Lance Armstrong Investigation: USADA's Charges and Evidence

Photo from cbsnews.com

I found a copy of USADA's letter to Lance and friends online. From what I've read, some of USADA's evidence came to light from their participation in the grand jury investigation of fraud charges as the Grand Jury heard from the likes of Lance's closest associates including George Hincapie and others. The full letter is included below, along with some key points that I got from it:

Contador Ruling: Stripped of Tour de France Title

VeloNation is reporting that the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) has ruled on Alberto Contador and, to my surprise, they found that his doping violation will hold. What this means is that he is stripped of one of his Tour de France titles, a Giro d' Italia title and several wins in other races. Contador was given the full two-year ban. It appears that justice is sometimes served in pro-cycling!

Doping in Cycling: Some News that Caught My Eye

Today has two strange stories about cyclists who have been linked to doping that I just couldn't resist commenting on...

Contador Investigation: Expect Alberto to be found Innocent

VeloNews is reporting that WADA lawyers have threatened to walk out of the Alberto Contador hearing which is supposed to rule this week whether the Spaniard will be found to have violated doping rules. Contador has a lot riding on this ruling (no pun intended) since the rule states that any clenbuterol found in his system is a violation that will cause him to lose his Tour de France title and ban him for up to two years. As we've covered on Fraudbytes previously, Contador claims he got the steroid from eating tainted beef during the tour.

The VeloNews article is short and highlights several claims by an anonymous source that Contador has biased the arbitration process in his favor. If you're interested in why WADA is so frustrated by this hearing, I'd recommend reading the article.

Doping in Cycling and the Mafia

The head of the World Anti Doping Association (WADA), David Howman, gave an interview in New York City that gives some insights into the difficulty of battling doping in cycling and other sports. Here are some of the meatier quotes from an article on CyclingNews, along with my comments:

Contador Investigation: UCI Says "Not So Fast Alberto..."

The UCI announce today that they will put their foot down in the Alberto Contador-clenbuterol case and has appealed his decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. As you know, this case first came to light last Fall after it was announced that Alberto failed some tests during last year's Tour de France which showed that he had trace amounts of clenbuterol in his system during the tour. Interestingly, the clenbuterol just showed up one day in very small amounts.

As I have blogged earlier, soon after we learned Alberto had clenbuterol in his system it was also revealed that Alberto also had plasticizers in his system. A new, unapproved, test for plasticizers was used to see if Alberto had been blood doping and it appeared he was. However, the test was not yet an approved part of the regulators' arsenal of tools that they could use to find a cheater. Even so, the word was that the plasticizer test could be used to shed light on another test, as it appeared to in this case. The plasticizer theory goes like this:

Contador Investigation: Ruling Overturned by Spanish Federation

 News reports that are hot off the press are saying that Alberto Contador's one-year suspension has been overturned by the body that gave him the suspension: the Spanish cycling federation.

This is the same body that gave Contador the reduced, one-year, sentence last month! What gives?! Here are my thoughts.

Contador Investigation: A History of Smoke

As I posted previously in regards to Lance Armstrong, when an athlete has a history of doping allegations, it's wise to ask yourself whether the proverbial saying that "where there is smoke, there is fire" applies. So what about Alberto Contador? Does he have much doping smoke in his past?

Interestingly, VeloNews answered this question for us in an article titled "Alberto Contador's Doping Timeline" which details Alberto's history of doping suspicions and associations. (Incidentally, I may be wrong, but my impression of VeloNews is that they are hesitant to write much about this darker side of pro cycling. My impression is that it's rare for them to say much about Lance's allegations. They seem to be the last to discuss these topics. This time, they are leading the way.)

Here is a summary of the points raised in the article, along with some other links and elaboration by me. See if you think there is enough smoke to conclude a fire exists:

Lance Armstrong Investigation: Floyd Speaks Again

Floyd Landis broke months of near silence to accuse Lance Armstrong and his team of systematic doping in the 2004 tour. An article in VeloNation quotes Floyd in explaining how the team bus arranged for blood doping through transfusions that Landis described as "part of the job." The article said that Landis "spoke about a specific incident when he alleges a transfusion involving several riders was carried out on the morning of the first Alpine stage in the 2004 Tour de France." Here are some of the better quotes:

WADA Rejects Contador's 'Contaminated Meat' Defense

The World Anti-Doping Agency has reportedly rejected Alberto Contador's claim that contaminated beef resulted in his failed drug test.  Via the Washington Post:

A Spanish newspaper says the World Anti-Doping Agency found no evidence to support Alberto Contador's claim that contaminated meat caused his positive test at the Tour de France.

El Pais says WADA went to the meathouse in Irun, Spain, that provided the meat that Contador contends led to the positive finding for clenbuterol.

The paper says WADA's own tests showed no signs of the banned drug in the meat.

The paper quotes a leaked WADA report as saying Contador's intake of clenbuterol "could not have come from possibly contaminated meat." It also ruled out asthma medication as a cause.

Contador Case Moves to Spain

It was reported today that the UCI turned Contador's case over to the Spanish federation to determine what, if any, penalty the Spaniard should face. Time will tell what this means for Contador. I doubt he will get the maximum two-year suspension so if he gets one year they will back date it to July and he could be racing next August. Some people are speculating that if the Spanish federation is too easy on Alberto then WADA could get involved.

Does anyone of you know what the potential outcomes of this case are? Could the Spanish federation decide Alberto ate a bad steak and tell him to be more careful where he buys his steak next time? Maybe give him a six month ban starting last July?

Lance Armstrong Investigation: Praise from Abroad

Jeffrey Novitzky's investigation into Lance Armstrong's alleged doping while racing for U.S. Postal is getting some praise from around the globe. A recent article said the following:

Doper Di Luca Shunned by the Tour of Italy

VeloNation is reporting that the promoter of the Tour of Italy is basically keeping Danilo Di Luca out of his race and off any pro teams that want to race in the Tour of Italy. Di Luca has been found doping twice at the Tour of Italy and the promoter wants nothing to do with him.

I wish more teams would pass this message on to doper cyclists. This promoter believes Di Luca is bad for his event because he is a fraud. The UCI needs to figure out that dopers are ruining pro cycling and do something serious about it. For example, they could start imposing the 4-year bans that they are authorized to impose. I would use these bans for marginal violations (when some ever so slight potential for doubt exists, as in the Contador case) and change the rules so if you're caught even one time in an obvious and indisputable case of doping you are banned for life. Di Luca should be out of cycling forever, in my opinion.

Some serious penalties just might clean things up! Until changes like this, I expect the UCI to slap Contador's hand and doping to be in the news for a long time...

Alberto Contador Investigation: Odds of Eating Tainted Beef and Other Updates

According to NBC Sports, the chance that Alberto Contador got clenbuterol in his urine from eating a tainted steak are very slim. The article came out today. Here is a quote:

(T)he European Union outlawed clenbuterol for animal fattening in 1996 and systematically monitors farms to ensure that the ban is enforced. Only once did clenbuterol show up in 83,203 animal samples tested by EU countries in 2008 and 2009, says the European Commission's directorate for health and consumer policy. 

Spain tested 19,431 samples in those years; none were positive for the drug, it adds. Illegal use of clenbuterol in European farming "has indeed become rare," says the office's spokesman, Frederic Vincent. 

Which suggests that Contador would have been extremely unfortunate to stumble across a tainted steak. That's one reason why Fernando Ramos, a food contamination specialist at Portugal's Coimbra University, doesn't buy it. 

"It's not impossible but improbable," he says. "In my opinion, it's just a story."

In other bad news for Contador, it was reported last week that an anonymous insider from Astana has said that Contador took clenbuterol to lose weight prior to the Tour de France and then gave blood for use in the Tour de France. VeloNation reported that the insider give some incredible details on Contador's blood doping and clenbuterol use. Here are a few quotes:

How can Doping in Cycling be Cleaned Up?

I had a reader recently ask me why I don’t blog about ways to clean up pro cycling. Unfortunately, I have not seen a lot of news about ways to clean up cycling. I’ve been looking for ideas and thinking about how to prevent other forms of fraud and decided to throw together a few thoughts. I’m sure my thoughts are initial ideas at best so, in doing so, I hope the rest of you will add comments below or send us an email if you have other ideas. Here are my initial thoughts...

Floyd Landis Hopes to Repay Contributors to his Defense Fund

VeloNation reported last night that Floyd Landis is planning to take claims and repay those who contributed to his legal defense fund known as the "Floyd Fairness Fund." The fund was established to provide resources to fight charges that he used performance enhancing drugs in the 2006 Tour de France. For years, Floyd claimed to be innocent of the charges but now has admitted to doping for several years as a pro cyclist. As such, he says that he wants to repay those who contributed to his defense.

The article notes that he doesn't currently have funds to repay donors but he hopes to make enough money to do so at some point. The article notes that the estimated total contributions were $1 million that Floyd would need to repay. A good chunk, or all of that amount, may be awarded to him if the whistleblower lawsuit he filed against Lance Armstrong and associates comes to fruition. If that doesn't pan out, it may be a long while before donors see any refunds. If you contributed to his fund, I wouldn't advise holding your breath in anticipation of your refund. Even so, I think it's another step in the right direction for Floyd.

I personally never contributed to Floyd's defense fund and if Contador was to set up a similar fund, I wouldn't contribute to it either. Not that I don't believe a false positive is out of the realm of possibilities but Alberto has a lot to explain before I send him any money...

Lance Armstrong Investigation: Results of New Doping Test will be Crucial

If you've been following the Alberto Contador investigation, you've read that a new doping test has quietly been in development to catch athletes doing blood transfusions. The test is designed to look for signs of transfusions by detecting high amounts of plastic metabolites in urine and blood. Apparently, similar tests have been used for our food supply for some time but now it is being applied to look for blood doping in cyclists. The test has not been approved by WADA yet but the scientists working on it say they are close to establishing the cutoff for evidence that a blood transfusion was used.

While it is clear that Alberto's levels of plastic in his urine probably spell doom to his steak story, it may not be as clear what this test has to do with Lance Armstrong. Well, first, Floyd Landis has alleged that many in the pro peloton, including Lance, turned away from EPO as the preferred doping method in the early 2000's and, instead, reverted to transfusing their blood. The reason for this change was that an effective test for EPO came out. As such, Floyd alleges that Lance, Levi and others transfused their blood around the rest days in the Tour de France. The test for this has been to look for excess mature blood cells relative to immature cells or reticulocytes. Floyd alleges that cyclists got around this test by micro-dosing EPO at night in amounts that would were undetectable by morning. The EPO would lead to new reticulocytes and keep the blood looking normal. This plastic test is a new way to detect blood transfusions.

But, you ask, how can this affect the Lance Armstrong investigation? One very good deterrent to doping that was adopted by pro cycling in the past few years is a requirement that blood and urine samples be maintained for future testing. I recall that at some point in the past decade, cyclists had to agree to this requirement. An article from NY Daily News makes the point that hundreds of Lance Armstrong's urine and blood "specimens are in storage, where they are fair game not only to anti-doping agencies but to" Jeffrey Novitzky and his associates at the FDA who are investigating Lance for fraud. I assume that the same is true for others who Floyd alleges were taking transfusions including Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Dave Zabriskie.

In my opinion, this new test is great news for either Lance or Floyd and horrible news for the other party, depending on who is telling the truth. I believe this new test could be a game changer. In the past, I have said that I didn't think Lance would ever go to jail because he's been able to get the tests that showed he was doping thrown out on technicalities. I've also said that there is so much smoke around him that I don't think he's innocent. 

Assuming this new test is deemed strong evidence of doping and assuming Novitzky gets a hold of several of his specimens, I believe this evidence could resolve any remaining doubts about these allegations. From what I've read, the plastic from these blood bags should still be in the frozen urine and blood. As such, if Novitzky can show a pattern of plasticizers spiking around the rest days to show that Lance was transfusing his blood then Floyd's story will be validated.

I also believe that this evidence could change the tide of belief that he is guilty if enough specimens were tested and showed he had no unusual spikes or amounts of the plastic in his urine or blood. As such, if he is really innocent, he ought to be thrilled at this new test and begging Novitzky to test his urine and blood for these plasticizers. On the other hand, if he is guilty, he ought to be holding a press conference any day now to let the truth prevail.

In the end, this test has serious implications for all those who Floyd alleges were involved in doping. If Levi, George, Dave and others were transfusing their blood they will now want to think twice about how they answer the Grand Jury's questions. There may not be as many urine or blood specimens out there to analyze for these riders as there are for Lance but, this test could lead to time in jail for perjury if they are not telling the truth...

More Details on Contador's Doping Tests

The NY Times reported that an anonymous source provided details about Contador's doping tests. It appears that Contador has failed several tests. The initial failure was on the evening of a rest day when a new test for blood doping that looks for a chemical called a plasticizer revealed that the Spaniard had eight times the minimum amount in his urine. This test is new and not yet validated for use. This explains why Contador may have been caught with the test as he may not have anticipated it. However, because it's not yet validated, he may challenge it in court. However, the article quoted the chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency accredited lab in Rome as saying:

More on Contador's Beef Story

Several theories about about how Contador (AC) may have ended up with the trace amount of clenbuterol in his blood. One possible theory being explored is that AC was using clenbuterol weeks before the Tour de France and thought it had cleared his system when he then gave blood for future blood doping.  Then, on the rest day, he transfused his blood (with the trace amount of clenbuterol) and the clenbuterol showed up the next day in his urine.

Some experts are alleging that those who transfuse blood have higher amounts of plastic residues from the blood transfusion bags and reports are going around that AC showed a high concentration of plastic in addition to clenbuterol. (Interestingly, one reader pointed out to me that this may be what happened to Floyd when he ended up with excess testosterone in his blood. It's possible that the reason he is still claiming he didn't take testosterone the night before he failed the test is that he transfused his blood from a prior period and the blood had excess testosterone in it.)

Apparently, the UCI has another theory that allows Contador to keep the yellow jersey and for pro cycling to save some face. To have another Tour de France winner lose his yellow jersey would be bad for business and would reflect poorly on the UCI. As for the UCI's theory, Contador gave the following account:

Update on Lance's Podium Finishers

Remember the post that analyzed Armstrong's podium finishers and showed that most of them have been shown to be dopers? Given the news on Contador's doping, the graphic I used on that post has been updated courtesy of one of the followers of doping in cycling. Check it out.