While reading the latest Cycle Sport Magazine, I was amazed by some of the bitterness directed at Alejandro Valverde (pictured right), who is returning this year from a two-year ban from his implication in a blood doping investigation begun in 2007. I’ve tried to take an objective look at what has been said, despite Valverde being a “fallen hero” of mine, but I believe the writers are taking things too far by stating outright that they hope he doesn’t win races because they don’t like the idea that he maintains his innocence, thinking that he should have apologized long ago.
I will leave you to look more into the details of the investigation that has now become known as Operación Puerto, but I will point out that Valverde never had a positive test for blood doping during a race, and that he was found guilty due to blood samples found in possession of one of the doctors linked with the doping problem. I will also mention that Valverde’s performances did not tail off during the two seasons this investigation dragged on. At that time he certainly would have had to stop doping, faced with increased scrutiny by testing agencies and the risk of being caught, which seems somewhat to contradict the idea that he had engaged in the practice.
Let’s get back to my main point. Valverde may be telling the truth, but because of the actions of others in the recent past, no one is really giving the thought a chance. The honesty of cyclists will constantly be in question because of the likes of Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, who, despite the presence of hard evidence, have vehemently professed their innocence to the media, only to later admit their guilt. Both of these riders later turned to “naming names” in an attempt to draw attention away from themselves, or, in Hamilton’s case, to sell books.
Alberto Contador is another example of a cyclist maintaining his innocence, providing a rather lame “tainted meat” defense for his positive blood test of the banned chemical clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France. This reminded me somewhat of the case of Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (pictured left), who in 2007 was found with an excess amount of salbutamol in his system, but claimed it was a dosage error from the asthma medicine he was cleared to take. A controversial decision eventually came about where the court acknowledged that he had not cheated, citing his unintentional ingestion of too much medicine, but yet suspended him and disqualified all five of his stage wins from that year’s Giro d’Italia.
Cycling’s governing body was once more facing criticism for the length of time it took to settle the Contador affair. Before the February 6 decision that Alberto should be stripped of his Tour de France title and his 2011 Giro d’Italia title, I read an interesting view on the situation from current American racer Chris Horner. He didn’t believe his rival should be suspended, because his intentional use could not be proven. He pointed out that the only fact that matters is that Contador raced with a banned substance in his body, and that race should be taken away from him. The Court of Arbitration of Sport did not agree, and suspended the Spaniard for two seasons of racing (retroactive to his positive drug test) as well.
I laughed somewhat when I heard complaints about how long the Contador case had gone on without a decision being made, when the Lance Armstrong “trial” is stilled being tossed around – it’s been SEVEN YEARS since he last won the Tour de France! Late in the afternoon on the Friday before the Superbowl (Is there a better time to hide a sports announcement that you don’t want anyone to hear about?), U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, Jr. explained that a federal investigation of Armstrong had been dropped, one that supposedly included possible charges of mail fraud, drug distribution, money laundering and witness tampering.
The media has questioned this decision, citing the 12 million cancer survivors in the U.S., not to mention their friends and families, who view Armstrong as a hero because of his successful battle against cancer and the tremendous work of his foundation. A long and costly investigation into his actions certainly would be a political thorn in the side of Barak Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder in this election year!
While all this craziness is still going on, I would finally like to point out how bad I feel for the cyclists who “inherit” their Tour de France titles after riders like Landis and Contador have been stripped of their victories. Sure, Oscar Pereiro and Andy Schleck (pictured right) now have their names on a winners’ list, and maybe their trophies, etc. are eventually shipped to them, but they missed out on wearing the yellow jersey into Paris and all of the celebration that occured on the final day. They missed out on the thousands of fans who for the rest of the cycling season (and beyond) would have been cheering and clamoring for pictures with, or autographs from, the Tour de France champion!
C’est la vie.
