Chris Froome tests positive for Salbutamol

Leroy42

Well, from Sky POV, what is the benefit of not fighting it?

If they simply accept the findings, then the No.1 rider and key marketing asset is a busted flush. Not only the future but the last numbers of years successes will be open to question.

If they fight it, they might lose and end up where they started. But they might win, or maybe even muddy the waters enough to raise enough doubts.

Look at the Contador case for example. He failed a test and by the time it was all worked through the majority of people had become bored of it and simply wanted to move on.

Sky is hoping to get another year from Froome, but at worst have him take all the flack and keep all the other teams guessing.

It really is a no lose situation for them. Doesn't make it either right or ethical

TheBlaaMan

Look. It could be worse. You could follow a sport such as soccer, where lowlife supporters treat the opposition players like this, yesterday........


(clipped from Twitter - I'm not sure of the photographer)

There's fifty stories going on in there, from the guy bottom left holding his coffee is resignation that Chelsea are going to loose, to the guy in the grey hoodie 10 rows in being held back by his mate to the delightful female giving the fingers with both hands. It's like one of those medieval paintings where scenes of torture and abuse are going on in the background of the main subject matter.

The equivalent might be that Froome could be expecting plenty of urine to be thrown his way in the coming months.....

godtabh

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Look. It could be worse. You could follow a sport such as soccer, where lowlife supporters treat the opposition players like this, yesterday........

If this was soccer he'd probably get away with it.

Lumen

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Look. It could be worse. You could follow a sport such as soccer

Indeed.

Macy0161

godtabh wrote:

If this was soccer he'd probably get away with it.

Lionised for putting himself through it to play, if he'd even have been tested.

Weepsie

godtabh wrote: »

If this was soccer he'd probably get away with it.

Hmm, plenty have gotten away with it in cycling and so far he is getting away it

That one person, and one alone can tarnish the entire sport is a massive issue though.

Harrybelafonte

Track and field have had years of it too and it doesn’t seem to stick in the public eye like it does cycling doping

Lusk_Doyle

Weepsie wrote: »

Hmm, plenty have gotten away with it in cycling and so far he is getting away it

That one person, and one alone can tarnish the entire sport is a massive issue though.

Ah now in fairness there have been many, many individuals, some repeatedly, who have combined to tarnish the sport. It's never just been about one person. The one person simply serves as a cover case for the lot of them that were and are at it still.

RobFowl

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Ah now in fairness there have been many, many individuals, some repeatedly, who have combined to tarnish the sport. It's never just been about one person. The one pers0on simply serves as a cover case for the lot of them that were and are at it still.

Jaysus Doyler, Even you talk sense every now and again

Harrybelafonte

Track and field have had years of it too and it doesn’t seem to stick in the public eye like it does cycling doping

gordongekko

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Look. It could be worse. You could follow a sport such as soccer, where lowlife supporters treat the opposition players like this, yesterday........


(clipped from Twitter - I'm not sure of the photographer)

There's fifty stories going on in there, from the guy bottom left holding his coffee is resignation that Chelsea are going to loose, to the guy in the grey hoodie 10 rows in being held back by his mate to the delightful female giving the fingers with both hands. It's like one of those medieval paintings where scenes of torture and abuse are going on in the background of the main subject matter.

The equivalent might be that Froome could be expecting plenty of urine to be thrown his way in the coming months.....

Completely off topic unless you are saying Ali is a drug cheat??

TheBlaaMan

gordongekko wrote: »

Completely off topic unless you are saying Ali is a drug cheat??

The link may be tenuous all right, but it was in response to the comment from @terrydel that he cannot stand pro cycling any more. I was making the point that you can watch cycling for more reasons than just to hate......an emotion that seems high among soccer fans. That said, Sky/Froome is dragging the sport even further into the mire and can surely expect a backlash from fans.

Weepsie

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

The link may be tenuous all right, but it was in response to the comment from @terrydel that he cannot stand pro cycling any more. I was making the point that you can watch cycling for more reasons than just to hate......an emotion that seems high among soccer fans. That said, Sky/Froome is dragging the sport even further into the mire and can surely expect a backlash from fans.

Those fans presumably went there to rejoice in Chelsea's potential win. Their very local rivals best them in their own stadium for the first time in nigh on 30 years.

Apples and oranges.

Football is rife with unfairness and cheating but it's not a great comparison of you ask me.

The track and field one might be better.

terrydel

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

The link may be tenuous all right, but it was in response to the comment from @terrydel that he cannot stand pro cycling any more. I was making the point that you can watch cycling for more reasons than just to hate......an emotion that seems high among soccer fans. That said, Sky/Froome is dragging the sport even further into the mire and can surely expect a backlash from fans.

And I cant, whataboutery re. soccer doesnt change that fact.
Ive been to over 100 PL games as it happens, and never once seen or heard racist abuse. Not saying it doesnt happen, but I dont think its fair to rank the majority of fans in that bracket.
Soccer has lots of its own problems, but of cyclings biggest 3 races, there is barely a winner in the last 2 decades that has any credibility. Until that level of farce is shown for a fact to apply to soccer, I personally can give it the benefit of the doubt and look at it different as a professional sport to cycling.

RobFowl

I love cycling with a passion in all its forms.
I like football a lot (love LFC)
Possible to be a fan of many sports

Seeing as football got mentioned, and this is born of pure ignorance as I have no interest in it but what level of anti-doping is done in sports like professional football and rugby? I struggle to recall a case of someone testing positive that was in the news? With the exception of the south african fella who recently joined an Irish rugby team.

flatty

Does anyone else reckon Carlos sastre was clean?

letape

flatty wrote: »

Does anyone else reckon Carlos sastre was clean?

Yes. My feeling is that himself and Cadel were. Not sure about any of the others though.

Quigs Snr

letape wrote: »

flatty wrote: »

Does anyone else reckon Carlos sastre was clean?

Yes. My feeling is that himself and Cadel were. Not sure about any of the others though.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-confirms-fitness-test-taken-with-ferrari-in-2000/

I reckon chances are that lemond was the last clean winner... possibly the only one in the last 40 or 50 years. Always liked Sartre though regardless.

pelevin

Personally I look on modern professional soccer as the repugnant triumph of money over all else. It disgusts me to the core of my being.
And it's the sport I used to love the most and personally am better at than all other sports activities.

1bryan

Quigs Snr wrote: »

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-confirms-fitness-test-taken-with-ferrari-in-2000/

I reckon chances are that lemond was the last clean winner... possibly the only one in the last 40 or 50 years. Always liked Sartre though regardless.

Lemond and Fignon would be the only 2 I'd tend to believe.

Agreed on Sastre. Always seemed honest and unassuming and was thus likeable. The year he won the tour there was a dearth of major contenders. So much so that Lance told him his win was worthless (nice guy that Lance).

Sastre did have some family connections that would be less than angelic, but he himself always managed to keep away from any of the major scandals.

Always enjoyed watching Cadel race too and was a fan of him as a person. However, I always thought one needed to take his better performances with a pinch of salt.

Cycling would do well to get more characters like this pair. It's too full of non-descript, boring, riders. Without Sagan the sport would be rightly screwed.

odyssey06

Deleted User wrote: »

Seeing as football got mentioned, and this is born of pure ignorance as I have no interest in it but what level of anti-doping is done in sports like professional football and rugby? I struggle to recall a case of someone testing positive that was in the news? With the exception of the south african fella who recently joined an Irish rugby team.

Depends on how recently you look... Diego Maradona was the most famous footballer in the world at the time of his ban.

Rio Ferdinand has been banned for eight months and fined £50,000 by the Football Association after being found guilty of missing a drugs test.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/3333091.stm

Mark Bosnich - Nine months after failing a drugs test for cocaine

Diego Maradona - 15 months. Nine days after Maradona scored in Argentina's 4-0 win over Greece in the 1994 World Cup the troubled star failed a drugs test for cocaine and ephedrine. The playmaker was banned for 15 months and never returned to the world stage.

Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids was at Juventus when he tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone in 2001. The Italian Olympic Committee recommended an eight-month ban but Davids, now with Internazionale, ultimately served just under four months.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/nov/04/newsstory.sport5

harringtonp

These football drug stories are a different thing altogether. I wouldn't mix up recreation and performance enhancement.

odyssey06

harringtonp wrote: »

These football drug stories are a different thing altogether. I wouldn't mix up recreation and performance enhancement.

True, but it shows that there is a testing programme in place that is detecting banned substances.

1bryan

odyssey06 wrote: »

True, but it shows that there is a testing programme in place that is detecting banned substances.

nonsense. There is no desire to catch drug cheats in soccer. They might throw the occasional small fish to the lions for show, but drug taking is rife in football and that is not going to stop anytime soon.

Even Mr.Wenger thinks so

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/34869016

odyssey06

1bryan wrote: »

nonsense. There is no desire to catch drug cheats in soccer. They might throw the occasional small fish to the lions for show, but drug taking is rife in football and that is not going to stop anytime soon.

Even Mr.Wenger thinks so

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/34869016

I'm sure it can be improved... but Diego Maradona? Rio Ferdinand? Small fish? Are you serious?

eagle eye

I don't know about Lemond, he came back to form very suddenly after his bad period.
That time trial where he beat Fignon by almost a minute on the final day was just too much imo.

Auguste Comte

This is probably a very naive question but why don't they introduce an open class. You turn up with your bike which must be legal and after that it's the fastest rider that wins. "Train" as hard as you can, use whatever "training aids" you like and no testing.

A lifetime ban for anyone doping in any other class.

1bryan

odyssey06 wrote: »

I'm sure it can be improved... but Diego Maradona? Rio Ferdinand? Small fish? Are you serious?

ok yeah, 2 names, you've convinced me. Soccer is clean.

odyssey06

1bryan wrote: »

ok yeah, 2 names, you've convinced me. Soccer is clean.

I replied to the query: "I struggle to recall a case of someone testing positive that was in the news?"
I listed documented example of positive tests and bans - including one of the most famous footballers in the history of the sport.

If you want to think soccer is clean, or not - that is your prerogative. You seem to be furiously bashing a soccer is clean strawman, a strawman which exists in your head and bears no relation to any post I have made in this thread.