DiLuca positive for EPO (CERA) ??

[doctorSpoc]

does this make sense.. why would anyone in their right mind be using CERA at this point in time when everyone knows it can be detected?

this seems really odd to me.. is this a messed up test?

The UCI Press Release:

Danilo Di Luca provisionally suspended

Earlier today, the UCI advised Italian rider Danilo Di Luca that he is provisionally suspended. The decision to provisionally suspend Mr Di Luca was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Paris indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of Recombinant EPO (CERA) in blood samples collected from him at the Giro d’Italia on 20 May and 28 May 2009.

These adverse findings were a direct result of a targeted test programme conducted on Mr Di Luca using information from his biological passport’s blood profile, previous test results and his race schedule.

The provisional suspension of Mr Di Luca remains in force until a hearing panel convened by the Italian Cycling Federation determines whether he has indeed committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.

Mr Di Luca has the right to request and attend the analyses of both his B samples.

Under the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the UCI is unable to provide any additional information at this time.

UCI Press Services

 

[LewisBricktop]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I can't stand that arrogant wop. I don't know how people didn't expect this after watching him attack on EVERY climb, EVERY day.

 

[doctorSpoc]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I can't stand that arrogant wop. I don't know how people didn't expect this after watching him attack on EVERY climb, EVERY day.

me... i can stand racist sons of b!itches... what's up with the racial slurs??

who matched all those attacks... every day? and what does that say about him? and what about his associations with an Austrian blood bank.. people are frig'n stupid!

 

[LewisBricktop]

does this make sense.. why would anyone in their right mind be using CERA at this point in time when everyone knows it can be detected?

An ego is a tough thing to get over. He's just like Ricco, or Vino.

He also knew that without a great performance in the Giro, the Tour would not be an option, though it didn't matter in the end anyway. I wonder if the Tour organizers noticed his ceaseless attacks and asked themselves just how he was doing it, and didn't invite LPR just in case........

 

[LewisBricktop]

me... i can stand racist sons of b!itches... what's up with the racial slurs??

I didn't know that anyone in a laid back internet forum would actually be mad about that. My apologies to anyone who was offended.

 

[limerickman]

Always liked the Killer.

He was never afraid to attack.

If this test is positive, then the second placed rider in this years Giro is disqualified and faces a lengthy ban.

 

[No_Positives]

Some of these riders like Diluca and Menchov make their doping so obvious by the wild swings in their performance. I think it was just a couple years ago in the TdF that Diluca was barely finishing stages. And look at Menchov at this year's TdF. Certainly all riders try to peak at certain times and because of this will have various degrees of form, but not to this extent. IMO the most obvious doper ever is Iban Mayo, going from a full sprint up Alpe d'Huez to needing his teammates to push him up the hills in the Pyrenees a couple years later.

Armstrong has never had such wild swings. If you are a top rider, it's not possible to suck super bad like these dopers can on occasion.

 

[slovakguy]

Some of these riders like Diluca and Menchov make their doping so obvious by the wild swings in their performance. I think it was just a couple years ago in the TdF that Diluca was barely finishing stages. And look at Menchov at this year's TdF. Certainly all riders try to peak at certain times and because of this will have various degrees of form, but not to this extent. IMO the most obvious doper ever is Iban Mayo, going from a full sprint up Alpe d'Huez to needing his teammates to push him up the hills in the Pyrenees a couple years later.

Armstrong has never had such wild swings. If you are a top rider, it's not possible to suck super bad like these dopers can on occasion.

wow, just wow. i'm on your side now. lance is totally clean and he just demolished every dope cheating skunk that ever turned the cranks! hooray for lance. truly a clean riding superman! you've redeemed my appreciation for his talents. can i have the next sniff of his chamois?

 

[guncha]

A dark day for cycling once again. None of them are clean, Di Luca has not stolen anything from anyone. I want to see boosted footballers, swimmers, tennis players etc.

 

[Smilf]

wow, just wow. i'm on your side now. lance is totally clean and he just demolished every dope cheating skunk that ever turned the cranks! hooray for lance. truly a clean riding superman! you've redeemed my appreciation for his talents. can i have the next sniff of his chamois?

I took the post in another way. Not that Lance didn't dope, just that he was a great rider. He was saying that you have avg guys, or sub avg even that are transformed into something great with dope. Something like Riis. When they aren't on the junk, they fly out the back. While people like Lance, Basso.. may not be flying like they would on EPO.. they aren't exactly flying out the back.. usually just end up in the 2nd chase group.

 

[swampy1970]

These adverse findings were a direct result of a targeted test programme conducted on Mr Di Luca using information from his biological passport’s blood profile, previous test results and his race schedule.

It's rubbish like this that does my head in even more than trying to comprehend why people would use something that's so easily spotted in a dope test...

This result didn't come because of the biological passport program... The guy was in the leaders jersey at the time. Funny how they didn't say he was positive for the stages that he won and therefore probably would have been tested during those stages too. What about all the stages that he was the leader - stage 5 though 11?

 

[poulidor]

A dark day for cycling once again. None of them are clean, Di Luca has not stolen anything from anyone.

No. A great day: one cheater caught!
I assume that there is clean riders probably not in the top 20 but there is at least one inside the peloton.

 

[poulidor]

It's rubbish like this that does my head in even more than trying to comprehend why people would use something that's so easily spotted in a dope test...

This result didn't come because of the biological passport program... The guy was in the leaders jersey at the time. Funny how they didn't say he was positive for the stages that he won and therefore probably would have been tested during those stages too. What about all the stages that he was the leader - stage 5 though 11?

We have learnt with Ricco that CERA urine test doesn't "work" every time. Only if the stage was enough difficult. The CERA molecule is big, and only under big stress go inside urine. Not enough EPO molecule inside urine = no positive.
With blood CERA test, he would probably be positive for each stage.

 

[mrfrogger]

It's rubbish like this that does my head in even more than trying to comprehend why people would use something that's so easily spotted in a dope test...

Not that I know anything about drug testing, but is CERA that easy to detect? It seems likely that many are still using EPO under the radar so why would CERA suddenly be off the menu?

In any case, although I like the Killer, but I doubt even his mother is surprised.

 

[Lonnie Utah]

No. A great day: one cheater caught!

I agree with this.

 

[No_Positives]

urine = no positive.

I take great offense to this comment.

 

[zander1983]

no the new variation of CERA is not detectable. Thats why Contador hasnt been caught yet. The new CERA only requires one injection for a 3 week tour. Its very very easy to avoid detection. Thats why 2009 TDF has been free of positive tests. Eveyone knows how to beat the controls

 

[Ted B]

Either way, to be truly effective as a performance enhancement, EPO triggers an increase in hematocrit levels that exceeds UCI thresholds. So while EPO itself may not be detected in certain instances, its effects remain detectable. Basically, if the quick and cheap hematocrit screen doesn't show anything unusual, the would-be cheater isn't getting much out of it. By the end of each Grand Tour, each rider has been subjected to at least one blood and urine test, and many twice. This is how Di Luca was caught.

 

[zander1983]

remember, we dont know the exact developments of doping at the moment. totally untraceable genetic doping is believed to be used by athletes in the last 6 months.
i agree with you about epo. it does of course, at the end of the day, increase the hermatacrit. Its just a shame that 50% is deemed the threshold, anything below is clean. Its ludicrous really. armstrongs regularly veered from 41 to 49 in his tour wins. he was quite brilliant at ensuring it went no higher than 49. 1% is deemed to be the difference between a legend and a cheat. BS.
i think the day will come, in the not too distant future, when the tour will be pulled. we've had one good year in the last 15 (2008). Something very serious needs to happen for UCI to cop on. As terrible as it is to say, an athelete may need to die before UCI are pressured into taking anti-doping seriously

 

[Ted B]

This is beginning to sound somewhat like a UFO conspiracy theory. The average hematocrit for an adult male is ~46-47%. This can be increased naturally, so 49% wouldn't indicate doping. Long term testing (e.g. blood passport) reveals any unusual fluctuations in hematocrit that would be indicative of EPO use.

As for the UCI, it isn't like there is one grand poobah that makes doping decisions behind closed doors. If a sample of anything comes back positive, that isn't something that's going to be easily hushed. The UCI took 2300 individual samples for testing during the Giro alone, so I'm not sure how much more serious it could be.