Another dope(?)

According to Velonews, these are the riders tested that day:

I think they're waiting to pull Hinault off the bench. Alll they have to do is keep testing the competition.

He is traitor to glorious nation Kazakhstan. He must be execute.

Cycling News Flash for July 25, 2007

Edited by Laura Weislo with assistance from Susan Westemeyer

Moreni positive for testosterone

One day after Alexandre Vinoukourov was said to have tested positive for a blood transfusion, news of another positive doping control hit the Tour de France. L'Equipe reported Wednesday afternoon that one sample from stage 11 has tested positive for testosterone, and later announced that the rider in question was Cofidis' Cristian Moreni.

The analysis to determine if the testosterone was of exogenous origin has already been completed, and the IRMS confirmed that the chemical came not from the rider's body but from a man-made source.

The testing was performed at the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory - the same lab responsible for performing tests on Floyd Landis' 2006 Tour sample that showed a similar result. This result is the second positive of the Tour, and the third testosterone positive announced this month after Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile) and Matthias Kessler (Astana).

Ironically, Moreni and the Cofidis team were part of a group of riders who staged a protest at the start of today's stage in Orthez, along with the other French teams and the Gerolsteiner squad. The teams came together to form the new 'Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible' - and stayed behind at the start and allowing the rest of the peloton to ride on ahead.

Stay tuned for more information as the story develops.

I have a question if someone can answer it, correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that the labs tested blind samples, that is a sample with only a riders number on it, in theory so the lab doesn't know the identity of the sample.  If this is the case, how can the lab report that any specific rider is testing positive.  Am I wrong on my understanding of the procedure?

(I'm not neive I believe the doping is going on, I'm just mystified how this one paper continues to get these "leaks" from the lab)

Correction: Velonews is now reporting that despite Moreno's getting booted, Cofidis will remain in the Tour. WTF? Maybe they were asked to leave, as was Astana, but they declined. Seems like a double standard to me. Probably has nothing to do with them being a French team.

edit: now they're reporting Cofidis is out. Breaking news is fun.

You and FLandis ask the same question.

In my understanding, what you say is correct. The lab reports the result based on the confidential rider number to the Tour organizers (and presumably the UCI). The Tour organizers then match the number with the rider. That's how it's supposed to work.

The question I always have is: 'Is doping more prevalent in cycling than other sports or is it just that cycling is more aggressive in their drug testing and punishment?"

I'd love to have the same punishments in ummm say major league baseball.  Let's say a certain home run hitter is found to have taken a banned substance and his entire team is subject to punishment.  Wouldn't that be interesting.

I don't think holding a whole team accountable for one rider is really very fair.   I would be horrified if the whole RedSox season was over if one player tested positive. My impression (and that is all it is) is that baseball is starting to get cleaned up slowly, and that in cycling illegal enhancements are extremely common.

While it might not be very fair to the other riders.  I think the whole team being accountable for all riders is a very smart move to try and clear up the massive drug problems in cycling.   Is a clean rider going to want to ride with a team of dopers knowing that his reputation/career chance to podium could be damaged if his team mates are found out.