2007 cleanest Tour since 1996

Excellent article covering covering doping sample analysis in the
Lausanne lab:

In German:
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/sport/..._1.536876.html

"The Bloody Trace of Bicycle Racing"

quick Babelfish to English:

Blood-purely of the cycle racing
Not all laboratory values are sufficient for Dopingsperren. But they
show the extent of the fraud.

Of Remo Geisser

Is the cycle racing how ill? About what for weeks one speculates, can
be specified rather accurately. The Antidoping laboratory in Lausanne
examines the blood values of wheel professionals since 1996 on behalf
of the wheel world union UCI. The data sets collected thereby are
enormous, because since 1997 before all larger round travels all
participants are left to the vein. That is official health tests, but
in truth it concerned from the outset to exclude sportsmen with
remarkable blood values from running. One calls that protection
barrier, because the values are not sufficient, in order to speak from
Doping to. Such barriers are today rarely - the sportsmen and their
backers learned to near-dope themselves to the limit values.

Announcement

Which blood values state
But the Dopinganalytiker knows far more, than they can say loud. It
noticed to them that also allegedly clean wheel professionals have
often different blood values than normal humans. With the help of a
set of reference values a team of the laboratory developed a model in
Lausanne for the determination of the frequency of Blutdoping. Pierre
Edouard Sottas uses thereby the medical term of the Praevalenz. This
states, how high the portion of humans with a certain illness (in this
case Doping) is within a population. "the method is very accurate",
says Sottas. And it functions with all forms of the blood
manipulation: EPO Doping, own and foreign blood transfusion. "we can
determine today with security, like many doped running drivers to a
round travel start", say Sottas. With the help of the data, which he
uses, a new Dopingtest is to be introduced (see following text).

When in the route de Suisse blood tests were taken to 1996, in order
to develop the future UCI test, EPO was a not provable wonder drug.
Martial Saugy, which says directors/conductors of the Lausanner
laboratory,: "at that time were doped over 80 per cent of the
drivers." In other kinds of sport there were no systematic controls.
But Saugy is convinced: "which applied for 1996 to the cycle racing,
could to all perseverance disciplines will transfer." At that time
Bjarne Riis won the route de France. Today we know: It was the best
one in running the blood Zombies.

1996 were also the year of the olympic plays of Atlanta. Saugy says:
"I would give much, if I could analyze all Dopingproben of Atlanta
with modern methods." But the IOK does not want an additional scandal.
Only the cycle racing remains. Sottas and the team of the Lausanner
Antidoping laboratory examined and also determined all large radrennen
since introduction of blood controls, how quickly the Peloton reacted
to new controls.

The development of the last years:

1996: It is not controlled; over 80 per cent of the drivers EPO uses.

1997 to 1999: The definition of a Haematokrit limit value disconcerts
the sportsmen, the number of the Doper is easily declining.

2000: Everyone knows in the meantime, how one manipulates the
Haematokrit. EPO is used again more broadly.

2001: A EPO test is introduced and has dramatic consequences. "before
the route de France 2001 was practically clean the Peloton", says
Pierre Edouard Sottas. In the third week however again an increase was
to constitute - it went around the victory, and obviously one had
already recognized the borders of the test.

2002: At the beginning the Praevalenz is still deep, toward end year
rises it clearly.

2003: In the Vuelta profit the drivers from the latches attitude of
the Spaniards. "one can speak nearly of surface covering Doping", says
Sottas. The reason: EPO in micro doses and Transfusionen with foreign
blood are not provable.

2004/2005: A test for foreign blood transfusions is introduced; Tyler
Hamilton and Santi Perez fly up. That leads first to a shock, but one
manipulates then with self-blood. The Praevalenz sinks nevertheless:
Manipulate approximately 50 per cent of the drivers, but under the
best the portion is higher. The values to the Vuelta lie again over
that other running.

2006/2007: With the Operación Puerto the Spanish Blutsumpf is drying-
put. The number of the Doper as small as never is more since 2001.
Less than a quarter of the 180 to the route de France 2007 started
driver pedals with manipulated blood. However Sottas says: "under the
first 30 of the Gesamtklassements the Praevalenz is higher than in
rear ranks."

Due to its data the Lausanner Dopingfahnder assumes there are no more
teams, which manipulate systematically the blood. 2003 were still the
case. One sees clear, how the picture in individual teams changed. But
there are still Equipen, in which accumulated up doped sportsmen are
engaged, and it is still like that that there are many athletes with
abnormal blood values in certain countries.

Not surface covering
There are similar methods as for recognizing Blutdoping for anabole
Steroide. The Lausanner it says laboratory boss Martial Saugy that the
portion of the drivers, who are busy for example with Testosteron is
just as high as those the Blutdoper - and very often concerns it the
same people. The picture is less precise with the growth hormones,
because the 2006 imported test really does not function. Studies prove
however that growth hormones are effective only in combination with
EPO or anabolen Steroiden. In addition catches of police and tariff
show: Growth hormones are smuggled approximately in same quantities as
other Dopingmittel. Thus clearly different picture than in the public
prevailing the last results from the totally contaminated cycle
racing. The route de France 2007, when route reduces de Farce
verschrien and at the end of the media to the Doping reporting, was
one the cleanest for a long time. Even with largest caution can be
said: 75 per cent of the drivers were ungedopt. But recent history
shows, how quickly that can change.

Cyrus De Kline wrote:
Excellent article covering covering doping sample analysis in the
Lausanne lab:

In German:
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/sport/..._1.536876.html


Thanks for the reference -- very interesting.

One issue: the analysis in a given year has no control, but the analysis year-to-year should be able to identify trends. Good stuff.

Dan

P.S. Strong recommendation: "The Rider" by Tim Krabbe. Written in 1978, but translated to English only in 2002. The best piece of cycling fiction I've ever read, by far.