Pretty good complete story from Bicycling Magazine:
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A defiant Andy Rihs, CEO of the Phonak corporation, stood by Tyler Hamilton at Tuesday's news conference and announced, "We don't fire innocent people." But that sentiment appears to hinge on the nature of innocence.
Hamilton was today suspended indefinitely by his team, pending the outcome of the blood doping allegations resulting from his two blood tests on August 19 and September 11. In a turnaround from Rihs' strong support yesterday, where he vowed to stand beside Tyler no matter what, in a press release sent today and titled "We Believe Tyler," Rihs indicated that the charges against Hamilton were quite serious. "For the moment, we have to concentrate on the facts. These seem to speak against Tyler," Rihs said in the release.
"If Hamilton is not able to prove his innocence, then the contract will be canceled effective immediately," the statement read. It did not state what proof would be needed.
An important turning point may be the release of B sample results, which is scheduled for sometime today and which were referred to in the press release as "the final stage."
Drug testing protocols require two samples to be taken in any urine or blood test. The second, or B, sample, is not tested unless the A sample returns irregularities indicative of doping. In the parlance of the International Cycling Union (UCI), an A sample which shows evidence of doping is called a "non-negative." A positive test results when a rider's B sample confirms the initial sample findings.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Rihs also called the test into question. "We don't believe the test is reliable," he said. "It's more of a probability test. We have scientific papers that question the reliability of these tests. We think this test (at the Vuelta) or the IOC test at least, were done sloppily."
The new test, designed by a team of Australian researchers, was secretly introduced at the Athens Olympics. Although public pronouncements by anti-doping officials, governing bodies and researchers presaged the test, the specific doping techniques the test would detect were intentionally kept secret. Dr. Michael Ashenden, who led the team that created the test, told The Australian, "That test wasn't announced quite deliberately."
Some news reports have held that the test was first used at this year's Tour de France. The test was not then approved and, as the UCI was not then a signatory to WADA's code of conduct, blood samples were instead reportedly frozen for possible later testing. It is unknown how many, if any, samples have been retroactively tested using the new technique.
The new test can detect homologous blood transfusions--blood taken from another person. While Rihs questioned the reliability of the test, it is derived from longstanding hospital tests used to establish paternity and for health checks of a mother and baby at birth.
Ashenden, who supervised all research, told the Australian that the test is very reliable. "The test has been used for a decade in hospitals to detect feto-maternal haemorrhage - if they get it wrong, it is a life or death situation," Ashenden told the paper.
"They don't get it wrong; the test works," he added.
Ashenden also said the test was necessary to root out a terrible and dangerous practice that has apparently made a return in elite sport.
Blood transfusions, he said, are not undertaken lightly even in a hospital setting, and have no place in sport in any case.
While blood doping was first discovered being used by Finnish long distance runners, particularily Olympic champion Lasse Viren, in the 1970s. It was not banned until 1986. But there has been no way to test for it until now.
Previously, it was thought to have fallen out of favor as drugs such as EPO, which stimulates production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, were easier to use and less dangerous.
But newer tests for EPO, which look at an age range of red blood cells, and the presence of EPO in urine, may have led athletes to return to a simpler form of performance enhancement, which was heretofore undetectable.
Two types of human blood transfusions are possible: homologous and autologous. Autologous transfusions are blood withdrawn, stored for a time and then re-injected in the donor. In the meantime, the athlete's blood supply replenishes and is then boosted by the re-injection. This type of transfusion is still undetectable by modern tests and is safer, but has several drawbacks. The decrease in blood volume when the blood is drawn causes fatigue, meaning an athlete cannot undergo as intense a training regimen. As well, blood must be frozen and stored very carefully, requiring technological means that may be past what is readily available to athletes. Homologous transfusions, from a person with a matching blood type, are logistically easier because blood need not be stored, and the athlete can continue to train heavily. The blood is injected directly before a competition.
In either case, an athlete can use a mixture of whole blood and red blood cells alone, which can be separated out with a simple centrifuge.
Portable centrifuges capable of separating out blood and analyzing haematocrit are quite affordable, costing as little as $300. The combination of whole blood and centrifuged red blood cells, or erythrocytes, would allow an athlete to raise his haematocrit, or red blood cells as a percentage of whole blood volume, right to the maximum 50 percent limit. John Mendoza, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Sports Drug Agency, that country's national affiliate of WADA, told The Australian that blood doping techniques could be good for as much as a 15 percent increase in endurance capacity.
In a 2002 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers (some of whom were on the research team for the new test) reported on the the effect of prolonged low-dose EPO on maximal and sub-maximal performance found gains between 4.5 and 9.7 percent in maximal aerobic power.
Maximal aerobic power is the level of exertion at which an athlete can continue to flush waste products (primarily lactic acid) from muscles, a physiological red line of sorts. This can also be expressed as VO2Max, or maximal oxygen uptake. Endurance athletes train to increase their maximal aerobic capacity because a higher capacity means that they can ride harder and recover faster than their competitors.
Other than complexity, the other deterrent to blood transfusions is danger. In a homologous transfusion, the recipient risks infection. In rare cases, the recipient's white blood cells reject the foreign blood, which can cause a severe reaction and lead to total organ failure and death.
At his press conference, Hamilton said he was well aware of the risks.
"I've been accused of taking blood from another person, which, if anybody knows me, knows that that is completely impossible," he said.
Later, he pointed out several reasons why he wouldn't take the risk.
"Number one, that's risking my life. Number two, that's risking my wife's life."
During his 10-year career as a professional, Hamilton has consistently earned a reputation as a person of class and integrity.
Phonak director Alvaro Pino backed Hamilton up, dismissing the possibility. "He is an intelligent guy who would not take the risk of having a blood transfusion," he told Spanish television.
Also an issue is the timing of the announcements. Hamilton said he was puzzled that he learned first of his positive test at the Tour of Spain, and days later learned of a similar result from the Olympics, despite the three-week span between tests.
Talking to the press at the Tour of Spain, two Spanish team directors, Euzebio Unzue of the Illes Baleares team and Liberty Seguros' Manolo Saiz, expressed dismay over the announcement. Unzue told Reuters that the A result should not have been made public until the B results were in. Neither the IOC or UCI has announced that Hamilton has actually failed tests, only that his case is under review. Standard practice for both organizations is to not comment on pending cases.
For Hamilton, innocent or not, the affair is already having repercussions. "Already it has ruined a lot for me--my reputation," Hamilton told the Associated Press. "There are personal sponsors who are pulling out. It's sad." Hamilton declined to name which companies had ended endorsement deals.
Whatever the results of the B test, Hamilton has professed his innocence and vowed to fight. His case could be an important test for the future of anti-doping measures. In 2001, Bo Hamburger became the first cyclist to test positive for EPO under the then-new test for that drug, but irregularities in his B sample prevented authorities from declaring him guilty. He has lived under a cloud of suspicion since.
Also, earlier this year in the midst of the doping scandal that has plagued the Cofidis team for the entire season, Frenchman Cedric Vasseur first tested positive for cocaine via hair samples. Follow-up tests, however, failed to support initial findings.
If Hamilton's B samples from both tests return the same values, he will likely have his Phonak contract voided and will be forced to fund his own defense against the charges. The B sample results are expected later this week.
