alberto Contador claimed food contamination as the only possible explanation of what happened," said a statement from the Spaniard, adding that he would explain further in a press conference later today in his home town of Pinto, near Madrid.

Clenbuterol is a bronchial dilator similar to the asthma drug salbutamol, which assists the breathing, assists oxygen transportation and can also be used to help weight loss as it increases the rate at which fats are metabolised. The most high-profile case in cycling to date involving the substance dates back to 1997 and the triple green jersey winner Djamolidin Abduzhaparov. Although the strict liability rules of drug testing mean an athlete is responsible for the substances found in his body, a recent case involving the swimmer Jessica Hardy was contested and resulted in a reduced ban after a panel ruled that the substance had been ingested inadvertently.

Contador was initially linked to the Spanish blood-doping ring Operation Puerto in 2006, but denied any wrongdoing and was eventually cleared, but he is by no means the first Tour de France winner in recent years to face drugs allegations or contested tests. In 1994 the five-times winner Miguel Indurain was "positive" in France after traces of the asthma drug salbutamol were found in his urine and judged to be over the limit for that country, but was then cleared by the UCI, while the seven-times victor Lance Armstrong has been subjected to drugs allegations for the last 10 years, and is currently at the centre of a Federal investigation in the US, but has always strongly denied any drug-taking and none of the allegations have ever been proved. The only Tour winner to be found positive and stripped of his title, however, is Floyd Landis of the US, who was banned for testosterone use in 2006.

[1990C4S]

My reading of that is (from another article) his 'level' was 1/400th of the minimum detectable level for labs, not the allowable limit. So he was caught with a wee bit, so little that some certified labs would never have detected it.

The allowable limit is zero, any detection is a failure.

[Geronimo '74]

What they detected are leftovers from training days. It's not like he would be using the stuff during the Tour.
They seem to focus on how little they found. Like 1990C4S said, ANY detection is a failure.

[Rednine11]

I dont see what the big deal is with Clen anyway. Its not like they found HGH, or loads of Test and Deca or Sustanon... but Clen...who cares probably uused it to drop weight and cut
just my opinion of course...

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by Geronimo '74

What they detected are leftovers from training days. It's not like he would be using the stuff during the Tour.
They seem to focus on how little they found. Like 1990C4S said, ANY detection is a failure.

Don't think so-the test was on a rest day and he had prior negatives.

I'm actually buying his story for now...

[flatbutt]

I used to follow the Tour big time. Admittedly doing the tour requires incredible strength and that was the basis of my fascination. But since all the doping came out I really don't care so much. I'd like to see the Tour become a race among individuals rather than teams.

[turbo6bar]

An article published today states the World Anti-Doping Agency is not buying Contador's story.

Are there any pro cyclists that don't use performance enhancing drugs? Seeing the top-level cyclists get caught takes the shine off the performance. When I see guys doing TT at 30 mph, I think, "Who cares?" I no longer have respect for their prowess. I'm sure they're great athletes, but the stats behind the names are no longer relevant. What was once incredible, now is mundane.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by turbo6bar

An article published today states the World Anti-Doping Agency is not buying Contador's story.

It was a lousy story. And he's a lousy ambassador of the sport. Not many in cycling seem to like him.

Originally Posted by turbo6bar

Are there any pro cyclists that don't use performance enhancing drugs?

I bet no. Not, at least, in the pro ranks.

Originally Posted by turbo6bar

Seeing the top-level cyclists get caught takes the shine off the performance. When I see guys doing TT at 30 mph, I think, "Who cares?" I no longer have respect for their prowess. I'm sure they're great athletes, but the stats behind the names are no longer relevant. What was once incredible, now is mundane.

I'm at the point now where I just don't care. Even without the drugs, the training regiment of these pro cyclists would probably kill 9 out of 10 people who would try to ride the same on their own bikes. Plus 30 mph on a bike is probably another ill-advised action for most.

So, I already know w/o the drugs, that they are more freak than human. But every pro athlete has been that way. To me, in cycling, the drugs are simply an enhancement like having carbon fiber wheels instead of aluminum.

I'm starting to think soccer and tennis are the last pure sports which anyone can play. But heck, some of those guys on the Spanish team look sort of big for the sport, and I've heard tennis might have its share of steroid problems.

[JavaBrewer]

I can't think of a single pro sport where I don't automatically think the athletes are using steroids.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

I can't think of a single pro sport where I don't automatically think the athletes are using steroids.

Hockey. I think. Mostly amphetamines there.

[jyl]

They lie, cheat, and stab their team-mates, but at least F1 drivers don't take performance-enhancing drugs - or if they do, it doesn't help besides pump up the neck a bit.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

I can't think of a single pro sport where I don't automatically think the athletes are using steroids.

Curling.

[Tobra]

I am shocked

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by dd74

What you are witnessing is UCI damage control. After Floyd Landis, the sport in general has taken a horrific credibility hit, which is why Contador is being somewhat dismissed. And he has been suspended pending further investigation.

Still, the story made the local L.A. news here - it's that big - but again with the caveat that the detected amount was "400 time(s) less than what the anti-doping laboratories accredited by WADA must be able to detect."

The fact is this: every sport is dirty with PEDs. Cycling, football (U.S. and ROW), baseball, golf, even auto racing.

What's said in NASCAR is so true when it comes to PED use in sports overall: "...if you ain't cheating, you don't want to win." (sic)

true.

but there is no other sport that is doing what cycling is doing to stop drugs. people are getting caught and it really stands out compared to other sports



look at baseball and steroids.

[sc_rufctr]

Is anyone surprised?

They've been doing drugs at epic levels in cycling since the 60s.... Back then with no testing almost every rider was using them.
Pain relieving suppositories with Morphine were very common and of course steroids.

I still remember when Ben Johnson got caught at the Olympics. That cost him 10s of millions of dollars and ruined his reputation.

You'd think athletes would learn but the rewards and the fact that their opposition are "probably" using them gives them reason enough to take the risk.

One solution is to make drugs legal in sport. Then it truly would be a level playing field.
Can you imagine the gigantic freaks that would be created if this ever happened?

[Mark Henry]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Can you imagine the gigantic freaks that would be created if this ever happened?

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by dd74

I'm starting to think soccer and tennis are the last pure sports which anyone can play. But heck, some of those guys on the Spanish team look sort of big for the sport, and I've heard tennis might have its share of steroid problems.

Wait . . . what?

(And Martina was looking freakishly and man-ishly 'cut' toward the end of her career, too)

[s_morrison57]

Maybe Lance spiked his Koolaid