It depends on what the meaning of "doped" is

[Elefantino]

I want lawyers like this (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/cycling-alberto-contadors-lawyer-explains-ban-uturn-2222669.html).

[dave thompson]

Sort of like Clinton's:"....it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is".

[keevon]

"Contador's case could well establish new anti-doping jurisprudence, too, meaning that the onus may now shift back onto the authorities to establish athletes' guilt, rather than athletes having to demonstrate - as is currently the case - that they are wrongly accused of cheating."

It's about f-ing time.

[benb]

What a joke.. I suppose what they should have said was "The spanish cycling authorities and government would never have penalized our hero, so we came up with a way to accept his sorry excuse!"

If this holds up there is going to be a run on Clenbuterol as the entire peloton stocks up.

[1centaur]

I actually think AC's lawyer is right on. That's a good legal argument: there's a mismatch between cow testing and cyclist testing, and the cyclists are asked to bear the brunt of the disparity. Circumstantial evidence suggests reasonable doubt.

Guilty or not, the right arguments were made and apparently made well.

[benb]

Depends on who's listenting.. pro cycling is not the law why do they have to have the same standards..

For those of us who don't want to watched doped athletes this is just another reason to tune out.

The hypocrisy of it all is the big thing.. berto can get off with his $$ and lawyers but other cyclists in the exact same situation sit with 2 year bans.

[JMerring]

..

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . that it is reeking of hypocrisy for Bertie to get off when other cyclists without his $$ resources get 2 years bans.

BUT . . .that being said, I also don't agree with the strict liability clause in the regs. The German lab that found Clen-B in AC's system found it at levels far, FAR below what constitutes performance enhancing benefit.

Right now I have a reasonable doubt that the levels found in his samples really DO indicate doping. I have not seen any credible evidence that would convince me that it's NOT possible to accidentally ingest enough in everyday life to result in having those incredibly low trace levels be present in your body.

Expressed another way, let's take a hundred people off the street in that part of the world and do the same test with the same sensitivity on THEIR blood. Do they show the same trace levels? If so, then it would bolster AC's defense.

I'm not an AC lover or hater. I've just seen enough information over the years about how many substances are contaminating our food, drinking water, ground water, etc. to belive that his explanation IS possible. It's gotten to the point where if an athlete doesn't want to take ANY chance of ANY detection given the zero tolerance policy, then he would have to pre-test literally every bit of food and every drop of liquid he puts into his body at any time, even in the off-season. That's just not a reasonable demand to make of anyone--and probably not even possible to do.

BBD

[jbrainin]

I've just seen enough information over the years about how many substances are contaminating our food, drinking water, ground water, etc. to belive that his explanation IS possible. It's gotten to the point where if an athlete doesn't want to take ANY chance of ANY detection given the zero tolerance policy, then he would have to pre-test literally every bit of food and every drop of liquid he puts into his body at any time, even in the off-season. That's just not a reasonable demand to make of anyone--and probably not even possible to do.

BBD

Word.

[dekindy]

Everyone will be watching his performance closely this coming season. If he does not have as good form as prior years, is that an indication that he was doping?

[BumbleBeeDave]

Everyone will be watching his performance closely this coming season. If he does not have as good form as prior years, is that an indication that he was doping?

. . . if there's the appearance of a conflict of interest, then there IS a conflict of interest.

If he doesn't do as well, then yes, he doped--whether he really did or not!

BBD

[JohnHemlock]

Contador isn't a Chinese pig farmer, there is no way he should've had clenbuterol in his system. It isn't something (particularly in the EU) that just makes it's way into food. You get it from people like Kirk Radomski and Victor Comte for the purposes of enhancing your performance.

Enjoy your enlarged heart, Fingerbang!

[jbrainin]

Actually, the Spanish import a great deal of their beef from Argentina where it is not uncommon to use clembuterol on their livestock. So yeah, it can be something that just makes its way into food. Kinda like prozac in the NYC water supply.

[JohnHemlock]

Actually, the Spanish import a great deal of their beef from Argentina where it is not uncommon to use clembuterol on their livestock. So yeah, it can be something that just makes its way into food. Kinda like prozac in the NYC water supply.

3% is a great deal of their beef?

Although I do laugh at all the "beef bans" that go on - Egypt bans the EU, Israel bans Argentina, Phillipines bans Spain, Japan bans US. On and on and on. These countries accept barrels of SuperAids from other countries but 10 kilos of ground chuck is verboten!

Conty is just lucky his name wasn't Li Fuyu!

[BumbleBeeDave]

Contador isn't a Chinese pig farmer, there is no way he should've had clenbuterol in his system. It isn't something (particularly in the EU) that just makes it's way into food. You get it from people like Kirk Radomski and Victor Comte for the purposes of enhancing your performance.

Enjoy your enlarged heart, Fingerbang!

. . . and had yourself given a comprehensive test with the sensitivity of the one given Contador you might be surprised at what is found and at what levels in your body.

Just as examples, one of the main reasons found for the earlier and earlier pubescence of American girls is the ubiquity in the water supply of chemicals used in a variety of products that mimic the effects of estrogen. Almost all municipal water supplies of any size also contain trace amounts of a large variety of drugs because at present thee is no reliable way--nor are there regulations that require--the removal of such chemicals.

BBD

[Rueda Tropical]

Considering the presence of the plasticizers as well as the clen I seriously doubt AC's innocence. However Spain is a big beef producer and there have been more then a few arrests for clen use in cattle in Spain. Even a tiny annual percent is a lot of cows for a major producer like Spain. So his story is perfectly possible even if considering the other components found in his blood it may not be all that likely in his specific case.

AC aside, I think the strict liability clause is completely unfair to the athletes and should be legally unenforceable in a contract. I'd rather see ten cheats (which probably includes AC) get away with it then see one innocent athlete without big money lawyers and influence get banned and have his or her career forever tarred with the mark of a cheat.

I'm sure there are other, less arbitrary methods that can be developed to enforce anti-doping rules.

[1centaur]

To BBD's point, seems like a cycling mag that wanted to get a lot of publicity for itself should do exactly that for 5 of its journos - have them tested for all the things cyclists are tested for (I wonder what that costs?) and publish the results. At the least their story would get discussed all over the Interwebs and presumably pay for itself in exposure many times over. At the most, it could change the sport they cover.

[weiwentg]

. . . that it is reeking of hypocrisy for Bertie to get off when other cyclists without his $$ resources get 2 years bans.

BUT . . .that being said, I also don't agree with the strict liability clause in the regs. The German lab that found Clen-B in AC's system found it at levels far, FAR below what constitutes performance enhancing benefit.

Right now I have a reasonable doubt that the levels found in his samples really DO indicate doping. I have not seen any credible evidence that would convince me that it's NOT possible to accidentally ingest enough in everyday life to result in having those incredibly low trace levels be present in your body.

Expressed another way, let's take a hundred people off the street in that part of the world and do the same test with the same sensitivity on THEIR blood. Do they show the same trace levels? If so, then it would bolster AC's defense.

I'm not an AC lover or hater. I've just seen enough information over the years about how many substances are contaminating our food, drinking water, ground water, etc. to belive that his explanation IS possible. It's gotten to the point where if an athlete doesn't want to take ANY chance of ANY detection given the zero tolerance policy, then he would have to pre-test literally every bit of food and every drop of liquid he puts into his body at any time, even in the off-season. That's just not a reasonable demand to make of anyone--and probably not even possible to do.

BBD

+1