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OPINION

"Now where did I leave that passport?"

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by Secret Squirrel
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 14:50
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The biological passport programme is one passport that riders would probably rather not have, and it appears that we are on the eve of another raft of doping announcements in our sport if reports on Cyclingnews.com (quoting the Guardian) are to be believed.

After another innocence-pleading US rider (do I have to tell you he is?!) is caught with his pants down, and scuttles off into 'retirement,' we should perhaps brace ourselves for the silly-drug-season between now and Paris in late July.

It makes you wonder if the UCI and WADA have some kind of long-game on this. I mean how long does it take to test people? How long does it take to analyse people? How long does it really take for results to come through?

Is there something sinister in announcing these 'violations' at a time when the armchair cyclists up and down the country put their football shirts in the drawer until next season, and become Giro and TdF officianados for the summer? Is it damage limitation or carpet bombing for the UCI?

One thing is for sure, until LIFEBANS for anyone CAUGHT using banned substances are implemented this old game will be as perennial as the daffodils in your garden...

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John_the_Monkey | 15 years ago
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UCI is back tracking on it - their spokeman says the Guardian misunderstood him;

"UPDATE: Carpani says he was misunderstood. Thanks to Monty for finding and translating this from tuttobici:

“I don’t want to start passing the buck, but there must have been some misunderstanding with the journalist from the Guardian, especially on the usage of certain terms. I never spoke – and let me emphasize that – of definite positive cases. I simply said to the interviewer that there will probably be before the Grand Tours some communique from the UCI regarding the progress of the biological passport. But the contents of this communique could also be, and we all wish it would be thus ‘All fine, nothing to report, let’s carry on like this.""
(From Podium Café - http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/4/21/847003/uci-prepares-to-prosecute-first )

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Tony Farrelly | 15 years ago
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Potentially opens some big cans of worms too - if some big names are implicated, what if they've won races? If I was the organiser of a race (particularly a big race) which then turned out to have been won by a rider with a dodgy passport I would not be too happy that the UCI had taken so long over passport verification.

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thebikeboy | 15 years ago
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yeah but the point about the biological passport was that they started the testing program before the season started - you had to have one to start the season. So it seems strange to take all this time to start weeding out the riders with dodgy passports - even if they do have to be sure

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Secret Squirrel replied to thebikeboy | 15 years ago
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precisely!

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cactuscat | 15 years ago
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surely the reason there are more drug scandals in the high season is because there are more races, and consequently more tests? i don't think it's a conspiracy...

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