3 more go down.. (cycling)

[Kelshara]

Petacchi, Piepoli and Mayo supposedly were caught during the Giro for doping. Soon there wont be enough riders left for the Tour!

[Truant]

Hey, we might have a shot at a team if we enter!

[masteen]

I'll provide the coke and epi, someone else needs to hook us up with the anabolics!

[noel]

Actually:

Spanish climber Iban Mayo has been cleared of any doping offence after returning a 'non-negative' urine test in the Giro d'Italia. The Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport reported the test results in a move that the UCI called "premature". The UCI is currently investigating the results of two other 'non-negative' tests, reported to be high levels of the asthma medication salbutamol returned, according to Gazetta, by Mayo's team-mate Leonardo Piepoli and sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi.

The UCI issued a statement regarding Mayo's high testosterone:epitestosterone result, stating, "No breach of the UCI antidoping rules was committed by the Spanish rider Iban Mayo of the Saunier Duval team. A further examination conducted by IRMS has enabled any possibility of testosterone administration to be ruled out."

The additional tests were performed in the WADA laboratory in Rome, and confirmed that Mayo's high testosterone levels are of a natural origin, something which Saunier Duval team manager stated the UCI is aware of, and for which Mayo holds an exemption. The Saunier Duval team objected to the publication of the test results in the press, stating that previous reports of non-negatives have been published and then subsequently returned 'not-guilty' verdicts, "But never in the past, had rumours been published with names of cyclists to such early stage," stated the team press release. "That is why we condemn and regret those accusations which have been made to our team and which affects our image and our sponsors."

Alessandro Petacchi's Milram team responded to the publication of his 'non-negative' test for the asthma drug stating that he, "like several other athletes and millions of people, in some periods of the season, suffers from allergic problems that he controls with a Ventolin inhaler."

The team confirmed in their statement that Petacchi had a therapeutic use exemption from the UCI, which allows him to use the drug. The statement decried the leak of the test results, and expressed their confidence that the matter would be cleared up.

Winner of the best climber jersey in the Giro, Leonardo Piepoli is one of those named by the Gazzetta article. Piepoli's team responded to the news stating that he takes the asthma drug for his allergies, and has a written exemption to use it from the UCI. While the rider has an exemption, he is still subject to a cut-off of the maximum level of the drug that can be in his urine. According to the team statement, "The concentration of Salbutamol in his urine will be verified in a laboratory in Barcelona respecting different factors such as the weight of the rider (54 kg) and others."

The rider himself admitted to AFP that he takes the drug for his allergies, and said, "Mauro [Gianetti, team manager -ed.] asked me how much I had taken. But I do not know the number of 'puffs' (inhalations) I made. I take it when I need it. It depends on the seasons."

This is how fucked up cycling is. Even the people with legitimate reasons [exemptions] to take actual drugs are assumed guilty instead of innocent because of how much shit has gone on in that sport. Add to that that the media is getting allegedly confidential information that's not even true... Riders and teams can lose endorsements, sponsorships, etc. because of bullshit media allegations like this. That lies entirely at the feet of the UCI. They need to clean up their promises of confidentiality for the riders. I'm all for hanging riders out to dry if they're truly doping, but the above three cases should have never hit the media at all.

(whether or not there's really a legitimate reason for the allergy drugs is a whole different ball of wax)

[Truant]

Just to add a perspective, I have asthma that is irritated by allergies. I don't have attacks, but I will develop a real bad wheeze/cough and end up with pretty severe difficulty breathing (it can keep me from sleeping).

I just use an over-the-counter inhaler now, but I used to have to carry my Ventolin inhaler around as a child.

[noel]

The bulk of the guys using allergy drugs on the Pro Tour are all using it for additional airflow. I think they did a study a few years back that showed 79% of the Pro Tour suffered from allergies and required allergy medicine.

I'm not saying there aren't legitimate users... and certainly the bulk of them are getting the exemptions to use it, but it's more like legitimized cheating than actual allergy sufferers.

[masteen]

Meh, I say we let em dope as much as they want. The Alpine stage would become extra interesting because I'm sure at least 2 riders every year would pop like bloated tics after forcing that extra couple litres of blood in.

[Truant]

The bulk of the guys using allergy drugs on the Pro Tour are all using it for additional airflow. I think they did a study a few years back that showed 79% of the Pro Tour suffered from allergies and required allergy medicine.

I'm not saying there aren't legitimate users... and certainly the bulk of them are getting the exemptions to use it, but it's more like legitimized cheating than actual allergy sufferers.

Yeah iirc, it opens up the bronchial tubes, which allows your blood to absorb more oxygen, etc. But I see what you're saying. I didn't realize most of the guys were hitting the inhalers. I thought you were wondering what allergies could have to do with inhalers (which i have to explain pretty often actually)

[Morgrym]

Most allergy inhalers are just bronchial steroids vice the inhalers used for asthma. Albuterol is the common asthma INH and is a bronchial dilator and vaso constrictor. The allergy INH are more bronchial dilators with a touch of H2 blockers. The problem lies with an issue of ethics here. It takes an official diagnosis and testing to have Asthma. However, anyone can say they have allergies as it's so common and there are tests to prove but are most often not done as it is more a symptomatic ailment. I could easily walk into my doctors office and tell them that I had allergy induced asthma / difficulty breathing and they would give me an INH if I asked for it. In a nut shell, every cyclist out there that wanted a way to get a tad more O2 into their blood has a very easy and legal way to do it. Although I can't fathom that it is all that much more but every little bit counts I suppose.

[noel]

That's it exactly. I think the scale of it gets lost in the translation a lot, but these races are really, really long. Fiveish hours most of the time. If they were just racing for 30 minutes or whatever, none of it would really matter, but a .01% increase in efficiency or performance over 5-6 hours can be considerable.

[Kelshara]

And of course when talking about TdF or the Giro it isn't just 5-6 hours one day. It is day after day after day after..