Saturday May 15 Stage 1 Agrigento-Modica 162 kms Sunday May 16 Stage 2 Noto-Catania 155 kms Monday May 17 Stage 3 Catania-Messina 202 kms Tuesday May 18 Stage 4 Vibo Valentia-Terme Luigiane 176 kms Wednesday May 19 Stage 5 Terme Luigiane-M.Sirino 150 kms Thursday May 20, Stage 6 auria-Foggia 242 kms Friday May 21 Stage 7 Foggia-Lanciano 153 kms Saturday May 22 Stage 8 Pescara-Gran Sasso 250 kms Sunday May 23 Stage 9 Ancona-Ancona (ITT) 31 kms Monday May 24 Stage 10 Ancona-San Sepolcro 179 kms Tuesday May 25 Stage 11 San Sepolcro-Cesenatico 127 kms Wednesday May 26 Stage 12 Cesenatico-Sassuolo 168 kms Thursday May 27 Stage 13 Sassuolo-Rapallo 232 kms Friday May 28 Rest Day Saturday May 29 Stage 14 Bra-Borgo San Dalmazzo 182 kms Sunday May 30 Stage 15 Racconigi-Oropa 160 kms Monday May 31 Stage 16 Biella-Lumezzane 241 kms Tuesday June 1 Stage 17 Lumezzane-Castelfranco 198 kms Wednesday June 2 Stage 18 Treviso-Treviso (ITT) 45 kms Thursday June 3 Stage 19 Castelfranco V.-Alpe Pamp 164 kms Friday June 4 Stage 20 Predazzo-Madonna Campiglio 207 kms Saturday June 5 Stage 21 Madonna di Campiglio-Aprica 187 kms Sunday June 6 Stage 22 Boario Terme-Milano 169 kms
The "Cima Coppi" this year is the Gavia pass (2621 m), which the riders will attack on the penultimate stage together with the Tonale and the terrible Mortirolo pass.
Thanks to Theo Muller
Marchal Saugy, a sport's doping expert, who is working in cooperation with the IOC through a university laboratory in Lausanne, has doubted the conclusions of his investigating colleague Ms. Francoise Bressolle in the medical report over the possibility that the TVM riders were taking EPO.
He said that it is not possible to test accurately for EPO late at night or after a hard mountain stage or after a dinner and still get accurate results. He said: "It is necessary to do these tests in the early mrning before the riders have eaten or drunk anything.
According to Saugy the numbers don't mean anything much. He is trying to get the IOC to search for a better method of detection. He says the work of Bressolle is not taking them in the right direction. He knows the theory of Bressolle. The French woman has said that the test should be based on differentiating the naturally occurring EPO (with a normal reading of 5) from external ingestion. Any number above 5 indicates external use.
Saugy: "Her method is logical. But it is not really a method that can stand up to scrutiny because there are too many variables that can influence the results. If you get a reading above 50 you cannot really say that the rider is using EPO. It may be the case but it is also possible to be other things."
It is too difficult to detect the difference between natural epo and that which has been taken in externally. So the levels for 4 of the TVM riders (above 50) don't tell us much in any definitive sense. For two of the riders (Voskamp and Van Petegem) they were under 50% anyway, The problem is interpretation. "We have a rider who might ride 5 kms and his haemocrit level stands at around 2.5 points on the scale. When you then make him ride a tough mountain stage you can easily register readings of 6 points."
Reaction to Rooks
As a followup to the revelations of Steven Rooks which I published yesterday the Dutch newspaper De Limburger has gone on the attack against teams and their managers. They said it was no longer just a matter of whether the TVM riders did or did not take banned substances. The French are saying they did and their advocat is denying it. The real problem is that doping is clearly a major tactic used by team managers. The team seem to take the attitude that as long as you are not caught then it is fine. They seem to be adopting the attitude, if Rooks is any example, that things will blow over and then the old habits will resume. It is the nonchalance of Rooks that captures the essence of the problem in cycling.