French cyclo cross star Arnaud Jouffrey today won the title of under 23 World Champion. A fantastic result for the young champion, yet strange that he was awarded Gold, 2 months after the race in Tabor, Czech Republic!
The reason: Polish brothers Pawel and Kacper Szczepaniak, who finished first and second in this year’s under 23 cyclo-cross World Championship, have returned positive results for EPO.
When we hear of a rider cheating it saddens and angers us. When we learn of an Espoir caught, it is just sad. So young and means the sport has not convinced all of the new generation to race with honor. Today two careers lost, a family destroyed and a proud cycling nation tainted. With younger riders there is always a fear that they have been corrupted and encouraged to cheat by coaches, doctors with the experience and knowledge.
The Szczepaniak boys suspicious blood profiles were revealed as part of their respective biological passports, but the fact that the riders, under suspicion, still permitted to compete means the passport still has a lot of evolution to undergo before the clean riders are protected from the cheats.
Bike Pure rider and fantastic prospect for the future Tom Meeusen, who was placed fourth in the race, will now be moved into the deserved silver medal position, yet the podium glory has been stolen………..for this year.
Well done Arnaud on your victory.
Photos © Thomas van Bracht
Comments
mikroos 13.03.2010 at 11:56pm
Maybe there's a solution, though. As far as I know, the time needed to conduct tests and all of the paperwork is about 2 weeks. Maybe there should be some kind of a qualifying tournament 2 weeks before the actual race, after which all players who qualify to the finals are tested thoroughly? This should lead to a limitation of the number of athletes tested (which makes the whole procedure cheaper) and should make us almost 100% sure that those who take part in the actual competition are clean (because in most cases you don't benefit from doping if you use it 2 weeks before the race). This is just an idea but I believe that this could be a nice compromise.
mikroos 13.03.2010 at 11:49pm
OK, I get your point, but still I think that no-one should not be eliminated just because of suspicion. Not only is this unfair, it also gives the authorities a HUGE opportunity to cheat. Don't you remember what was happening during Beijing Olympic Games where the organisers did everything to let Chinese athletes win? Now multiply this many times and here's what you get if you allow the officials to ban anyone without solid evidence. I do agree that this problem needs to be addressed, but I really believe that assuming one's innocence should be the most important rule.
Tony Espotan 12.03.2010 at 07:41pm
Joanna is correct - young Meeusen, who started as the race favorite (and is incidentally part of BikePure) missed out big time because these Polish riders should not have been on the start line. It's just a shame it happened to be the Worlds where they were caught. Meeusen must be sick.
Joanna Heart 12.03.2010 at 04:07pm
Mikroos, you are missing the point. Watch the race. Meeusen gave it everything to drop the Szczepaniaks. The dopers changed the core of the event. If the passport system is to work, anyone with an 'un-normal' profile (which indicates doping) are NOT innocent. The passport needs to ID the cheats before they can abuse race results. The idea is to protect the integrity of racing. I doubt who ever wrote the article above wishes to stop anyone racing without evidence.
mikroos 12.03.2010 at 10:51am
" the fact that the riders, under suspicion, still permitted to compete means the passport still has a lot of evolution to undergo" OK, that's to much for me. As far as I know it is a fundamental rule in democracy to assume innocence as long as a person under suspicion is not proven to be guilty. Banning someone or eliminating them from an important event based just on a suspicion is definitely too much. I don't even try to imagine what consequences this change could have. You could easily ban someone from starting in, say, World Cup, just because you SAY (not prove!) that their blood profile is suspicious, and then, after the World Cup, say "sorry, mate! we made a mistake, but hey! there's a local crit tomorrow, why don't you try to win?". Scary...
Gert Van Dertan 11.03.2010 at 10:33pm
Why are the UCI saying the biological passport programme caught the Szczepaniaks.?????? the blood profiles of these two riders were suspect. two young riders on cont, pro teams are not part of the program. Are they just making it look good, or covering a $10million invoice?!
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