VeloBalls

Bike reviews and cycling news that BITES

doping

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Astana ride on, but under close scrutiny

The Scottish legal system has an unusual alternative verdict to the familiar guilty or not guilty. The alternative is “not proven”, which has been interpreted before now as, “not guilty, but don’t do it again.” All this may or may not have something to do with today’s UCI decision not to remove the World Tour licence from Kazakh team Astana.

There is, of course, nothing odd, nor funny, about a team that was created, allegedly, to re-establish the flawed reputation of Kazakhstan after the demolition job done on the place by Sacha Baron Cohen’s comic creation Borat. Nor is it the slightest bit odd that the cycling team created to do this particular bit of faecal beautification was entrusted to the care of the exemplary Alexander Vinokourov: Olympic Gold Medallist from London 2012 and, ah yes, also quite famous for another London-based experience in the 2007 Tour de France when he, and the Astana team, departed the race under a cloud as a result of a blood doping bust.
Times have of course changed for the boys in kingfisher blue. Big name signings like Alberto Contador have raised their profile – and there is nothing to be said about the choice of steak houses made by this undoubtedly talented rider – I really am not taking sides here! Nibali won the Tour de France for the team from the former Soviet republic last year, and he is a rider we all respect. More worryingly, a succession of Astana riders tested positive for one thing and another during 2014 and the controversial figure of Armstrong’s doctor Michele Ferrari has been reported to have been around the Astana team in December 2014.

The presence in the team of the talented and much admired Vincenzo Nibali complicates the situation. Nibali has been outspoken about his riding clean, and it would be very hard for the UCI to remove at a stroke their Tour de France champion from the professional racing scene. There again, the same could be, and was, said about Armstrong.

The UCI statement looks as if there is going to be a very tight scrutiny of Astana – but wasn’t that supposed to be in place, and for all teams, already? The UCI statement promises more detail and more reasons in due course. Sadly, the spectre of doping is still lurking, and there is still a way to go before the UCI convinces us all that it really does have the situation under control – and it needs to.

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Italian Military to get involved in dope testing

In what appears to be yet another chunk of evidence that Italians take their cycling extremely seriously, a division of the Italian Military has announced that they are going to take a larger role in dope testing professional cyclists.  You may have noticed that I said ‘a larger role’.  Well spotted.  In Italy the NAS (Nuclei Antisofisticazione e Sanità), which is a police force that is technically a part of the military, has previous experience when it comes to investigating allegations of drug taking in pro pedallers.   The NAS played an important role in the somewhat attritional campaign to to get to the bottom of doping in the US Postal Service team (including Mr Lance Armstrong).

Previously the NAS has had what could be considered a passive ‘after the event’ investigatory involvement in doping scandals, but by increasing their involvement with CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee), they have made another step closer to meeting the demands of some Italian politicians who want to see an entirely independent anti-doping agency formed.

If you consider this development alongside the news that WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) are paying close attention to the increased involvement of CONI and NAS, then EPO users should start fearing the increasingly number of acronyms getting involved.

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Alex Dowsett is now a Movi-star!

Nothing beats UCI Rad World Championship time trial preparations like finding out that you just scored a three year contract with Movistar – the Spanish Would Tour team. Except bacon; bacon beats everything! But congratulations, Alex Dowsett on bouncing back from missing the Tour de France spot and winning the Commonwealth gold in Glasgow; you are truly a time trial god! (So please bless us with a lifetime supply of bacon – and then we’ll show you who the time trial champions really are.)
Being 25 helps you perform all the time which is quite obvious from the Tour of Britain, even if Dowsett couldn’t maintain the lead after 6 stages, and that is exactly what Movistar noticed. He’s really excited about the duration of the contract, given the fact that every rider performs so well and peaks for a short time and thinks of the contract as a safety net for the future. Dowsett and Sir Bradley Wiggins are two of Britains greatest time trial gods and will take things to greater heights.

In the under – 23 race, Jon Dibben received 6th place and Mellissa Lowther came seventh in the Women’s category.

The cycling governing body, in the meantime, is planning to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for Roman Kreuziger since he was cleared of anti-doping charges by the Czech Olympic Committee.

We apologise for all the bacon talk, but we get hungry writing these bits of news for you – see how much we love you, guys? Haha! Have a good one, folks!

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UCI to get dope on dope

New plans to form international anti-doping units will be formed in 2015 to provide equality in all cases, this was announced by UCI in a press release.
The new independent body will be held responsible by UCI to deal with all doping cases involving international riders which are currently being handled by their respective national federations.

This new decision is a followup of series of doping cases by the renowned riders American professional cyclist Lance Armstrong and Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador. This move came just after the Lance Armstrong’s confession of his doping in all of Tour de France competitions that he won.

Cycling governing body (the UCI) also believes that this move will result in lower cases going to the Global Sports Arbitration Count (CAS) and it will also end non-standardization in individual federations’ investigations.

UCI would no longer need to refer each decision to Court Arbitration of Sport (CAS), nor will it have right to do so under this new model since all the responsibilities will be handed over to the independently responsible anti-doping unit.

The official UCI statement reveals that UCI’s 14 member Management Committee recommended to form an Anti-Doping Tribunal to deal with cases that are involving international players to improve anti-doping processes.

The statement also reported that the tribunal will be made up of judges specialising in anti-doping, this tribunal will be fully independent of UCI. This move will also mark standardization of anti-doping process also this tribunal will ensure that the cases are cleared in short timetable.

This move will mark reduction in number of cases currently referred to CAS on appeal and will decrease the burden on national federations. Also it will ensure consistency across the decisions, added UCI in statement.
UCI’s official statement also confirmed that this anti-doping unit will be fully functional in 2015 after consultation with respective national federations.

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Armstrong’s Interesting Legal Tactic Fails to Get Civil Case Dismissed

While the court of public opinion may have finished ruling on Lance Armstrong months ago, the actual American court system appears to just be getting started.

Earlier this week Judge Robert L. Wilkins denied a request by Armstrong to throw out a civil case originally brought to court by Armstrong’s former teammate Floyd Landis.

The case itself centres on Armstrong’s time as a rider sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service. Landis was able to file a lawsuit on behalf of the federal government, claiming that Armstrong had defrauded the Postal Service by taking their sponsorship dollars while using PED’s to win races. This kind of whistleblower lawsuit is interesting in that it is not a criminal case, but rather a civil case where the government is considered a plaintiff. If the court eventually finds in favour of Landis and the government, Landis would be entitled to a small share of any damages paid by Armstrong.

Also of interest is the argument Armstrong attempted to use to throw the case out. According to the Wall Street Journal, Armstrong essentially tried to argue that he had not defrauded USPS, because USPS received the exposure and attention they had paid for regardless of whether Armstrong had been doping.

It’s an interesting tactic to say the very least. It’s easy to see, though, why Judge Wilkins decided to press on with the case. The False Claims Act, the law being used to bring this case to trial, clearly states that anyone who knowingly misrepresents him/herself to receive payment from the government is subject to punishment. Unless he’s got a tape somewhere of himself whispering “I use PED’s” into the ear of the Postmaster General, Armstrong is going to have a tough time beating this case.