Stupid bike race again in turmoil
Jesse
AP
By JAMEY KEATEN,Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, July 19
NIMES, France - In a race thrown into turmoil by drugs, Britain's Mark
Cavendish won a stage for the fourth time and Australia's Cadel Evans
kept the yellow jersey Friday as the Tour de France tried to recover
from another scandal.
This was the second straight stage victory for Cavendish. Leading a
group sprint, the Team Columbia rider beat Australia's Robbie McEwen by
nearly two bike lengths in the hot and windy ride, with France's Romain
Feillu third.
"The first stage win was my favorite; today's was the hardest,"
Cavendish said after the 113-mile run from Narbonne to Nimes. "Every
win's a win."
Evans retained the overall lead by finishing alongside his main rivals
in the main pack. He leads Frank Schleck of Luxembourg by one second and
Christian Vande Velde of the United States by 38.
Italy's Riccardo Ricco on Thursday became the third rider to test
positive for the banned performance enhancer EPO, prompting his Saunier
Duval team to quit the race and fire him the next day. Ricco was held
overnight for police questioning.
Saunier Duval also fired Leonardo Piepoli, an Italian who won the 10th
stage for "violation of the team's ethical code." The team declined to
elaborate.
French judicial officials filed preliminary charges Friday against
Ricco, citing "use of a toxic substance." He was released under judicial
watch and ordered not to speak to anyone from his team. Antoine Leroy,
French state prosecutor for the town of Foix, said Ricco contested the
claim that he had used EPO.
A police search of a hotel room where Ricco had stayed turned up medical
equipment, such as syringes, catheters and medical bags, but no doping
products, Leroy said.
Ricco, the Giro d'Italia runner-up, won the sixth and ninth stages. He
was the biggest name among the three riders who tested positive for EPO
during this year's Tour.
The head of France's anti-doping agency, Pierre Bordry, said Ricco had
tested positive for CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator),
an advanced version of EPO.
Mircera, the brand name for CERA made by Swiss-based Roche Holdings,
helps users produce more red blood cells, company spokeswoman Claudia
Schmitt said. It received U.S. and European approvals last year as a
treatment for anemia caused by kidney failure. The substance remains
much longer in the body than regular EPO.
Schmitt said Roche has provided information about the treatment to the
World Anti-Doping Agency, which has banned EPO for athletes. Roche wants
the drug used by patients only, she said.
Spanish riders Moises Duenas Nevado and Manuel Beltran were also ejected
from the Tour this year for using EPO.
Bordry said Piepoli was one of several riders targeted because he had
suspicious blood parameters in pre-Tour blood tests July 4 and 5 and
because of "information from outside sources." Bordry would not
elaborate on those sources, saying only that he was awaiting test
results on Piepoli and other riders.
A French law took effect this month that makes anyone who produces,
transports, acquires or possesses doping products liable for up to five
years in prison and a $119,000 fine.
This marks the first time athletes who take drugs can be liable in the
justice system. Previously, possession of a doping product was not illegal.
Some critics said the law was too tough, and athletes should be punished
with sports sanctions, not legal sanctions.
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