The titles ays it all. Fun in Philly hotels and free flights across
the country are at risk here.
This [censored] should NEVER be allowed to represent the US in competition
again.
5 minute pursuits....sheeesh that's not even good in '77.
I will check to see what uSac says about coaching licenses. This one
might need to be reviewed.
And finally, the good person defense went out of style last weel. (TH)
cp
Two Sides of the Story - US Cycling Suspension
By Staff
Date: 9/25/2004
Two Sides of the Story - US Cycling Suspension
Yesterday the US Antidoping Agency announced the two year suspension
of United States rider Joey D'Antoni, who has contributed race
journals on this site. The announcement of Joey's suspension comes on
the heels of announcements this week about Tyler Hamilton's tests at
the Olympic Games and the Vuelta a España.
This morning we received a letter from Laura Weislo, who is a Category
1 racer and a Daily Peloton race journal contributor. She gives her
personal perspective on this as a friend and coaching client of
Joey's. First we reproduce the USADA announcement, and below that is
Laura's letter.
U.S. Cyclist Accepts Suspension for EPO Positive Test
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 24, 2004) - The United States
Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced Friday that Joseph D'Antoni of
Raleigh, N.C., an athlete in the sport of cycling, tested positive at
the Track World Cup Qualifier on Feb. 26, 2004 in Cooper City, Fla.
He tested positive for recombinant human Erythropoietin (rEPO), a
prohibited substance under the rules of the Union Cycliste
Internationale (UCI), which is the international federation for the
sport of cycling.
rEPO is a synthetic hormone that stimulates the body's production of
red blood cells thereby increasing oxygen transport and aerobic power.
D'Antoni, 27, accepted a two-year suspension from all sanctioned
competition in accordance with the rules of UCI. His suspension begins
on Sept. 22, 2004, the date that he accepted the sanction.
USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling in
the United States, and will carry out the sanction.
This is the 28th announcement issued by USADA during 2004. USADA
became the independent anti-doping agency for U.S. athletes for the
Olympic movement in October 2000.
USADA is the independent anti-doping agency for Olympic sports in the
United States, and is responsible for managing the testing and
adjudication process for U.S. Olympic, Pan Am and Paralympic athletes.
USADA is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport
through research initiatives and educational programs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another Side of the Story...
By Laura Weislo
I've been racing my bike since the year 2000. Until this year, I've
been pretty much an amateur and haven't had much contact with elite
riders, other than getting stomped by them when I dared to go to NRC
events. Now I guess I could be considered an elite racer since I got
my Catgory 1 upgrade from USA Cycling, but I still feel like a newbie.
I keep learning and experiencing more things that reveal aspects of
the sport I love, some that aren't always pretty. The most recent one,
which has actually been a source of great stress and anguish in my
life all year, has been the positive drug test of my coach and close
friend, Joey D'Antoni.
Bike racers and fans alike read with great eagerness the latest doping
news. The drama, the intrigue, and the great debate of whether
"they're all on drugs" or not are hot topics in the news and internet
chat rooms. Until this year, Joey and I participated in these debates
just like everyone else - it all seemed kind of amusing and totally
detached from our reality. It was a joke - I've never even witnessed
drugs in association with bike racing except for all the homeless
methamphetamine addicts that hang out in the park at the Redlands
prologue...
When Joey won the pursuit in Florida in February and had to pee in a
cup after the race, it was no big deal to him. I had been a chaperone
for USADA at a previous track event, so I was familiar with the
routine when I had to do the same after being pulled for a random test
after my prologue at Redlands in March. Our urine went away to the
labs and we thought nothing of it. Joey had successfully coached me to
a fantastic result at the Redlands prologue, my big target for the
seaons, and the racing season was off to a great start with a win for
me in Greenville, South Carolina, and a chance for him to go to the
World Cup track event in Mexico.
I say "chance" since just because he won the pursuit qualifier for the
world cup, his qualifying time didn't come close to meeting the time
standards set by USAC. In fact, one of the referees stated
derogatorily that he had done the same time 30 years ago without aero
equipment. It wasn't certain that he'd be able to go at all, but in
the end, USAC generously allowed him to join the team in Mexico. Once
there, he was a bit disappointed with his time, but was happy to be
allowed the opportunity to represent his country, and came back home
to focus on the next qualifying race.
Then, several weeks later, I got a text message from Joey telling me I
had to come over to his house as soon as I could. He wouldn't explain,
and I was really concerned - did someone die? Did his house burn down?
His wife leave him? I arrived at his house to find him sitting in
stunned silence, and then he said, "I got a Fed Ex." I knew what it
meant, because we had joked about it after we both had to get drug
tested - that negative tests come via the US Postal Service and
positive ones get delivered Fed Ex. At the time I found that fact
funny. Now, it wasn't funny at all.
I examined the documents, drawing on my background in molecular
biology to decypher the test results for him. After doing a ton of
digging around to understand the test, I found one thing to be very
suspicious: While every research paper comparing recombinant-EPO dosed
human's urine samples to un-dosed human urine controls showed a
gradation between negative and positive human urine which was distinct
from the purified rh-EPO protein control, Joey's sample looked almost
exactly like the purified EPO control. It looked like the lab must
have switched his sample with the control - it was that unbelievable.
It took a while for the implications of all of this to settle in. It
wasn't until Joey asked me to fly to LA with him to observe the B-test
as a scientific expert that it really became serious. He booked me a
flight with his frequent flyer miles that he had accumulated by flying
to bike races all over the US for the past several years. Ironic. I
had the iPod on Death Cab for Cutie, and the lyrics "The hardest part
is yet to come... when you will cross the country... alone" hit home.
I was isolated with my thoughts which were a very personalized version
of the usual debate when some cyclist comes up positive.
On the one hand, I believed his innocence: he'd been coaching me for
nearly a year and had never, ever even remotely insinuated that I
needed to take any products at all - hasn't even recommended any
supplements aside from the Iron supplement my physician directed me to
take. He hasn't suddenly become super-cyclist. His time trial and
pursuit times have been remarkably consistent, showing small
improvements from year to year, but nothing striking. Even the pursuit
after which he gave the positive sample was a pretty good result, but
nothing special considering Brad McGee could ride half a minute
faster. Joey had never been anything except a really honest,
intelligent and helpful friend to me - someone who coached me through
some hard times without ever asking for anything in return. I just
couldn't see him shooting EPO. But on the other hand, the scientist in
me looked at the result and it looked pretty cut and dried - almost
too much so.
We went to the lab, and it was less than inviting. As you wait to be
escorted back to the lab, you are seated facing the door, upon which
is a very ugly photo of another cyclist who famously tested positive
and was banned for life. In very tiny letters under the photo was
written something to the effect that if this person shows up that they
aren't to be let in. I can say that I felt the atmosphere to be less
one of justice, of innocent until proven guilty and more of "let's
nail the scumbags!"; less of concern for the athlete's health and more
a quest for fame and notoriety...
I observed part of the test, but can't say too much since USADA will
not tell you up front that the test takes two full days to process and
results aren't available until the third day. My flight back was
already booked for the next day, so I couldn't stay to see the rest of
the test. In fact, I'm not sure if we had stayed the entire time that
we would have been able to get the results of the test anyhow. But,
there is certainly a lot of room for error as the multitude of times
the samples are transferred from tube to tube are tracked only by the
scientist's scrawl on the side of the tube.
I was sure the B-test would come out different. I came back from LA to
a first class letter from USADA congratulating me on my negative dope
test, and I was sure everything would come back negative for Joey's B
test as well.
Unfortunately, it didn't, as the world now knows...
I've had to wrestle with this fact, trying to reconcile the confirmed
doping offense with the generous, caring, smart, honest and loyal
human being that I know. It has raised painful doubts in me regarding
the system of drug testing on one hand, and on the sport and the
athletes involved on the other hand. I believe in my friend who
asserts his innocence, but am steeling myself against all of the ugly
comments that are going to be made about him, and I can guarantee that
every one will hurt me as well. I can only remain loyal and know that
in spite of this whole ordeal, I can continue to value the friendship
of someone who has been nothing but a good person to me.