Well, what do you know! Dear Valv. (Piti), who's DNA has been found to match blood bags stored by Dr Fuentes of Operacion Puerto fame, is now leading the UCI World Ranking (Valverde Tops UCI World Rankings | Cyclingnews.com), despite suffering a two year ban in Italy as a consequence.  Meanwhile, Jan Ullrich, who's career was terminated after his DNA match must be wondering "what if"...In separate news, Cyclingnews.com also reports three riders that appear to be manipulating their blood, at least on the basis of the "Biological Passport" (UCI names riders snared by Biological Passport).  Apparently the three are Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas-Doimo), Jesus Rosendo Prado (Andalucia-Cajasur) and Tadej Valjavec (Ag2r-La Mondiale, and their teams are not pleased.  Disciplinary proceedings are "requested", but it's not clear what these "disciplinary proceedings" will be.So at least the UCI would appear to be making progress in the battle against doping in cycling, but it does always seem to the three steps forward, two steps back.  I wonder what's going on in other professional sports?

One of the three riders named as having suspicious blood parameters is making an unusual defence claim (Rosendo's Blood Readings Due To Haemorrhoids? | Cyclingnews.com). Jesús Rosendo Prado has been suspended by his team, but the claim has now been made that there was an observed increase in oxygen transference between May 19, 2008, and September 27, 2009.Now, despite being a biologist, I'm not really clear what the UCI mean by "increase in oxygen transference", but Rosendo's team have fired back the defence that oddities in reticulocyte (immature red blood cells) and lowered haemoglobin and haematocrit levels were due to haemorrhoids.Blimey, one would have thought that not only would that volume of blood loss be awkward for a cyclist, but you'd expect a performance hit!  Poor bloke, having his troublesome haemorrhoids splashed about the interweb.

Cyclingnews today reports further on a series of searches that have been taking place during an Italian crackdown on doping in cycling (Bernucci House Search Part Of Larger Investigation | Cyclingnews.com).  What's interesting is this little gem (my emphasis):

This same work led to the arrest of former professional rider Aleksandar Nikacevic, the seizure by police of a line of homeopathic products from a pharmaceutical company in central Italy and the searching of dozens of pharmacies following complaints that doping practices were being undertaken by a Venetian doctor on athletes, some of whom were minors, from various sporting disciplines.

Cyclingnews has more on the Alejandro Valverde case (Swiss Court Dismisses Valverde Appeal | Cyclingnews.com).  Valverde has been implicated in the Operación Puerto blood doping ring.  The Spanish investigation was suspended because Spanish law didn't specifically prohibit this activity as criminal at the time.  However, this didn't stop the Italians' enthusiasm for pursuing the case and having matched Valverde's DNA to the blood in the bags labelled 'Valv. (Piti)', CONI banned him from racing in Italy for two years.  This of course includes any races (such as last year's Tour de France) which cross into Italy.Valverde appealed to CAS - but that was rejected.  It also turns out that he appealed to the Swiss Court of Civil Rights.  It's not clear to me why he's appealed to the Swiss court (unless he has a Swiss licence, perhaps), but that appeal failed, apparently because it was lodged before the CAS verdict was issued.  Apparently Valverde's appeal was based on his claim that

[...] that one of the arbitrators on the panel, Ulrich Hess, was not neutral because he had worked for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

There's a report in Cyclingnews.com today that, if the rider's assertions are proven, makes me a little concerned (Bani Says Team Doped Him Without His Knowledge | Cyclingnews.com)

Eugenio Bani has said that his former team Ambra Cavallini Vangi “forced” him to take medications and that he did not know what they were. The 18-year-old, who tested positive for the pregnancy hormone HcG (Human chorionic gonadotrophin), has signed for this year with Amore & Vita despite a 21-month ban within Italy.

So here we have a rider who's barely more than a kid being doped with bioactive human hormones.  Who knows what long-term damage can be caused by modern hormonal doping?  And I include here "more conventional" steroids, growth hormones and EPO in its mutifarious forms.

It's long seemed to me that professional teams escape serious scrutiny in the war against doping - it takes considerable negative publicity to dent a team, and even then it seems as though the team only folds if the sponsor takes the view that the negative publicity has reached excessive levels.

Bani goes on to describe how he was regularly injected with liquids that were pre-loaded in syringes - liquids that were only described as "tonics" or "vitamins".  A cycling team with riders as young as this owe a considerable duty of care, and should not only behave with utmost propriety but should be seeking to protect their riders from getting involved with doping.

Alejandro Valverde has his appeal (against the ban imposed by CONI) currently being heard by CAS Mixed Fortunes For Valverde In CAS Appeal | Cyclingnews.com.

Valverde, who is currently in Australia preparing for the Tour Down Under, is challenging the ban imposed by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on the basis of DNA evidence collected by them in the wake of the 2006 Operacion Puerto blood doping investigation. The UCI and World Anti-Doping Agency have supported CONI's stance and asked for the ban to be extended across the world.

The good news for Valverde is that the CAS appeal's only dealing with CONI's ban: additional sanctions by the UCI and WADA won't be heard at this hearing.  On the other hand, one of the CONU prosecutors is quoted as saying:

According to a report at the Cyclingnews website today (Valverde Offers To Submit DNA Sample | Cyclingnews.com), Alejandro Valverde has offered to provide a sample for DNA testing to establish for once and for all whether the blood in the blood bags (i.e. the bag or bags labelled Valv.(Piti)) is indeed taken from him. It astonishes me that such a test has no been conducted thus far, as it would provide indisputable proof as to whether or not the blood was his.  Now, of course, that is only important if the transfusions service was aimed at supplementing an athlete with his own blood (autologous transfusion).  If the practice was using another athlete's blood (homologous transfusion - use of blood from a donor that has been checked for compatibility*), the bag might contain blood from someone else. While the UCI and WADA are happy to take him up on this, CONI isn't - Cyclingnews reports:

In an effort to "show the irregularities in CONI's procedure," according to a press statement by the rider, Valverde would be willing to supply his DNA if it was tested in an independent lab outside of Italy.

Cyclingnews. com reports that Riccardo Riccò, whose partner and fellow cyclist Vania Rossi recently tested positive for the CERA derivative of EPO, has now separated from her (Riccò Splits With Girlfriend Rossi Over CERA Positive | Cyclingnews.com).  Nice timing, Riccardo.

I'm fairly sceptical that the two were ignorant of each other's apparent doping practices.  And Riccò has always come across (to me at least) in magazine interviews as rather unrepentant over his doping past.  Cyclingnews quotes Riccò as saying

"I am disappointed with my girlfriend and there can be no reconciliation until Vania is shown to be innocent of the allegations that were raised," said Riccò, according to Italian website Tuttobiciweb.com.

In an interesting approach to judgement, it appears that CONI, the Italian Olympic committee, has proposed that Danilo Di Luca's doping ban should be 3 years rather than 2 because he's aggravated the situation by not admitting his guilt (Di Luca Facing Three-year Ban For Doping | Cyclingnews.com).  Meanwhile Di Luca reportedly claims the whole situation is a result of a conspiracy and that his lawyers will prove the two samples taken during this year's Giro d'Italia are false positives.

Well, what's new.  But the EPO tests are, I believe set up quite conservatively, and tend to yield false negatives rather than false positives.  In an added attempt to punish the errant doper, CONI are imposing financial penalties:

The agency also intends to hold Di Luca to the International Cycling
Union (UCI) rule which fines riders one year's salary for a positive
doping control, as well as the costs of the results management and
B-sample analysis allowed under UCI anti-doping article 275.

Well, I'm no friend of dope cheats (but I do find their defensive bleating quite amusing), but this does seem to pile penalty upon penalty.  On the subject of conspiracy, Di Luca's lawyer said:

So, the latest investigatin of an organised doping ring (Virú Investigation Turns Up Kelme Documents - Cyclingnews.com) appears to be turning up evidence that accusations of systematic doping were suppressed.

Wind back the clock a few years to 2004, and we find Kelme rider Jesús Manzano (who I recall collapsed from side effects of doping practices) made accusations of systematic doping in the Kelme team.  I don't however remember any significant action being taken.  Cyclingnews reports that

According to Tuesday’s edition of Spanish sports daily AS, among the papers found during a search of a Valencia clinic run by ex-Kelme doctor Walter Virú were records of doping plans and treatments. AS indicates that some of the plans could have been drawn up for riders who are still competing.
AS claims that these plans are exactly the same as those that former Kelme rider Jesús Manzano showed to the Spanish cycling federation and police investigators back in 2004 when Manzano alleged systematic doping had taken place within that team.

Even better is the secretive system of using code words to denote different doping substances.  My goodness these doping clinics do seem to fancy themselves as being in some kind of James Bond business.  I just worry that someone, somewhere will give them a licence to kill.

Cyclingnews.com reports that Valverde To Concentrate On Tour De France In 2010.  Well, I guess unless CAS rule against him...as cyclingnews.com point out:

The main barrier to riding the Tour in 2010 may be the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Earlier this year the Spaniard was given a two-year suspension by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). The ban, based on his alleged connection to Operacion Puerto, applies only to races in Italy. He has appealed the ban to the CAS, with the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-doping Agency also filing a separate case which asks that the ban be extended worldwide.

It's not clear to me how sports justice is being served by the response of Cycling organisations such as the UCI and the national federations to the whole Operacion Puerto enquiry and the Spanish legal processes.  The latter moves at what can best be described as a glacial pace.  But why are some individuals (e.g. jan Ullrich) penalised and not others?  Seems to me that by the time Operacion Puerto is fully investigated, many of the athletes will have retired.

Cyclingnews.com provides an update on the Alejandro Valverde doping saga - WADA Frustrated By Delays In Valverde CAS Cases. I blogged the other day that I felt that judicial delays in dealing with the fallout of Operacion Puerto would lead to injustice as many of the dopers will have retired by the time much of this mess has been sorted out.  If, indeed, it will ever be sorted out.

Cyclingnews reports that the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) is indeed upset at the length of time it's taking to resolve two cases concerning Valverde:

The first is the Caisse d'Epargne's rider's own appeal against a two-year ban from competition in Italy, enforced by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) for his alleged involvement in the Puerto affair. The second case is a joint action by WADA and the International Cycling Union (UCI), who have appealed the Spanish cycling federation's (RFEC) decision not to launch their own disciplinary proceedings against Valverde as a result of evidence gathered during the Puerto investigation.

This really cuts to the heart of the matter: if Valverde is Valv. Piti, and is guilty of blood doping via the Fuentes clinic, then, yes, he should be punished.  But what if he's actually innocent?  Should he be made to serve a lengthy ban before an appeal is heard?  Similarly, why should Valverde have proceedings against him while all the other implicated athletes carry on training and competing without sanction?

As with all athletes, a professional cyclist's career is short: these cases need to be completed quickly and efficiently.

Oh dear.

Cyclingnews.com reports that the investigation into one of the biggest sporting doping scandals in recent years has fizzled out like a damp squib (Operación Puerto: Case Closed | Cyclingnews.com).  Despite there being freezers with bags of easily identifiable blood stored for future use, very few of these cases have ever resulted in action taken against the drug cheats.  To my mind this is a travesty and a failure in justice.  Why should some of these cheats pay the penalty (often resulting career-ending suspension), while others get away scot-free?

Operación Puerto began in May 2006 when the Spanish Civil Guard arrested Madrid doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and Liberty Seguros manager Manolo Saiz, amongst others, after having found massive amounts of doping products and blood doping evidence in an apartment belonging to Fuentes.

Cyclingnews reports that Jan Ullrich visited Dr Fuentes 24 times. Which all goes to make me wonder how many times Alejandro Valverde (sorry, Valv. Piti) may have popped into see the gynaecologist with sporting interests.These are two cases where DNA fingerprinting evidence demonstrates that Dr Fuentes was storing bags of blood that are definitively linked with professional cyclists.

Ivan Basso, of course, took it on the chin with a two year ban (that mysteriously didn't seem to be followed by the ProTour ban the rules would indicate). But dear old Alejandro Valverde (sorry, Valv. Piti) continues to fight, claiming innocence despite CONI ruling that the DNA match was sufficient to ban him from racing in Italy (and therefore preventing him from riding the 2009 Tour de France). Meanwhile, it looks as though the Operacion Puerto affair will drag on till 2011, leaving UCI president McQuaid furious.

This sounds truly bizarre.  Former T-mobile cyclist Andreas Klöden (Astana), who has been under investigation for involvement in a blood doping ring (following the 2006 case of Patrik Sinkewitz).  However, this investigation is now at an end.  Cycling news reports (Klöden to pay fine in Freiburg clinic doping case):

A spokesman for the public prosecutor in Bonn said that, in return for the payment, the district court will stop proceedings for sporting fraud against the 34-year-old. The payment, said to be 25,000 euros by the German magazine Focus, is not considered an admission of guilt  under German law.

Stefan Schumacher, the former Gerolsteiner rider, has always claimed innocence over his positive test for CERA (and EPO derivative) during the 2008 Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics.  That comes as no surprise - few athletes admit to cheating, even when presented with pretty unequivocal evidence.

The announcements that samples taken during the 2008 Tour would be re-tested, and secondly that those 17 tests proved negative have apparently given new life to Schumacher's claims of innocence (Schumacher calls for withdrawal of positive results).

The Astana professional cycling team has certainly been an interesting team this year.  From the reappearance of Armstrong (for me, an unexpected force at the Tour de France), and the subsequent soap opera that ensued as Armstrong and Contador jockeyed for preeminence through the duration of the Tour, to the reassertion of Kazakh control and the departure of Bruyneel, Armstrong et al to form the new Radio Shack team, it's been pretty exciting.

Now, Cyclingnews.com reports (Vinokourov to head to the Tour of Spain with Astana) that Vinokourov is back in the Astana fold after serving his ban for blood doping, and will lead the team at the Vuelta.

Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) tested positive for EPO (both A and B samples) back in June - test results which may see hims tripped of his Tour de France stage win.  Over the years, I've been quite amused to read the explanations for positive dope tests proffered by professional athletes.  These can vary from the vanishing twin explanation for a positive test for blood transfusion, to beer consumption as an explanation for aberrant testosterone:epitestosterone ratios.

Cyclingnews.com reports (Astarloza blames positive on training session) that Mikel Astarloza has offere an explanation for his aberrant test results. Apparently his lawyer Jose Rodriguez

During the Beijing Olympics, I kept a tally of positive dope tests (mostly interesting from the horses that were positive - for capsaicin, as I recall).  You may recall that at the end of the Olympics, it was announced that all the samples would be re-tested for the then-new EPO derivative, CERA.

It seems the test results are now filtering out.  Cycling news.com reports that:

Cyclingnews.com reports that a German laboratory has developed a test for genetic doping.  This is quite interesting, as there have been reports that genetic doping, if not in widespread use at the moment, may well be the next battlefront in the war against doping.

I have always understood that genetic doping would probably involve either insertion of genes for biochemical factors that might alter or enhance physiological response to exercise (either impacting endurance or the capacity to respond to training stress), or transient expression of such genes.  Likely target tissues would be muscle groups.  These sorts of techniques carry considerable risks - insertion of exogenous DNA into the human genome can have dangerous consequences - in particular one might worry about the potential to induce cancerous tumours.