Director General of Spain’s Sports Council, Albert Soler, has revealed that two Spanish cyclists are about to be sanctioned for doping offences while a further five are under investigation for “abnormal haematocrit levels.”
In what is widely being seen - outside Spain at least - as a blitz against an endemic doping culture, Soler said the move is part of a new strategy to deal with the problem.
“These are shock tactics to counter what’s happening in the world of cycling,” Soler is reported as saying by Bloomberg News. “The seven were targeted with surprise drug tests after they had unusual readings in their biological passports, which monitor blood parameters like haemoglobin," he added.
Alberto Contador is not among the seven riders concerned but Soler says he will not reveal the identities of the athletes. Soler made the announcement at a conference in Madrid entitled “Do We Have a Doping Problem in Spain?” where he claimed the answer to that question was effectively yes, but that it was no worse or better than the average problem.
“The statistics tell us that Spain is about average in terms of positive doping results,” he said. “According to data from Madrid’s antidoping laboratory, in 2009 the percentage of Spaniards with adverse test results was 1.2% compared to WADA’s global figure of 1.11% meaning we are 0.09% above average."
Meanwhile Reuters reports that funding for the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (AEA) will be reduced next year as part of a series of national austerity measures being proposed by the government.
Spain's Sports Council which is responsible for the AEA, is due to lose around 8% of its funding compared to the 2010 budget, which amounts to a loss of around 14.5 million euros, the agency reports.
I said it appears to on the basis of the graph you shared, I was at pains to point out that I hadn't read the article. Thanks for sharing the blog,...
Straight into the sun is perhaps an exaggeration, but at that time it would be about ESE, and there are bits of the road which head roughly SSE, so...
7 October was just a bit of harmless fun until the "msm" ramped it up.
It's not censored if you just pirate it
an example of Kesgraves "best cycling infrastructure in the country" https://maps.app.goo.gl/GsCMbzDUTPdq59qS9
It turns out that that is national police policy. We found out from this process that there is national 'secured by design' policy which causes...
Been available for quite a while, full GRX mechanical 12 speed. Probably around the same time as 105 mechanical 12 speed if I were to guess.
Less harmful citrus degreaser is easy to find at £8 or less for 5 litres. Works ok for me, even diluted up to 4:1. Both paraffin and white spirit...
Nope, it's to keep your straps down and quieter. Plus most sunglasses are polycarbonate and aren't going to shatter like glass anyway
And, more seriously, where's the coverage of the closure of the cycle lane which forces you to cycle on the Totton bypass.