Simon Yates fails dope test

MPFGLB

https://twitter.com/irishpeloton/status/726011699443171328

dastardly00

MPFGLB wrote: »

So looks like S Yates had no previous TUE for this medication so sanction likely

From Matt Slater (BBC sports journalist):

https://twitter.com/mjshrimper/status/725999190392864768

ThisRegard

So he changed his asthma drug from ventolin/belcazone to the stuff that has a kick?

MPFGLB

https://twitter.com/EdHutchison/status/726013921937752064

mezzanine08

ThisRegard wrote: »

So he changed his asthma drug from ventolin/belcazone to the stuff that has a kick?

Medically it's the same as salbutamol (ventolin) but in a post above there's a medical journal saying if it's used in high doses it is performance enhancing. I have no doubt he was on a high dose as well.. he knew what he was doing.

dastardly00

According to the website Dopeology, there have been two other incidents involving cyclists and terbutaline.

José-Antonio Pastor (never heard of him) tested positive around 2006 (no other info on him).

Vegard Robinson Bugge tested positive during the 2015 Tour des Fjords. He was reported to have switched asthma medications, using an inhaler for which he did not possess a TUE. Seemingly he had a TUE to use the asthma medication Bricanyl, which includes terbutaline. But he started using Ventolin instead a few years before 2015. Then during the 2015 Tour des Fjords he ran out of Ventolin and went back using Bricanyl again, but he had no current TUE for it.

Leroy42

Without getting into all the in-and-outs, the TUE's, the reasons why, the excuses, the defence, etc etc, in the new Era that cycling has apparently moved into it is simply not acceptable that a team can allow this sort of stuff to happen.

They know that using any drugs brings about risk, even supplements and energy drinks have the potential but any sane team will restrict themselves and their riders to only pre-approved producers.

He is already using an inhaler and that is fine under the rules, but to suddenly change the medication without ensuring that everything is in place prior to that is negligent. The team can blame the doctor all they want but the responsibility lies with them. If he needed to move to another type of medicine they should have withdrawn him from competition until such time as a reason why he previous medication was no longer working and ascertained and made sure everything was in place prior to allowing him use the new stuff

Whatever excuses they come out with is simply not acceptable and even if this is a real case of 'I simply made a mistake' its tough. You knew, or should have known, the risks.

dastardly00

^^^^
Some good points Leroy.
I wonder in this case, should the team be suspended as well as the rider? (like for a few WT races)

MPFGLB

The problem for me is that people outside cycling including sponsors only hear of another failed doping test
So those who say its nothing but a clerical error miss the whole point of what it continues to do to cycling as a sport

terrydel

It really is amazing the amount of top level sportspeople who have cronic or serious health conditions that require long term meidcation. Imagine how good theyd all be if they were perfectly healthy....

Leroy42

Its OK, the UCI have accepted it was all just a mistake and so despite failing a drugs test it won't provisionally suspend him so he can continue on racing.

Guess that lady who mistakenly let a friends bike into the pit for the CX worlds with the motor feels a bit miffed

http://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/36169275

Glass Prison 1214

Leroy42 wrote: »

Its OK, the UCI have accepted it was all just a mistake.

Guess that lady who mistakenly let a friends bike into the pit for the CX worlds with the motor feels a bit miffed

Link?

MPFGLB

As fro all these sports people having asthma ..I thought being a top athlete meant your were fitter and thus healthier than the general population

Beasty

Except asthma can be exercise induced

Interesting to note

A study was carried out amongst a hundred sportsmen. It revealed that 40% of them had exercise induced asthma for which most of them they were unaware of it.

It also indicates that endurance athletes are more prone

mezzanine08

Beasty wrote: »

Except asthma can be exercise induced[/URL]

Interesting to note
It also indicates that endurance athletes are more prone

Yep - I have asthma but I could smoke til the cows come home without much breathing problems. Yet I have to take two puffs of my inhaler before each cycle or I'll have an asthma attack.

Chris Froome also has asthma iirc.

Glass Prison 1214

Beasty wrote: »

Except asthma can be exercise induced

Interesting to note
It also indicates that endurance athletes are more prone

While I'm not denying that exercise induced asthma exists, there's also been claims by athletes such as Lauren Fleshmen that doctors are telling her and other athletes, to use asthma medication for performance gains (https://www.propublica.org/article/elite-runner-had-qualms-alberto-salazar-asthma-drug-performance), while there is evidence to suggest that the substance in question improves power and performance (https://theconversation.com/terbutaline-the-drug-at-the-heart-of-british-cyclings-week-from-hell-58660). Such a scenario leaves a lot of scope for manipulation for performance gains.

In the case of Yates, what doctor honestly forgets to fill out the paperwork? It is such a fundamental part of his job. And why would the doctor/team assume that the TUE would automatically be accepted, TUEs can and do get rejected, so if that happened Yates wouldn't have been able to legally take it. So the doctor gave it to him without confirmation that it would be allowed.

And then there is the fact that there isn't a single mention of him having asthma anywhere, prior to this positive test. Again fishy......

On top of this there is the fact that he has never had a TUE for this medication before. Surely if he was using this for his asthma then he would be using it regularly no?

His excuse doesn't add up for me

casion3

MPFGLB wrote: »

As fro all these sports people having asthma ..I thought being a top athlete meant your were fitter and thus healthier than the general population

Fitter yes, healthier not necessarily.
1 in 12 of population suffers some form of asthma. Assume the same for population of elite athlete's.
I remember play ball yrs ago and the best player was asthmatic, went on to intercounty.

Would think more athletes would show symptoms due the amount of air going through lungs, with pollution etc, would make a mild problem worse.

Ronan o gara is asthmatic,. I'm sure plenty more in other sports.
TUE.and drug forms are a mind field, and let's face it the real dopers won't be caught in the tests

Kurtosis

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

On top of this there is the fact that he has never had a TUE for this medication before. Surely if he was using this for his asthma then he would be using it regularly no?

The other common drug in the same family as terbutaline is salbutamol (i.e. Ventolin) which doesn't require a TUE, so he may have been using that previously.

CramCycle

The reason it requires a TUE is more to do with it being hard to distinguish between an oral dose and an inhaler, whereas the others (without TUE) are easy to distinguish AFAIK

Eamonnator

Interesting article in Cycling Tips.
Interview by Shane Stokes with Dr. Conor McGrane,"a physician and cyclist well known for his strong anti doping stance", who gives his thoughts on the topic, being discussed in this thread.

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/cycling-federation-doctor-nothing-surprising-about-prevalence-of-asthma-amongst-pro-riders/

godtabh

Eamonnator wrote: »

Interesting article in Cycling Tips.
Interview by Shane Stokes with Dr. Conor McGrane,"a physician and cyclist well known for his strong anti doping stance", who gives his thoughts on the topic, being discussed in this thread.

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/cycling-federation-doctor-nothing-surprising-about-prevalence-of-asthma-amongst-pro-riders/

Very interesting read but what ever happened Yares career will always have a black mark over it

CramCycle

Was an amount published or was it just a qualitative test?

C3PO

godtabh wrote: »

Very interesting read but what ever happened Yares career will always have a black mark over it

Frankly I don't think people will care - if the UCI let it go then it will disappear!

RobFowl

CramCycle wrote: »

Was an amount published or was it just a qualitative test?

Amount not published but there are threshold levels and there will be a level

Bristolscale7

It's almost as if being asthmatic is becoming a pre-condition for joining the pro peloton.

Lumen

Eamonnator wrote: »

Interesting article in Cycling Tips.
Interview by Shane Stokes with Dr. Conor McGrane,"a physician and cyclist well known for his strong anti doping stance", who gives his thoughts on the topic, being discussed in this thread.

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/cycling-federation-doctor-nothing-surprising-about-prevalence-of-asthma-amongst-pro-riders/

I love the comment on that thread which suggests that Dr McGrane is a UCI stooge. :pac:

Inquitus

godtabh wrote: »

Very interesting read but what ever happened Yares career will always have a black mark over it

I disagree, I don't think an administrative error over a change in asthma medication for a known asthmatic is worthy of a black mark tbh.

volchitsa

RobFowl wrote: »

It's an inhaler for asthma with no performance benefit to anyone other than treating asthma.
If this is true he deserves to get a very lenient punishment if any ....

I haven't read through to the end, but really??
Nobody else finds it odd that so many top athletes seem to have chronic illnesses that ordinary people often find tend to restrict their sporting performances?

Tennis players taking heart medication, and players from just about all high-level cardiovascular sports suffering from asthma?

Right. :mad:

EDIT : now I have read through, I'm relieved to see I'm far from alone in being sceptical.

Inquitus

volchitsa wrote: »

I haven't read through to the end, but really??
Nobody else finds it odd that so many top athletes seem to have chronic illnesses that ordinary people often find tend to restrict their sporting performances?

Tennis players taking heart medication, and players from just about all high-level cardiovascular sports suffering from asthma?

Right. :mad:

EDIT : I'm relieved to see I'm far from alone in being sceptical.

Read the Conor McGrane article.

Brian?

Inquitus wrote: »

godtabh wrote: »

Very interesting read but what ever happened Yares career will always have a black mark over it

I disagree, I don't think an administrative error over a change in asthma medication for a known asthmatic is worthy of a black mark tbh.

The same way an administrative error over a TUE for a cortical steroid cream for saddle sores shouldn't have been a black mark?