Schumacher Positive for CERA

From L'Equipe.Fr:

Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner), vainqueur des deux contre-la-montre lors du dernier Tour de France, dont il porta le Maillot Jaune durant deux jours, a été contrôlé positif à la CERA, une EPO à effet retard.

Several Tour de France Riders Retested for EPO

From the AP:

Several Tour de France riders are having their blood samples retested for traces of the banned blood-booster EPO.
The head of the French Anti-Doping Agency told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the testing involved riders who were already under scrutiny for suspicious urine samples. Pierre Bordry declined to name the cyclists.
The new blood tests will look for CERA, a third-generation variation of EPO. Italian rider Riccardo Ricco tested positive for the substance during the Tour.

More EPO: Ricardo Ricco

From L'Equipe: "Les urines de Riccardo Ricco présentent des traces d'EPO."

Hincapie on Ricco via CycingWeekly:

“I was definitely shocked. He's one of the big riders in peloton. It's a disappoint for sure. It's a clear disappointment but you got to look to the future and say we're catching the cheats. Maybe other sports aren't, I think our sport doing more than any other sport to clean up its act.”

I think Hincapie's statement that cycling is doing more than other sports to clean up its act is a pretty accurate. Ironically enough, I believe that the crackdown on doping in cycling will lead to cleaner riding but that it also strengthens the general publics perception of the cycling-doping link. While I don't want to come off as a cycling apologist, I think that there are sports in which doping is even more widespread but because the testing protocols are not as rigorous and dopers are not caught, those sports are not perceived as having doping issues.

Congressional report or no, I'd bet a dollar that there are more drugs in professional baseball or football than there are in professional cycling.

Félix Cárdenas Abandons the Tour

I would think that under different circumstances, Félix Cárdenas (Barloworld) abandoning the Tour in today's 11th stage would pass by unremarked; However, Barloworld seems to be struggling as a team.

Multiple crashes, a non-negative doping test result, more crashes.

It's hard not to notice when one of their riders abandons, especially when that rider, Félix Cárdenas, was Moisés Dueñas' roommate.

Moisés Dueñas & EPO: Positive or Non-Negative

From CyclingWeekly:

Team Barloworld has revealed that Moises Dueñas was caught with a "considerable amount of banned medicines" in his room during a search by French Police. The 27 year-old Spaniard was taken into police custody in Tarbes on Wednesday morning after police searched his room following the announcement that he had failed a doping test for EPO after the stage four time trial in Cholet."

From Cyclingnews:

Spanish rider Moisés Dueñas has become the second rider to register a non-negative test for banned blood booster erythropoietin at the Tour de France. The results came from a sample taken from the Barloworld rider after the Grand Tour's first time trial, Stage 4 on July 8 in Cholet, according to head of the French Anti-doping Agency (AFLD) Pierre Bordry.

According to CyclingWeekly Dueñas' test result was positive, whereas according to Cyclingnews Dueñas' test was non-negative. The net result, be it positive or non-negative, is that Moisés Dueñas (Barloworld) was pulled from the Tour de France & has been suspended from Barloworld.

Beltran Video

Here's a telling video of Beltran trying to evade the doping control squad.

Beltran Positive for EPO

Manuel Beltran (Liquigas) has tested positive for EPO. Testing of his A sample taken July 5th, after the first stage of the Tour de France, indicated the presence of EPO in his system.
Source: L'equipe.fr, Damian Ressiot.


How do you suppose Dorel feels about this given that teams face a €100,000 fine if a link can be established between a rider who returns a positive doping test and his team. Furthermore, Dorel had just renewed their sponsorship agreement with the Liquigas team. What are the potential implications of this positive test with respect to the team's sponsorship?

Already there's the potential that because of this Liquigas may not ride La Vuelta a España.