Cycling Performance

06/07/08

Tour de France Attempts to Polish its Tarnished Image

In order to stem the widespread abuse of illegal drugs among cyclists, the International Cycling Union's (UCI) has started issuing biological passports, which chart the blood parameters of all professional riders.

In addition to that, the French National Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) will be taking random blood and urine samples, both before and during the race. These samples will then be combined with the results of the UCI tests.

While experts have saluted the sport's most recent efforts to ban drug users from cycling, some feel that more must be done.

"The cyclists, and indeed other top athletes, are ultimately two steps ahead of the scientists and anti-doping controllers," said Jean-Pierre de Mondenard, a top anti-doping expert whose exhaustive "Dictionary of Doping" is a widely respected work in the field.

What's in your suitcase?

There are still around 20 undetectable products which can be used to enhance performance, which is why de Mondenard feels that police should simply search participants' luggage and other belongings to find any illegal drugs.

While this method might sound invasive, it seems to be fruitful.

In 2001, during the Giro d'Italia, 100 racers were tested and only two came up positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Later, when the Italian police searched the luggage of the racers, they found 52 of the cyclists were in possession of illegal substances.

2007 winner denied entry

It was in 1998 -- during the infamous Fatima doping scandal -- that the banned hormone EPO (erythropoietin) was found to be in widespread use. Since then, a seemingly endless succession of cyclists has been found to be users of various performance-enhancing drugs.

The UCI, based in Switzerland, and the Tour de France organizers, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO), have bumped heads over team entries and doping in the past few years.

ASO is taking no chances anymore and has acted tougher than ever before when inviting the teams for the 2008 edition. They have refused to invite back several big names, including the 2007 winner, Alberto Contador of Spain, who rode for Team Discovery.

Despite accusations, Contador -- who now rides for Astana -- himself was never actually convicted of doping. It was other Astana riders, in particular Alexander Vinokourov, who brought the team down. Also banned were American Levi Leipheimer, who came in third overall in 2007, and Andreas Kloden of Germany, a two-time Tour runner-up.

The benefits of extensive testing

Despite all the hype surrounding testing during the race itself, there are actually several substances that can help cyclists along without actually showing up in their system come race day.

Ulrike Spitz of the German National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) said that substances like EPO and amphetamines can be used to enhance training even two weeks before the race, but can also disappear from the blood by race day.

That's why, according to Spitz, extensive testing would show real benefits.

"I think the health risk is very big for the athletes and if you don't have this anti-doping rule, you will have Frankensteins," Spitz said.

Riders fed up

As for the actual athletes, most believe that the testing goes too far.

"To go one step further, you would have to move into my house and live with me," the 36-year old German rider Jen Voigt, a 10-year veteran of the tour, told a news conference on Friday.

Voigt added that cycling professionals were requested to tell the UCI of their whereabouts three months in advance each time they leave home for more than two hours.

"Think about your own life and ask yourself: Could I do that?"

29/05/08

Ullrich faces doping query

Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich will face questions about doping allegations during a court case in which he is seeking unpaid wages.

Duesseldorf regional court spokesman Ulrich Thole said: "I can confirm that it is planned to question Mr Ullrich if he doped or not."

Ullrich won the 1997 tour.

He wants 500,000 Euros ($1 million) from the Coast team, which has refused payment because it assumes he was doped while he rode for the squad in 2003. A fraud investigation into allegations of performance-enhancing drugs was dropped in April.

22/05/08

Russ hopes to stay healthy

Germany's Matthias Russ, former holder of the Giro d'Italia's maglia bianca of best young rider, hopes to survive another demanding Grand Tour. Thanks to his move in the 231.6-kilometre stage to Peschici, he was sitting second overall going into stage 11, during which he got to wear the white jersey while fellow Under 25 racer Giovanni Visconti of Team Quick Step was wearing the maglia rosa of overall race leader.

Russ had planned to take the race day by day, but Wednesday's stage 11 cost him the maglia bianca after he lost contact with the peloton. Going into stage 12 on Thursday, Russ is sitting in 42nd overall and seventh in the young rider classification.

"I am quite happy with the second place overall," said the 24 year-old fourth-year professional of Team Gerolsteiner to Cyclingnews while he was still wearing white. "You saw yesterday [Tuesday] that Visconti is a good time trialist. We remembered after that he was sixth or second in the Under 23 World Championships time trial. It would have been hard for me to take it."

Russ started stage ten's time trial to Urbino 4'02" back, but lost just under three minutes to the better time trialist Visconti. "I am happy to be carrying the white jersey, even though it is really not mine," said the rider who finished the Giro d'Italia twice before (in 74th and 54th). "I know Italy well. It is great here, the food, coffee, girls," he joked.

"You are not able to really choose, but just give all you have," he stated of his objectives. "Staying in the group until you are dropped in the high mountains - that is how it goes. There are not specific objectives, if I feel good I will be able to make a good result. If you are tired, then you are tired the whole week.

"Last year, I was sick in the last week; I was just riding an could do nothing, so I hope to stay healthy."

His family hopes for the same as they watch from Germany. "All my family is watching, parents, wife and family - I have a brother and sister."

08/05/08

Organizers hopeful for Giro free of scandals

Angelo Zomegnan, the director of the Giro d'Italia, is hoping for a drug-free edition of this year's race.

"Nobody knows if there will be any doping scandals at this year's Giro d'Italia but I'm hopeful and I think it'll be a great race," he said to Eurosport. "There will always be someone who tries to cheat in sport, just like in life but all the riders have accepted the biological passport system and have been tested several times."

With the last minute addition of Astana, the Giro will feature riders like last year's Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer. Last year's Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca will also be on hand to defend his title. "We've worked hard to get the highest quality field in this year's Giro. There is also the current world and Olympic champion Paolo Bettini, 10 different national champions and a host of young riders who are determined to make a name," said Zomegnan, who is hoping for an exciting race "decided in the final kilometre of the final stage".

The Giro d'Italia starts Saturday, May 10 in Palermo, Italy, and it runs until the finish in Milano on June 1.

05/05/08

WRU set for major changes

May 4 2008 by Simon Roberts, Wales On Sunday

THE WELSH Rugby Union has taken the first steps in a controversial mass clear-out of its rugby department, writes Simon Roberts.

Roger Lewis, the WRU Group Chief Executive, has written to all his staff to tell them they will have to re-apply for their jobs with the governing body.

The WRU are poised to finally announce the results of an eight-month comprehensive review of Elite rugby in Wales.

Graeme Maw, the newly installed Elite Performance Director, and Nigel Davies, the Head of Rugby Development, have conducted a review of the WRU's coaching and player development programmes.

Lewis ordered the review after Wales' dismal failure to reach last year's World Cup quarter-finals.

But the furore following Wales' exit was followed, only a few months later, by new coach Warren Gatland masterminding a second Welsh Grand Slam in four seasons.

But the likes of Mostyn Richards, the highly-regarded Elite Performance Manager, have been told they could face the axe.

Leighton Morgan, the WRU's Elite coach development manager, is another leading figure in the firing line, as is Huw Wiltshire, the WRU's national fitness director.

They aren't the only ones, as a whole raft of the WRU's rugby development and regional academy staff have been put on notice about their futures with the governing body.

But the validity of the whole review process could be undermined by the fact that Nigel Davies, the former Wales coach, is being linked with a return to the Scarlets.

Phil Davies, the former Scarlets coach, was sacked by the Stradey Park outfit earlier this week.

Nigel Davies and Maw were the shock appointments by the WRU after they failed to land Andrew Hore as their Elite Performance Director.

He landed a similar role with the EDF Energy Cup holders, the Ospreys.

Neither Maw or Davies had experience of rugby coaching or playing development programmes. Maw, though, did have a stint in charge of British cycling and Tri-athlon.

But now the pair, along with WRU chief Lewis, look poised to wield the axe in the biggest cull of staff since David Moffett's appointment as WRU chief back in 2002.

02/05/08

Kroon repeats in sunshine

When Team CSC's Karsten Kroon was asked about his Henninger Turm win in 2004 at the sign-in for the 2008 edition, he looked over to his right and smiled. "It was only 10 metres from here where I got a great victory," he said. His smile quickly turned to a look of scepticism, as he realised that with just five team-mates out of a possible eight lining up today repeating that victory was going to be tough.

"Back then, the weather was very different," he explained that his previous win near the Henninger tower was in part made possible when most of the favourites decided they didn't want to race in such horrible conditions. It was pouring rain all day and the temperatures were anything but warm.

Yet, some four and a half hours later, the Dutchman, with the help of his team-mate Andy Schleck, once again crossed the line as victor of the German Haute Category event. This time, the sky was sunny and, one small shower aside, the predicted afternoon rain held off long enough for the race to finish in fine conditions.

This time, according to Kroon, it was the strongest that made the cut after 100 kilometres of racing, when 21 riders escaped from the peloton.

Schleck was pivotal in Kroon's success, as the pair worked perfectly together to set up the win for Team CSC. After explaining to his team-mate that he had recovered for the finale, Schleck knew exactly what had to be done. With the finish coming after a very tough and hilly parcours through the Taunus, Kroon was perfectly suited to taking the victory.

"We decided during the race that I would try for the sprint," Kroon, whose strength lies in small-group sprints, explained.

Schleck controlled the group in the final three laps of the 4.5-kilometre circuit, keeping the ever-aggressive Gerolsteiner riders at bay. Davide Rebellin and Fabian Wegmann tried, but eventually it came to the showdown in the shadow of the Binding brewery, whose tenure as sponsor of the event ends with this year's edition.

Rebellin, a strong man under the given circumstances, was Kroon's biggest threat to the title, but there was a simple reason why the Italian didn't have enough left in the tank.

"Davide had to work much harder today," Kroon explained. "I was taking fewer pulls. Everybody was looking to Gerolsteiner. It was a difficult race for them as the home team. For seven years I did the Amstel Gold Race with Rabobank. It is a very difficult situation and we took advantage of that today."

With a lead-out man of the calibre of Schleck it was hard to get around the Team CSC riders on the finishing straight, which grinds uphill for the good part of 500 metres. Wegmann was leading out Rebellin, but he too had done a tremendous amount of work to ensure that the break stayed away. Schleck put Kroon in position and the Dutchman launched his final move on the right-hand side of the road. Showing that there is no jealousy within the CSC ranks, Schleck crossed the line with a big grin on his face and was visibly happy with the outcome of the day's work.

Gerolsteiner had raced as it predicted the day before, and its tremendous effort left High Road behind. The successor team of T-Mobile would have loved to win in the country where its roots are, but it wasn't meant to be. High Road's Michael Barry, Andre Greipel and Andreas Klier were put on the front to try to bring back the Gerolsteiner-led move, but to no avail. The sprint for 2006 runner-up Gerald Ciolek never materialised and CSC was able to take advantage of the sparkling mineral water team.

Kroon was unstoppable today - even a recent crash couldn't hamper him. His left knee featured a bandage that covered the remnants of a recent encounter with the pavement, but if there is any pain left in his knee, it is surely forgotten by know.

29/04/08

Cycling team wins conference

by Jeff Ehrhardt
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

After leading their competitors for most of the season, the Western cycling team finished off the season with victories in every event at the April 26-27 Northwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship sponsored by Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., and the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.

The cycling team swept all three events at the competition, including a 50-70 mile race from Moscow, Idaho, to Palouse, Wash., a team time trial and a 40-minute circuit race known as a criterium.

Western senior Christopher Parrish placed first in the men's road race, and Western seniors Meagan McPhee and Daisy Phillips took first and second place respectively in the women's road race.

In the criterium, both the men and women's team took top positions, with Western senior David Fleischhauer placing first in the men's and Western senior Tela Crane placing third in the women's.

"We [were going] to win this weekend for sure," Western junior Patrick Means said. "There would have been some serious catastrophes for that not to happen."

The conference keeps track of standings with points accumulated from individual cyclists and men and women's competitions. Coming into the championship, Western was dominating the conference with a score of 5,875, nearly 2,000 more than other participating schools, such as Washington State University and the University of Oregon.

"We've had a really good season with strong riders in every category," Phillips said.

Western junior Tim Woods said the cycling team's best event throughout the season has been the team time trials. In the time trials, teams of four cyclists race to finish a 10-15 mile course with cyclists taking turns leading the group.

Success is dependant on how well the teams "draft" each other. The Western cycling team practices drafting extensively, because it requires good coordination to pull off, Phillips said.

"We spend more time practicing than other teams," Woods said. "When we have a good team with deep level of fitness, we do well."

Before the team time trials are the road races, which are usually 40-70 miles long. The course used for the championship in Moscow was more than 70 miles for the men's category and 50 miles in the women's.

When the team finished the road race in Palouse, Wash., they were greeted with cheers from nearly everyone who lived there.

"The town saw us as a big thing," Phillips said. "The whole town was celebrating."

At the finish line, both racers and townspeople were treated to a spaghetti feed and a raffle, with prizes such as a 50-pound bag of rock salt, Phillips said.

At the awards ceremony, Western cyclists earned medals and commemorative coffee mugs for their individual performance at the meet and throughout the season, along with a custom-made ceramic plate trophy for the team's first place finish in the conference.

After the conference championship, four cyclists from the team are thinking about going on to the National Road Championships May 9-11 in Fort Collins, Colo., Phillips said. In order to raise the funds to get four cyclists to the event, the team will host the sixth-annual WWU Triathlon May 4 on and around the Western campus.