Tuesday’s Rain

Thoughts spewing forth from my mind on a rainy, cool Tuesday in Wisconsin:

Dazed and Confuzzed

Writer John Moretti channels the movie Dazed and Confused for his column in today’s online version of The New York Sun. Interesting article, but Moretti gets a few facts wrong in his reporting.

First, he tells us that only one team so far has signed onto the UCI’s Pledge of Fealty and Loyalty, and a French team at that. Perhaps that’s the case, but at least one other team intends to sign, if they haven’t already: Discovery. Johann Bruyneel has been quoted in a number of places over the last few days saying the Disco-boys will competing in the Tour will sign.

Chances are, everyone else who wishes to compete will, too. (Not that they should, mind you. One of the best things that could happen would actually be for a strong rider’s organization to force a showdown and demand changes to make the anti-doping process function as it’s supposed to, with penalties for those who leak confidential results and so forth. But, alas, no such organization exists.)

Moretti also tells us:

Landis appears to be on the losing end of a series of appeals to defend his 2006 title, relinquished after authorities found an illegal level of testosterone in his system during the decisive 17th stage. The Pennsylvanian first blamed it on the two shots of Jack Daniels he put away the night before. Now he says he has no idea why he exhibited that hormone level. That defense does not seem to be working.

Interesting. Does he have a line on what decision the arbitrators have reached? No one else is publishing such a claim just yet — although it is possible that the arbitrators will decide against Landis. We have to wait and see about that, however. It’s certainly not an automatic that they will decide against him. Team Landis did provide some compelling testimony in Malibu. At this point, my own reading is that the decision could well be a coin-toss. But the longer it takes, the more likely the panel is to be seriously considering Team Landis’ points.

Mostly, as far as the Landis situation goes, Moretti seems to not be working. Clearly, he’s not done much research into the case to make a comment like the one quoted above.

And, in keeping with not checking his facts too well, Moretti tells us this about EPO:

For drug scandal novices, recombinant EPO is a synthesized version of erythropoietin, which the liver produces normally.

Well, sort of. The liver produces small amounts of EPO, but the majority (for people who are normal and healthy) comes from the kidneys. Technically, Moretti is close here, but he’s not got that part of the EPO story right. The rest of what he says, however, about EPO being a synthetic form of blood doping, and the potential dangers of EPO is closer to the mark.

Moretti does offer up an interesting quote form Paolo Bettini:

“Nobody understands anything anymore,” world champion Paolo Bettini, who has yet to sign the pledge, said in a recent interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. “It’s as though cycling no longer has any rules. The Tour turns away some riders, the Giro [d’Italia] gladly accepts them — Spain has certain rules, Germany has others, and Italy has others still. We don’t know who’s in charge. It’s total confusion.”

Bettini makes a good point. With all the wrangling amongst the powers that be in professional cycling it is hard to get a handle on just who’s in charge anymore. Moretti offers some interesting speculation as to who might be the favorites to win. And, of course, he suggests that if Levi Leipheimer wishes to be the next winner of the Tour that he swear off the Jack Daniels. Somehow, I think that was already a foregone conclusion.

Sir Bradley the Unbowed

Bradley Wiggins, the British Olympian who figures to be a favorite in Saturday’s Tour de France prologue through the streets of London doesn’t spend much time looking into the anti-doping system, or cases against accused athletes. As the Guardian, in a feature profiling the 27-year-old cyclist, reports:

His answer is decisive when asked if there is a chance Landis might be telling the truth. “No. I have faith in the testing procedure. I just think he messed up and his name should be removed from the records. But the problem is that these things go through the courts, and if you’ve got the money the best lawyers can drag it out forever.”

Wiggins has more important things to do than learn about the anti-doping system, the tests used, and whether the results can be trusted. He’s busy proclaiming his clean living to all who will listen. The truth is, the cyclists competing in the Tour shouldn’t have to learn about the system in any great detail. But the Landis case illustrates why everyone who competes should learn — and be concerned — about the anti-doping system, the labs and the process an accused athlete faces.

Bungled tests happen. Results get leaked. Lab techs operate machinery without the proper training or documentation. Any athlete whose career or livelihood depends on the results from LNDD or any other anti-doping lab ought to be frightened at the possibility a test could come back positive. Not just those who are cheating and would be busted, but those who aren’t cheating and would be branded as cheats due to a wrong interpretation or result.

There’s a lot to be learned from the Landis case, if only Bradley Wiggins were paying attention. Pride goeth before a fall, to quote an old saying.

Being a Brit (as well as an American, your humble Ranter is a dual citizen), normally I might be inclined to root for Bradley Wiggins on Saturday. Not bloody likely, however, given his behavior. I’d much rather see any other rider capture the yellow jersey in the Tour’s prologue four days from now. If I were going to be watching, that is.