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PALERMO, Italy, May 9, 2008 (AFP) - Argentinian Ariel Maximiliano Richeze, who rides for CSF, tested positive for doping last month and has been withdrawn from the Tour of Italy, his team announced Friday.
Richeze tested positive for an anabolic steroid during his victory in the fourth stage of [...]

MADRID, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - Spanish cyclist Patxi Vila of the Lampre team tested positive in March for testosterone and was dropped from the list of racers who were pre-registered for the Tour of Italy, sports daily AS reported Tuesday.
The 32-year-old tested positive in a surprise drugs test [...]

GENEVA, May 6, 2008 (AFP) - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Tuesday that Italian cycling sprint king Alessandro Petacchi will be ineligible to compete in competitions until August 31, 2008 over a doping case.
The 34-year-old Petacchi tested positive for the drug salbutamol in May last year [...]

PARIS, May 2, 2008 (AFP) - At least one top cyclist is to face doping charges after thousands of blood samples were analyzed as part of the International Cycling Union’s blood passport program, the UCI said Friday.
The UCI did not reveal the identity of the cyclist concerned, but said [...]

PRESS RELEASE From: Court of Arbitration for Sport

ROME, April 24, 2008 (AFP) - Italian cyclist Ivan Basso, who was suspended for two years for his implication in the Operation Puerto scandal, said Friday he hopes to return to the top with new team Liquigas.
The 30-year-old Basso, who is allowed to ride competitively again from October 24 [...]

BERLIN, April 23, 2008 (AFP) - German rider Jorg Jaksche, whose one-year
doping suspension finishes on June 30, said he would give himself till July to
find a new team, he told Eurosport Germany on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old, who has previously ridden for Telekom (1998-2000), Once
(2001-03), CSC (2004) and Liberty Seguros (2005-06), owned up [...]

Petacchi frustrated by CAS wait
ROME, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - Italian sprint king Alessandro Petacchi admitted on Tuesday that the wait to find out if a doping appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will go against him or not is frustrating.
Petacchi continues to ride while the [...]

PARIS, April 21, 2008 (AFP) - Spain’s 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is to reappear in the Criterium du Dauphine on June 8 he announced on Monday.
The 25-year-old, who has been controversially barred from this year’s Tour De France because his Astana team were not invited by [...]

ROME, April 16, 2008 (AFP) - The Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) court of last instance on Wednesday acquitted cyclist Danilo Di Luca on doping charges which, had he been found guilty, would have brought a two-year ban.
Coni had requested a two-year suspension for the former Pro Tour champion after [...]

BONN, April 14, 2008 (AFP) - Disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has paid a “six figure” fine to end a fraud case which has dogged him since July 2006, the public prosecutor in Bonn said Monday.
Prosecutors had accused the 1997 Tour de France winner of taking [...]

A French court on Friday handed down an 18-month custodial jail term to Bernard Sainz, a homeopathic practitioner,
after he was found guilty of administering doping products to athletes and
practising medicine without a licence.
Sainz, nicknamed Docteur Mabuse after the character created by writer
Norbert Jacques, received a three-year sentence overall following a March 26
and [...]

Join the forum discussion on this post
Game theory helps to explain the pervasive abuse of drugs in cycling, baseball and other sports, says an article from the latest issue of Scientific American. In The Doping Dilemma, key concepts are highlighted:

An alarming number of sports—baseball, football, track and field, and especially cycling—have been shaken [...]

Join the forum discussion on this post ROME, April 8, 2008 (AFP) - Eddy Mazzoleni, third in last year’s Tour of Italy (Giro d’Italia), has been handed a two-year ban by the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) for his involvement in the “Oil for Drug” affair, the FCI said on Tuesday.
[...]

BERLIN, April 7, 2008 (AFP) - A decision on the fraud case against disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is expected in the next week, it was revealed on Monday.
Prosecutors in Bonn have been investigating the 1997 Tour de France winner since July 2006 after it was [...]

SAN FRANCISCO, April 4, 2008 (AFP) - Former world class American cyclist Tammy Thomas screamed at the jurors Friday after being convicted of perjury and lying to grand jury probing a sports steroid distribution ring.
“Look me in the eye, look me in the eye,” Thomas screamed after the jurors’
verdict [...]

BRUSSELS, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Troubled Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke is set to be quizzed by the Ypres justice department in the coming days over whether he bought cocaine - if found guilty it can carry a custodial sentence.
The 33-year-old who looked set for a glorious [...]

ROME, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - The Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) court of last instance suspended the doping case against Giro d’Italia champion Danilo Di Luca on Tuesday in order to allow three scientists to analyse the Lpr team rider’s sample.
Coni has requested a two-year suspension for the former [...]

Following is the end of “rolling thunder” — a cycling novel
Subject to copyright.   
 
ROLLING THUNDER (cont’d)
 
 
 
Chapter 25
Raleigh Spriggs was the seventy six year old Chairman of the Board of Continental Tire, which was a fifty four year old company with annual revenues of over twenty billion Euros.  When Shamus scanned further articles Google suggested best [...]

Jef d’Hont to reveal more details on Ullrich’s doping practices
BERLIN, March 29, 2008 (AFP) - Former Team Telekom soigneur, Belgian Jef d’Hont, is set to release a second book in November which will include further details on the doping practises of Jan Ullrich.
“I do not understand: why he (Ullrich) [...]

UCI to continue with ‘passport’ after WADA pull-out
MANCHESTER, England, March 27, 2008 (AFP) - World cycling chiefs said here Thursday their athlete’s ‘passport’ scheme will be maintained despite losing backing from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).
The International Cycling Union (UCI) recently launched a ‘biological passport’, which records and [...]

MANCHESTER, England, March 26, 2008 (AFP) - Britain’s cycling director Dave Brailsford admitted on Wednesday the world track cycling championships had begun under a cloud after endurance rider Rob Hayles failed a blood screening test.
Britain are the team to beat at the championships, which they dominated last year in Spain, and are [...]

MANCHESTER, England, March 26, 2008 (AFP) - Britain’s Robert Hayles and Dutch rider Pim Ligthart will miss the rest of the world track championships after anomalies were found in samples taken from routine blood doping checks.
A total of 66 riders from four teams (United States, Australia, Netherlands and Great [...]

Following is Part 11 of “rolling thunder”
Subject to copyright. Friends don’t let friends edit-copy-edit-paste.   
 
ROLLING THUNDER (cont’d)
 
Chapter 23
 
Saturday rolled around, and the already star-crossed Tour got underway.
 
In the rider’s village, an area carved out by plastic tape signified that the public need come no closer, riders’ strained faces seemed to relax.  After months of build-up, [...]

NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 (AFP) - US cyclist Floyd Landis is expected to learn in June whether or not his appeal to a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel that concluded here Monday will overturn his positive doping test.
   CAS announced Monday that the closed-door hearing that began last Wednesday, breaking only on [...]

   SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2008 (AFP) - Former US Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas will fight perjury charges starting here Monday in the first trial to stem from the BALCO steroid scandal that has rocked athletics and baseball.
   US District Court prosecutors have issued five perjury charges against Thomas for lying in October of 2003 [...]

   NEW YORK, March 19, 2008 (AFP) - US cyclist Floyd Landis, stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory for doping, began making his appeal to a three-man panel from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) here on Wednesday.
   The private hearing is expected to continue through Monday with no comments from any [...]

FREIBURG, Germany, March 20, 2008 (AFP) - Cyclists in the now defunct Team T-Mobile “probably” took doping products under the supervision of Freiburg university doctors, according to an independent report published on Thursday.
   And the 23-page interim report, published by the commissioned inquiry into the doping scandal at Freiburg’s University Medical Clinic, has also named [...]

ROME, March 20, 2008 (AFP) - Lausanne’s Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS) said Thursday that it would make a judgement on the doping case involving Italian Danilo Di Luca in 10 days time.
   Tour of Italy champion and former Pro Tour winner Di Luca served a three-month suspension for doping at the back end of [...]

NEW YORK, March 19, 2008 (AFP) - US cyclist Floyd Landis, stripped of his
2006 Tour de France victory for doping, began making his appeal to a three-man
panel from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) here on Wednesday.
The private hearing is expected to continue through Monday with no comments
from any of the participants, both Landis [...]

Following is Part 10 of “rolling thunder”
Subject to copyright. Please enjoy responsibly.   
 
ROLLING THUNDER (cont’d)
 
Chapter 20
 
Shamus lost focus on assisting the investigation once the Classics kicked off.  It wasn’t possible to race well with your mind on other things.  He felt he was losing ground with Eve, as well, since she was completely engulfed in [...]

MILAN, Italy, March 11, 2008 (AFP) -The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed Tuesday they will examine Tour of Italy champion Danilo Di Luca’s appeal against a three-month ban for his connection with a doping scandal here on March 20.
   The rider was suspended in October 2007 for his association with Italian doctor Carlo [...]

BERLIN, March 9, 2008 (AFP) - German prosecutors are reported to be
prepared to drop doping charges against Jan Ullrich if the fallen cycling star
cooperates with their inquiry and pays a one million euro fine.
The report, which appears in Monday’s edition of Focus magazine, suggests
the tribunal in Bonn handling Ullrich’s case is set to present this [...]

Following is Part 9 of “rolling thunder”
Amazingly still subject to copyright.  Some things never change.  Please enjoy responsibly.   
 
ROLLING THUNDER (cont’d)
 
Chapter 17
Petre Patrovski rumbled about the luxurious hotel suite he often called home atop the Kempinski Vier Jahren, or Four Seasons, on Westendstrasse in downtown Munich, surrounded by boxes and envelopes he used to package [...]

Following is Part 8 of “rolling thunder.”
Blah, blah, blah, this story is copyrighted.  Comprend?  By the way, thank you for leaving your thoughtful comments along the way…we live on that stuff! 
 
ROLLING THUNDER (cont’d)
 

Chapter 15
“Go ahead and tell me then.” 
He’d been lying in bed when she’d called, so there was no need to sit down.  [...]

Coni Requests Two-Year Ban For Danilo Di Luca
ROME, Feb 27, 2008 (AFP) - Anti-doping officials at the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) requested Wednesday that Tour of Italy champion Danilo Di Luca be banned for two years after an abnormal doping test.
The abnormal result was returned after the 17th stage of the Giro [...]

Biological passports open new frontiers of fear
by Francoise Chaptal

PARIS, Feb 26, 2008 (AFP) - For Belgian cyclist Maxime Montfort, and many others, the drug testers who come calling are ‘vampires’, but such is the climate of fear gripping his dope-tainted sport, he goes to extraordinary measures [...]

Hope you had a great weekend. 
Following is Part 7 of “rolling thunder.”
In case it hasn’t crossed your mind, this story was written by someone for their therapy and for your enjoyment, but not likely for their enrichment and certainly not for yours.  If you’re scheming about how to make a buck off this story, be [...]

Franke wants T-Mobile investigation stepped up
  
   BERLIN, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) - Doping expert Werner Franke wants federal investigators to step up the probe into the doping suspicions hanging over defunct German cycling team T-Mobile.
   Franke, a professor of microbiology, wants some answers on the conduct of the T-Mobile cyclists who, he claims, are [...]

Sinkewitz’s Silence Could Lead To Prison Term

BERLIN, Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) - German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz, suspended for a year after a positive drugs test last June, could face a prison sentence if he persists in concealing the names of others guilty of doping offences.
A [...]

Following is Part 6 of “rolling thunder.” Thanks for being patient.
As we may have mentioned ad nauseum, this story is subject to copyright by the author. Not that we think you want your name on it, but someone may stoop that low. You never know. Anyway, please don’t use it other than as a pleasant [...]

Ahead of stage one of the Tour of California, the Rock Racing team was still up in arms about the exclusion of its three GC stars, Santiago Botero, Oscar Sevilla, and Tyler Hamilton. In particular, the American Hamilton had plenty to say about his exclusion from the eight day stage race. “AEG still owes me [...]

Bicycle.net this year is thrilled to bring you fantastic exclusive interviews and podcasts. Here are some thoughts on what this year’s Tour of California is going to bring you.
For more great audio, check out our host David Bernstein at The FredCast cycling podcast (The Fredcast.com).

 

 Fredcast - TOC Prologue [27:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (90)

Rock Racing team owner Michael Ball called a press conference at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto today to discuss, according to a team spokesman, “the Rock racing team for 2008, some of the anti-doping policies and integrity of Rock Racing, the changes needed in the sport today, specifically the need for a rider’s [...]

Operation Puerto ’shattered me’, admits shamed Basso

MADRID, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) - Italian Ivan Basso, the sole cyclist to have been sanctioned in the initial stages of the Operation Puerto blood-doping affair, said the inquiry had left him “shattered.”
Speaking after Thursday’s reopening of Operation Puerto, Basso [...]

MADRID, Feb 14, 2008 (AFP) - The Operation Puerto blood-doping affair
involving about 60 cyclists and which erupted in May 2006, has been reopened,
Madrid prosecutors’ said on Thursday.
A raid on the Madrid laboratory of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes uncovered doping products, bags of blood and codenames which appeared to link top athletes to a highly-organised system of [...]

Reformed Millar torchbearer for drug-free cycling
by Benoit Noel
Feb 1, 2008 (AFP) - The doping-tainted world of professional cycling
can become clean, according to Scottish rider David Millar, himself once
banned for taking EPO but now back racing with the Slipstream team.
Speaking here at the Tour of Qatar, Millar said he believed [...]

Basso: Suspension was ‘best thing’ to happen to him
By Agence France Presse
Filed: January 17, 2008
Disgraced former Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso said Thursday that his two-year doping suspension was the best thing to happen to him.
Basso was tipped to win the 2006 Tour de France, shortly after cruising to victory in the Giro, but he [...]

Non-ProTour teams urged to use bio-passport
By Agence France Presse
Filed: January 17, 2008
ProTour teams issued a statement Thursday calling on non-ProTour teams to join them in adopting the so-called biological passport.
The International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT), which represents the 17 ProTour teams, said it would refuse to compete with Continental teams that do not adopt the [...]

Fired Lotto doctor, Dr. Sam Vermeire defends himself
Dr. Sam Vermeire, who was fired from the Predictor-Lotto squad this week as he was blamed for Björn Leukemans’ positive anti-doping test result for artificial testosterone, has admitted that he prescribed Prasteron, which contains the forbidden hormone DHEA, to the rider. “I made a mistake, yes,” he told [...]

panish cycling’s secretary general Eugenio Bermudez has refused to sanction Iban Mayo, the Saunier Duval rider whose positive test for the banned blood boosting hormone EPO raised questions about the UCI’s testing procedures. Mayo’s ‘A-sample’ from the second rest day of the 2007 Tour de France was found to be positive for EPO by [...]

Iban Mayo’s B sample returned positive for EPO in a test performed by the French national anti-doping laboratory (LNDD) in Chatenay-Malabry this Wednesday. After the A sample was found positive for the performance-enhancer at the Tour de France’s second rest day last July by that same laboratory, the B sample was first analysed by a [...]

The 2007Giro d’Italia winner, Danilo Di Luca has appealed his three-month suspension in the Oil for Drugs investigation. The 31 year old Italian from Abruzzo, is accused of using the services of Doctor Carlo Santuccione, has appealed the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) Disciplinary Commission’s decision last October to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) [...]

Telekom doctors falsified patient records
By Susan Westemeyer @ CylingNews.com
Former Team Telekom/T-Mobile doctors apparently faked patient data in connection with their doping activities involving the team’s riders, the Freiburg University Clinic announced on Thursday. In a press release, the Clinic said, “As part of its investigation, the Freiburg University Clinic has found in its electronic [...]

I found this article in the Wall Street Journal and I thought it was an interesting read. It is really written as a
The Inside Dope on Sports Testing
By SKIP ROZIN
November 28, 2007; Page D9
With the announcement earlier this month that tennis star Martina Hingis would fight her positive test for cocaine use, sports [...]

Team Liquigas was visited for the second time during its off-season training camps by International Cycling Union (UCI) anti-doping controllers. The Italian ProTour team – in Benicásim, Spain, from December 10 to 18 – was subjected to blood checks according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The UCI had previously visited the team during its Italian [...]

I found this article in the Wall Street Journal and thought that it was extremely interesting. It is written as a drug testing 101 and it gives a little insight into the world of drug testing in sports
By SKIP ROZIN
November 28, 2007; Page D9
With the announcement earlier this month that tennis star Martina Hingis would [...]

I found this article at the Wall Street Journal and thought it was very interesting. It is really drug testing 101.
The Inside Dope on Sports Testing
By SKIP ROZIN
November 28, 2007; Page D9
With the announcement earlier this month that tennis star Martina Hingis would fight her positive test for cocaine use, sports fans rolled their eyes. [...]

Everyone has an opinion on Floyd Landis and his doping case. Some will never believe that he doped, and some will never believe that he did not dope, but very few do not have an opinion. This audio interview with Floyd Landis is not meant to change your mind, or convince you of any [...]

 

 Landis Speaks [46:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (54)

Saving Pro Cycling, One BlackBerry At a Time

Each member of Team Slipstream/Chipotle has been given a BlackBerry Pearl, which will be used to send team updates and to keep track of the riders.
By Richard Martin
InformationWeek
November 16, 2007 02:00 PM
Trying to rehabilitate the ruined image of pro cycling, which has been nearly destroyed by a never-ending [...]

American Floyd Landis has filed his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in his final attempt to overturn his two-year doping ban.
The disgraced 2006 Tour de France winner tested positive during the race.
He is appealing against September’s ruling by a US arbitration panel that upheld laboratory findings that he used synthetic testosterone during [...]

Even though the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced yesterday that it was removing Italian Danilo Di Luca from its ProTour standings for 2007 the rider from Abruzzo warned that the appeal process with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has yet to be completed. The 31 year-old of Team Liquigas led the competition that [...]

France to reopen Landis case
By Agence France Presse
Filed: October 17, 2007
The French anti-doping agency (AFLD) on Wednesday said it intends to pursue doping charges against Floyd Landis, purportedly to close a legal loophole which could allow him to compete in the Tour de France while technically banned.
Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France [...]

The was-to-be successor of Richard Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has stepped down from his candidacy this week. Former French minister of Sports and current WADA vice-president, Jean-François Lamour, decided not to run for WADA presidency after a new candidate, Australian John Fahey, was named just one month before the election.
“I don’t [...]

Spain’s Pereiro Receives Yellow Jersey From the 2006 Tour de France
Tuesday, October 16, 2007; Washington Post
Oscar Pereiro finally got his hands on the winner’s yellow jersey from the 2006 Tour de France yesterday.
“Finally, we have a winner and it’s Oscar,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme said at the handover ceremony in Madrid. “Oscar, you have won [...]

Cyclist Floyd Landis said that he has appealed the arbitration ruling that stripped him of his 2006 Tour de France title.
By Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
8:49 PM PDT, October 10, 2007
Cyclist Floyd Landis said Wednesday that he has appealed the arbitration ruling that stripped him of his 2006 Tour de France title and [...]

What’s Fair is Clear
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I’m of course disappointed and in fact angry about the split decision ruling against me last week.
If any good has come out of this, we have shown that the anti-doping system is corrupt, inefficient and unfair. The content of this decision unfortunately highlights this once again. The straightforward and [...]

Operation Raw Deal uncovers operation that traces to China, officials say
By Amy Shipley - WashingtonPost.com
Federal agents raided more than four dozen underground drug labs and arrested 124 people in 27 states during an 18-month crackdown on Chinese steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs that reached its culmination in the last four days, Drug [...]

UCI President responds to USADA decision
Floyd Landis made history on Thursday, although it is not the kind of statistic that he will embrace or wish to have remembered. The American became the first Tour de France winner to be disqualified for doping, losing his crown after the USADA found him guilty of using testosterone during [...]

Floyd Landis: Up the River Without a Pedal.
Space for rent?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL DOCUMENT

Gotta hand it to Floyd for plugging along…

By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer
September 20, 2007
PARIS (AP) — Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned.
The decision means Landis, who repeatedly [...]

UCI stick with Valverde ban
Eurosport - Wed, 12 Sep 12:19:00 2007
Alejandro Valverde will be barred from entering the World Championships even though the Spanish rider has threatened to go to court over the matter, the president of the International Cycling Union has announced.
We received a letter from Alejandro Valverde in which he challenges our regulations [...]

Confusion over Kashechkin’s blood samples
The Kazakh cycling federation claims that Andrey Kashechkin’s blood has been tested and come back negative. Team Astana has denied that it was the official B-sample from his positive test.
The Kazakh rider tested positive for blood doping at an out-of-competition test the beginning of the month, and, subsequently, he has denied [...]

Iban Mayo’s B sample from the Tour de France, where he tested non-negative for EPO, was opened yesterday in the University of Gent, Belgium in the presence of a specialist, at the Saunier Duval rider’s request. It will take the laboratory three days before the result is known, with an announcement expected by Friday.
Mayo, who [...]

PLAY-The New York Times Sports Magazine
By SARA CORBETT
Published: August 19, 2007

He wasn’t sure why they’d sent the muscle-building pudding.
His old sponsors still sometimes mailed him stuff — maybe it was an act of hope. All he knew was that he now had a case of protein-heavy, nutritionally pumped-up chocolate pudding sitting in his kitchen and, [...]

Di Luca could be in clear
Italian prosecutors will likely drop any charges of doping allegations against Giro d’Italia champion Danilo Di Luca. According to a report in La Gazzetta dello Sport, prosecutors in Pescara have recommended that a new probe against Di Luca be dropped.
Di Luca’s been dogged by alleged links to a doctor in [...]

Freshly crowned Tour de France winner Alberto Contador is scheduled to issue a public statement Friday along with Discovery Channel Team director Johan Bruyneel at the offices of Spain’s Superior Council for Sports according to the International Herald Tribune.
The rider has been tied to Operación Puerto, the Spanish doping investigation. He is expected to make [...]

Kashechkin of Astana Tests Positive For Blood Doping, Gets Suspended
The Astana Pro Cycling team announced Wednesday that Kazakh Andrey Kashechkin tested positive for homologous blood doping following an out-of-competition test in Belek, Turkey on August 1.
Kashechkin was suspended by the team pending the outcome of his B sample, should he request that the follow-up [...]

Gerolsteiner considers suit against Sinkewitz
Hans-Michael Holczer, team manager of Team Gerolsteiner, said that he is considering a lawsuit against Patrik Sinkewitz, who recently tested positive for testosterone. “We are looking at how accountable we can make him,” Holczer said in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. “I won’t make any claims now, but my attorney [...]

WADA President Dick Pound has asked German antidoping crusader Werner Franke to send him the documents which are said to show that Alberto Contador was a client of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Franke has sent the papers, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and even added the protocol of Jörg Jaksche’s interrogation by German investigators. Jaksche is [...]

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said in a statement on its website Friday that Giro d’Italia winner Danilo Di Luca will be subject to further inquiry for alleged doping charges and may be sanctioned following the review of new evidence.
No details were available about the nature of the evidence, the case, or where it might [...]

Legend Eddy Merckx, winner of nearly every race on the calendar, is forced to face the current doping polemics with the entire cycling community. The 62 year-old Belgian who reigned from the 1960s to 1970s believes that although the sport is going through a black period, three-fourths of the cyclists are riding clean.
“I hope that [...]

Ivan Basso was handed a two-year suspension June 15 by the Italian cycling federation (FCI) for his involvement with the Eufemiano Fuentes doping ring but the former Discovery Channel rider continues to make appearances in racing-related events. Earlier this week, he was at the presentation of the Tre Valli Varesine and he will be on [...]

Documents link Tour winner to doping, says German expert
Roy Kammerer in Berlin
Wednesday August 1, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
German authorities said yesterday they have received documents from doping expert Werner Franke which he claims show the Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, was involved in doping. Franke said he has documents from last year’s Operation Puerto investigation in [...]

Time to look back at our Top 5 Doping Excuses in Cycling

The Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) on Tuesday cleared Alessandro Petacchi of doping at this year’s Giro d’Italia.
The 33-year-old Italian sprinter escaped punishment despite being charged with the offense by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on July 4. CONI had recommended to the FCI that Petacchi be banned from cycling for 12 months.
“It’s one of the [...]

I think that David Millar said it best. “Jesus Christ - there you go, that’s my quote,” he blurted out. “What timing, huh? This is just f…ing great.” Millar broke down into tears when he was asked by British journalist Jeremy Whittle if he was all right, saying, “I just feel like crying right now.”
Just [...]

I’d like to introduce myself and our company – I am the CEO for the Agency for Cycling Ethics, “ACE”. We are bringing you this monthly column for bicycle.net to discuss cycling from the perspective of the teams and riders and the many important issues that have of late, tainted the sport. We will discuss [...]

In connection with the debate, which has taken place over the last few days, Bjarne Riis would like to make the following comment:
”First of all I would like to say that I strongly object to the accusations made in the interview with Jörg Jaksche by the German magazine, Der Spiegel.
I have not had any [...]

By Agence France Presse
This report filed June 29, 2007
German Jörg Jaksche, one of dozens of cyclists implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal which erupted last year, is set to make a series of stunning revelations about current doping practices.

Jaksche’s lawyer Michael Lehner said on Friday the German, who has protested his innocence but been [...]

The FredCast’s David Bernstein interviewed Dr. Paul Strauss of the Agency for Cycling Ethics for Bicycle.net, covering a wide range of topics including Floyd Landis, doping in the pro peloton, why it’s important for amateur cycling for pros to adhere to standards and the 5% false positive problem.
The Agency for Cycling Ethics aims to create [...]

By Agence France Presse
This report filed June 28, 2007
Giro d’Italia winner Danilo Di Luca and Milram sprint star Alessandro Petacchi have been asked to appear before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) next week as part of two separate doping investigations.
Petacchi hopes to get the Salbutamol issue settled by next week

Petacchi hopes to to clear his [...]

Italy’s Corriere Dello Sport reported Monday that Italian anti-doping officials have flagged test results from several top finishers from this year’s Giro d’Italia, including those of winner Danilo Di Luca.
Four riders - Di Luca (Liquigas), third-place finisher Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana), fourth-placed Gilberto Simoni and sixth-placed Riccardo Riccó (both of Saunier Duval) - submitted samples that [...]

Ivan Basso promises to return “strong than ever” to competition following his two-year racing ban for his connection to the Operación Puerto doping scandal.

“I’ve promised my family that I will return to win the Giro d’Italia,” Basso told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “A lot of people have contacted me to show their support. I already [...]

Italian cycling federation suspends Ivan Basso 2 years for doping
By AP Sports
June 15, 2007

Former Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso arrives at the Italian cycling federation in Rome Friday, June 15, 2007, for a hearing to determine the length of his ban for doping. The Italian Olympic Committee’s doping prosecutors recommended last month that the [...]

By AFP
This report filed June 14, 2007
Spanish climber Iban Mayo, one of three riders whose urine samples were reported to have shown traces of drugs during the recent Giro d’Italia, was cleared of doping by the UCI on Thursday.

But cycling’s world governing body confirmed that Italian pair Alessandro Petacchi and Leonardo Piepoli were still under [...]

Quickstep And Tom Boonen Reacts To Raids
One of the few Quickstep team members to be named in the recent raids in western Belgium, just three days prior to the country’s federal elections, was soigneur Johan Molly. His house was searched and he was questioned and released.
“I can’t really believe that Molly plays a role in [...]

Basso Faces FCI Disciplinary Commission
The Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) Disciplinary Commission has set the date for Ivan Basso’s proceedings, Friday, June 15, 12:30, at the Olympic Stadium Federal Office in Rome. The FCI Disciplinarily Commission will act upon the recommendations of the Italian Olympic Committee’s (CONI) anti-doping prosecutors, headed by Ettore Torri. On May 25, [...]

Quick Step denies police raids focused on team
By Agence France Presse
This report filed June 7, 2007
A spokesman for Belgian super team Quick Step firmly denied links to doping practices Thursday after police arrested a dozen people following raids which netted large quantities of banned doping products.
The regional prosecutor’s office, after initially saying the raids were [...]

Floyd Landis took 8th place at Sunday’s Teva Games time trials.
The Aspen Times reports:
His jersey was orange, not yellow. His tires were fat instead of skinny, and he rode on a muddy dirt track instead of the purebred European asphalt that made him a global name.
But the sweat that poured off Floyd Landis’ forehead during [...]

Riis removed from Danish sports hall of fame
By Agence France Presse
This report filed May 31, 2007
Former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis of Denmark has been removed from the Danish sports hall of fame, Danmarks Radio (DR) said Thursday.
The 43-year-old Riis, now the owner and manager of the CSC team, ended years of speculation over [...]

The LA Times catches up with Bicycle.net partner Josh who wrote here Cycling Needs An Amnesty? - Doping No More - What Do You Say? days ago.
Lesson for our readers, see it here on Bicycle.net, first. Links and boldface added for emphasis, below.
Amnesty for doping cyclists
Encouraging riders to come clean with little punishment [...]

I found this article over at www.sportswriter.net about the coverage that we have been giving to the doping issue. I must say that this take is about as original as I have ever heard. It is well worth the read. For the complete post go to www.sportswriter.net
Cheating, Lying, Doping - a philosophy of failure
I’ve [...]

“Just the other day I was speaking with a friend who is also a cyclist and we were discussing the Landis/doping issue and he told me how he would solve the problem. I convinced him to send me his thoughts in an email so I could share them with all of you. Tell me [...]

According to ESPN, 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis admits taking EPO and says he’s willing to give back his yellow jersey.

“I have taken doping. I have taken EPO,” Riis said during a televised news conference. “I have made errors and I would like to apologize.”

Riis said he used the substances from 1993 [...]

“When will this end. They force this guy into retirement, pointing the big hairy, wagging, middle finger at Ullrich. Either he did or he did not. Sounds to me like they have no proof better than what they presented in the Landis hearing. Are they worried that Landis is getting off, and [...]

“So Zabel and Aldag admit to doping while on the Telekom team in 1996. But what about the top guy from that team. None other that Bjarne Riis, the winner of the 1996 Tour De Farce (oh I mean Tour de France). Rumor has it that we should hear something from him tomorrow, and [...]

We have a word for people who can’t read, illiteracy.
Years ago, mathematician John Allan Paulos wrote a book about the dangers of being mathematically illiterate and called it Innumeracy. Amazon describes the book thusly (my boldface added for emphasis):
This is the book that made “innumeracy” a household word, at least in some households. Paulos [...]

Bloggerette Antigravitas bloviates on Monday:
The Floyd Landis freak show
Been following the Floyd Landis testosterone doping arbitration hearing? Boy, have you been missing some weird shit.
Let me bring you up to speed.
1) July, 2006: Floyd Landis overcomes a devastating hip injury to win the Tour de France. Days later, one of his blood tests comes up [...]

The hearing begins daily at 9:30 PDT (12:30 EDT)
To view the hearing LIVE please click here
Log In with the Following Credentials
User: LandisF2
Password: p2Amameb
Note: Username and password are case-sensitive.

From the Floyd Fairness Fund.

So Floyd Landis finally took the stand at his doping hearing and his choice of clothing caught my eye.. Did anyone other than me notice that Landis wore black when Greg Lemond testified. Could it have been a subtle hint of the demise of Greg Lemonds relevance in the cycling world? Also, when [...]

We’re getting referrals from today’s Time Magazine article: Drama at Landis Doping Hearing.
At the bottom of that TIME article, if you click Sphere Related Blogs & Articles, a nifty pop-up appears:

It seems Sphere likes us… they really really like us, or at least our post LeMond Accuses Landis Camp of Harassment.
Here at Bicycle.net, where [...]

The hearing begins daily at 9:30 PDT (12:30 EDT)
To view the hearing LIVE please click here

Log In with the Following Credentials
User: LandisF2
Password: Q5P9ecux
Note: Username and password are case-sensitive.
Please be sure to have all pop-up blockers disabled, your audio on, and that you have Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher installed (most computers come pre-installed).
If [...]

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Floyd Landis’ sleepy, scientific arbitration hearing morphed into a pulp-fiction blockbuster Thursday, replete with revelations of sexual abuse, allegations of threatening phone calls and even a Donald Trump-style firing.
It came courtesy of Landis’ fellow American Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, who disclosed he had been sexually abused as a child [...]

Most people don’t know that the political blog Little Green Footballs started off as a programming and cycling blog… until 9/11. LGF’s über-blogger Charles Johnson is a cycling nut. We like that in a blogger.
Whether or not you agree with LGF, right now, there’s a discussion on the latest Fox news Landis Was [...]

VeloGuy here; Does anyone know what round this is. This whole affair is starting to look like a 15 round heavyweight fight. Both fighters so tired that they have their hands down, and their faces totally exposed. Welcome my friends to the Cycling Circus.

Team Tinkoff Credit Systems stated in a press release Wednesday that it [...]

Implicated Spanish cyclists seek deal with federation
By: Agence France Presse
This report filed May 10, 2007
The public prosecutor in the northern Italian town of Busto Arsizio has opened a doping investigation into Italian cycling star Ivan Basso, the ANSA news agency reported on Thursday.
And the public prosecutor in the German town of Göttingen wants to hear [...]

VeloGuy here, Is Basso crazy? I can not believe that he actually said that he wanted to dope, he prepared to dope, he took steps to dope, but did not dope. Sounds more like since he did not get tested and confirmed a doper he will admit to just enough to get a lighter sentence. [...]

NEWS FLASH: Basso admits involvement in Puerto scandal
By Agence France Presse
This report filed May 7, 2007
Italian cycling star Ivan Basso admitted to the anti-doping prosecutor of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Monday that he was involved in the Operation Puerto blood-doping scandal.

CONI said the 29-year-old rider came to their offices of his own [...]

At what point do the powers that be at UCI have to either press charges or stop harassing the riders? Are you anything like me and are you just getting fed up with all the accusations? By just leaking a name (whether the rider is involved or not) they can ruin a riders [...]