Recent news reports have intimated that doping samples collected from athletes during the Olympic Games, held in Beijing this summer, are due to be retested. The reason for this action is the discovery of a new performance-enhancing drug which may have flown under the radar in previous tests.

The new drug is being referred to as CERA, or Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator and it was recently discovered in the stored samples of several Tour de France cyclists. CERA is part of a new breed of anemia drugs, manufactured in order to increase the production of red blood cells – which carry oxygen throughout the body and have the spin-off effect of increasing stamina and endurance.

In France the anti-doping agency introduced a new blood test for this substance and simultaneously caught several Tour de France stage winners engaging in its use (including Italian cyclists Stefan Schumacher and Riccardo Ricco). Apparently the head of this agency, Pierre Bordry, extended the offer to Lance Armstrong to conduct a re-test on his stored urine – Armstrong declined the offer. Way back in 2005, French newspaper L’Equipe had revealed traces of Erythropoietin (EPO) were found in Armstrong’s urine.

CERA – THE FACTS

CERA is considered to be a pharmacological upgrade of EPO, requiring one twentieth of the dosage to achieve the same results. Produced by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche and sold under the name Micera, the drug has recently gained approval by the FDA for use in the USA. It is rumored that the drug contains a ‘marker molecule’ to make it easily detectable in routine drug tests – the company has however denied this rumor.

As regards the recent Beijing Olympics, the IOC conducted 4,770 drug tests during the games. Many of those samples are stored in Lausanne, Switzerland (home to one of the top anti-doping agencies). The decision as to which samples are going to be retested on numerous factors such as received information; reports and- no doubt rumors surrounding individual athletes.

CERA – THE FUTURE

To date, nine athletes have been implicated in doping offences during the Beijing games, six of whom have received bans. What the proposed retesting will reveal will be interesting to say the least and may affect the futures of several athletes. As to the future of CERA, well as EPO replaced Anadrol –50, CERA looks set to replace EPO amongst endurance athletes. However, those considering its use should be aware that the use of any drug, which increases red blood cell production and facilitates increased oxygen uptake comes with a set of negative side effects. These include high blood pressure, compromised circulatory system and increased susceptibility to headaches, blood clots, stroke and heart attack. In other words, it can kill you. Worth the risk? I think not!

Leigh Penman, in addition to be a staff writer at MuscleSport Mag, has been writing for bodybuilding magazines, websites and nutritional supplement companies since 1985. Whilst residing in the UK, she earned the reputation of being one of the top female writers in bodybuilding-related media. Her credits included being a contributing editor on all the magazines in production as well as filling the shoes of Ladies Editor and Showbiz Editor on two publications (the later being on Arnold’s sanctioned magazine, ‘Bodypower’). During this time she also competed successfully on four occasions (placing in the top four in all contests).

Leigh has been working out for close to thirty years so she is clearly a writer who ‘walks her talk.’
She can be contacted personally at zeal2heal@yahoo.com or you can also check her out at New York’s favorite metaphysical store www.stickstoneandbone.com.

The recent announcement by Lance Armstrong that he will be returning to professional cycling has once again opened the door to speculation that he cheated his way to seven Tour De France victories. Having previously sued journalists for publishing circumstantial evidence regarding his use of performance enhancing substances, Armstrong has now surrendered himself to an aggressive new screening program under the direction of renowned anti-doping scientist Don Catlin.

However, Catlin (who assisted in exposing the BALCO doping ring in 2003) admits that the tests offer no guarantees in terms of tracking an athletes drug use and, of course, will do little to remove the suspicion of Armstrong’s past use of performance enhancing substances. The tests themselves will be as accurate as technologically possible though and Catlin feels they will be very hard to beat and any athlete trying to do so will be very foolish indeed. The results of Armstrong’s blood and urine tests will be posted on line and the urine will be frozen and stored for future re-testing.

The fact that Armstrong will be paying Catlin for the work out of his own pocket has of course given rise to speculation that he may have an influence on the results. However, he has dismissed such claims by saying, “There’s not enough money anywhere to potentially buy out Don Catlin.” Referring anyone who questions the integrity of the tests to Catlin himself for reassurance.

In conclusion Armstrong has stated that although he has promised to compete in January’s Tour Down Under in Australia and the Leadville 100 (an endurance event in Colorado) his goal is not to win an eighth Tour De France. His main focus for 2009 will be to raise cancer awareness, using his celebrity and return to pro sports to draw attention to this illness from which he once suffered. The fact that he claims an eighth Tour win is not on the agenda also serves as a convenient escape route if he turns in a lack luster performance (oops, did I say that?).

Leigh Penman, in addition to be a staff writer at MuscleSport Mag, has been writing for bodybuilding magazines, websites and nutritional supplement companies since 1985. Whilst residing in the UK, she earned the reputation of being one of the top female writers in bodybuilding-related media. Her credits included being a contributing editor on all the magazines in production as well as filling the shoes of Ladies Editor and Showbiz Editor on two publications (the later being on Arnold’s sanctioned magazine, ‘Bodypower’). During this time she also competed successfully on four occasions (placing in the top four in all contests).

Leigh has been working out for close to thirty years so she is clearly a writer who ‘walks her talk.’
She can be contacted personally at zeal2heal@yahoo.com or you can also check her out at New York’s favorite metaphysical store www.stickstoneandbone.com.

A super version of the blood booster EPO has become the latest rage in the cycling world, with a third person that participated in July’s Tour de France testing positive for the banned substance CERA. The latest is Italy’s Leonardo Piepoli, who had two positive tests.

Stefan Schumacher (Germany) and Riccardo Ricco (Italy) were previously suspended for using the new and stronger version of EPO, which has a longer lasting effect without repeated dosing.

Having to only use the drug on a monthly basis, CERA has a much larger window than EPO, which needs to be injected days and sometimes hours before the activity that is to be enhanced.

Three and counting. That’s what the Tour de France has become, and with Italy’s Ricardo Ricco being disqualified, doubt is hovering over every rider left.

A winner of two previous stages, Ricco is the biggest name to be caught using performance-enhancing drugs this year. He was detained by police, who have been quite busy cracking down on cyclists who have been caught using and/or possessing steroids.

Ricco made a bid to keep himself in the race by claiming he has a naturally high hematocrit level, which is an indicator of possible EPO use. It didn’t work and his entire team pulled out of the race, leaving more suspicion and questions being asked.

This marks the third consecutive year that the Tour de France has had a doping scandal interfere with the famous bicycle race.

Photo credit: bikeradar.com

The people behind the Tour de France don’t play around. They are hell-bent on cleaning up the sport of cycling and have done a pretty good job of it this summer. Another competitor has been arrested and thrown out of the race following a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

Moises Duenas Nevado of Spain tested positive for EPO, setting of a chain of events that resulted in his imprisonment. French police conducted a search warrant in the cyclist’s Tarbes hotel room and seized what was described as “banned medicines,” according to published reports.

Nevado, 27, is the second rider to be thrown out of the Tour following countryman Manuel Beltran, who was competing with an Italian team. It was less than a week ago that Beltran also tested positive for EPO.

Neither should expect help to come out of their union dues. “I just can’t understand when these guys are going to learn,” International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid said to reporters. “If the ‘B’ sample is positive, then all I can say is the guy’s a fool. The net is closing in.”

Before the positive test, Nevado was holding on to the 19th position in the race.

Photo credit: Super Sports

Manuel Beltran of Spain not only has been disqualified from the Tour de France, he was physically removed by French police after testing positive for EPO, a performance-enhancing drug used for energy, endurance and recovery. Although unconfirmed, it was also said that there was a raid conducted by local authorities where Beltran and his teammates were staying.

The positive test was conducted following the first stage of the bicycle race, back on July 5. Pierre Bordry, the leader of the French anti-doping agency, told reporters “there are not just traces of EPO, there is EPO.”

The remaining members of Beltran’s Italian Liguigas team were allowed to continue in the race. The team immediately removed him after the positive blood test, and will await the results of a second sample before making any further decisions on his future with them.

This comes at a bad time for the sport of cycling, with the last two Tour de France races filled with riders testing positive for testosterone and other PEDs. “It’s a damaging blow,” International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid said to reporters. “Once again, it proves that individuals are ready to take stupid risks.”

Beltran has been a part of three Tour winning teams in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Adding insult to injury, the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down a tough decision on Floyd Landis and literally made him pay. After being denied his appeal, the cyclist was roundly criticized in the decision and ordered to hand over $100,000 towards the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency legal fees.

This is the second setback for Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France championship after testing positive for testosterone. All told, he has spent more than $2 million of his own and fundraiser’s money on his appeals, all for naught. When you look into this case further, it is apparent that Landis never had a prayer and looks like an anti-doping punching bag.

Seeing light at the end of the tunnel, Landis used part of his arbitration case from last May as his defense for the latest one. His two-year ban was upheld then, but the panel “scolded” the USADA, along with their testing labs, for “using practices that were less than airtight.”

A 58-page decision handed down by a three-person panel were not swayed by the case brought before them by Maurice Suh, Landis’ attorney, stating that the lab in France followed international standards. They read Landis, 32, the riot act, in that his case was based on muddling the evidence and embarrassing the French lab.

“The Panel has found no evidence at all to sustain any of these serious allegations,” part of the decision read. “Moreover, the Panel is surprised that such allegations should be pursued in the closing brief when it must have been clear at the end of the hearing that there was no evidential basis from expert testimony or otherwise support them.”

Predictably, Travis Tygart reveled in the aftermath of the decision. “We are pleased that justice was served and that Mr. Landis was not able to escape the consequences of his doping or his effort to attack those who protect the rights of clean athletes,” the USADA CEO told reporters.

While Landis’ attorney harped on the fact that the USADA and World Doping Agency have more resources than the individual athlete – who has to pay for his own appeal – that would not have made a difference in this case. Even though both sets of arbitrators agreed that there was “less than ideal laboratory practices” used, they would not budge on the validity and integrity of the test. Once that was established in their minds, the case was over.

The Landis camp did not have a chance from day one. How would it have looked less than a week before the 2008 Tour de France is set to begin to give a banned cyclist his title back? It would have – in the eyes of the sport – set a bad precedent for other competitors.

Add the fact that the summer Olympics are just around the corner, and international competition is looking to distance itself away from performance-enhancing drugs and anyone that allegedly used them. Landis’ timing couldn’t have been worse, which of course, is no fault of his.

If this did anything, it strengthened the position of the Anti-Doping Agencies following what looks to be sloppy work on their part. Rest assured, the next time they have a lab – especially the one in question in France – perform a drug test, they will dot their I’s and cross their T’s.

Photo credit: s2n.com