Not looking good for MIllar

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"Millar faces French inquiry Thu 1 July, 2004 19:36

PARIS (Reuters) - A French magistrate has placed cycling
time-trial world champion David Millar under official
judicial inquiry on suspicion of "acquiring and possessing
toxic substances", a judicial source has said.

The Briton had already been banned from the Tour de France
starting on Saturday as his Cofidis team is under
investigation in a doping probe. Several other riders have
also been barred from the race while they remain under
scrutiny.

Millar was released after questioning in Nanterre, north
of Paris, by magistrate Richard Pallain.

Magistrates decide first whether there are grounds for
opening official inquiries into suspected offences and
later whether there is a case to be answered in court.
Official investigation is a step short of pressing charges
in France.

During police questioning last week, Millar admitted
taking the banned drug erythropoietin (EPO), an endurance
booster, in 2001 and 2003, his lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins
told reporters as he left the Nanterre hearings.

Iweins said empty syringes were found during a search of
Millar's home and traces of banned substances detected.

Millar now looks likely to miss the Athens Olympics next
month after the British Cycling Federation announced on
Thursday that he had been suspended pending the
investigation. Millar was favourite for the individual
time-trial.

"I'm greatly saddened by the whole affair but I can
confirm that David Millar is suspended with immediate
effect pending further investigation and a disciplinary
hearing," federation acting chief executive David
Brailsford told Reuters.

Three Cofidis riders have already been charged,
including 1992 Olympic bronze medallist Philippe
Gaumont, who was sacked by Cofidis after admitting
taking and dealing in drugs.

The team withdrew from competition for a month before
starting to race again on May 5.

The affair is the biggest judicial investigation into
cycling since the Festina scandal that erupted during the
1998 Tour de France.

In May, eight cyclists in the Giro d'Italia received early
morning visits as part of a nationwide probe into doping
in sport though investigators said they found no illegal
substances.

Millar, a Scot, won the penultimate stage of the 2003 Tour
de France, a 49-km time-trial, to go with a prologue
success in 2000 and a stage victory in 2002.

Also on Thursday, a French appeal court ruled the ban
on another Cofidis rider Cedric Vasseur on competing in
the Tour after being charged in a doping investigation
would stand.

"I tried to assert my rights. I failed but never mind. The
Tour is not the only race. I shall carry on racing and my
team will help me," Vasseur said after the hearing.

Vasseur has not been retained for the Tour by his team.

Five-times Tour winner Lance Armstrong will hear on Friday
the outcome of his appeal against publishers of a book
containing doping allegations about him.

Armstrong has appealed against the June 21 decision of a
Paris court, which rejected his request that a denial he
took any performance-enhancing product be inserted in the
book "L.A. confidential, the secrets of Lance Armstrong",
written by journalists Pierre Ballester and David Walsh.

He was ordered to pay legal costs and fined for faulty
procedure."

If he's guilty, I have no sympathy for him. Unfortunately
the nature of the sport (raw aerobic power, and/or power to
weight ratio, generally wins) means that non-superhuman
riders feel obliged to do this kind of thing to keep up.

in message <40e47779.0@entanet>, Zog The Undeniable

(') said:

If he's guilty, I have no sympathy for him. Unfortunately
the nature of the sport (raw aerobic power, and/or power
to weight ratio, generally wins) means that non-superhuman
riders feel obliged to do this kind of thing to keep up.

I actually have a great deal of sympathy for him. It's
pretty much the end of his career. And it's a profession in
which, allegedly, doping is endemic. Millar's offence,
fundamentally, appears to be that he is high profile and
not French.

As to whether professional cyclists should all be on dope,
I've no opinion. But seeing that they all (allegedly) are,
picking on individuals is a tad unfair.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke)
jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗ There's nae Gods, an
there's precious few heroes but there's plenty on the dole
in th Land o th Leal; And it's time now, tae sweep the
future clear o th lies o a past that we know wis never real.

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

in message <40e47779.0@entanet>, Zog The Undeniable

(') said:

If he's guilty, I have no sympathy for him.
Unfortunately the nature of the sport (raw aerobic
power, and/or power to weight ratio, generally wins)
means that non-superhuman riders feel obliged to do this
kind of thing to keep up.

I actually have a great deal of sympathy for him. It's
pretty much the end of his career. And it's a profession
in which, allegedly, doping is endemic. Millar's offence,
fundamentally, appears to be that he is high profile and
not French.

As to whether professional cyclists should all be on dope,
I've no opinion. But seeing that they all (allegedly) are,
picking on individuals is a tad unfair.

Its not an individual, its the entire cofidis team, just
about from what i read. And how else would they stop it
other than prosecuting individuals? Ban everyone since
'everyone' is doing it?

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Simon Brooke said:

Millar's offence, fundamentally, appears to be that he is
high profile and not French.

What are you saying? That French riders don't get
investigated by the French police?

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

in message <40e47779.0@entanet>

I actually have a great deal of sympathy for him. It's
pretty much the end of his career. And it's a profession
in which, allegedly, doping is endemic. Millar's offence,
fundamentally, appears to be that he is high profile and
not French.

While I feel sad for him and disappointed for 'Britain',
that this could be the end of his career, I don't have much
sympathy. It does not seem to be a question of 'if' he's
guilty since, now according to his own lawyers, he has
admitted it. He did it knowing the intense scrutiny his team
were under and knowing the consequences. It was either sheer
stupidity or desperation, and either way I think it's
disgraceful to seek competitive advantage through drugs -
even if the 'advantage' is only to stay on a par with other
drug-users.

Quoted message said:

As to whether professional cyclists should all be on dope,
I've no opinion. But seeing that they all (allegedly) are,
picking on individuals is a tad unfair.

Of course they should not all be on dope. If athletes can't
do it drug-free, better they don't do it at all. There's no
way to try and clean up the sport except by making an
example of the individuals who are caught, whether by
admission or testing.

Rich

In article <[email hidden]>,

Simon Brooke said:

endemic. Millar's offence, fundamentally, appears to be
that he is high profile and not French.

Being French didn't exactly help Richard Virenque, did it?

ian

On 01 Jul 2004 20:20:22 GMT,

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:

During police questioning last week, Millar admitted
taking the banned drug erythropoietin (EPO), an endurance
booster, in 2001 and 2003, his lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins
told reporters as he left the Nanterre hearings.

Iweins said empty syringes were found during a search of
Millar's home and traces of banned substances detected.

From the report I have just heard on the radio, Iweins
also said that Millar had kept the empty syringes as
souvenirs. Strange souvenirs to want to keep I would have
thought. You can't really put them on the mantle with the
trophies can you.

--
Andy Leighton => [email hidden] "The Lord is my
shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_

Simon Brooke said:

That Millar was apparently - from the stories we're seen -
clyped on by French riders.

Oh I see, they certainly did land him in it.

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

in message <40e47779.0@entanet>, Zog The Undeniable

(') said:

If he's guilty, I have no sympathy for him.
Unfortunately the nature of the sport (raw aerobic
power, and/or power to weight ratio, generally wins)
means that non-superhuman riders feel obliged to do this
kind of thing to keep up.

I actually have a great deal of sympathy for him. It's
pretty much the end of his career. And it's a profession
in which, allegedly, doping is endemic. Millar's offence,
fundamentally, appears to be that he is high profile and
not French.

As to whether professional cyclists should all be on dope,
I've no opinion. But seeing that they all (allegedly) are,
picking on individuals is a tad unfair.

There is a perfectly legal way of boosting Haematocrit, live
and train at high altitude. The bone marrow automatically
increases the red cell count to compensate for the reduced
oxygen levels.

Maybe he should have stuck to art.

Then he would have been well paid for drug induced work.

David Cowie said:

Maybe he should have stuck to art.

Then he would have been well paid for drug induced work.

Eh?

MartinM [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

There is a perfectly legal way of boosting Haematocrit,
live and train at high altitude. The bone marrow
automatically increases the red cell count to compensate
for the reduced oxygen levels.

This is a well-known phenomenom, but injecting EPO has the
same effect. Only faster and without the high-altitude.
While I don't agree, I can see why people do it. How far
back up the line do you think it goes? Did his coach know?

Jon

Andy Leighton said:

From the report I have just heard on the radio, Iweins
also said that Millar had kept the empty syringes as
souvenirs. Strange souvenirs to want to keep I would have
thought. You can't really put them on the mantle with the
trophies can you.

Well, he's probably got his favourite bikes, his best
cycling shirts, so why not keep a few favourite syringes
that have done him good service in the past?

Pete.

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

MartinM [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

There is a perfectly legal way of boosting Haematocrit,
live and train at high altitude. The bone marrow
automatically increases the red cell count to compensate
for the reduced oxygen levels.

This is a well-known phenomenom, but injecting EPO has the
same effect. Only faster and without the high-altitude.
While I don't agree, I can see why people do it. How far
back up the line do you think it goes? Did his coach know?

I do full blood counts for a living and I could probably
spot an EPO taker's at ten paces. They will all of course
die prematurely as a result, as do mountain dwellers who
move down to the valleys.

Quoted message said:

I do full blood counts for a living and I could probably
spot an EPO taker's at ten paces. They will all of course
die prematurely as a result, as do mountain dwellers who
move down to the valleys.

Eh? Why's dat den? And how do you recognise them? Being a
sea level dweller, will I live longer if I move up to the
mountains?

On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 09:09:48 +0100, "Richard Goodman"
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less): ...

Quoted message said:

either way I think it's disgraceful to seek competitive
advantage through drugs - even if the 'advantage' is only
to stay on a par with other drug-users.

Quite - it appears to be more a case of avoiding competitive
disadvantage by not avoiding drugs...
--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: gawnsoft.co.srgawnsoft.co.srOpen ↗
Symbian/Epoc wiki: html.dnsalias.nethtml.dnsalias.netOpen ↗ Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
html.dnsalias.netsmalltalkOpen ↗

Mark Thompson <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I do full blood counts for a living and I could probably
spot an EPO taker's at ten paces. They will all of
course die prematurely as a result, as do mountain
dwellers who move down to the valleys.

Eh? Why's dat den? And how do you recognise them? Being a
sea level dweller, will I live longer if I move up to the
mountains?

Because their Hct would be over the normal range (this is
how UIC do it I think) If you moved up to the mountains
your RBC would go up, but if you came back down it would
stay high.

MartinM said:

Because their Hct would be over the normal range (this is
how UIC do it I think) If you moved up to the mountains
your RBC would go up, but if you came back down it would
stay high.

My understanding was that when you came back down it would
revert back to normal over two to three weeks.

Tony

(MartinM) said:

Mark Thompson <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:<[email hidden]-
93.157>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I do full blood counts for a living and I could
probably spot an EPO taker's at ten paces. They will
all of course die prematurely as a result, as do
mountain dwellers who move down to the valleys.

Eh? Why's dat den? And how do you recognise them? Being a
sea level dweller, will I live longer if I move up to the
mountains?

Because their Hct would be over the normal range (this is
how UIC do it I think)

They do - what would you consider the "normal range" to be?

Regards! Stephen