say it aint so Tyler

Phonak suspends Hamilton

By Agence France Presse
This report filed September 22, 2004
American Olympic time-trial champion Tyler Hamilton has been suspended by the Phonak team and will be thrown out unless he is able to prove he is innocent of blood doping charges, the Swiss team said Wednesday.

"If Hamilton is not able to prove his innocence, then the contract will be cancelled effective immediately," Zurich-based Phonak said in a statement on its Internet site.

The statement, which was released before the results of a second doping test sample were known, also announced the Phonak team leader's suspension until the proceedings on the charge are completed.

The 33-year-old faces a two-year ban after testing positive for an allegedly illicit blood transfusion following his win on the Tour of Spain's eighth stage time trial on September.

He pulled out of the Tour six days later apparently due to stomach problems.

"For the moment, we have to concentrate on the facts. These seem to speak against Tyler," Phonak team boss Andy Rihs said. "But so long as we're not 100 percent certain that he's guilty of manipulation, we will believe him."

Hamilton had said on Tuesday he was totally innocent of the charge of blood doping.

"I am accused of taking someone else's blood, but anybody who knows me

would accept that I would never do such a thing," he said.

**************************************************

What a surprise this would be, hopefully the accusations are false

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Telephil

What a surprise this would be, hopefully the accusations are false

---

Surprise? I strongly suspect that pretty much every athlete who is at the top of a big money sport is doping in some fashion. It's just a matter of when/if they get caught and whether they can stay ahead of the detection technology and rules.

I'm confused how they could figure out he did it. The only test that I thought they did was for hemacrit and that is inconclusive for cheating it just lets them suspend someone on a safety pretense.

That would suck for ole Floyd Landis who I think just signed with them.

They recently added a test that detects EPO usage directly, instead of the "implicit" high hematocrit test. Still more recently, the test that seems to have caught Tyler was added. I believe that it was first used at the Olympics. There is some in depth technical discussion of the testing methodology on the forum at velonews.com. http://www.velonews.com/phorum3/read...10#reply_63610 is way over my head.

I still hope that Tyler is innocent, but I ugess I'm ready to be disillusioned. It's a shame. Tyler seemed to epitomize much of what can be good about sports.

jeez, I guess they found a lot of tar and other road material in that blood too.

yeah, it's a bummer for sure. the way they catch them is b/c they find red blood cells that don't match the same exact shape, etc as their own, and they're also able to tell when the cells have gone through a cooling or freezing and then a re-warming. rumor is that it maybe have been from some surgery, but i think i'd be pretty hard to explain someone else's blood in your system otherwise. it rings true though, most of the time when normally 'clean' people dope is after injuries b/c that's when they're mentally at their weakest.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by L7

I'm confused how they could figure out he did it. The only test that I thought they did was for hemacrit and that is inconclusive for cheating it just lets them suspend someone on a safety pretense.

---

nah there is a lot more of technology now, and this new approach to detect transfused blood is highly sensitive and specific. In the past 4 years I've personally seen people undergoing blood transfusion before races. I saw cross country skiing people, but I was told of people in biking, soccer, track and field etc. Hopefully this new test will reduce (it will actually never stop, I'm afraid) this insane trick, but there are still many others that get undetected.
Soon before olympics, the anti-dope agency announced that a new anti-GH test was ready. It was mediatic war (the test is actually not ready yet), but it generated such a blast that also GH producers were V E R Y scared. You can eesily imagine what a business Epo-derivates, GH etc are. These drugs have very, very few medical indications (few thousdand people worldwide for GH!), but they result among big pharma best-sellers.

marblehead is freaking out, man.

i have the same doctor as tyler, or one of them. i wonder if i have to give up my gold medal too?

What sucks is that he keeps getting injured! If he was doping, he wasted it all on crashes. I really hope this isn't true, though.

phonak just released news in Zurich. It says that results of the second test confirm the presence of transfused blood. The tests at the olymp were negative, though.

I heard secondhand that even if the Oly results were negative, they were going to pull his gold. Anybody know about this?

Not directly related to the Tyler story, but still a good read. A little more insight into why they do it.

http://outside.away.com/outside/body...ug_test_1.html

the saga continues, but looks like he keeps his medal...again from cyclingnews.com..

Official: Hamilton's Olympic B test dropped
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Tyler Hamilton's "B sample" taken during the Olympic Games in Athens has been considered as "non-conclusive because of lack of enough intact red blood cells". This means that although his A sample was positive, the IOC will not be pursuing sanctions against the American, and that he will keep his gold medal that he won during the time trial. However, according to his Phonak team, both Hamilton's A and B samples have come back positive from the Vuelta a España, which means that it's highly likely that a disciplinary process will be started against him by the UCI.

The IOC explained in a statement that, "On 22 August, the IOC was informed by the WADA accredited laboratory in Athens of a suspicious result following the analysis of Tyler Hamilton's blood sample provided on 19 August after the time-trial race that took place on 18 August in which he won the gold medal. At the request of the IOC, a group of experts examined the file and concluded on 16 September that Tyler Hamilton's A blood sample gave rise to an adverse analytical finding;

"On the basis of this conclusion, the IOC decided on 16 September to launch a disciplinary procedure to be handled by Juridical Commission Chairman Thomas Bach, and Executive Board Members Denis Oswald and Sergey Bubka, and to immediately notify the National Olympic Committee and the athlete;

"On 22 September, the laboratory analysis of the B sample was 'considered as non conclusive because of lack of enough intact red blood cells';

"On 23 September, the IOC informed Tyler Hamilton that, although the A sample gave rise to an adverse analytical finding on 19 August in Athens, the disciplinary procedure has had to be stopped because of the non-conclusive result of the B sample analysis. The IOC also informed him that therefore the Disciplinary Commission was being dissolved and that the IOC would not be pursuing sanctions regarding this matter.

"The fact that the analysis of the B sample was not conclusive does not challenge the accuracy of the analysis of the A sample; the method used during the Olympic Games in Athens was authorized by the World Anti-Doping Agency after validation by the international scientific community in accordance with an established set of criteria."

That Outside story is a good read.

Anyone here ever try any of that stuff?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cornholio

That Outside story is a good read.

Anyone here ever try any of that stuff?

---

They gave me some 'roids after my wisdom teeth surgery. I think I was able to pull bong rips with a little more authority.

Looks like a worse crash than any other Tyler has had on a bike....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cornholio

That Outside story is a good read.

Anyone here ever try any of that stuff?

---

I have never even been tempted to try that stuff, I want to compete against other athletes, not their pharmacists.

I do know people that have used performance enhancers, some deliberately, some because their coach gave them 'Vitamins'. I can say that these drugs make a massive difference to performance. Before Sydney olympics the chinese suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started to absolutely crush people that were world champions/olympic medalists for the previous 6ish years. The gaps were huge, everybody was talking about the shadiness of it. Before the olympics the chinese were sending something like 25 rowers. Then the announcement came out that there was a reliable EPO test that would be used and their team all developed injuries and illnesses so their roster dropped to something like 10 athletes. Those that did show up totally shit the bed.

I am sad about tHamilton, he seemed like a hard worker and this has only further stregthened my opinion that almost all of the top cyclists are guilty and have not been caught yet. This was further compounded this year by a buddy that raced in europe at the E2 level (below feeders for the big teams but high enough as it is). He said people were blatant about it in the peleton, carrying syringes because they knew ahead of time that their team would not be tested that week. The athletes are outputting 1600watts of power all day and all they eat is a boiled potato.

What a bad scene, I would have been less surprised if Lance had been busted, but Tyler was a shock. I still don't completely understand the science behind the tests, though I understand the concept of a transfusion.

Is this test reliable? If so, three positives, potentially four does not look good. He says he is going to fight it, but serious damage has been done to his career and image. He also has done damage to other clean cyclists(if there are any, I'm clean ;) ). His gold medal for the time being is tarnished. He might be banned from racing for two years, if so his career is done. Maybe he will resurrect his ski racing career.

Hopefully there is some explanation and he is not a doper. But maybe his rising profile and team leader status led him to take some potentially deadly risks. We'll see...

It sounds like the new blood test looks at the surface of red blood cells for "minor" antigens.

What are minor antigens? Well, an antigen is a general term for a protein "tag" on the surface of a cell. For red blood cells, there are two major antigens, A and B. These antigens give rise to the 4 major blood groups: A, B, AB (having both A & B), and O (having neither A nor B). The blood type that you have is determined by the blood types of your parents and does not change.

The reason they are called major antigens is because they are the main determinant for blood compatability. For instance, if you were to give a transfusion of B-positive blood to a A-positive patient, that patient would have a very nasty immune reaction. The A-positive patient would see the B-positive blood as "foreign," attack it, and become deathly ill from this huge immune response. This is basis for calling people with AB-blood a "universal recipient" and O-blood a "universal donor." Since O-blood has no major antigens, anyone can receive it, and this is why O-blood is used in emergency situations when you don't have time to figure out the blood type of a particular patient, e.g. a trauma. Since AB-people already have both A and B antigens on their own blood, they can take anyone else's without a problem.

Major antigens were elucidated decades ago, since the consequences of getting the wrong blood was death. More recently, scientists have discovered many "minor" antigens on red blood cells. These are other protein "tags" on RBCs. For whatever reason, these minor antigen tags do not generate the same severe immune response that the major antigens do initially. However, in people who receive a ton of transfusions, like some cancer or sickle-cell patients, they can eventually develop an immune reaction to these lesser antigens.

There are tens, if not hundreds of these minor antigens on RBCs. And similar to major antigens, the kinds of minor anitgens that you have are determined by those of your parents and also cannot be changed. Since there are so many of these minor antigens, the chance that 2 people have the SAME sets of minor antigens is very small. You can think of it as a RBC "fingerprint."

How does this work in a blood test? You can develop a blood test that looks at minor antigens and figure out if someone is blood doping. If you take a blood sample from someone and see blood cells with two or more different sets of minor antigens, that person MUST have been doping. Your antigens are determined by genetics--there is almost no way that you can "develop" a second set of antigens. In addition, it would be difficult and expensive for a person to find another person with the SAME sequence of minor antigens, since there are so many of them to match. (A family member would be where I would start.) It would be akin (harder, actually) to a patient finding a match for an organ transplant.

The reason Tyler's B test in the Olympics was negative was that the sample was reportedly frozen. Freezing the sample destroyed the RBCs, and they couldn't figure out what antigens those RBCs had after they were destroyed.

Autologous transfusions are a different story, and I dunno how they test for those.

Hope my babbling helps clear it up a bit.

EDIT: One more thing--I think the science behind testing for minor antigens is sound. The question of whether this test is accurate is a different issue.

SLCFreshies, Wow, what a well written explanation!!

I use to work in a blood bank, back in 1975-77. I would test for the minor antigens in newborns who needed transfusions.

I hope Tyler wasn't using.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Artie Fufkin

What a bad scene, I would have been less surprised if Lance had been busted, but Tyler was a shock.

---

funny how lance dropped out of his last 2 races of the year after they developed the new tests. hope not.

Sorry to be the pessimist here, but 2 points:
1) in 2003, 8 pro riders died of EPO usage. Marco died in 2004 bringing this stat into the news. I call it epidemic.
2) on this side of the pond it is simply accepted that pro riders are all on drugs of some sort. Upon Dufaux's retirement a few weeks ago, the local paper published a cartoon of him relaxing in a paddle boat on Lake Geneva, leaving all the needles behind him. Not a nice depiction, but a statement of what most people believe is going on. And Dufaux, to my knowledge, was never caught for doping.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ulty_guy

funny how lance dropped out of his last 2 races of the year after they developed the new tests. hope not.

---

This is the exact thing I tought of when Lance announced that he would not race in the olympics. Pulling out knowing they had new tests in place. I hope it is not true but it is suspicious.

well well a blast from the past, looks like hamilton wasn't so innocent at all. i really hate all the posturing he did like he didn't even know what blood doping was. now operation puerto has him very exposed. i also remember some whispers after his classics victory that year that his blood tests were a bit strange.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...n06/jun26news2

i guess you really have to wonder if anyone will ever win clean :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ulty_guy

well well a blast from the past, looks like hamilton wasn't so innocent at all. i really hate all the posturing he did like he didn't even know what blood doping was. now operation puerto has him very exposed. i also remember some whispers after his classics victory that year that his blood tests were a bit strange.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?...n06/jun26news2

---

If I believed everything I read, I would be in Iraq looking for WMD right now.

Maybe not much of a story, but Hamilton effectively receives a lifetime ban:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cyclin...ory?id=4264141




COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Olympic champion Tyler Hamilton received an eight-year ban from cycling Tuesday, all but ending his drug-tainted career after he admitted to taking a steroid.

The penalty handed down by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency came two months after Hamilton acknowledged taking an herbal product to combat depression, knowing it included a steroid.

"There's nothing to fight about," Hamilton said in an April interview with The Associated Press.

Hamilton told ESPN.com he chose not to contest whatever sanction USADA imposed in order to move forward and deal with his clinical depression. He is seeing a therapist regularly and said he feels "a lot better" than when he went public with the circumstances of his anti-doping violation two months ago.

"Whether [the suspension] was three months, six months or eight years, I had decided to retire,'" Hamilton told ESPN.com's Bonnie D. Ford in a phone interview from his Boston-area home Tuesday. "The actual number isn't that significant. I came up against something that was more serious than I thought. I needed to take care of it, and I am taking care of it."

This was Hamilton's second anti-doping violation. At age 38, an eight-year ban for Hamilton is effectively a lifetime ban, said Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA.

It is "an assurance that he is penalized for what would have been the remainder of his competitive cycling career," Tygart said.

It brings to an end a career that included a win at the 2004 Olympics that was overshadowed by a blood doping scandal. The victory was followed shortly by a positive doping test, but Hamilton retained the gold medal because the backup "B" sample could not be positively tested.

A month later, however, he tested positive again and served a two-year suspension that ended early in 2007.

He long denied blood doping, though on the latest positive test, he denied nothing.

"I knew it was banned," Hamilton said.

Some of his advisers told him to fight the latest positive but he decided against it, instead deciding to focus on battling his depression. Hamilton said going through a divorce and his mother's breast cancer diagnosis made things worse in recent months.

Hamilton said he intends to continue working with his foundation that supports people with multiple sclerosis and wants to find a way to help others with depression, especially athletes.

"I can't tell you how many phone calls and e-mails I've had," Hamilton told ESPN.com. "It's really opened my eyes. Athletes are always putting things off until the offseason, or maybe when they retire. Maybe this mistake I made will be for someone else's good."