Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

While a Spanish Judge dropped the case dubbed Operation Puerto due to lack of evidence. Pat McQuaid president of the UCI is going to look at either appealing the judges decision or to take up the case through the UCI. Part of the problem with Operation Puerto is that there was no law against doping in sport in Spain until November 2006. That is well after the evidence in Operation Puerto was found. Spain only recently enacted the strict anti-doping laws that France and Italy have already established.

Another issue with Operation Puerto is the lack of clear evidence that implicated any rider and the constant leaks given to the press. This resulted in a sloppy ham-fisted investigation that inflicted more damaged against anti-doping efforts.

On stage 1 of Paris-Nice riders held a moment of silence to protest the archiving of Operation Puerto. This is in a race where the leader is David Millar of Saunier Duval a former doper who paid the price and is on the comeback trail. David Millar is one of the few exceptions in the never ending Global Struggle Against Doping. He admitted to doping, realized it was a mistake and fessed up. He took his punishment and is now coming back proving he can race clean. Most other doping offense do not come out so neat and tidy.

David Millar’s case was neat and tidy since he was found positive. His home was searched and they found an empty EPO vial. He later admitted to using the drug and was given the standard punishment. In between Millar suffered financially and went through some tough situations. He was able to get a ProTour team contract since his suspension came before the “No ProTour for Four Years” rule.

Millar was also young, so his career was not in total jeopardy. He was able to endure two years and is coming back during the prime of his career. Guys like Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis being much older have much to lose so coming clean would not be an option.

So does this mean that the penalties should be more lenient? Maybe. If a rider can come clean about past drug use without suffering huge consequences then we may see more riders come out. The harsh punishments and the almost certain end to ones career are enough to keep those under suspicion running and hiding their use as much as possible.

The lenient penalties can be considered amnesty where pro cyclist can speak frankly and openly about drug use. The world that was secretly hidden in hotel rooms and the back of team busses can now be public for all to see. This public airing would be to help the sport in the future so that young riders coming into the sport can be free from the pressures of using performance enhancing drugs.

This approach would probably be more affective than trying to play cat and mouse with dopers. Dopers will always be ahead of the drug testers. A good doctor can help almost anyone dope without ever being caught. The drug testing process seems almost futile since the testing procedures are almost antiquated by the time they are put into place. Or the testing procedure is rushed out but fails in a high profile case. Then the whole system is put under scrutiny and future dopers can easily challenge the system.