think some of you owe Doctor.House an appology...
not cow's blood... calve's blood actually. Discovery admited to bringing Actovegin (calve's blood) with them to the 2000 TdF.
Discovery staff were observed discarding of their supply of Actovegin (calves blood) in the 2000 TdF... the the team doctors got all the paperwork to bring it into France and admited to having it (claimed never to have used it) but when question started arising about why they had it the threw it away... they claimed they had it for road rash but Actovegin comes in tubes for this use but they had bags of the stuff?? guess the figured there would not be any riders crashing at that point so they didn't need it any more?
have a look... there is no bounds to how far people will go to win...
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Backpedaling
Armstrong's threat only adds to suspicion
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Posted: Thursday December 14, 2000 12:42 PM
Updated: Friday December 15, 2000 7:42 AM
Two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong made a curious vow Tuesday on his personal Web site in response to reports that the performance enhancing drug Actovegin, which is at the center of the controversy involving Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, had recently been banned by the IOC. Claiming he'd never heard of "Activ-o-something" and that the Postal Service team was "a very clean and professional team that has been singled out due to our success," Armstrong threatened not to defend his title if all the allegations of illegal drug use didn't go away.
Certainly sounds like the reaction of an innocent man, doesn't it? Dadgummit, I never took performance-enhancing drugs and I never will, but since French prosecutors are investigating the question, I'm staying home from the only important cycling race of the year.
That'll show 'em. That'll show 'em he's guilty. Here's the background: In October French officials launched a preliminary investigation into the U.S. Postal Service team after receiving an anonymous letter saying a TV crew had noticed two men allegedly associated with the team suspiciously disposing of bags that contained medicines and drug paraphernalia, including Actovegin. Actovegin, which was not banned prior to the 2000 Tour, is a derivative of calf's blood that's manufactured in Norway. When injected, it improves the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, similar to the performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin (EPO).
EPO, you may recall, was at the center of the controversial 1998 Tour de France, which was rocked by one drug scandal after another. Seven teams either pulled out or were thrown out when police began searching hotel rooms of competitors and found large supplies of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. One trainer, ***** Voet, who worked for the French-based Festina team, was arrested with 234 vials of EPO, 24 vials of growth hormones and testosterone, and 60 capsules of an aspirin-based product called Asaflow, which thins the blood. Those substances all were banned by cycling's governing body, the Union de Cycling Internationale. As Voet sat in prison, Festina's cyclists blithely denied ever having used the drugs. Most vocal in his denials was the team's star, Richard Virenque.
A year later I visited Voet in his hometown of Veynes, France. He had written a bestselling book, Chain Massacre: Revelations of 30 Years of Cheating. The book exposed how drug use among the world's top cyclists was pervasive, organized and well-funded. He said, in essence, those very few riders who were clean finished at the back of the pack. By then Virenque had recanted his denials of drug use and was facing criminal charges of his own. I found Voet surpassingly credible. He had seen the light and was trying to clean up his sport. I asked Voet about the two top American cyclists, Greg Lemond, who was retired, and Lance Armstrong, who in 1999 would win his first Tour. Voet carefully explained he had never worked with either one of them. He had only written about what he saw with his own two eyes. But all the top riders he worked with used performance-enhancing drugs, often injected by Voet himself. Armstrong was beating them. He advised me to draw my own conclusions.
The point is that the U.S. Postal Service team has not been "singled out," as Armstrong claims. For the past three years cycling has undergone an increased level of scrutiny by French officials in an effort to regain some credibility with the public. It needs it. Many insiders believe that the abuses continue. If Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team really are innocent, they should welcome any and all investigations geared toward cleaning up the sport, instead of claiming persecution by French prosecutors. Armstrong should return to France in 2001 to defend his title. Why would he even think of doing otherwise, unless he has something to hide?
E.M. Swift is a Sports Illustrated senior writer and a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/em_swift/news/2000/12/14/swift_viewpoint/
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OC reviews Actovegin
Posted: Wednesday February 14, 2001 10:28 AM
Updated: Thursday February 15, 2001 9:30 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Two months after declaring Actovegin a banned substance, the IOC is reconsidering its position on the drug at the center of a Tour de France investigation.
The International Olympic Committee is uncertain whether Actovegin enhances performance and has asked for further study to determine if it should be prohibited, IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch said Tuesday.
The IOC medical commission will rule in April, he said.
"It's still in a gray area," Schamasch told
The Associated Press by telephone. "For the moment, if we want to go by a very strict definition, it may be banned. But we don't want to accuse anyone without having more information."
The IOC announced in December that Actovegin, an extract of calf's blood, was banned under the classification of blood-doping agents.
But the IOC, at an executive board meeting last week in Dakar, Senegal, softened its stance.
Actovegin came to international attention late last year when French judicial authorities opened an investigation into whether the U.S. Postal Service team of Lance Armstrong used banned drugs during the 2000 race. Armstrong, who came back from testicular cancer, won the tour for the second straight year.
Paris prosecutors began the investigation after receiving an anonymous letter saying suspicious behavior had been detected the tour. A TV crew noticed two men dumping plastic bags that contained compresses, packaging from foreign products and medicine, including Actovegin.
Actovegin is manufactured by the Norwegian company Nycomed. The substance has been suspected of improving the circulation of oxygen in the blood in a manner similar to the banned drug EPO, or erythropoietin.
But Schamasch said Tuesday that Actovegin apparently does not transport oxygen.
"The explanation of the manufacturers is very vague," he said. "We have asked for more investigation to find out why athletes are taking a product which cannot transport oxygen, to find out if it has any other special effect."
The IOC said a number of teams brought Actovegin with them to last year's Sydney Olympics, thus raising suspicions that the product could be used for unethical reasons.
The IOC is working with the world governing body of cycling to make a definitive ruling on Actovegin. "According to the IOC medical code, we are entitled to ban a product either if it is performance enhancing and/or harmful to the health of the athletes," Schamasch said.
Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team have repeatedly denied using banned drugs.
U.S. Postal said its team doctor had been authorized by the French medical control board to bring Actovegin into the country for the race.
The doctor said the drug was on hand for treating severe skin abrasions caused by crashes, and for use by a staff member with diabetes. None of the team's nine riders used Actovegin, the team said.
French police have asked cycling's governing body for access to blood samples taken from Armstrong and other team members during the race. U.S. Postal Service has approved the testing.
French investigators are also analyzing frozen urine samples taken from the riders.
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http://www.nycomed.com.cn/english/wmdcp/awz/index.html
