Stop Persecuting Armstrong: Time for a Doping Amnesty in Cycling Practical Ethics

A two year federal investigation resulted in no charges filed and Armstrong has not failed any drug tests but has been dogged by rumours and accusations for many years. “We believe this powerful corticosteroid was being used to prepare Bradley Wiggins, and possibly other riders supporting him, for the (2012) Tour de France,” the House of Commons select committee report said. “He benefited from the performance enhancing properties of this drug during the race.” When doctors prescribe steroid medication, they always advise coming off the medication slowly by gradually reducing the dose.

• He had never ridden as a professional but had moved to France to ride with the best, becoming a stagiaire – an amateur riding with a pro team to see if they would be interested in signing him.
• When doctors prescribe steroid medication, they always advise coming off the medication slowly by gradually reducing the dose.
• Ekimov is named in Floyd Landis’s qui tam whistleblower lawsuit as one of the US Postal riders who received a blood transfusion midway through the 2004 Tour de France.
• Those include the EPO positives of the brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy, both of whom tested positive for EPO this year.
• Even before Anderson’s discovery of the banned drugs in Armstrong’s bathroom, he says that quizzed the legendary cyclist after the Belgian rider Johann Museeuw was involved in a doping scandal in the summer of 2003.
• Steroids enhance performance by allowing athletes to train longer and recover more quickly.

Arguably the most high-profile method of illegal performance enhancement in cycling, this involves the infusion of blood to increase the amount of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. But pressure was growing to discover who the unnamed rider or riders referred to in the ruling could be, and how far the scandal might have spread. The 44-page report did not name any riders, nor did the General Medical Council, who brought the charges against Freeman, manage to establish the identity of any athletes involved. Serious health complications.In this article we’ll look at what anabolic steroids are and how they can potentially damage your health.

Human growth hormone (HGH)

Cycling was the first sport to adopt the ABP with WADA adopting it later that year. Unlike many previous doping tests that focussed on direct markers of abuse, the ABP focusses on indirect markers over time with WorldTour riders tested chaussuressporthypers a minimum three times each year in and out of competition. The organisation would be called the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and would be charged with promoting, co-ordinating and monitoring the fight against drugs in sport.

• Testimonials from emblematic riders once again point out a ‘two-speed cycling’ and the UCI director said in a recent interview that anti-doping tests are no longer enough to catch cheaters.
• It is arbitrary and unfair to single out high profile dopers from the past when we can’t be sure in any reliable way who was and was not doping, especially when all evidence indicates it has been, and probably still is, rife.
• The ComRes poll for the BBC questioned more than 1,000 amateur athletes who are members of clubs or teams from a number of different sports, around seven per cent of whom were cyclists.
• Academic Andy Miah says of the strong ethical argument to support something like genetic doping, ‘The concepts of health and illness are more blurry, as is the way we define quality of life today.
• Nibali’s team Astana is having its licence reviewed after five members of it and its feeder team tested positive, two for EPO.

Suddenly, men who were too big to climb hills were up there fighting with the smaller climbers and sprinting up mountains faster than ever before. Red blood cells usually account for around 43 per cent of blood volume, but with EPO there were reports of scores in the high fifties and even 60s. Some professional riders explained that they no longer ride in the Gran Fondos because they were so competitive due to the number of riders doping.

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing

They might refer you to a specialist addiction service or a trained drugs counsellor. These services will also be able to help with advice on weaning yourself off the steroids. There can be no doubt that professional road cycling was, for a long time, propelled by drugs. Quite possibly a majority of riders in the Grand Tours had used performance-enhancing substances at some point.

Wiggins used performance enhancing drug in 2012 Tour, say MPs

Colombia’s former world keirin champion Fabian Puerta has been banned from cycling for four years after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, the International Cycling Union (UCI) says. In this case, the prospect of a ban is unlikely and of little importance – Vinokourov has already served a ban from 2007 to 2009. What is more important would be what he reveals about the current Astana team, who have been hit by a rash of positive doping tests this autumn. Those include the EPO positives of the brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy, both of whom tested positive for EPO this year.

Professional boxer, Jez Wilson, banned for two years

In the Armstrong days it is widely accepted that the rate of use was 90 per cent, or more. More money bought better doctors, however, so it the run of the green was not entirely flat. Infusing three pints of blood in a race is expensive, and easier if, like Armstrong, you had a private jet.

The fact is though that every winner of the Tour de France has been implicated in doping since Miguel Indurain, except Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck. The leg press effectively works all the same muscles as the barbell squat, but is a little safer on the lower back. If you’re returning from injury or are injured in the lumbar spine region, then the leg press can be hugely beneficial.

Three Rugby Union players banned from all sport

Testosterone accelerates the synthesis of proteins for muscle, forging a stronger cyclist. Human growth hormone is secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. Clenbuterol is commonly taken in pill form and belongs in a group of drugs known as beta-2-agonists. Drugs in this category, which includes salbutamol, dilate the bronchial muscles.

Legal Advisors

In attempting to quantify this, and to provide a snapshot at least, Sportingintelligence has analysed the career details of every rider finishing in the top 10 in the Tour De France in the years being considered under the CIRC remit. Anabolic steroids aid cyclists in two ways; first, during the training season they help to develop and retain muscle so that the cyclist becomes stronger. They do this by increasing the production of proteins that are needed for muscle growth.

“A truly remarkable position,” Cookson notes, “that brings with it massive levels of expectation and huge pressure. I am, however, certain of one thing — our team and their back-up staff will leave no stone unturned and will spare no effort in their quest for medals.” Cookson was right about that at least. The team added they did not believe that any athlete ever used or sought to use Testogel or any other performance-enhancing substance.