A Terrific Tour (Despite 2 Dopes)

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Issue No. 352 - 07/17/08: 

ISSN 1536-4143

 

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A Terrific Tour (Despite 2 Dopes)

 

So this won't be the hoped-for "clean" Tour de France. Two Spaniards -- Manuel "Triki" Beltran (Quickstep) and Moises Duenas Nevado (Barloworld) -- have tested positive for the blood booster EPO in separate incidents. Each was pulled from the race and questioned by police.

 

That's the bad news. The good news is that their transgressions haven't cast a pall over the Tour like doping infractions in recent years. Beltran and Duenas Nevado are pack fodder, not big-name stars. They are being written off as "idiots" who represent an old-school system.

 

Chris Carmichael, the former Tour rider and coach of Lance Armstrong, puts it this way: "There will be positive tests and there will always be athletes who choose to cheat, but there's a difference between a culture of doping -- which was the state of affairs [in cycling] for a long time -- and isolated incidents of cheating."

 

UCI president Pat McQuaid states: "If the B test result ultimately proves that Beltran had taken EPO, then I have absolutely no sympathy for him. I would think he is an absolute idiot." When the Duenas Nevado news broke several days later, McQuaid added, "It is interesting to see that it is the second Spanish rider [to fail a drug test]. Spain are slower to get the message."

 

Bob Stapleton, owner of U.S.-based Team Columbia, contends: "It's almost an addictive behavior, and you have to view them as addicts, and probably they have to be treated like that as well."

 

Duenas Nevado, 27, was in 19th place overall when pulled from the race. The positive urine sample given by Beltran, 37, raised eyebrows when it was noted that he is the fourth member of the former Armstrong / Johan Bruyneel dynasty to be busted for performance-enhancing drugs, following Tyler Hamilton, Roberto Heras and Floyd Landis.

 

Beltran and Duenas Nevado say they are innocent of EPO use and that their B sample analyses will prove it. However, positive back-up tests will mean contract terminations and the likelihood of 2-year suspensions from racing. In addition, France's strict anti-doping laws could result in as many as 5 years in prison and fines up to 75,000 euros ($118,800).

 

Under the terms agreed to by all Tour teams, Liquigas and Barloworld each could be fined 100,000 euros ($158,400) for having a rider test positive. However, it appears this penalty will be waived because the teams immediately expelled their suspect rider.

 

Okay, enough of that. There's a great race happening in France right now. It's as unpredictable as hoped when the organizer eliminated the prologue time trial and time bonuses and added significant climbing to the first week.

 

Five riders have worn the coveted yellow jersey, and the current leader is atop the overall standing (GC) by all of 1 second. The top 5 riders are separated by just 57 seconds; the top 10 by 2:32.