Obviously whatever explanation he had wasn't accepted - banned until 31/12/2015.
Also loses his Tour of Britain title.
Sad to see. Curious that the ban announced with no detail.
Source?
[quote=mrblobby ]Sad to see. Curious that the ban announced with no detail.
I think he was instructed to explain away the anomalies so they probably think that him failing to explain is obvious enough
announcement on team sky website now [url= http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17546_9385337,00.html ]http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17546_9385337,00.html[/url]
🙁
I think he was instructed to explain away the anomalies so they probably think that him failing to explain is obvious enough
Was there ever an explanation as to what the anomalies were and what the suspected cause is?
Oof, shame. Weird there's not been more about exactly what it was he's supposed to have done/taken.
Nope. Hard to explain away haematalogical anomalies (if indeed that's what it is) after a gap of well over a year, though.
All you can say is 'I didn't do anything outside the rules', and that's never going to work if the scientists are insistent you couldn't have achieved those values without blood doping, or whatever.
Can't imagine any system looking for nuanced changes in natural metabolism will be without false positives (without suggesting that JTL is one of these), and there is no viable defence you can put forward in those circumstances.
Oof, shame. Weird there's not been more about exactly what it was he's supposed to have done/taken.
Is this not part of the new UCI approach to announcing these things - see also the Menchov controversy?
there is no viable defence you can put forward in those circumstances.
You could always blame it on the steak you had for dinner, I suppose.
You could always blame it on the steak you had for dinner, I suppose.
Don't think that worked too well as an excuse for Bertie, did it?
From what I read he basically said that the training and type of racing he was doing when at Endura worked perfectly for him. Then the change in training program, type of racing and the role he played in races at Sky didn't work for him which lead to exhaustion and persistent illness. The exhaustion and persistent illness was the reason he gave for the change in the values they found.
From what I read he basically said that the training and type of racing he was doing when at Endura worked perfectly for him. Then the change in training program, type of racing and the role he played in races at Sky didn't work for him which lead to exhaustion and persistent illness. The exhaustion and persistent illness was the reason he gave for the change in the values they found.
Or alternatively, he was doping on Endura, and when he moved to Sky (with presumably a more rigorous sports medicine regime) he had to stop?
When he was at Endura he didn't have to do the bio passport thing either, only pro tour teams do it.
He only did it when he won TOB from what I can remember so if he didn't win that race he would have probably got away with it
Or alternatively, he was doping on Endura, and when he moved to Sky (with presumably a more rigorous sports medicine regime) he had to stop?
And therein lies the problem. Do the scientists know enough about individual physiology and have a long enough period baseline period to dismiss the non-doping explanation? The verdict suggests they are adamant they do.
I just don't know what defence you could possibly put up against a biological passport anomaly. It will be interesting to see whether, as the data comes in over the years, there will be individuals whose values are legitimate, but trigger the alarms anyhow.
Quite a good article over at [url= http://inrng.com/2014/06/roman-kreuziger-uci-passport/ ]inrng[/url] a while ago about how the biological passport process works.
And what happened to the Haeno case? Was his BP ever flagged as anomalous or was that Sky just being ultra cautious?
Sergio Henao? Sky did a load of tests and said all was OK, and the anomalies were due to living at altitude (or being Colombian or something)
Then he broke his knee in a crash whilst pre-riding the TT at the Tour de Suisse.
/Tinfoilhat
Or alternatively, he was doping on Endura, and when he moved to Sky (with presumably a more [s]rigorous[/s] expensive sports medicine regime) he [s]had to stop?[/s] used the new stuff which doesn't get detected?
Or alternatively, he was doping on Endura, and when he moved to Sky (with presumably a more [s]rigorous[/s] expensive sports medicine regime) [s]he had to stop?[/s] used the new stuff which doesn't get detected?
Isn't that rather the point of the biological passport, that it picks up the physiological changes consisted with doping without there needing to be a positive test?
Also, wasn't Endura not of a high enough level for the riders to be subject to the passport?
Or alternatively, he was doping on Endura, and when he moved to Sky (with presumably a more [s]rigorous[/s] expensive sports medicine regime) [s]he had to stop?[/s] used the new stuff which doesn't get detected?
That doesn't make a great deal of sense given he rode really well with Endura, then really badly once he joined Sky, if Sky have a big pillbox marked 'marginal gains' I would expect he would be as least as good as when he was with Endura, as it was he was a total bust for Sky even before the charges.
Isn't that rather the point of the biological passport, that it picks up the physiological changes consisted with doping without there needing to be a positive test?
It is. And one assumes they have set their limits in such a way that they can be fairly confident in their assessments. But its not exactly simple science, and all the data they are collecting from tests on athletes in the system is, arguably, biased towards that population.
No idea how much "neutral" baseline data they also have access to, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that some people who have done nothing wrong appear to be doping by the current understanding of the data. And if you were asked what you had been doing 12 months ago that might have caused odd blood values, what would you say?
So, great to collect the data, but lets not pretend it is the end of all doping, or impossible to reasonably challenge the results. Hopefully the safeguards with multiple experts etc mean that the chances of false positives are slim
Also, wasn't Endura not of a high enough level for the riders to be subject to the passport?
No.
It was only a tinfoil hat speaking, but let's suppose someone has a big medicine cabinet full of Marginal Gains, would anyone care to speculate what might be in it these days. Assuming Old School was amphetamines and steroids, 90s Acid House doping was Testosterone, HGH and EPO, what would be current? There was chatter about GW1516 and AICAR, and every athlete seems to have a skinny six pack these days. If I wanted to juice up, where would I start?
Midlife: start on The Clinic in the cyclingnews forums, there's speculation on just about everything (and everyone) in there....
I was wondering about this recently. They must be fairly convinced as they've given him 2 years. Be nice to know the details though.
Isn't two years the standard penalty for a violation? I didn't think there was a sliding scale based on a degree of certainty or any leeway to give a lesser penalty?
Shame, I dont believe it to be true as I have met him (rode with him once or twice years ago when he was a mountain biker) and I know his brother, Alex, a little better. They are a decent family and I can definitely say hes a hard worker and all round nice guy. Saying that, Armstrong was a 'nice' guy...
Armstrong was a 'nice' guy...
Possibly, if you are referring to the bloke who walked on the moon. If the cyclist then he most certainly was not!
From what I've read, dopers are not work shy! Infact, it's the drugs that allow them to go out day after day and batter themselves when non-dopers are physically crushed by a similar workload.
I never really warmed to the guy when he won Tour of Britain in 2012, there just seemed something about him but I'd like to think he innocent.
Sky posted a pic the other day and his name was still on the side of the Deathstar so they had better get the hair dryer out.
Being a bit nieve to all these UCI regs, is this basically the end of JTL's professional career ?
Curious that the ban announced with no detail.
Yes, also Menchov too.
Interesting there are only 4 bans on the UCI currently banned list for "Biological Passport Finding" (Barredo, Leif, Menchov, Tiernan-Locke). I don't think it is ever likely we'll ever hear what was going on with JTL and there will remain a vague "Biological Passport Finding" against his name with no further information due to the complexities of interpreting the data...
Is this not part of the new UCI approach to announcing these things - see also the Menchov controversy?
I think Menchov falls in to the complexities of the biological passport so there won't ever be a definitive reason for a ban.
The UCI are not obliged to publish the name of any riders serving bans IIRC, it is up to the governing body in the nation where the rider is registered (of course most will name and shame for transparency although there are cases of 2 year knee injuries etc which raise suspicion)...
They must be fairly convinced as they've given him 2 years
All 4 bans for "Biological Passport Finding" (Barredo, Leif, Menchov, Tiernan-Locke) are for 2 years- looks like some standard time period for a "Biological Passport Finding"
Being a bit nieve to all these UCI regs, is this basically the end of JTL's professional career ?
Certainly he'll never ride for British Cycling nor Sky again. If he rides again it will be for a lower tier team as I'm not sure how much weight his old successes will carry now. As mentioned, he's ebayed all his Sky and BC kit already.
He'd fit right in at Astana or Tinkoff-Saxo.
We won't hear much from him again - so different to where the Yates brothers are going.
I haven't seen anything about Ebaying his kit - linky? Had a quick look and see Edmondson is selling his.
I used to work with someone who was British Olympic athlete, and who's husband is now coach to a high profile Olympian.
When slalom skier Alan Smith was 'caught' and pleaded change of training, illness combined with a nasal spray, my friend was somewhat clear.
Her view was something like 'you are either very stupid, or you are hiding something - and you don't become an elite athlete by being stupid...'
Given pharmacies here even know what stuff is banned by WADA, I'm often surprised how often athletes plead ignorance.
Real shame, almost certainly the end of his career, he was a late starter as it was.
I won a competition and rode with him when he was on rapha-condor. Came across as a really solid guy and wanted him to do well. when I met him he came across as a very old skool rider in terms of training and tech approach so I couldn't really see him getting into the 'science of marginal gains', just ride fast until it got dark and do the same the next day kind of thing.
Funny how you see these things when you are colored by just a short meeting with him isn't it 🙁
Looks like Tiernan Locke Ebayed his kit earlier in the year.
Not sure all elite athletes aren't stupid - I've seen football.
I think that the Vicks Nasal Spray that Alan Baxter took was from an American pharmacy that had a different ingredient to the British version.
from Wiki
A few days after his return home, Alain discovered that he had failed a drug test. His sample contained a trace amount of levomethamphetamine, an levorotary isomer of the banned stimulant methamphetamine. Although levMethamphetamine had no significant stimulant properties, he was sanctioned by the IOC. Following an unsuccessful appeal, Baxter was disqualified and told to return his medal. The Alpine bronze was then awarded to Austrian Benjamin Raich. [b]Baxter later proved the source of levMethamphetamine was from a Vicks inhaler that he had used in the United States. He had been unaware that the contents were different from those found in the UK version.[/b] The International Ski Federation accepted his explanation and banned him for the minimum of 3 months.
****
The curious thing about the JTL case is that he seemed legit before. Apparently even Garmin did a full work-up on him and would have signed him had he not gone to Sky.
But on the face of it "rider is crap for years, then when already fairly old suddely starts winning while on a Continental level team so not subject to bio-passport tests, signs to team with better governance and is crap" screams doping.
In some ways this should give us confidence in the system. Firstly that he has been caught is good since it shows the system does catch people. But also it gives us confidence that the peleton is cleaner. If a previously crap rider can get such a huge gain from doping and then win a relatively high level race then hopefully this highlights that everyone else isn't doping.
Previoulsy you had to dope to keep up, cyclisme deux vitesse, now you can dope to win but you are more likely to get caught.
gary - MemberAnd if you were asked what you had been doing 12 months ago that might have caused odd blood values, what would you say?
I know what you are getting at here but if I was asked that question I'd probably check Strava, see where I was riding, who with and how much etc. I'm sure a professional athlete might have a rather more sophisticated diary to look back at?
mudshark - MemberNot sure all elite athletes aren't stupid - I've seen football.
Years ago I remember reading something along the lines of 'racing cyclists don't need anything more than good legs so don't expect them to be clever'. I guess intelligence is spread through the peloton in the same way as the general population?
Looks like Tiernan Locke Ebayed his kit earlier in the year.
You can get EPO on the cheap off ebay now? Cool! 🙂
He'd fit right in at Astana or Tinkoff-Saxo.
I'm not so sure - it appears he's not good enough without doping, and he's not very good at doping, so that sort of leaves him back in the 3rd tier continental teams if any of those will now touch him. 😕
I'm not so sure - it appears he's not good enough without doping, and he's not very good at doping, so that sort of leaves him back in the 3rd tier continental teams if any of those will now touch him.
I'm sure Vino or Riis would be able to sort him out 🙂
[quote=Doh1Nut ]I think that the Vicks Nasal Spray that Alan Baxter took was from an American pharmacy that had a different ingredient to the British version.
Not only that, but the drug which was found in his system (which is exactly what was in the inhaler) has no performance enhancing properties - it's simply banned along with something very similar which does.
I'm far from an apologist for druggies, but it's quite clear that in Baxter's case it was a genuine mistake of the sort even somebody very intelligent could make. An explanation accepted by the powers that be - he was only sanctioned because of the rule of strict liability.
I'm far from being an Olympic athlete, but I know people who are (I've raced in a team with an Olympic silver medallist 8) ) and have competed at events where drug testing has been carried out, so have as good a perspective on this as anybody else on this thread I think.
aracer - Member
I'm far from being an Olympic athlete, but I know people who are (I've raced in a team with an Olympic silver medallist ) and have competed at events where drug testing has been carried out, so have as good a perspective on this as anybody else on this thread I think.
Just for balance, I've ridden with Commonwealth games athletes, raced against TdF stage winners (and an overall GC winner, thinking about it 8) ) and have ridden plenty of events where drug testing has been carried out.
I know nothing about doping other than what I read in mags or the internet.
😆
I really should check whether my nose spray will get me banned from 24/12 next week... 😉
And if you were asked what you had been doing 12 months ago that might have caused odd blood values, what would you say?
I know what you are getting at here but if I was asked that question I'd probably check Strava, see where I was riding, who with and how much etc. I'm sure a professional athlete might have a rather more sophisticated diary to look back at?
Sure, and I guess part of my point was that while you would expect a pretty thorough training diary, this surely ups the ante. Just what do you record in that diary in case you need to explain some test results you don't even understand, when you don't necessarily know what analysis is to be performed on your passport results, and the analysis performed in 12 months time might be different to the current protocol.
I'm really not trying to be any kind of apologist for anyone, but its a fairly daunting situation. I wonder how many big teams run their own parallel passport (c.f. Sky and Henao) to ensure they have some form of defence. I think some teams toned down their independent testing as the passport system ramped up.
We won't hear much from him again - so different to where the Yates brothers are going.
I think we are quite naive in the UK to think everyone is whiter than white and as soon as something bad happens you are out of the game. Reality is that all teams are are the very edge of what is ethical and legal at the best, or just better at the same old cheating at worst.
He'd fit right in at Astana or Tinkoff-Saxo.
Yep! Or any other Pro-Tour team if he can get his performances back. I'm not convinced he is really Pro-Tour material but at the same time he didn't really get a chance to show himself as it seems SKY pulled him quite early. Riis, Vino, Vaughters... all the ex dopers who now manage teams would help him do what he needs to do but not be stupid enough to be caught 😉
In some ways this should give us confidence in the system. Firstly that he has been caught is good since it shows the system does catch people. But also it gives us confidence that the peleton is cleaner.
Partially, but I still think it is only the greedy and stupid that are getting caught. LA and Ricco sit on the greedy end of the spectrum whilst JTL was probably too inexperienced with this sort of thing to do it properly. There was an excellent article recently (The Secret Pro?) which basically said that the riders and teams know what the parameters of the biological passport are so dope up to the limits but no further. I do think the peleton is cleaner but not a single top level guy is racing on just bread and water
[b]all[/b] teams are are the very edge of what is ethical and legal at the best
"Most", I wouldn't agree "all". I think that at least one or two are trying very hard to do what is right regardless of what they're actually allowed to get away with.
A bit harsh to put Vaughters in the same league as Riis and Vino.
Vaughters, repentant ex-doper, sets up a team with a clean ethos, very progressive attitude. Riis and Vino, unrepentant ex-dopers, with evidence to suggest that they've run doping programs within the teams they've managed and encouraged their riders to dope.
"Most", I wouldn't agree "all". I think that at least one or two are trying very hard to do what is right regardless of what they're actually allowed to get away with.
And I'd put Vaughters down as one of these ^^^.
I have Vaughters down as someone who knows how to say the right thing but does very little in reality to put his words in to action. He should be in politics with the amount of spin he can put on anything. True though that at least he gives the impression of repenting unlike Vino/ Riss/ etc.
The only team trying to really press forwards with zero doping is SKY but even then they lost a fair chunk of the riders and back room staff who helped Wiggins to yellow when the policy became enforced more strongly.... still got their first TDF GC with the help of a lot of people with a questionable past. I do feel for them because they can't really win either way with this approach and will also be under more scrutiny than the teams who give an air of cleanliness but crack on the same as usual under the surface (e.g. Vaughters)
Vaughters, repentant ex-doper, sets up a team with a clean ethos, very progressive attitude.
Which includes having his riders only tell the truth outside the team when they're caught and even then to use a "I did it, I'm sorry to disappoint the fans" cut and paste press release. I don't necessarily agree with waiting until the riders are pointed at by someone else but at least then they could be totally honest and give all the info out. Without that it still feels a bit like omerta-light.
Riis and Vino both need to go (along with Vino's DS, Dmitry Fofonov, Riis' DS Steven de Jongh and I imagine others). The UCI can just decline to grant their teams a new license if they can't legislate their way out of it.
As an aside, was Vino ever asked to account for the payments to Ferrari or did that one slip under the radar?
I do think the peleton is cleaner but not a single top level guy is racing on just bread and water
Statements like this highlight how the retroic around doping in sport is totally out of kilter with reality.
Nobody will be on bread and water because you don't have to be, infact you'd be a mug if you were since you are giving an unnecessary advantage to your oponents. Afterall profesional sport is just that, profesional, a job and people can do what ever it takes to suceed within the rules.
And for cycling the rules are the WADA code. Take the TUE debate, Chris Froome has been pilloried for using a TUE and going on to win the Tour of Romandie. But he did everything within the WADA code, he didn't break a single rule. But Alas everyone cries, we want our winners to be whiter than white. But what if it was the final week of the tour and he gets a bronchial infection? Should he pull out and lose the tour or get a TUE within the rules. The answer is obvious. it's his job afterall.
The romantic ideas of fair play and sport for sports sake are not compatable with profesionalism and it is naive to expect it.
Football and feigning/exagerating injury is another example. There is always huge polemics on here about footballers rolling on the floor at the slightest tap while a cyclist will ride for 18km on a broken leg. But to suggest this is eveidence for footballers being a bunch of jessies is again naive in the extreem. A footballer will act like this as it's not against the rules and it gives them a competitive advantage, there oponent is more likely to be sent of and there is no sanction for them other than having to leave the pitch for 20s.
Applying standards other than the official rules of the sport is just setting yourself up for dissapointment. Becuase where do you draw your own line? Pan y agua? What about a coffee? Caffine is a stimulant afterall. Coffee's OK then so what about 4 espressos in your finishing bottle to get a hit of stimulants in the last 20km? Is that OK? Yep, it's just coffee. Ok so how about that caffine but in a suppliment? Is that OK? It's all just shades of grey until you get to the only difinative line, the WADA code. So to praise Taylor Phinney for his "nothing artifical" while critisising Sky for using a TUE is flawed.
lemonysam - Member"Oof, shame. Weird there's not been more about exactly what it was he's supposed to have done/taken."
Is this not part of the new UCI approach to announcing these things - see also the Menchov controversy?
I don't think it's weird to publish it but not promote it. Falls in line with other sports. Not commenting on whether that's a good thing or not...
In 2013 Rugby Union had a higher % of positive tests than cycling and athletics. Did you see that widely reported?
Statements like this highlight how the retroic around doping in sport is totally out of kilter with reality.Nobody will be on bread and water because you don't have to be, infact you'd be a mug if you were since you are giving an unnecessary advantage to your oponents. Afterall profesional sport is just that, profesional, a job and people can do what ever it takes to suceed within the rules.
I completely agree that all teams live in the realm of grey. No top level pro is whiter than white (apart from maybe Thor who is quoted as saying he does race on just bread and water 🙄 )... anyway...
Afterall profesional sport is just that, profesional, a job and people can do what ever it takes to suceed within the rules.
It's all just shades of grey until you get to the only difinative line, the WADA code.
Completely agree that there are many shades of grey being routinely exploited but there are moral and ethical codes as well as legal codes to follow much like wider society.
Caffeine is a pretty inoffensive example for your shades of grey that most people won't take exception to. How about Kittel's particular blood manipulation and transfusions? Not banned to the letter of the WADA code at the time but certainly well over a moral and health line which the WADA code has since been updated to reflect. He would have known completely that this is at the blackest spectrum of grey which says something for the morals of some individuals... which isn't something I would personally wish to aspire to in any walk of life. Hey ho.
In 2013 Rugby Union had a higher % of positive tests than cycling and athletics. Did you see that widely reported?
No. Do you have a source? Pretty amazing since they have virtually no testing in rugby and most of the positives (at least those reported) are usually for non performance enhancing stuff like Bath Rugby/ cocaine
In 2013 Rugby Union had a higher % of positive tests than cycling and athletics. Did you see that widely reported?No. Do you have a source? Pretty amazing since they have virtually no testing in rugby and most of the positives (at least those reported) are usually for non performance enhancing stuff like Bath Rugby/ cocaine
LMGTFY : [url= http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/story/233993.html ]http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/story/233993.html[/url]
I think the headline in the ESPN article is very misleading. Googling I came up with
Today the Rugby Football Union announced the testing statistics for 2012-13 and proudly reported no positives for performance enhancing drugs at an elite level. A good thing surely? What about the positive illicit drug tests?
and
Of a total of 1,542 tests (103 blood tests) conducted in 2012, in and out of competition across all sections of the international game, there were 21 positives. In 2011, there were more than 6,000 tests, including domestic competitions, with 53 violations. Rugby union began blood testing in 2007, the focus of the tests being to target HGH. In 2011 307 tests were conducted in the six months leading into the rugby World Cup. A further 52 were conducted during the tournament.
I don't think Rugby is especially hiding or not reporting anything, more that testing is pretty woeful (6000 samples across the entire Rugby playing world of which only a small proportion blood testing) and most players are getting caught for non-performance enhancing stuff (21 positives in 2012-13 but none of these performancing enhacing in the elite game)... so there isn't much to report
It's ok, he wasn't doping, just got really pissed. Three days before his first major international race. And then didn't drink anything for a day 🙄
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/08/news/tiernan-lockes-two-year-doping-ban-upheld_341399
Saw interesting comment re: JTL this morning at the link below too, good timing! Offered up purely for completeness, not out of any claim for the quality of the anonymous source 🙂
[url= http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/08/the-secret-pro-transfer-season/ ]http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/08/the-secret-pro-transfer-season/[/url]
So lets just say he had of kept doping, would he have got caught (assuming no traces of drugs were found in urine test)? His bloody values would have stayed the same and the bio passport wouldn't have found any anomalies?
that reminds me of Dennis Mitchell's excuse
[url= http://davidhaviland.com/?p=269 ]Mitchell appealed to the US Track and Field doping panel, claiming that the only reason his testosterone levels were high was because, the night before the test, he had drunk six bottles of beer, and had sex with his wife four times. He told the panel, ‘It was the lady’s birthday; she deserved a treat.’ [/url]
No, that's what the passport does - it looks for those anomalies that signify blood doping - eg spikes in the ages of blood cells amongst other things. Trouble is there is no fixed definition of what is doping, hence the need for agreement from a panel that it is abnormal.
Trouble with this is that he as been done for not being able to prove himself innocent. Is like being found guilty for a burglary because you can't prove that you didn't do it. Charley Wega... can't spell it and can't asred to find the book.. had something similar. Not saying he is innocent but also I am somewhat amused by all the "knowledgeable" comments on the web. Only he knows if he did it and he says he didn't.
I am somewhat amused by all the "knowledgeable" comments on the web
What, like this one?
Trouble with this is that he as been done for not being able to prove himself innocent. Is like being found guilty for a burglary because you can't prove that you didn't do it.
Yeah but if he'd kept micro dosing he wouldn't have any spikes, his baseline would remain the same 'cos he'd always been doping while on the bio passport or is it really that super subtle?
From what I understand you can't microdose all the time or you run the risk of testing positive for the EPO itself (rather than the effects of it which is what the passport identifies).
So lets just say he had of kept doping, would he have got caught (assuming no traces of drugs were found in urine test)? His bloody values would have stayed the same and the bio passport wouldn't have found any anomalies?
If he'd doped for his entire blood passport then it would have been harder to find but then the indicators of a normal rider (like the number of red blood cells dropping during a stage race) wouldn't have been present so he'd have been under suspicion then. Likewise he may well have been popped actually with the drugs in his system. I think it's a pretty solid result for the passport.
Does this mean that being hungover is no longer a valid excuse for a poor day on the bike ?
The problem was that he didn't have a poor day on the bike 🙂 If he had, his story would have been a little more plausible..
TBH, you know how it is. You're selected to ride for Great Britain at the worlds and you get smashed. Then you don't let a drop of fluids pass your lips for 36 hours and train during the same period. Anyone would make that mistake. 🙄
Okay, it's not Tyler Hamilton's amazing hidden, interior twin sibling but as an excuse it's pretty silly.
Cheers for the answers.
Yes, being, 'allegedly' hungover but yet still capable of mixing it with the others at the top level is one hell of a stunt to pull. Even the mighty Wiggo couldn't do that for Cav...
Anyway, reading between the lines. Dehydration was cited by the defence as an explanation for the anomalous readings.
If being dehydrated reduces blood plasma, then by unit volume, one might see an increased presence of other blood constituents, such as an increased level of red blood cells in the sample.
Of course, in the case of sport, theres another reason for an increase in the number of red blood cells in a sample...
My guess is adding blood or EPO.
Once at sky, JTL stops 'using' for fear of being detected and compensates with additional training volume which inturn, brings on the symptoms of chronic fatigue that we see when he is at Sky.
**Is not a doctor**
Saw interesting comment re: JTL this morning at the link below too, good timing! Offered up purely for completeness, not out of any claim for the quality of the anonymous sourcehttp://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/08/the-secret-pro-transfer-season/
There must be enough clues in these articles for the authors identity to be revealed. Or would that ruin the fun ?
I suspect that the author would deliberately put some misinformation in there unless he's stupid - eg claiming he's looking for a contract when he's signed up for next year already and so on. Probably mixing up some of his own stories with those that he hears.
And that's assuming he actually is a pro rider, not just someone on the race scene (eg coach, etc) that knows the right sort of information.
If being dehydrated reduces blood plasma, then by unit volume, one might see an increased presence of other blood constituents
Upper limits in urine are adjusted to account for possible effects of dehydration after racing.
A good follow up that further makes the case for him being as guilty as he's been found by UKAD. Raises some important questions about a linked up anti-doping strategy between the various agencies and the teams. Garmin seem to have a well thought out process that seems effective while other teams (including Sky it seems) are taking more of a risk (to their own reputations) with their methods.
Read that earlier, good article.
