Steebo
07-27-2006, 03:38 PM
http://www.comcast.net/sports/others/index.jsp?cat=OTHERSPORTS&fn=/2006/07/26/442530.html&cvqh=tis_tourdope
AIGLE, Switzerland - An unidentified cyclist tested positive for doping during the Tour de France, widening the scandal that gripped this year's race before it began.
The rider's name, team and nationality will not be released until the testing process is completed, including the analysis of a backup sample, the International Cycling Union said Wednesday.
The sport's governing body did say, however, that the rider's team and national federation were notified, as well as national and world anti-doping authorities. USA Cycling has not been contacted by UCI, spokesman Andy Lee said. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency spokeswoman Carla O'Connell said that group had no comment.
American cyclist Floyd Landis won the Tour de France on Sunday, keeping the title in U.S. hands for the eighth straight year. Lance Armstrong, long dogged by doping whispers and reports that he has vehemently denied, won the previous seven.
Tour spokesman Mathieu Desplats expressed surprise at the result, but would only say that race officials would await final results before taking action.
The UCI said in a statement that it received the report Wednesday from a Paris laboratory "stating an adverse analytical finding following an anti-doping test carried out at the Tour de France 2006."
Officials from the lab could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
On the eve of the Tour's start, nine riders _ including pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso _ were ousted, implicated in a Spanish doping investigation.
The names of Ullrich and Basso turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who allegedly had contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who is at the center of the Spanish doping probe.
Athletes allegedly went to Fuentes' Madrid clinic to have blood extracted for doping or to collect performance-enhancing drugs. Nearly 100 bags of frozen blood and equipment for treating blood were found at the clinic, along with documents on doping procedures performed on cyclists.
AIGLE, Switzerland - An unidentified cyclist tested positive for doping during the Tour de France, widening the scandal that gripped this year's race before it began.
The rider's name, team and nationality will not be released until the testing process is completed, including the analysis of a backup sample, the International Cycling Union said Wednesday.
The sport's governing body did say, however, that the rider's team and national federation were notified, as well as national and world anti-doping authorities. USA Cycling has not been contacted by UCI, spokesman Andy Lee said. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency spokeswoman Carla O'Connell said that group had no comment.
American cyclist Floyd Landis won the Tour de France on Sunday, keeping the title in U.S. hands for the eighth straight year. Lance Armstrong, long dogged by doping whispers and reports that he has vehemently denied, won the previous seven.
Tour spokesman Mathieu Desplats expressed surprise at the result, but would only say that race officials would await final results before taking action.
The UCI said in a statement that it received the report Wednesday from a Paris laboratory "stating an adverse analytical finding following an anti-doping test carried out at the Tour de France 2006."
Officials from the lab could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
On the eve of the Tour's start, nine riders _ including pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso _ were ousted, implicated in a Spanish doping investigation.
The names of Ullrich and Basso turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who allegedly had contact with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who is at the center of the Spanish doping probe.
Athletes allegedly went to Fuentes' Madrid clinic to have blood extracted for doping or to collect performance-enhancing drugs. Nearly 100 bags of frozen blood and equipment for treating blood were found at the clinic, along with documents on doping procedures performed on cyclists.