With so many dumb athletes cheating and getting caught for doping violations, it appears to be time for a new edition of Dopey Monday. The odd thing is although the 7 athletes that I'll cover in this edition are all superstars in their respective sports, there has been very little media attention around their violations. Perhaps it has to due with the fact that none of them are Canadians or Americans...
The Cyclists
Not surprisingly, 6 of the 7 doping headliners are cyclists. And how sad is it that no one really gets surprised anymore? Anyhow, let's look at some of some of the accomplishments of some of these athletes.
* Overall winner, Paris-Nice
* Overall winner, Tirreno-Adriatico
* Bronze Medal, 2000 Olympics Road Race
* 2-time 2nd place overall, Tour de France
* German National Road Race Champion
* Spanish National Road Race Champion
* Twice second and once third in World Championship Road Race
* Twice UCI ProTour Champion
* Twice Winner, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
* Second place (and third place), Vuelta d'Espana
* Winner, Fleche Wallone
* Overall Winner, Dauphine Libere
* 3 stage wins, Tour de France
Ok, I tricked you, those are only the notable accomplishments of 2 cyclists; Alejandro Valverde and Andreas Kloden. The list would be simply unreadable if we included the accomplishments of the other 4.
Anyhow, let's begin with Kloden. Like many of the cyclists who have been embroiled in doping controversies, his problems stem from years ago. Way back in 2006, after the first stage of the Tour de France, it is alleged that Kloden and two of his T-mobile teammates (Matthias Kessler and Patrik Sinkewitz) went to a doping clinic at Freiburg University where they received blood transfusions. With three teammates involved (allegedly), it does raise the question whether all the T-mobile riders were involved in some team-wide doping (other team members include Jan Ullrich...oops). Anyhow, this report just broke at the end of April, and since then, Team Astana decided to not have Kloden start in the Giro this week. It is unclear what his status is currently, but it appears he could be in for the ole 2-year ban!
Okay, Tom Boonen is a not really a doper, just more of a general dope. For the second time in less than a year, Boonen has failed an out-of-competition drug test for cocaine. Whoops. The first time he avoided a lengthy UCI or WADA suspension (since it was not competition-related) but his team punished him by not letting him compete in the 2008 Tour de France. Last year, he claimed that someone spiked his drink at a cafe. This year, he claims he doesn't remember but may have taken something when he was out drinking on a night that he ultimately blacked out. Life was good for Tom Boonen! Unfortunately for him, this time he will not get off with a severe warning. Just today, the UCI has announced that Boonen will be suspended "for one to six months for unacceptable behavior that could harm the reputation of cycling or UCI". Ha. Methinks the UCI has bigger problems than him. The Tour de France also announced today that Boonen will not be welcome in 2009...
A new name to the Dopey ranks is Austrian Christian Pfannberger. A rider on Team Katusha, he was supposed to start the Giro when news broke last Friday that he failed a doping test for EPO in March. He is obviously suspended indefinitely while they wait for the B sample result. Pfannberger has already served one 2-year ban for a EPO positive test back in 2004, which means this positive could result in a lifetime ban. Of course, he denies any wrongdoing. Righhht.Another one bites the dust...
Alejandro Valverde has seen his name surrounded by doping allegations all the way back to the first days of Operation Puerto. Just this week, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that they will not allow the Spaniard Valverde to race on Italian soil for 2 years. This goes back to a test that was taken during last year's Tour de France when the Tour came into Italy for a brief stop. Apparently, Valverde's blood sample matched a suspicious Italian sample, blah blah blah...I'm getting very tired of the politicking of these two cycling organizations. Anyhow, right now Valverde can't legally race in Italy (which includes this summer Tour which once again comes into Italy). However, Valverde might have some legal recourse (appeals, etc) which has already started as he has sued the Italian head anti-doping prosecutor. Sigh...I'll let you know if he Valverde is going to race the Tour the day before it begins...until then, who knows? In case you wondered, Valverde also wore the Yellow Jersey in the 2008 Tour.
Next up on the hit list is Stefan Schumacher. Yep, he has also been a very consistent contributor to the Dopey posts, but this one takes the cake. Schumacher first tested positive for EPO during the 2008 Tour de France (where he won two time trials and wore the yellow jersey for a few days) but the test results didn't come in until October. He then started a lawsuit against the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) in December that claimed "blood contamination and other mixups could have distorted the results". Really Stefan? He also filed an appeal with the Court for Arbitration in Sport in April 2009, claiming that he has never doped. Well, now the IOC has announced that Schumacher failed a test during the Beijing Olympics by testing positive to CERA. Oops. Can't blame this one on the AFLD. Anyhow, regardless of what happens with this last report, the German Cycling Federation is ready to throw the book at the 27-year-old Schumacher, even going as far as to say "his career is over". Awesome news!
When the IOC announced that Schumacher had failed the re-test for CERA, his name was not alone. Davide Rebellin, who awed us all this spring with his triumphant climb at the end of Fleche Wallone, might have done so with some extra juice in his veins. The IOC announced the positive results and then allowed the athlete to have their B-sample tested. Not surprisingly, Rebellin "denies every accusation". That is not exactly unexpected. What makes this a big deal is that Rebellin was the Silver Medalist in the Beijing Road Race! Yep, take away his medal and Fabian Cancellara moves up to the Silver, with Russian Alexandr Kolobnev now getting the bronze medal. (Canadian Michael Barry would now be 8th overall!) Interestingly, Kolobnev just got the 4th spot (now 3rd) in a close finish with Andy Schleck. Schleck is also directly involved since Rebellin beat him at this years Fleche Wallone, and if Rebellin gets suspended as expected, Schleck will have two huge wins in late April to his credit (he also won Liege-Bastogne-Liege). Too bad he only got to celebrate one of them...
The non-Cyclist
Back to that good old IOC re-testing of Beijing samples...they found a cheater in the most unlikely of places. The freaking Gold Medalist in the men's 1500m race, Rashid Ramzi, also tested positive for CERA. Ramzi, who was born in Morocco but raced for Bahrain, was the country's only medalist in Beijing. Ramzi had previously been criticized for not racing very often outside major championships (which some say raised suspicions). Again, we have to wait for the B sample to come back, but if it is positive, Kenya wins another gold medal (Asbel Kiprop) while Mehdi Baala from France would get the bronze and Nick Willis would be upgraded to the silver.
Okay, as i press the "publish post" button i'm not aware of any new doping positives...I'll keep looking though!
Talk to you on Friday!
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