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PAGE 8: ROAD BIKE ACTION NEWS OCTOBER 8, 2008
Road Bike Action & AFP
October 8, 2008
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Lance Armstrong Cleared To Start 2009 Tour Down Under
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has decided to approve Lance Armstrong’s participation in the forthcoming Tour Down Under in Australia, to be held 20-25 January.
According to the UCI the decision was made after a careful assessment of the situation, taking into account both the applicable regulations and the imperatives of the fight against doping which is the UCI's number one priority.
According to Article 77 of the Anti-Doping Regulations introduced in 2004, a retired rider may only return to competition by informing the UCI six months in advance in order to allow him/her to be available for out-of-competition testing. Consequently, Lance Armstrong would only be able to return to the sport at international level from 1 February 2009, a week after the end of the Australian event.
In respect of this situation, the UCI has taken into account the progress made in its anti-doping program since 2004. As a result of the improvements implemented, dramatic increase in the number of tests, particularly out-of-competition and the introduction of the biological passport riders are now subject to a much-reinforced system of monitoring compared to that of the past.
Consequently, the aim of Article 77 at the time of its introduction in 2004 was to ensure that a rider returning to competition is subject to the same degree of testing as active riders. This can now be achieved through careful application of the current methods of the anti-doping program. The UCI can confirm that Lance Armstrong has and will be the subject of very strict monitoring throughout the period running up to his return to the peloton.
Is Schumacher the first of many to fall?
(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
More Positive Tests From The Tour?
On Wednesday French national anti-doping agency (AFLD) chief Pierre Bordry said there was "considerable evidence" of doping irregularities from blood samples taken at this year's Tour de France. "We possess considerable evidence from the blood samples. We will only say later who it is," Bordry told German TV station ZDF.
Bordry added that anti-doping officials were concentrating on looking for traces of banned blood booster EPO, "we will soon be able to test the samples thanks to a new procedure, and we are going to do these tests. Some suspected cyclists returned to normal levels, but it was astonishing to see at what point their performances had then slowed," said Bordry.
Bordry said he had already been in contact with around 30 cyclists who the AFLD suspects to be involved in the latest scandal to hit the Tour de France. Earlier this week two cyclists tested positive for the difficult-to-detect, new-generation EPO-type blood booster CERA.
Leading the way was German cyclist Stefan Schumacher, a double stage winner, who tested positive on Monday. On the same day it was announced that Leonardo Piepoli, who won the 10th stage, has been handed a 20-month ban.
During the Tour only four riders tested positive for banned substances: Manuel Beltran, of Liquigas, and Barloworld rider Moises Duenas tested positive for EPO. Riccardo Ricco then joined them in disgrace after testing positive for CERA, and on the race's final day Dmitri Fofonov, who rides for Credit Agricole, tested positive for a banned stimulant.
Ricco has now recorded four positive tests from this years Tour de France
(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Ricco Positive Again
The French anti-doping agency has revealed that Riccardo Riccò tested positive for CERA on two other occasions during the Tour de France, making a total of four positive tests for the Italian. La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that his samples from medical checks before the Tour on July 4, and the rest day of July 15 were positive.
The Italian cycling federation recently gave Riccò a 20-month suspension. He will not face further sanctions because all four positive results were for the same substance at the same event.
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