In Austria, there must be a whole lotta dopin’ goin’ on. At least, that’s the impression I’ve gotten from perusing a number of articles about a series of arrests and investigations going in that country. A while back, a mysterious 32-year-old cyclist only referred to as “K” was being held in police custody, apparently accused of selling various performance enhancing drugs to other cyclists and perhaps other athletes, too. A few days later, the cyclist was identified as Christoph Kerschbaum.
Kerschbaum’s team, RC Arbo Wels Gourmetfein, fired the cyclist on March 24th, or thereabouts. Roughly the same day he was released. Kerschbaum was sprung from the joint after 11 days’ detention, on the condition that he basically keep quiet about the ongoing case.
One day earlier, former Austrian Nordic ski coach Walter Mayer was arrested, apparently based on the suspicion that he was involved in the case, too. An unnamed Viennese pharmacist has also been implicated in the case.
If Mayer’s name rings a bell, it’s because he was implicated in the 2006 Torino Olympics scandal involving Austrian Nordic skiers and biathletes. Raids conducted by Italian authorities on the two teams’ quarters turned up “drug paraphernalia and performance-enhancing drugs,” according to an Agence France Presse report. Five Austrian athletes, three cross-country skiers and two biathletes, were handed life bans from competition in connection with that case.
A week after Kerschbaum was released from custody, fellow Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl admitted that he had received EPO and other banned substances from his manager, Stefan Matschiner. According to the Austrian Times:
Kohl, 26, claimed yesterday [March 31, 2009] he had received EPO, growth hormones, insulin and testosterone from Matschiner over the last few years and paid him 50,000 Euros since 2005.
Kohl also admitted to having been a customer of Vienna’s Humanplasma clinic, where he underwent blood-doping procedures. His statement may mean authorities will reopen the case regarding the institute after only recently having abandoned their investigation of it.
And that’s not all. Austrian triathlete Lisa Hütthaler is also accusing Matschiner of providing her with banned substances. Hütthaler is currently serving out a suspension from competition after testing positive for doping. Matschner’s attorney is singing a somewhat different tune.
Matschiner’s lawyer Franz Essl said: “Investigators have found no doping substances or anything similar in their thorough search of my client’s house in (the Upper Austrian town of) Laakirchen.”
Matschiner, himself, said in a brief statement, “This is not funny anymore. I’ll only talk to the authorities from now on, not to any media. The subject sport is done for me. I am done with this dishonest scene.”
Interesting way of phrasing things, no? Which part of the sporting scene do you think he’s calling dishonest? We’ll see, in a moment.
A total of at least five individuals have been arrested in Austria over the last 6 to 8 weeks, according to Vienna Prosecutor’s spokesman Gerhard Jarosch. Some of the people arrested were involved in the “fitness and weight training” business. Changes in Austria’s anti-doping laws implemented in August 2008 have given police and prosecutors authority to pursue doping cases with much more vigor than in years past. Possession and distribution of doping products now carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Before the law was changed, possessing or distributing performance-enhancing drugs was only considered a minor offense, according to various news reports.
Judging by the reports, one could easily get the impression that Austrian sports are rife with doping. According to the Austrian Times:
Asked what she thought of recent studies claiming every third amateur athlete was doping, Hütthaler said: “I can imagine that. A lot of non-professional athletes do doping. Many doctors are involved, with a lot of money.”
I’m not sure what study the reporter was referring to, or whether that study just covers Austria or the broader sporting world. The idea that one-third of all amateur athletes might be doping should give us all pause. That’s a whole lot of weekend warriors going out and shooting themselves up with a whole lot of drugs. Whatever sport you participate in, in the end, it’s just a game. Is the game so important that one could justify rolling the dice with one’s health and longevity?
Some doping methods are risky, after all. A little EPO, for instance, may boost the number of blood cells available to transport oxygen to your muscles. Too much EPO could turn your blood to the consistency of sludge and kill you. If the estimate that one-third of amateurs are juicing is right, how many of them are getting their performance-enhancing drugs through shady back channels? How many are using products that contain additives that aren’t safe? How many are using PEDs without even the most basic of medical advice or monitoring? (Not that I’m in favor of using PEDs, but anyone who does so ought to do it in a safe manner.) And what does it say about Western sports culture that so many could be doing so, despite rules to the contrary?
With every day and every passing news cycle, more information trickles out. Today’s latest news is that Stefan Matschiner is beginning to sing like a stool pigeon, too. As deutsche presse agentur (DPA) is reporting:
Sports manager Stefan Matschiner has told Austrian investigators that he supplied cyclist Bernhard Kohl and other athletes with doping substances, the Austrian Press Agency APA reported late Friday. Matschiner, who was taken into custody in Monday, reportedly told the authorities that he supplied the blood booster EPO, testosterone and Human Growth Hormone.
APA said that Matschiner’s lawyer did not dismiss this information as false.
The report said that Matschiner also implicated a Vienna blood bank, Humanplasma, which had been mentioned before in the doping scheme. Matschiner’s lawyer, Franz Essl, said that Matschiner had not tempted the athletes to use forbidden performance-enhancing substances, bur rather told them to use lesser quantities.
Many news outlets have been careful to report that the cases being pursued can only cover events since Austria’s new anti-doping law took effect. Unlike Operacion Puerto the Endless, Austrian authorities don’t yet seem to be attempting to find innovative ways of charging people for crimes related to doping, even when doping practices had not yet been made illegal. Therein lies the biggest bungling in the Puerto case. Before going public with their findings, Spanish authorities should have been more careful in determining whether any crimes had actually been committed. Whether you agree with the Austrians approach or not, whether you agree with various practices being made illegal, Austrian officials seem to be very careful in terms of playing by the rules.
Be that as it may, this story is getting curiouser and curiouser by the day. What on earth will happen next?
So we have another case where law enforcement/judicial system, rather than the WADA system, apparently catches dopers. Maybe there’s something here.
Suppose WADA started acting like detectives. We have had in recent years a number of riders and assorted associates make allegations against riders and/or teams. People allege that certain performances are too good to be true. There’s probably a bunch of stuff that hasn’t come to my notice.
So let’s get some investigators to question people. See if their story holds up or not. Maybe raid some hotel rooms – I’d imagine that this could just be an extension of the OoC vampire act. Since such would be an administrative action, no search warrant is needed, at least as I understand US constitutional law, and I’d imagine things would be pretty similar in other countries too.
CERA may be undetectable in the blood or urine, but it sure is detectable in a vial sitting in someone’s fridge, probably even detectable in trace amounts in a syringe, along with possibly DNA from the user’s blood or fingerprints. Lot numbers on vials or bottles or other containers could be used to track where things came from, which could lead to suppliers. And so on.
And now we’d have some real evidence. We can argue until the cows come home whether or not LNDD’s testing procedures are good enough or not, or whether a hct figure of 49 is conclusive evidence of doping; but if you find a rider with PEDs in his possession or in his room or baggage it is pretty conclusive he at least had stuff he shouldn’t and hence is guilty of a WADA infraction and should be punished.
William,
Sorry for the delayed response. Seems there’s been quite the ongoing debate over on another post. A little more old-fashioned investigation might actually turn up real evidence. Seems to work for the police, doesn’t it? Before the CERA test came along, the biggest stories were a result of police work. (And if you’re not a cycling fan, that’s still true.) Your last paragraph is spot on. We can argue about testing and how it’s done forever, but real evidence trumps all of that Having the stuff in one’s fridge is a pretty clear indication of intent, if not actual use.
There is an other confession of Kohl in L’Equipe
http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2009/20090608_232214_la-confession-de-bernhard-kohl.html
More is written on the newspaper.
Interresting he points out the difference of doping preparation, not everyone use the top doping programm!
Confession Bernhard Kohl
Third in the Dauphiné Libéré in 2006, Bernhard Kohl struggling to confirm in 2007 but then finished third on 2008 Tour de France . Since, two years suspended for testing positive for EPO-CERA, the Austrian has chosen to cooperate with the police of his country, and announced on 25 May, his “withdrawal of professional sport.”
A few days after this announcement, the rider met L’Equipe in Vienna, to deliver an impressive confession where he says in particular: “In August 2007, I had blood sample withdrawn to be used for the 2008 Tour . Then a second in November. One liter each time. I had 2 liters available for July 2008. My blood was prepared, separated from blood plasma, and then coded and frozen.
– It was the first time you use the process of auto?
No. I started in 2005 with the Austrian laboratory Humanplasma (…) I did the Tour that year (in 2007) without really benefit from a large doping program. For 2008 it was decided that I deserved the best of the best. With a true planning (…).
– Return to the roads of the Tour in 2008. What had you as ammunition available?
4 bags of 0.5 liters of blood, that’s all. Nothing else. Too many random checks. No testosterone patch, nothing, apart from the caffeine, the pseudo-ephedrine, painkillers. EPO, growth hormone, insulin, I took this before, not during.
– What went wrong with the CERA? Why have you been tested positive while you describe a very professional?
The center of the cycling was confident that the EPO was not detectable. I obtained this product by another cyclist, I am myself injected three days before the Tour. In my head, I was quiet. “
Jean C,
This quote from Kohl contradicts your contention (stated previously on this forum) that samples are not taken the morning of a stage:
“The rider continued by saying that the anti-doping controls taking place at 7AM on the mountain stages could be outsmarted.”
Source:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/jun09/jun09news2
I will guess, and this is only a guess, that some of what Kohl has to say is true and some is pure fabrication. Kohl has divided motives. On one hand, he would like to gain enough favor from Austrian authorities to make any possible punishment from them more palatable. On the other hand, he’s not likely to be shy about taking a few jabs at the system (WADA/UCI/AFLD) that he believes singled him, and a few others, out.
For instance, he has made a blanket accusation against the top 10 in the 2008 TdF. Many (similar to LeMond fanboys) believe Sastre, the 2008 TdF winner, does not use PEDs, a notion reinforced by his reaction to the circumstances of the death of his close friend / brother-in-law.
Hinault has made some interesting comments recently about the training practices of French road racers, doping practices of French road racers, Armstrong, and LeMond. WRT Hinault’s best buddy and team mate, I’m left to wonder, if Saint LeMond didn’t dope himself, then how does he know so much about it and why didn’t he reveal more when he was a racer and in a better position to have direct personal knowledge? Just curious….
Jean,
Kohl certainly seems to be spilling his guts there. At least, that’s the appearance, anyway. I’ve been a bit on the busy side today, so I haven’t had a chance to follow through and read more of the articles. Tomorrow morning, maybe I’ll get a chance.
Jeff,
Interesting thing about LeMond. I’m not sure who it was that pointed me to a certain article (I think it was Jean), but I recall seeing something written that suggested that a certain saint was not so saintly during his career. The link is buried pretty deep within the blog, but if I find it, I’ll add it to this comment.
Jeff,
Please, may you point out where I said there were no testing in the morning?
Probably you were confused by what I had written which should be : that UCI testing were weak because they tested the riders too earlier before the start line.
To be tested at 7AM leaves a lot of times to reinfuse with blood or to eliminate the saline/albumine solution inside the blood when the start of race are at 12H!
Do you have a better understanding now?
Should I recall that I stated that Floyd’s hematocrit were not affected by dehydration because they were taken in the morning when riders have already recovered from their race dehydration (less than 2% of dehydration is rapidly cleared by drinking).
About Kohl you should had guess that he had read that blog and he wanted to make you fun by repeating many of my words like already have done Manzano, Bassons, Mentheour, Kimmage, Skibby, and 20 other riders who have confessed.
Sure Hinault has had some strong words for a lot of people, he would not be the badger if he was not like that: direct on target!
As pointed by many here, what has done Hinault since he retired for cyclind, did he train or advice some teams or riders? NO. How could he know how riders are training?
It’s funny that you try to tarnish Lemond when you you request ethics to protect clearly accused riders with AAF and a lot ot clues surrounding their case.
Have you some clues or just thoughts?
So if you think that a man with a VO2max greater by 10% of Lance Arsmtrong was doped , what are your thoughts for those like Lance who produced 20% more of average than Lemond?
How are you able to explain that?
I do think that Kohl has done a good explanation… and that explains too why the french riders dodn’t “train enough”.
Rant,
About Lemond maybe I pointed an article but he could be only a positive article for Lemond who is the ONLY rider for whom TDF doctor had never found any doping clues !
Only for people able to read french, it’s a copy of the page http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2926/89545322.jpg
Jean,
My apologies, then. The article I recall quoted an Italian official as questioning whether LeMond was quite as clean during his racing days as he claims. I thought it was one you had pointed out, but it must have been someone else who did. If I track down the link, I’ll post it with full credit to whoever passed it along.
Rant,
No apoligies needed we all made mistakes sometimes. In that case it was good: as French we have to dislike American people so I did with Greg Lemond who has participed recntly at an anti doping conference (play the game).. he pointed out the corruption of UCI.
Apparently Ashenden should make a speech too
Jean C,
WRT providing on point cites, I’ll be more than happy to do that for you once you start providing on point cites I request of you when we disagree. Right now you are in arrears to the tune of between a handful to a dozen, but who’s counting. (off point random cites that you post don’t count)
Regardless, the vampires are active early morning to late night on a hit or miss basis. They don’t seem active from ~midnight to 6am. Now you are suggesting the riders be locked up in the few hours preceding race starts. May I ask, aside from ~6 hours reserved to sleep in peace, when are they to be allowed to have the freedom to live independent lives?
Sure Hinault (LeMond) has had some strong words for a lot of people, he would not be the badger (unwelcomed houseguest who never leaves) if he was not like that: direct on target (frequently off target)! As pointed by many here, what has done Hinault (LeMond) since he retired for cyclind, did he train or advice some teams or riders? NO. How could he know how riders are training (or doping)?
There Jean, I fixed that for you.
The VO2max figures are currently in wide dispute wrt both LeMond and Armstrong. That’s the subject of many other forums with no consensus in sight. Your quote regarding the relative difference in VO2max is therefore mildly amusing. I love how you seem to yank stuff out of your hat (insert alternate 3 letter English word if you like) to support your argument.
The clue I have about LeMond starts with the same siren song that is sung over and over by anti-doperz when they claim a clean rider can’t beat admittedly doped riders. The anti-doperz can’t have it both ways. Either, LeMond was a clean rider and regularly beat dirty doperz because of superior talent and training or he did what was customary in his era to earn his wins. The same goes for champions and also rans in the eras pre-dating and post-dating LeMond. As testing was, shall we say, less than rigorous during LeMond’s competitive days and record keeping rather meager from those times, we don’t have much to go on to determine either way. But then I think back to some of the life’s essential truisms reinforced by the writings/plays of Shakespeare and, “the lady doth protest too much, me thinks”. I would not have thought to suspect LeMond of doping until he launched his never ending campaign to attempt to convince us he was the world’s only clean TdF Champion. If I had to vote for only one TdF Champion who won it clean, I’d have to go with Floyd Landis, the rightful 2006 TdF Champion, representing 8 straight years of U.S. domination racing the route of LeTour. Only a corrupt lab and a corrupt system could seek to tarnish those records. (I know, the people’s choice and “real” strongman in the race would be someone like O. Pereiro. Cough, cough. That also brings France’s hopeful, Dessel, up to 6th @ almost 8 minutes back)
and speaking of a corrupt system, that of the IoC / olympic brand rear end protecting mut named WADA and the putz who spawned these two unholy bureaucracies…. Your hero, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, was a confused aristocrat. While he was correct that physical exertion and sports competitions can be positive, the notion that character reform could be be influenced by re-creating one of the Greek’s most self promoting and violent traditions (outside of war) seems, well… the sort crazy you’d expect when cousins mate with cousins. The olympics are treading dangerously close to becoming a freak show and the IoC has developed into the consumate money whore. That de Coubertin got that ball rolling, and that his words are your words, must make it a proud day for you.
Cahpeau Jean
Jeff,
It’s not difficult that vampires don’t have to come at 7.00 when riders could dope easily in their bus just an hour before the race.
Let sleep the riders… and open the vampire window just from 2 hour to 30mn before the start !
And during that time all bus should/ must but visited with no delay by officials.
Maybe at 7.00 they hope to caught or to reduce the use of EPO by microdosing.
So they could combine the 2.
The VO2max can be discussed on forums but that is not matters, every physiologist know what is matter in cycling, rowing, ski running, … until blood doping never people with a 85 VO2max would have been dominant in such sports!
People you call anti-dopers are saying that a clean athletes could not win against a blood doped athletes in most case. Of course, il you blood dope for exemple Pat McQuaid he will never win a pro race… but a Riis could win TDF, or Jalabert, Armstrong and so…
If you are looking at power of riders along time you will see that there is few difference between Merckx, Hinault and Lemond but then a major improvement with Indurain, Riis,.. 20% in from 93 to 96.
http://www.velonews.com/article/93105/mcquaid-the-uci-will-name-names
Whole lotta asterisks in our future? McQuaid is comfortable with the passport’s infallability. I smell a new dancing monkey being scheduled.
The timing is 100% predictable.
Here you go Jean C, one from your boys, comics that they are….
French riders to sue Kohl
Cédric Vasseur, the president of the professional cyclist’s union (CPA), commented on Bernhard Kohl’s latest interview in which he stated that the top 10 riders in last year’s Tour de France could have tested positive. “His allegations cannot remain unpunished,” Vasseur said. “He might think everybody else was doped as well but he has to prove it.”
Vasseur was followed by the general secretary of the French professional cyclists union (UNCP) Jean-Claude Cucherat, who expressed the “contempt” of his associates towards the insinuations of Kohl.
“In French teams, the way of practicing the profession of a bike rider has nothing to do with the gangsters’ methods described by Kohl,” said Cucherat. The UNCP announced that legal actions would be taken against Kohl and whoever unfairly tarnishes the reputation of professional cyclists. (JFQ)
Source: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/jun09/jun11news
I’m not sure they know how to count? The irony/humor here is that there were no French riders in the top 10. Kohl didn’t call out #13 Sandy Casar or those Frenchmen who finished with more inferior times on GC.
Jeff,
It’s time to learn our language. I don’t have time to look back at Kohl’s statement but he said that eveyone cheated a bit (false TUE) or more (blood doping).
Of course the french riders are more likely in the group of a bit.
Jean C,
I gave it a shot by taking high school French. That was a minor disaster. Dating a beautiful young woman from Quebec for several months was far more instructive, but we parted ways much too soon for the French lessons to take.