Written by: Myles McCorry

Last year, the International Cycling Union launched the most awaited tool to combat doping — the biological passport program. Although it has not yet identified any rider with the said programme, the UCI says that it would be revealing the first cases before May 9 2009, in time for the start of the Giro d’Italia.

UCI spokesperson Enrico Carpani said “with the first case, we have to be absolutely sure that they can defend themselves in court. It has to be safe and reliable so experts, as well as the legal department, are working on it. “

Danilo Di Luca not only showed acceptable blood values in his passport to get a start in the Italian grand tour, but almost daily testing showed nothing suspicious in the new quicker test turnaround.

Today, the UCI stated: “The decision to provisionally suspend Mr Di Luca was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Paris indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of Recombinant EPO (CERA) in blood samples collected from him at the Giro d’Italia on 20 May and 28 May 2009″. The next bit is just spin. Di Luca.

“These adverse findings were a direct result of a targeted test programme conducted on Mr Di Luca using information from his biological passport’s blood profile, previous test results and his r ace schedule.”

I propose that this statement is rubbish, covering a 10 million euro system that doesn8 0t work. It was regular testing that caught the cheat- not raised hemo levels. Surely, if the passport system was working ‘the killer’ would have been prevented from starting and bringing our sport into the gutter once again.

Di Luca’s non-participation in the 2004 Tour de France was due to doping At the 2007 Giro- Di Luca had unspecified low hormone levels. Italian authorities published doping allegations and he was
suspended for one race and the three months the off season! Di Luca said this was a ‘scandalo’ .I think you are a ‘scandalo’ Mr Di Luca. And it didn’t take a failing passport to identify you as a cheat.

Bikepure works through positive measures. We believe that the sport has enough to cope with without us pointing the finger. But today speaking as singular, not part of the bikepure I blame the UCI- not the killer. I think the UCI must accept that the system is not identifying the cheats, stop pouring money into it and concentrate on either displaying the actual results of all riders, leaving it open to scrutiny and free from criticism; Or dump it as a poor method of weeding out the cheats and move to other methods- perhaps the much proposed, much ignored- Vo2 testing.

I herby congratulate Stefano Garzelli Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo for winning stage 4 of the 2009 Giro NOT Di Luca. I Congratulate Franco=2 0Pellizotti ,Liquigas for a fantastic stage 10 win- not Di Luca. I welcome Carlos Sastre on to the podium, for you my Spanish hero, finished 3rd not 4th. There are still ‘two speeds’ in the peloton. Thankfully the dopers are in the minority. Denis Menchov’s wall will now have the 2009 Giro points jersey as well as the overall which he rightfully won- not Di Luca. A message to our twitter page sums it all up from

RT @vicaqu: LIFE BAN !! the only solution.. my Di Luca signed jersey in the bin already .. and proudly wearing my blue wristband.

and I will now back to the Tour de France where my mind should be “Come on Brad………..”

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