Pants on Fire: This Week’s dose of Doping and Cheating in Cycling and Triathlon

Photo: Montgomery Advertiser

Last night’s news of Lance Armstrong‘s “major defeat” has the news wires buzzing, and recent features on bike motors, pro triathlon suspensions, and legal painkillers that possibly should be banned have all been in the headlines …

From VeloNews:
Lance Armstrong case moves to jury trial
On Monday, a district court in Washington D.C. denied Armstrong’s attempt to have the federal government’s $100 million lawsuit against him tossed out of court with a summary judgement ruling. The decision marks a major defeat for Armstrong, whose attorneys had filed to have the case thrown out back in August.

The government’s suit alleges that Armstrong, the team’s owner Tailwind Sports, and Johan Bruyneel violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by collecting sponsorship funds from the U.S. Postal Service “while actively concealing the team’s violations of the agreements’ anti-doping provisions.” The suit was originally brought by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis in 2010, and was joined by the Feds four months later.

RELATED:

DOPING
Two Triathlon Doping Bans Announced
From Triathlete
Two American female triathletes, Beth Gerdes and Lauren Barnett, separately revealed that they each have been handed suspensions for doping violations that occurred in 2016…

Read more

BIKES AND MOTORS
From VeloNews:
…We analyze the recent 60 Minutes report on motorized cheating in the peloton. The segment had plenty of memorable scenes — reporter Bill Whitaker zipping around with his feet out of the pedals is a favorite — but the report failed to provide us with a smoking gun. We’re still looking for more proof that riders are regularly using motors in the pro peloton, which some people now allege is occurring…

PAINKILLERS AND CYCLING

From VeloNews

Painkillers and cycling: Tramadol’s dark danger

Ian Mullins finds the contention that is anything less than a powerful performance enhancer quite laughable. He literally laughs when I bring up WADA’s stance. “There were times in 24-hour races where I’d have my fastest laps be at like 2 a.m.,” he says, laughing again. “I was just so relaxed, so pain free, so smooth. You can’t tell me that’s not the drug. It’s 18 hours later and I’m bumping out negative splits.”

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