News for March 6, 1997

The Peloton talks about Pantani

Even Laurent Jalabert, who has pedaled next to Pantani at the hardest climb of the Valenciana, promotes Pantani. "I have seen him very well, after all I also have come back from a serious accident. I have not noticed the difference between Pantani's two legs". Tony Rominger said: "Pantani has recovered well: I always hoped that he would come back like he was before. Being at a stand still all this time has helped him recharge the batteries". Francesco Casagrande sees things a little different: "He's going strong and the uncertainty is gone, but perhaps it is too early for him to be at this point in his form to contend at the Giro d'Italia. Probably due to his desire to come back, understandable after such a long absence: I guess this is better than not".

Beppe Martinelli, Mercatone Uno's sport director, has his ideas clear. "We have with us a Pantani who is stronger than before. Marco must once again experience the sensations of racing". Rominger thinks that: "If one aims to the Giro, it is good not to begging to don't begin too strong. But then Pantani needed to regain his confidence immediately". Also Bjarne Riis and Rodolfo Massi have seen Pantani: "Marco has behaved well in the climbs. I am happy to see him in the peloton", said the king of the Tour. "He has amazed me -has echoed Massi- and I don't believe that he will have problems for the Giro: it is better to be ahead than to have to chase form".

Certainly, seeing a Pantani already so bright, people wonder if he doesn't have any plans for Sanremo in mind, if his team returns among those admitted to the Big Classic. "Pantani protagonist at the Sanremo? I don't think so because after the Poggio, there's too much road left before the finish", says Jalabert. Rominger is sceptic: "I Also go well in the climbs, but that is a competition for fast riders and in the past I have been unlucky". Fondriest advises prudence: I'm glad to see Pantani pedaling in front of the peloton. But at Sanremo the speeds are very high and a lot of strength is needed before the Cipressa and Poggio to get in position. Second I would not risk myself: He's a better man for the Major Tours and he must aim for those". And Pantani what does he say? Theoretically, I'm pleased with the layout, however I have the feeling that Sanremo will be decided with an escape from far away. I don't see many teams able to control the race".

Tour de France, 2006

La Ronde d'Aix, March 2, Aix-en-Provence, France

Boscardin To Change Nationality

Athletes now using hypobaric chambers

Prince Alexandre de Merode, chairman of the IOC medical commission, said he was aware of cyclists, nordic skiers and rowers who travel to competitions in vans specially equipped with oxygen-deprivation rooms.

``These athletes sometimes spend all night inside these vans,'' he said. ``They can regulate the pressure so it is like being at 2,500 or 3,000 meters.''

Hypobaric chambers were an important element in the East German training system that turned out an astonishingly high number of Olympic champions.

By using the chambers, the athletes create more blood cells and improve their ability to draw in oxygen. The effect is especially useful in endurance sports.

``It's not banned,'' de Merode said. ``We haven't decided if it's a form of doping or not. But it can alter the balance of competition by giving an athlete a certain advantage. It is a new element which raises concerns, and we are following it closely.''

On other issues, de Merode said the IOC is organizing a special summit in Lausanne on April 22-23 to assess progress in research to detect the banned substances EPO, human growth hormone and salbutamol. Laboratories and researchers from several countries will report on their findings.

EPO, or erythropoietin, and HGH are belived to be the drug of choice among athletes because they can not be detected by standard urine controls.

De Merode said Italian researcher Francesco Conconi has made ``significant progress'' on perfecting a reliable EPO test and the IOC hopes to be able to introduce the controls at next year's winter games in Nagano, Japan.

The IOC is also studying the international cycling union's pre-race test to detect the levels of red blood cells in the body. If the levels are considered excessive, a rider is not allowed to compete.

The IOC is also looking at the system used by the international ski federation, which carried out blood tests on athletes before competition at last month's world nordic championships in Norway. Skiers with hemoglobin levels higher than normal were not allowed to compete.

De Merode said the doping labs at the Nagano Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney will be equipped with high-resolution mass spectrometers, reputed to be three times more effective in detecting banned drugs.

At last summer's Atlanta Games, five potentially positive cases were detected by the machines but the results were thrown out because of uncertainties over the samples.

``There were difficulties in Atlanta because there were several labs working together,'' de Merode said. ``We will never agree to this again.''

There were only two confirmed positive drug cases in Atlanta. Five athletes from the former Soviet Union were disqualified after testing positive for bromantan but were later reinstated when an arbitration panel ruled there was no conclusive proof the substance is a stimulant.

Meanwhile, de Merode denied a report broadcast on Danish television Tuesday night that an unidentified East European athlete was expelled from the Atlanta Games after admitting taking EPO.

The report was based on an interview with Jacques Rogge, a Belgian IOC member who also sits on the medical commission.

``This never happened,'' de Merode said. ``It is completely wrong. Either the TV report is nonsense or there was a misunderstanding somewhere.''

De Merode said Rogge may have been referring to one of the bromantan cases. During questioning by the medical commission, the doctor of a Lithuanian woman cyclist had mentioned that EPO was used at her training camp in South America, de Merode said.

``We never had an EPO case and no athlete was ever expelled from Atlanta for EPO,'' he said.

Olympics-Athlete admitted taking killer drug EPO

The athlete from Eastern Europe admitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that he was taking the drug which is suspected to have killed 18 cyclists in Europe in the last 10 years, a leading IOC official said.

``An athlete was expelled from the Olympic village after he confessed to the medical commission that he had used EPO,'' IOC medical commission vice-president Jacques Rogge said in an interview to be broadcast on Danish television later on Tuesday.

``It was an athlete from an Eastern European country who was being investigated for another drug. During the interrogation he admitted that he had taken EPO, signed a form and was disqualified,'' he added in a tape of the broadcast made available to Reuters in Lausanne.

Leading IOC officials were not immediately available to confirm the comments in the interview which was made in October and will be broadcast by the Danish television network DR1 at 2100 GMT.

The IOC has yet to introduce a test for the dangerous substance whose abuse is believed to be widespread in cycling and could also be useful in endurance events such as rowing or cross-country skiing.

But the EPO case in Atlanta has not been widely publicised. Olympic officials announced just two positive cases of drug abuse at the Games involving two female track and field athletes who were banned for steroid abuse.

It is also unclear whether the IOC has taken any further action against the athlete involved. In the past, athletes such as former German sprinter Katrin Krabbe have been banned for unsportsmanlike conduct after admitting to taking banned substances.

EPO, which was first introduced in the mid-1980s to treat kidney disease, is one of the most dangerous drugs used by athletes who want to cheat their way to success.

Some experts have dubbed it the drug used by athletes who live by the motto: ``Better dead than second.''

It stimulates the production of red blood cells which transport oxygen around the body -- a quick shot-in-the-arm which replaces expensive training at high altitude.

EPO is produced naturally in humans but if it enters the body artificially it can be fatal, making the blood thick and gluey and breaking down the entire circulatory system. This can lead to heart attacks.

``I believe athletes used EPO and growth hormones but that is my subjective opinion,'' Rogge said.

The IOC is working on a test for EPO but it cannot say whether it will have a test in place by next year's Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Olympic officials are also unlikely to be ready to test for human growth hormones -- the expensive designer drugs which are rapidly replacing muscle-building steroids as a short-cut to glory -- by the 2000 Sydney Summer Games.

Problem for Fincato