TdF Winn+r?

[DavidKennett]

[img]http://multimedia.pol.dk/archive/00190/Bjarne_Riis_190703c.jpg[/img]

Quote from Willy Voet re clenbuterol:

Banned from the market in France, Clenbuterol is one of the most powerful hormones when it comes to developing muscular mass. Beef rearers are well aware of its properties: the more meat they can sell, the more money they make. It can give spectacular muscle growth. To work out its effects precisely, we needed a guinea-pig, but it couldn't be one of the riders. They are so happy to be given something new that they tend to lose all restraint and the whole pelelon knows exactly what's happening over the next few weeks. We found the right man soon enough: me. Before the Dauphine Libere in 1996 I took ten pills over seven days, then urinated conscientiously into a jar from days five to eight after taking the final pill. The whole works was then sent to a laboratory in Ghent. The Clenbuterol had been eliminated from my system by day eight. For a cyclist, who will get rid of chemicals far more quickly than someone sedentary like me, the period was still shorter.

And the effects were felt almost immediately. Three hours after I took the first pill, I began shivering. I had the impression that my lungs were swelling, that I had a new battery somewhere in the system. I felt confident, full of energy, strong as a bull - on hormones. The effects lasted for more than a month, effects which we used with good results in the big Tours after that.

[Andrew G]

I'm sure tests that pick up 0.000 000 000 05 grams per ml traces of a substance are reliable as well, just as likely to be a lab technician who had sweet and sour pork balls the night before sneezing in the same room as the test.

If someone's cheating catch them and ban them, something at these levels is pathetic.

[kieran]

from various body building sites you get thing like (from http://bodybuilderschoice.com/raClenbut ... China.html) :

Many athletes also claim that they enjoyed significant gains in muscle mass while using clenbuterol. There is no doubt that clenbuterol has an anabolic effect in animals but there are, though, no scientific evidence this also is true in humans. The same goes for the strong anticatabolic effect of clenbuterol, meaning it decreases the rate at which protein is reduced in the muscle cell, consequently causing an enlargement of muscle cells.

Clenbuterol should therefore be used primarily for fat loss and cutting purposes.


Willy must have been on HUGE doses.

On a lighter note:

[url]http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/tour-de-france-bans-terry%11thomas-201009303129/[/url]

[Dan_K]

Crazy day eh? Shame all this has overshadowed a British ex-doper coming second in the World TT championships to a man previously accused of using an electric motor in his bicycle…

[DavidKennett]

[quote="marco"]Poor old Mr Sixty Percent he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. What has he ever done to deserve this?

[the other Steve Dennis]

Let'ssee what Mr Papp has ro say about this...

[url]http://twitter.com/joepabike[/url]

[quote] considering suicide if taken during the Tour. Yes, I've tried it - there's nothing redeeming about it for cyclists, even in the off season. about 5 hours ago via web

[Dan_K]

I see Contador went for the "Essex Girl" defence and blamed it on the dodgy meat he had inside him....

[Marcus]

[quote="Dan_K"]I see Contador went for the "Essex Girl" defence and blamed it on the dodgy meat he had inside him....

[virek]

http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves20 ... usion.html

I'll let you all do your own Google Translate.

Suffice to say they seem to have found traces of plastics that fit with the type used for blood bags, ergo the suspicion of a transfusion and a cock up in the calculation when the clenbuterol would have cleared from his system.

Ouch !

[Grahame]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

I'd have to question the science in this test. In any other laboratory, his sample would almost certainly come back negative.

There's a couple of interesting articles here:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/

The most important bit, I think, is:
[quote="Ross Tucker, PhD"]Irrespective of how the CB came into his body, its bad analytical chemistry to have a MRPL but not LLOD (threshold level), unless you have already done a baseline study that proves there is no need for a LLOD. In other words you cannot have "any level is an adverse level" without unequivocal proof that the only way CB can get into body is through deliberate ingestion and not present in whole population through factors outside their control.

As for the delivery, it is clear that it came into the body after the 20th July test and before 21st test, and therefore clear that the initial amount was too low to be enhancing or necessary. That leaves contamination or transfusion of blood already low in CB.
If transfusion, then surely they would have sufficient blood parameter data over six days of test 2 before CB, 2 with CB and 2 without. You cannot argue that CB would be the only parameter that would dramatically change with a transfusion immediately before a test.

This is WADA type of science where the law dominates scientific reasoning. Better for them to report a finding of a miniscule amount of something worthless , no matter how confusing, than to explain why they never catch a big fish for one of the genuine performance enhancers.

[kieran]

eresting but a bit dated, still relevant?:

Reproduced with permission from The Vegetarian Winter 1993/94

The growth-promoting drug Clenbuterol -- commonly known as 'angel dust' -- was banned seven years ago, yet its use in the meat industry is still widespread, despite the fact that it is known to pass into the food chain. In humans its side-effects are not only unpleasant but sometimes fatal.

In 1991 ox liver was responsible for the hospitalisation of 135 people in Spain. Throughout the rest of Europe, thousands more offal consumers have suffered symptoms such as dizziness, tremors and heart palpitations, all of which can be traced to a single source: the growth-promoting drug Clenbuterol. There has been at least one death to date.

Clenbuterol -- also known as 'angel dust' -- is illegal yet its grip on the livestock industry is unrelenting. Its distribution channels are shrouded in mafia-like mystery, and those vets and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) trying to clamp down on the drug's widespread use have been shot at, petrol bombed and some have even had their cars blown up.

The use of illegal drugs in the meat industry has its roots in the post-war intensification of agriculture. Food shortages and ration books convinced governments and food producers that increased levels of production had to become their principal aim, no matter what the cost. 'Factory' farming was heralded as the answer, and as more animals were crammed into ever smaller sheds and out-buildings, diseases became rife. Farmers and vets turned to antibiotics in an attempt to overcome this problem and found that an unexpected bonus was increased levels of growth in the animals.

Pharmaceutical companies were quick to spot a potential gold mine. The race was on to develop growth-promoting drugs. The first widely available growth promoter was diethylstilbestrol (DES); injected into an animal's muscle tissue this prompted a rapid gain in pre-slaughter weight.

By the 1960s the dangerous and carcinogenic properties of DES had become known and some countries banned its use. However as recently as 1980 infant boys in Italy started developing breasts and girls were showing signs of puberty at less than one year of age. Their abnormalities were attributed to DES, found in certain meat-based baby foods.

The public naturally was shocked, a clampdown followed and in 1988 a whole range of growth-promoting drugs were banned by the EC. The meat and pharmaceutical industries put up a fight but could not block the legislation: only Britain voted against the ban with the United States joining the fray as soon as the ban was extended to imports. They retaliated with sanctions on many EC products, from canned tomatoes to fruit juice.

Clenbuterol was finally banned in 1987, but legislation has done little to curb its use. An EC report on its illegal application was suppressed for more than 12 months before finally being released in a much-tempered form. One Belgian MEP who saw the original report - and has since had threats made upon his life - claims that Clenbuterol is to be found in 80 per cent of the cattle in Belgium and 60 per cent in Holland. In Britain up to a quarter of our cattle may still be receiving the drug illegally.

A beta-agonist, Clenbuterol is related to the drugs used by body builders. It accelerates the building of muscle tissue while breaking down body fat. Small quantities added to an animal's feed can boost a carcass' lean meat by up to 15 per cent while reducing its fat content by 30 per cent. Manufactured in Eastern Europe, it is smuggled into the EC by a network of dealers known as the 'hormone mafia'.

Earlier this year MAFF had to withdraw Belgian pork liver pate from supermarket shelves after discovering levels of Clenbuterol 40 per cent higher than those allowed for medical purposes. As with many food-poisoning instances, the effects of Clenbuterol in humans may well be attributed to other less sinister complaints and so go undetected. Common symptoms suffered soon after digestion can include dizziness, headaches, muscle tremors and heart palpitations. Poisoning on a scale similar to Spanish or French incidents has yet to occur in Britain, but Clenbuterol is undoubtedly present in our meat products.

The long-term effects of Clenbuterol are also a cause for concern. The drug is known to accumulate in the liver which could well cause serious damage over a period of time. Those who suffer from heart disease may also be at risk, as the beta blocker drugs prescribed to combat their high blood pressure can be neutralised by minute amounts of Clenbuterol. The drug is reportedly also capable of inducing asthma attacks, so those with chest complaints should be especially wary of products which could be contaminated.

Maybe he meant to say he had liver for dinner?


I still don't know one way or the other if he doped or not.

[-Adam-]

Marco, mate, I want people not to take drugs just as much as you do.

But lets hold fire for a second here huh. Think about it. I'm not saying if he's innocent or guilty, because funnily enough, I don't know.

All I'm saying is, given the circumstances, it is plausible that he is innocent. That little of a substance, that is really not going to make a difference, taken at that stage in a grand tour. You really want to hang him for it?

[Sylv]

Sigh ..

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/fullana ... ve-for-epo

[Will]

Another article on the transfusion theory:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5846/ ... sions.aspx

And a medical study (click next to see subsequent pages):
http://www.velonation.com/Photos/Photo- ... d/574.aspx

[Dombo]

[quote="-Adam-"]Marco, mate, I want people not to take drugs just as much as you do.

But lets hold fire for a second here huh. Think about it. I'm not saying if he's innocent or guilty, because funnily enough, I don't know.

All I'm saying is, given the circumstances, it is plausible that he is innocent. That little of a substance, that is really not going to make a difference, taken at that stage in a grand tour. You really want to hang him for it?