Timing Is Everything

by Rant on July 20, 2007 · 11 comments

in Doping in Sports, Floyd Landis, Ian Thorpe, Tour de France

The Thorpe Story, Revisited

Remember the dustup over an anti-doping test Australia’s Ian Thorpe supposedly failed in May 2006? Well, according to an article last month in The Sydney Morning Herald, Ressiot and L’Equipe (his employer) may have timed the release of that story for maximum impact.

But it became clear in talking with Ressiot that L’Equipe – which some have criticised as waging a propaganda campaign – timed the release of the Thorpe news for maximum publicity. Not only did the paper wait to release the story as if it was a live scoop on Thorpe – at the competition where the newly retired swimmer and the world’s press would be – it waited until Ressiot would be there to take the hits.

“I had to come to Melbourne if only to be present when the article came out and to shoulder my responsibility,” he said.

Others are critical of the newspaper and its methods. Pete Geyer, an editor for a cycling fan website (cyclingfans.com), viewed the journalist as L’Equipe‘s tool. “The goal is getting the L’Equipe brand out there as it seeks to expand beyond France,” Geyer said. “The objective is not to inform the public, much less to educate it, but rather to increase L’Equipe‘s influence, and profits, beyond France.”

Ressiot, in the same article, expressed surprise that Thorpe did not know of the test’s results.

Ressiot was confounded to find Thorpe had no idea of the test and that some media had turned the report of the test posing a problem into news of it being a positive test.

“If ASADA had respected procedures, he [Thorpe] would have been informed of the problem posed by his sample taken in May 2006 and he would not have discovered it in my paper,” Ressiot said. “I am not responsible therefore for this negligence.”

Perhap Thorpe hadn’t been informed yet because ASADA was being careful to determine the cause of Thorpe’s test results before releasing any findings, unlike other labs and organizations, who are only too pleased to release information to the press about test results before the process is complete.

Thorpe’s attorneys have been trying to discover who leaked the information about his test results to Ressiot and other members of the press. In the SMH’s article, Ressiot offers this advice to Thorpe:

“He has to concentrate mostly on his defence if he has a clear conscience,” Ressiot said. “Because he will never find the source of the leaks.”

Interestingly, back in May Ressiot had told another publication:

The article came out during the World Championships because that is when my investigation was concluded.

Yeah, right. Timing is everything. Makes you wonder about some of the other articles M. Ressiot has published, doesn’t it?

Paranoia, Will Destroy Ya …

… to paraphrase The Kinks. (Most transcriptions have the lyric as “Paranoia, the destroyer”.) Remember the UCI’s Men In Black concerns? Cyclists training in black jerseys, supposedly to avoid the Anti-Doping Cops? Apparently they have some of the same concerns about Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen. According to an article in today’s New York Times:

Rasmussen … sometimes trains wearing a neutral jersey, so that he does not attract attention from fans, a practice that has been labeled suspicious by antidoping officials.

I can just picture it, a police car rolls up to a group of pro cyclists on a training ride while they’re climbing a steep mountain road.

“Oi, any one of you lot Michael Rasmussen?”

A thin rider gives them a dirty look.

“Yeah.”

The cop hands the rider a plastic cup with a lid on it.

“Right. Give us a sample, then.”

Wait, I should have done that with a Mexican flair, since Rasmussen trains at altitude in Mexico, his wife’s native country. Mexico also happens to be a bit off the beaten path for the anti-doping cops. Guess they expect the riders to be where it’s convenient for testing, rather than where their in-laws and family might live.

As my wife (who’s a practicing psychologist) observed, the whole thing about riders wearing non-team kits while training being “suspicious” smacks of paranoia.

Rasmussen has apparently been kicked off the Danish National Cycling Team, according to a number of stories in the past day, because the Danish Cycling Union says he hasn’t always told them his whereabouts so they can come and do surprise, out of competition tests. The DCU claims they’ve contacted Rasmussen a number of times about the issue. Rasmussen says he’s only heard from them once. And that they haven’t been satisfied with his explanations.

This exchange between the DCU and Rasmussen occurred on June 26th or about 11 days before the Tour started, so it’s not exactly breaking news. So why are we hearing about it now? Hard to say, but the story is already spawning rumors of worse yet to come for Rasmussen.

Timing is everything.

Word Of The Day

Tactics: (noun) A method or strategy for achieving a goal.

In Stage 16 of last year’s Tour, Floyd Landis had a bad day. Landis struggled up the last climb of the stage, to La Toussuire. Sensing blood in the waters, his rivals attacked Landis on the climb, making the last 15 kilometers a hellish struggle for the man in the yellow jersey. By the end of the stage he’d lost so much time he dropped from first to eleventh overall, and most commentators wrote him out of contention for the victory in Paris where the Tour would end in four days time.

What happened that day? Two things: Landis had a bad day on the bike, and the other teams used that to their tactical advantage.

The big question on everyone’s mind after his epic bonk was whether he still stood any chance at all of finishing on the podium by the time the Tour would arrive in Paris a few days later. Many didn’t think it could happen. Landis thought differently. He even joked about what he was going to do before the start of Stage 17. As Landis recounted in the Prologue to his book, Positively False:

“I’m going to attack today,” I told Dave Zabriskie. “At the base of the first climb. Don’t know if you heard.”

“Oh, man, that’s gonna hurt,” Zabriskie said with a nervous laugh. “Do you think it will work?”

I told him I had no idea, but at that point I didn’t really care. I wasn’t going to just give up.

Landis and his Phonak teammates did just that. On the very first climb, they launched him from the front of the main group on what would become a long, hot solo breakaway for much of the rest of the day. In short order, Landis caught — and then left behind — a group of riders who had already gone off the front. From then on, he was alone.

And from that point on, he gained time on the peloton. His rivals in the race, perhaps thinking Landis wouldn’t or couldn’t stay away, didn’t mount a chase. And Landis kept pulling away from the peloton, at one point being 9 minutes or more ahead of the main pack.

Unlike the day before, Landis was able to get all the food and drink he needed, as his team car was right there, almost in arm’s reach. Landis was able to stay cool by dunking his head with cold water (which he did at regular intervals), thus preventing his engine from overheating.

And, as unlikely as it seems to casual observers, he was able to gain back enough time to leapfrog into third overall at the end of the stage. A couple of days later he would reclaim the yellow jersey by turning in one of the fastest times in the final time trial, on the penultimate stage of the Tour.

How did Landis win? In a word: Tactics. He correctly guessed that the leaders wouldn’t mount a chase against him until it was too late. For him, the tactics succeeded. The peloton, however, figured that Landis wouldn’t gain enough time for it to matter and let him go. When they realized he wasn’t losing steam, they started to go after him.

Timing is everything. Their tactics failed.

That was one year ago, today.

Quote Of The Day

Tony Rominger, in comments at CyclingNews.com:

Right now it is hunting season. Too often, people write first and research later.

Rominger hit the nail on the head.

Shane July 20, 2007 at 8:13 am

Eh…as well as being a Dr Ferrari client, Mr Rominger is very highly suspected of being a doper himself.

The peloton did chase Landis..in fact, the other favourites tried to stay with him when he attacked but then sat up, realising that he was going at a pace that they judged was impossible to maintain until the end of the stage. He had them all on the limit. To say they didn’t bother chasing until it was too late is, frankly, false.

Rant July 20, 2007 at 8:32 am

Shane,

Point taken about Tony Rominger, but it’s still a good quote.

Regarding Landis, you’re correct that the leaders tried to keep pace with Landis and Phonak when they launched their initial attacks on the first climb. But they had hours after Landis launched off the front to organize a chase and reel him back in. As you said, they sat up, believing he couldn’t maintain his pace to the end. They didn’t start chasing Landis, in earnest, until the last climb. And as things played out, that was too late. No one seemed to want to put the effort in to bring him back before then.

A much larger group versus one solo rider? They should have been able to pull him back anytime they’d like, had they put the hammer down and gone for it. So, respectfully, I disagree. I don’t think it’s false to say that his rivals didn’t bother to chase until the end. Once he was off the front, that’s pretty much how the stage played out.

– Rant

Morgan Hunter July 20, 2007 at 8:51 am

Hey Rant – I suppose according to Shane, the fact that Landis was a known threat to win the Tour is only publicity that everybody was repeating. As to other favorites Shane refers to – the break away guys were nothing spectacular…otherwise they would never have been “allowed” to attack and get away…

And from a viewers point it does seem like what Landis did is super human – it was a fantastic ride, no doubt about it. But why does it seem so easy to blame Landis for the indecision of the other teams? Landis won in part, without in anyway distracting from his stage 17 ride, because the others DID NOT TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY.

Personally, I am sick of hearing from people who are consciously or unconsciously hoping to belittle any athlete with superior abilities simply because they choose to think of “every athlete” as being superior because they are using drugs.

As to the new “revelations” concerning Rasmussen – the only significant point for anyone to be concerned about is the timing of the revelation.

The doping rumor machine is winding up, grinding out the kind of food that small minded people just love. Just because some one says something or is accused of doing something – we are supposed to believe it to be true – discount that most sports events are purely money making machines and are driven by such goals.

WAKE up Shane – We are supposedly living in a civilized time – maybe I’m old fashioned – but what ever is being fed the public, it still remains the publics responsibility to “look” at the facts – a news article or for that matter, a “doping” positive that comes now days from a so called controlling body – DOES NOT MAKE IT AUTOMATICALLY TRUE.

And Shane – to discount someone’s quote merely because he is “highly suspected of doping” is a sign of a lazy mind. I had not realized that one has to take “illegal substances to pearl a quote. And it certainly does not “prove” your stance…No wonder I have so much trouble just to write a clear sentence….Hey Rant – I need a connection! Quick!

Rant July 20, 2007 at 10:09 am

Sorry Morgan, but my source for caffeine isn’t so readily available in your neck of the woods (though I don’t doubt that they would ship some to you). I’m sure there’s a good coffee shop or two that could help you get a fix. 😉

– Rant

Morgan Hunter July 20, 2007 at 10:52 am

So you’ve tasted the coffee in Austria, eh…pitiful! Really enjoy your work – keep it going. Education doesn’t stop just because school is over. There must be something we can do to force those arbitrator finks – out in the “open” – my hope is that your blog will help with this.
As to the query about my gender – I did not realize that gender is necessary to carry weight – I’m male, I’m a stinky old goat – with a rather cool name. Hope that eases some people’s tensions out there (:-)))) and barely computer literate. But I can type pretty good.

Rant July 20, 2007 at 11:24 am

Morgan,

Yes, but the coffee in Denmark and Scandinavia is superb. Even the McDonald’s up there have pretty good coffee. (Shocking, but true.) Over on this side of the pond, Peets is a good source for those with a coffee habit.

Let’s hope that the pressure from the constant coverage of the Landis case — and others — will keep the arbs on notice.

– Rant

just bitch slap me please July 20, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Steve Balow July 20, 2007 at 1:43 pm

I know this isn’t about cycling, but (ohmigod!) PED’s in golf? Check out Gary Player’s comments in the story below. I wonder if he is buddies with a guy named “Dick” given the following Player quote, “I would say in the world tour today there’s ten guys definitely taking something,” he said. “I might be way out on that number, but it’s not going to lower and it might be a hell of a lot more.

So far, Player has been lambasted by the touring pro’s and the Chairman of the PGA has been noticably mute. Another illustration of how effective the Professional Golfers Association is (kudo’s to both the athletes and the “managers” of the sport) when compared to the UCI.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/article2783279.ece

Theresa July 20, 2007 at 8:02 pm

The Germans and the Danes are acting really weird. Even Bob Stapleton says that you should stay and fight for something, and not throw up your hands and turn your back and walk away. Are the Germans going to put Patrick in a prison hospital so he can be cared for while he recovers from this crash??? Why is everyone acting like murders have been committed in front of the TV cameras???? Oh, I’m sorry, it’s TOUR TIME!!! And we don’t have Lance’s allegations to deal with, Floyd still waiting, and someone has the yellow jersey!! Let’s see what we can find up our sleeve….

C.P. July 20, 2007 at 8:56 pm

“The Germans and the Danes are acting really weird.”

Yes and no =)

A little Derridean deconstruction is needed. Some Derridean ecriture would bring the truth to light. However that’s where the irony begins in France. 😉

Weird. Well yeah in sense…in a sense that the real motives are perhaps never brought to light nor will they ever. Or so I believe. Why…$$

Let’s look at the Danes….where do they set in the market share of the Pro
Tour?. If memory serves…I do believe that hasn’t there been some rub between the ASO and the danes concerning some pro-tour dates and races and etc? I don’t remember the details and frankly at this point I’m too lazy to google (gotta ride 2mo right =).

Moving on…the German state TV…….nice attack on the ASO. Stapleton hit the nail on the head when he said to Joe Lindsey that this doping issue is being gamed on so many levels. This….this whole thing full of sound and fury called doping signify’s nothing.

Perhaps nationalistic and economic concerns run far deeper and are the real games that are being played out under the headline of “doping”. Clearly there are a lot of metrics to consider…but I’m wondering if the weight should be put on the metric that has nothing to do with false puritanical cries for clean sport and everything to do with $$ and market shares in a sport that is not singularly owned by one governing and business body. Read the NFL, NBA, and NASCAR…..wonder why there are not doping issues in those sports relative to cycling….weeeeeel There aren’t any competitve federations and promoters sabotaging one’s market share. Every race in NASCAR is a NASCAR race…..in the Pro Tour on the other hand….every race is well….right now the majority belong to the ASO….in the minority are the Danes, Germans, and Us Yanks…..

Put this way. The ASO…in the face of it’s market share diminishing as cycling gains economic strength in other markets…decides to use a facade of puritanical cries for clean sport to sabotage cycling markets in other areas. Here’s what I’d like to see reported… Just when did Patrice Clerc become head of the ASO? And why. James Startt had a nice “access” report job with Clerc. Nothing but fluff ….really what beat reporter is going to get away with tossing Clerc some rough questions. Clerc obviously and wisely wouldn’t tolerate the asking of such questions….Questions about the ASO’s market share of the Tour in the face of the Globalisation that the UCI is bringing to the sport and more importantly the competitive markets that could in the future derail the economic power and historical largesse of the Tour.

Why would the Danes sabotage Rasmussen…weeel that’s the beauty of it all. Rasmatazzz sabotaged himself and provided the Danish federation and governing body free ammo with which to take on and sabotage the mighty ASO….nicely done.

Kudos for the Germans also. What better thing to do….Jan sabotaged himself…..Sinkewitz…well with testosterone testing being what it is….who knows…but the riders are cannon fodder for the big $ players who sit behind the scenes behind the facade and dole out viscious $ and political moves under the facade of doping. The danish and german money players are basically telling the ASO to Eff OFF. Actions speak louder than words right?

Back to the main point…..the beginning of understanding of any of this begins with a Derridian approach to finding that which is. Cycling is not a patchwork quilt defined of riders and dopers. It’s a far more complicated design. It’s A gnarly beast of a design defined by media $’s and reporters who are literally fed by Advertising $…and nationalistic markets chucking and jiving for the next $ in the face of stiff global competition. The riders are just the tiny threads that hold the thing together. Tiny threads sewn wherever and whenever those controlling the $ pattern and design want them to be.

Google “Derridean Quilt”…and maybe you’ll begin to see what I mean.

Peace
C.P.

Morgan Hunter July 20, 2007 at 9:57 pm

Oh boy! I can just see it all now – Some golfer, pro or not, back in the locker room popping Anabolics and sipping an EPO chaser. Hey – Tiger can’t be as good as he is – he just wins way too much not to be “using”! Oh for goodness sakes!
What about this “righteous” ex-friend of Rasmussen’s in Velonews? Hey people – its gotta be true! LOOK its in Velo! So Explain to me how the “Chickenman” is actually a bull? Not to mention that in same article it says that this item was brought to light due to “righteous indignation” – gotcha. I’m ready to believe brother! Let us put our hands on the back of our collective TV sets and feel the power of god! Amen.
Just a small bit of info – Theresa – “Public station” in Germany does not mean what 2Public” means in the USA – it means the government controls it. Maybe that clears up some of it for you?
Hey Rant – anybody around who has actually identified what the issues are in this melodrama? I’m beginning to think not. Can anyone explain the different “characters” involved in this drama and their motivations? And lest you all think I’m not following what’s going on, look at what I’m asking you to answer please. Otherwise we are going to get buried in a great big pile of manure and wind up being befuddled by the smell of our very own outright ignorance.

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