Sep 28, 2007
Bettini Cleared to Race at Worlds
Paolo Bettini is cleared to defend his title at the World Championships in Stuttgart Germany. Following the denial of Danilo DiLuca who is about to receive a four month preliminary ban , Bettini was ready to also go home. This Worlds is best know for the polemics of who will or will not race. Erik Zabel, Bettini, DiLuca and Alejandro Valverde have all been in limbo about their Worlds involvment. DiLuca looks to have some charges in the mysterious “Oil for Drugs” case being looked at in Italy, Zabel admitted to doping in the 90s and Velverde *may* have some involvement in Operation Puerto although no solid evidence or case has emerged. Now, Bettini was not being admitted on the basis of not signing a decree to by the UCI that was deemed “optional” and to submit to a compulsory blood test ahead of the Worlds.
The burden of proof is now on the racers and not on the various doping agencies. After the somewhat questionable outcome of the Landis case is it any wonder why a racer would distrust giving a voluntary sample? The French labs were acknowledged to have been sloppy and made numerous mistakes, so why submit a sample if you do not have to? Why does their have to be a gestapo like prosecution of athletes merely on the basis of suspicion or not abiding to arbitrary rules? True doping continues to be an issue in cycling, but these overly aggressive methods put cycling in the doping spotlight unnecessarily. Bettini is breaking no rules.