Eclectic Echoes

With all the talk of doping scandals, people already condemning Floyd, questioning other riders performances and the entire sport and destroying teams one thing that remains is that much of the damage in the past month has been done not by the doping itself, but by the violation of UCI protocol. Floyd (and the riders implicated in Operacion Puerto) have been tried entirely in the court of public opinion. The damage to the riders, teams and the sport in general are evident in conversations (“So what do think about riding now that you know all the pro’s are doping?”) and the press.

What most people do not stop to think about, or realize, is that the UCI and the Tour organizers breached some major protocols in their announcements on Floyd. For a complete overview of the process the way it is supposed to happen, read Hey Norton’s great article.

The way it is suppposed to work may not be ideal, but it does protect the riders, the teams and indeed the sport and it’s governing bodies from needless scandal. Too bad they decided to short circuit that process this time. And one does have to wonder why? Why with Floyd? Especially when they refuse to short circuit an “internal process” in order to conclusively prove or disprove riders guilt in the Operación Puerto scandal.

Tell it like it is, like it really is. Give everyone who has been subverted into the conduct that has exposed you the chance to clean it up, or take the risk that … your sport may be flushed down the toilet…

“Who knows, USADA (the United States Anti-Doping Agency) may subscribe to a suggestion that both athletes, in separate sports, were ambushed by a roving squad of Nazi frogmen and injected against their will with the prohibited substances.”
–Dick Pound (head of the World Anti-Doping Agency) in the Ottawa Citizen, Wednesday August 9th 2006 edition

Edit: found a shorter (synopsis) online version of his comments at the Denver Post.

Seems to back up what the former UCI president said of his former friend a year ago:

Pound is the sheriff who shoots everything that moves. WADA should be above all that and he should establish proof before he speaks.

“We will still work with WADA, but not with Pound, because he is not impartial. Athletes have the right to defend themselves even if it’s with the cheapest excuse. You only punish when it’s proven — that’s when you hit them.”
–Hein Verbruggen President UCI 1991–2005, current UCI Vice-President, member IOC

As for destroying the sport…It’s the way officials are handling these cases that is doing more to destroy the sport — leaking information, not respecting riders, painting the entire sport with broad accusations, forcing riders and teams to defend themselves in the media spotlight before any conclusive evidence is available… this is what threatens to flush it “down the toilet”. Strangely enough these are all covered pretty much directly in WADA’s World Anti-Doping Code (pdf). Stranger still is the fact that Dick and many other signatory officials of that code have seen fit cast it aside where it applies to riders rights and organizations responsibilities. Astaná-Würth and Valencia taken out in Operación Puerto –that’s at least two complete teams and some 18 riders wrongly punished for only allegations and forced to defend themselves and their teams in the media. Let’s not even get into the L’Equipe / WADA / Châtenay-Malabry scandal?

Landis, and all the other riders involved in the recent scandals, are not guilty until proven guilty — and they should not have to prove themselves innocent in the media first either. Landis remains the Tour de France champion until USADA and US Cycling concur that he is guilty and impose a ban or sanctions. Only then can the Tour de France strip anything and give it to Oscar “I’m already the champion” Pereiro (you’ll have a long wait for that official fax, and good luck getting a ceremony in France). If proven guilty throw the book at them, but until then…

Personally I can only echo Paul Sherwen’s sentiments:

From my point of view, I’d like to see Floyd fight it and prove his innocence because that would be a way toward saving the sport.”
–Paul Sherwen reported in the Palm Beach Post