Shooting straight
Posted February 17th, 2007 in Dope
And now, organizers of the Tour of California, who boasted after last year’s race that no riders tested positive for banned substances, have acknowledged that riders were not tested for what has become the sport’s most abused drug — the blood booster known as EPO.
That failure is more surprising because the lead sponsor of the Tour of California is Amgen, the California biotechnology company that produces the genetically engineered version of EPO, which is sold primarily to help cancer and dialysis patients battle anemia.
A spokeswoman at Amgen, which had marketed its sponsorship as a way to educate people against improper use of its drug, expressed outrage at the failure to test for it, saying that the company had been repeatedly assured last year that EPO testing was done.
The spokeswoman, Mary Klem, said that when Amgen executives were informed of the oversight, they were angry and surprised. “Our understanding going into the race was that the test would be included,” Klem said. “And we were told afterward that no rider tested positive for EPO or for any banned substances.”
Can’t anybody around this sport shoot straight? Doesn’t anyone think about the atmospherics? It’s not just enough to boast about outcomes, they actually have to be based on something.
This has only revealed another hole in the system? An incredible oversight given the nature of the sponsorship. I wonder how often this kind of thing happens? And I wonder how often riders are aware that this is the case?
I’m sure this is all bureaucracy, but dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s of doping protocols are something that races on the make can’t afford to miss.
technorati tags: cycling, bicycles, doping,
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