Friday, May 23, 2008

Friday Roundup

News
The CyclingNews notes the confiscation of large amounts of Viagra from Andrea Moletta's father at the Giro and while it's not banned by WADA it has been shown to provide performance enhancement benefits outside the bedroom:

WADA's spokesman Frédéric Donzé confirmed that Viagra is not banned in competition, but said that the agency is looking into the matter. "WADA is aware of the high altitude study presented in Science Daily. WADA monitors this substance, as it does with many other substances, and is currently funding a research project on the performance-enhancing potential of Sildenafil at various altitudes."



One wonders just how "comfortable" riding a bike would be for anyone using the drug.

In CyclingNews' Letter column this week the topics of discussion range from Australian road rage directed at cyclists to Alessandro Petacchi's "suspension".

ESPN reports on the anti-doping rules established for this summer's Olympics.

Blogs
Rant posted a "two-fer" yesterday with comments on the Festina-like Andrea Moletta "doping" brouhaha at the Giro, and Jeff Adams exoneration and highly motived training for this summer's Paralympics.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Has anyone considered that Andrea Moletta's father may just be trying to bag some podium girls?

Unknown said...

If the issue is Viagra, then this is a solution without a problem.

WADA doesn’t really need to get involved. WRT bike racing, it will be self-policing. For the great majority, esthetics alone will discourage its use. Watch out though, if wearing kilts or other cover-ups becomes the rage for male cyclists receiving their accolades on the podium.

Ali said...

I can just imagine the hilarity as those rib-tickling WADA scientists sit down to propose methods of detecting Viagra abuse ... the mind boggles.

Still, at least with this form of doping they have a fighting chance of rising to the challenge.

TiGirl said...

Should "every virgin within a hundred miles" be waiting expectantly????

Ali said...

In my desire to extend my cycling horizons, I just underwent a 100% medical appraisal.

I was so happy to learn that I was a complete freak ... until I realised that those were the results from the mental assessment.

Physical results to follow, for what it's worth ...

Ali said...

Calfeegirl,

If our two wheeled heros are downing testosterone and Viagra in equal quantites, I'm sure that Dick would recommend extending the safe zone out to one thousand miles ... better safe than sorry !

d_m said...

Yikes.The podium girls better be on guard. Perhaps they could be enlisted for post event testing.