In a move that’s sure to ruffle the feathers of French media and Tour de France organizers, AP wire reports are quoting Lance Armstrong as saying the team’s anti-doping plan and testing regimen will be in place before their first race in January, the Tour Down Under in Australia.
In an effort to keep naysayers at bay, Lance had asked one of America’s top anti-doping experts and founder of the Anti-Doping Research organization, Dr. Don Catlin, to develop a testing regimen that will prove he’s racing clean. One of the ways he’s proclaimed to do that is to post everything in public, as quoted on Livestrong.com on Sept 24:
“Mr. Armstrong also announced his commitment to changing the culture of drug testing in professional sports through his team’s retention of Dr. Don Catlin, a leading expert in identifying and detecting the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. Dr. Catlin will design the most comprehensive program ever implemented for a professional athlete. The goal of the program will be to change current thinking about testing and make it possible for athletes to prove they are racing clean rather than trying to prove they did not cheat. All of Lance’s blood work and testing will be posted online at www.livestrong.com.”
Unfortunately, the news coming out this past weekend states there is no immediate timeline to get the results posting online nor is there actually a final agreement to do so. Read “more” for add’l details…
While I still believe, there’s no doubt this will give some people cause to wonder why he’s delaying the testing with Catlin. However, Lance has been undergoing testing by the USADA and UCI ever since coming out of retirement and announcing plans to race with Astana, as well as with the team’s own testing program. Additionally, Lance has stated that the best way to stay above the fray is to always let the race officials and governing bodies know your whereabouts, 24-7.
Part of the problem is coordinating all the testing between the various organizations and Lance’s busy travel schedule.
On a bit of a tangent, one comment on some of the stories I read for this post claimed that Lance has never spoken out against doping and that his previous tests only serve to prove that he hasn’t tested positive, not that he hasn’t doped. So, with that in mind, I leave you with this quote from Lance’s reaction to the 2009 Tour de France route announcement:
“I would also like to recognize the UCI and commend them for their aggressive stance against doping, a stance that is unmatched in all of world sport.â€Â
Fin.
