LA

[Andrew G]

[quote]ARMSTRONG DROPS LEGAL ACTIONS IN FRANCE
Seven-times Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong has dropped legal actions in France, stating that his victories in three legal battles elsewhere over doping allegations were sufficient to clear his name. His lawyers said that "Mr Armstrong considers that his honour and reputation have been re-established for all people who examine the facts in good faith, and that no further purpose is served now in pursuing other actions in defamation". A trial had been scheduled for October against the authors of a book in which it was claimed that Mr Armstrong had used banned substances. The rumours had led Dallas-based insurers SCA to refuse to pay Mr Armstrong a $5m bonus for his fifth win, but an arbitration court in Dallas ruled in the cyclist's favour and ordered SCA to make the $5m payment.

[Dr Frigo]

Is it true Nadal (tennis)'s name has been cited in this affair?

[Jon H]

As long as your doctors are better than their doctors, and your lawyers are better than their lawyers, then you can dodge everything.

By the way, wouldn't fancy taking one of those testostorone patches off afterwards - just think how taking a plaster off a hairy arm hurts!

[Andrew G]

[quote]wouldn't fancy taking one of those testostorone patches off afterwards

[huw williams]

LA regularly passed tests which were in place to detect only a limited range of drugs and doping techniques which as we know can be easily cheated with the corrrect know-how.

The higher echelons of cycling, and sport generally, have long since moved beyond basic steroid, EPO and doping procedures to new products and techniques which remain undetectable until someone provides a sample of the drug involved (such as in the Balco THG case).

In short there are a lot of 'sportsmen' out there taking stuff which testers don't even have a name for yet let alone a test.

Gene doping is the current hot favourite (there are many others) amongst US sports bodies

It's now widely believed to be so advanced that it will be the major drug-worry for organisers of the 2008 Olympics. So advanced in fact that many experts believe that it must already have been in practical use for some years. And it's currently undetectable.

This from a recent US sports science journal:
"The original idea behind gene therapy was to replace a missing or damaged gene, thereby providing an essential substance that the patient had been lacking. Many scientists have taken this initial concept one step further, says Sweeney (Doctor pioneering the medical development of the practice). Instead of simply supplying a copy of a missing gene, he and others realized that gene therapy could also fortify muscle, bones, and other tissue at the first signs of disease or aging. This approach could slow the progress of muscle wasting from aging or diseases, such as muscular dystrophy and osteoporosis, he says.

It's not a big technical leap from gene therapy to gene doping. "The sorts of things you'd want to do to help make muscle stronger or repair itself better in a diseased or old person would also make a healthy young person's muscles stronger and repair faster," Sweeney says.

According to Thomas Murray, president of the Hastings Center in Garrison, N.Y., and chairman of WADA's ethics panel, gene doping crosses an ethical line. The traditional draw of athletics, he says, is the combination of an athlete's natural talents with complementary virtues such as determination and discipline.

"What's chilling about the prospect of gene doping is that it arguably changes a person's natural abilities," Murray says. "It violates our understanding of what should make for success in sports."

Suddenly testing cyclists for steroids looks a little like the dark ages don't you think?

[Will]

The only thing I use on that list is sodium chloride.

But I don't use it in a performance capacity: quite the opposite in fact - I put it on my chips.

[Will]

And Greg seems in little doubt about LA...

Lemond comments on Landis win
by Mark Zalewski, North American Editor

The American media have been desperately flipping through their Rolodexes to find expert analysis on the Tour win by Floyd Landis. ESPN's Cold Pizza tracked down the first American Tour winner, Greg Lemond, while he was vacationing with his family. When asked if the number of wins by Americans in the last twenty years is a trend, Lemond replied, "It's pure coincidence. We just had some talented individuals come into racing. But what Floyd did was amazing."

Lemond was also asked why it seems that the Americans that win seem to have to overcome great hurdles, with Lemond's hunting accident, Armstrong's cancer and now Landis' hip, "I think anybody who has had a setback... it shows your character," Lemond said. Lemond is also confident that Landis will be able to come back from his upcoming surgery, citing a colleague who had a hip replacement using a new technique, "He has the physiology to be a Tour de France winner, he did it, and I think he will win many more. I am optimistic he will be able to defend his title next year."

Lemond has certainly not hidden his feelings on Armstrong, and when asked who would win today between Landis, him and Armstrong, Lemond at first chuckled, "I am biased! I can't answer that, [laughs.]" But then Lemond got a little more serious. "Every race is different. The race changed dramatically this year. For me I am a strong anti-doping advocate. I think we are seeing a true Tour de France winner, someone who might have otherwise been cheated out of a win."

When asked if he was saying Lance's wins were tainted, Lemond said, "I am not saying that. It goes back to the historical norms, where people got tired and had bad days. It was common to have a bad day when I was racing. I have been waiting for this period since 1998? The French riders are competitive since 1998. They have a much harder dope testing in their country. Watching a race that shows the human drama. I believe you can do the TdF without drugs, you get tired, and the strongest win."

[Dan B]

[quote]I believe the socks ruling is crucial and will redress the clear wanton abuse that has been going on through the peloton.

Is it true that the UCI will also be banning farbic softeners too? After all that velvety smooth feling that you might get from say the latest Assos cleaning products could be seen to give some an unfair advantage. I say yes keep cycling clean, but conditioned too? No, thats too far!