Vinokourov, Blood Doping, Suspension

It is reported at cyclingnews.com that the Kazakhstan cycling federation has imposed a one year ban on Vinokourov. He'll be banned from ProTour racing for four years, though, and this seems to have forced him into retirement. Vino, you may remember was busted at the 2007 Tour de France when, after an astounding recovery from injury and some really bad days in the saddle was found to have blood doped. I, along with many others I suspect, was rooting for Vino. he was at that point the underdog, and had a track record of combative riding (though some would call it a lack of tactical sense).

It's darkly amusing that Vino is represented by Maurice Suh, who also represents Floyd Landis (stripped of Tour de France victory following a positive testosterone test)

Note also that

• Vino's previous team, T-mobile, has just lost it's principal sponsor due to past doping practises in the team
• The star T-mobile rider Jan Ullrich is the subject of a variety of doping-related stories
• Bjarne Riis, DS of the CSC team, won the Tour de France while riding for T-mobile (then Deutsche Telekom) and while doped on EPO
• His current team-mate Kashechkin has also been busted - and is taking some astonishing legal action against the UCI (a case which is not doing well)

What will happen next?

Well, I for one hope the UCI will take action to force the Kazakhstan federation to increase the ban. At the moment, Vino says he has retired, but he can always change his mind. I would think that if Vino makes it to Beijing, he will be targeted for some pretty intensive screening.

Why do national federations have different scales of punishment? It sounds from the news reports that they only acted because they reckoned they would be hit with sanctions by the UCI if they did nothing. there's also the mysterious statement that they only decided to punish Vino "so that the Kazakh federation is not suspended by the International Cycling Union (UCI)." They also said "The documents and evidence presented by Vinokourov and his lawyers were not convincing," [quotes from the cyclingnews.com report]

Where does this leave Team Astana, now being run by Johan Bruyneel? How clean will that be? And in a sport so tainted by doping, who is really clean? There are more than a few whispers and accusations against Bruyneel's former outfit, especially directed at its star rider. It is very clear from riders that have tested positive and who have come clean that they often survive a long period of systematic doping without a positive test. "I have never tested positive" is not the same as "I have never doped", and the media should stop regarding these as equivalent statements of innocence.

What is blood doping?

Blood doping was made (in)famous but the US Olympic track cycling team at the Los Angeles games. In essence, the athlete receives extra red blood cells (derived from the athlete or some other source) in order to boost the oxygen carrying capacity of his or her blood system. EPO has the same effect by stimulating the body's production of red blood cells.

Blood doping is relatively easy to detect - the UCI has indicated they have a "hit-list" comprising riders who have shown wide fluctuations in blood parameters.

Autologous blood doping - blood derived from the athlete himmself is stored and later re-administered to boost athletic performance. Requires forethought and planning, as the stored blood has to be ready for when it is needed. Other than the potential from infection during blood withdrawal and transfusion, this may well be a safer option than the others. Detected by unusual proportions of blood cell types, and possibly by the presence of characteristic cellular damage.

Homologous blood doping - here, the blood supplied to the athlete is derived from another human. Has the potential for serious consequences - the recipient could contract disease, or suffer a blood type incompatibility. On the other hand, the blood could be freshly collected, reducing planning. This is the blood doping Tyler Hamilton was guilty of. Easily detected by blood antigens - this is a technique in daily use in hospitals worldwide to ensure compatibility of blood transfusions - a very robust test.

Heterologous blood doping - blood is derived from another species. I think an athlete would need to be really very reckless or ill-informed to do this. Easily detected.

Artificial blood - there are artificial blood supplements for clinical us. I imagine this would be very easy to detect.