What were Ballan & Cunego really at?



Moller

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Jan 9, 2007
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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 said:
strip club?
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?
 
TheDarkLord said:
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?
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 said:
No EPO in the champagne room. ;)
really!
biggrin.gif
please share what is present in the champagne room ?
 
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.
 
earth_dweller said:
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.
If they are found guilty of something I wonder will that mean no place in the Tour for them?
 
Moller said:
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
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 ****? 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.
 
thoughtforfood said:
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 ****? 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.
I also wouldn't use air freshener or burn a match or anything.
 
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?
 
according to gazzetta, another control for the Lampre team took place at 7:30am following last night (early morning) testing. Damiano Cunego, Alessandro Ballan, Paolo Tiralongo, Patxi Vila, Marco Marzano e Marzio Bruseghin were tested.

They are definitely looking for something specific here.
 
earth_dweller said:
according to gazzetta, another control for the Lampre team took place at 7:30am following last night (early morning) testing. Damiano Cunego, Alessandro Ballan, Paolo Tiralongo, Patxi Vila, Marco Marzano e Marzio Bruseghin were tested.

They are definitely looking for something specific here.
Does sound like they had some inside information..
 
earth_dweller said:
according to gazzetta, another control for the Lampre team took place at 7:30am following last night (early morning) testing. Damiano Cunego, Alessandro Ballan, Paolo Tiralongo, Patxi Vila, Marco Marzano e Marzio Bruseghin were tested.

They are definitely looking for something specific here.
And actually using some common sense, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there is a window to dope right after the testers have tested. How often do you think in the past couple of years that one OOC test has been followed up with another one in short order? I would guess almost never given there don't appear to have been that many OOC tests in the first place.
 
thoughtforfood said:
Does sound like they had some inside information..
I think the fact that the tests were 'ordered' by a judge says a lot. They were also visited by the testers during their breakfast on Thursday...
 
Wayne666 said:
And actually using some common sense, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there is a window to dope right after the testers have tested. How often do you think in the past couple of years that one OOC test has been followed up with another one in short order? I would guess almost never given there don't appear to have been that many OOC tests in the first place.
This is one reason why the UCI's passport system won't work well. Not enough testing. The Slipstream model which provides enough tests for once a week testing would be much better; they can afford to skip some weeks in order to put other tests close to each other.