Saturday update

Dopage, a short video.

Another unnamed former T-Mobile rider has come forward as a witness, and has given a statement detailing doping at T-Mobile in 2003 and 2004, including the distribution of EPO by team doctors. Coming after Sinkewitz's revelations about blood transfusions, this is not particularly surprising, although it is still quite a rare event when any rider comes forward as a witness on their own. Whoever it is (no I do not want to guess), I applaud their willingness to speak to the prosecutors.

Good news for Saul Raisin, as it seems that his previously stolen Look has been recovered more or less intact. In other Raisin news, he is running the NYC Marathon tomorrow (Sunday Nov. 2), which you can watch online starting at 9am. Another familiar name taking part in the NYC Marathon will be Stephen Roche, who is running as part of a fund-raising effort for leukemia research in conjunction with the Geoff Thomas Foundation.

Another bad scare for European soccer, with Real Madrid midfielder Ruben De La Red collapsing during a game on Thursday. De La Red regained consciousness after being stretchered off the field, and was later released from the hospital, said to be suffering only from low blood pressure which caused him to faint. However, De La Red is now planning to have further cardiac testing. The number of elite soccer players who have died from heart attacks or other types of heart problems during games is rather high. It seems to be quite politically incorrect to suggest that all these deaths ought to be investigated, and no one seems particularly eager to examine whether it is possible that doping might play a part in some percentage of these deaths. Cycling fans have seen this all before, with the list of cyclists dying of heart attacks also being far too long to ignore.

The sponsor search undertaken by Mauro Gianetti to replace Saunier-Duval/Scott is still underway, with meetings in Mexico City with a Mexican multinational company. Meanwhile the team has financial problems as Saunier-Duval has supposedly not paid for their remaining shares of the team's expenses, leading to the possibility of rider salaries being paid out of the team's bank guarantee. The new version of Saunier-Duval (if indeed a sponsor materializes) will be led by Alvaro Crespi, with Matxin as director. If the new sponsor comes through soon enough, rider rumored to possibly join include Rebellin and Vigano. Naturally, there is no word on whether the new team will have an anti-doping program.

Interview with Astana DS Ekimov, who comments on the likely result of Lance's return: "Many of the new guys will be shocked at the beginning the way Lance will take command. But I will share with them my experience of working with Lance and calm them down, telling them that it will elevate the position of the team and themselves."

Some bloggers are far more creative than I will ever be...from here.

I am trying to just accept that McQuaid is continually going to say dumb things, but I still find it hard to take. Another recent example.

What is there to say, when this passes for journalism. Not one question on the giant elephant in the room. Perhaps we all ought to just tip-toe politely around, avoiding any and all chance of encountering a possibly ugly truth. Congratulations, indeed.

You have to wonder if there might be a cyclist among the mysterious suspect samples from the Olympics...

New book, which realizes that the anti-dopers are sometimes the ones needing some ethics as well.

CONI's website includes a veritable treasure trove of doping information, including the judgments of all the Oil for Drugs cases. It is quite astonishing to consider that so far no less than 73 people have been officially disciplined by CONI in the Oil for Drugs scandal. Among the cases that had previously escaped my notice is that of Serbian rider Ivan Stevic. Stevic (28), who has in recent years ridden for American team Toyota-United, was on September 17, 2008 found guilty by CONI of three violations including use or attempted use of a prohibited substance, possession of prohibited substances, and illegal trafficking of prohibited substances. He has been given a life ban. According to the CONI documents, during 2004, while riding as an amateur in Italy, Stevic was involved in distributing and selling large quantities of doping products he received from Dr. Carlo Santuccione, the head of the vast Oil for Drugs doping network. A raid of Stevic's house on May 26, 2004 also found several prohibited doping products in his kitchen refrigerator including corticosteroids and human growth hormone. Stevic subsequently refused to give any information to the Italian authorities, and did not show up to his two scheduled hearings with CONI on March 18, 2008 and May 30, 2008. To avoid another fit of disillusionment, it is perhaps best not to dwell too long on the assorted races that Stevic won between 2004 and the time of his eventual ban in September of this year. The very slow march of Italian justice sometimes has a high price, even as we must still acknowledge CONI's determined and persistent efforts to ban numerous athletes over the Oil for Drugs scandal. Now we can only hope that Ricco's recent revelations, which proved that doping maestro Santuccione was still very much in business, will force CONI to take harsher measures against the doctor whose nefarious actions have enabled many a rider to dope and win.