What were Ballan & Cunego really at?

Moller

Italy's Damiano Cunego, Alessandro Ballan and five other Lampre riders are at the centre of a doping investigation following specially requested anti-doping tests carried out by the Italian Olympic Committee at midnight on Monday.

According to reports in the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper on Thursday, the Lampre riders went out for dinner on Monday night without notifying the Italian Olympic Committee of their movements and so where initially unavailable for testing when the doctors arrived at their hotel.

Gazzetta claims the riders could face a ban of between three months and a year for being absent when the testers arrived to collect urine and blood samples.

The tests were eventually done between 11:20pm and 3:40am but the timing angered the Lampre team and sparked an official protest from the Italian Association of Professional Cyclists.

However, in an interview in Gazzetta, Ettore Torri – head of the anti-doping investigating Procura - reveals that the 'out of competition' tests were specifically ordered for after 11pm on January 28 by an investigating judge and the Italian NAS, the special drugs squad who have lead other drug raids in recent years.

Ballan and Cunego are part of the pool of riders who face extra testing by the Italian Olympic Committee because they could be selected for the Olympic Games but there has so far been no specific explanation why all the Lampre riders were tested and Torri refused to explain why the tests were requested.

According to Gazzetta, the WADA anti-doping documents say tests carried out late at night can help detect riders taking micro-doses of EPO or other hormones.

The tests could just be part of a routine series of tests but the refusal of directeur sportive Maurizio Pivani to say the name of the restaurant where the riders went for dinner has sparked further headlines and raised further suspicions about where the riders were so late at night after training for 210km that morning

earth_dweller

strip club?

TheDarkLord

You're probably joking Edie, but will they refuse to confess going to a strip club if faced with a ban of between 3 and 12 months?

earth_dweller

yep I was joking. You'd think they' d lay off the sauce while they know that are being targeted and investigated. What's his name that got caught on vacation also using a late evening test if I remember correctly should have been a clear warning sign.

Bro Deal

No EPO in the champagne room.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

earth_dweller

really! please share what is present in the champagne room ?

Bro Deal

No sex either.

__________________
"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

earth_dweller

Got to say that Ettore Torri has brass cojones. Now if only someone in Spain could grow some.

Wonder what exaclty Lampre has done to raise eyebrows.

Moller

If they are found guilty of something I wonder will that mean no place in the Tour for them?

helmutRoole2

Bath house?

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"Bait in 08" --nns1400

thoughtforfood

What I question is do they really have to notify authorities of their every move? They went out for dinner and didn't tell someone and they can be suspended? Do they have to let everyone know when they are taking a shit? I mean, I like to announce it when I do, but if I were forced to do so by authorities, I wouldn't do it just to spite them.

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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
-- Albert Einstein

thoughtforfood

Happy ending?

__________________
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
-- Albert Einstein

thoughtforfood

I also wouldn't use air freshener or burn a match or anything.

__________________
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
-- Albert Einstein

earth_dweller

It seems that the UCI folks showed up at the hotel, and DS Maurizio Pivani refused to tell them the name of the restaurant where the riders went for dinner. Why would he refuse?