Banned cyclist blames (Evil) 'twin' after dope test (The Observer)

[Up2Late]

(Well, maybe not an "Evil," it's a "Died in Utero" twin, but who would have believed that?)

Banned cyclist blames 'twin' after dope test

Olympic champion claims ignorance of his rare blood condition has cost him $1m

William Fotheringham
Sunday June 5, 2005
The Observer

The saga of Olympic cycling champion Tyler Hamilton's alleged positive test for blood doping and subsequent two-year ban has been given a name worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: the case of the vanishing twin. It is a story now into its ninth month and the news last week that Hamilton's appeal against the verdict is being considered by the Tribunal of Arbitration in Sport means the arguments could run until September.

The hearing is expected to take place in Denver this month, but TAS has a four-month deadline before it delivers a ruling and thus a final verdict may come a full year after the American's positive test was first announced. Last week, the cyclist was still maintaining that the positive is a dreadful mistake, which has cost him more than a million dollars in lost earnings and legal fees. 'I am innocent and I believe in this process,' he said.

The former downhill skier is one of the toughest cyclists in the world, a man who rode through the 2003 Tour de France with a broken collarbone but managed to take fourth overall. The charge against him is that he attempted to improve his performance by injecting someone else's blood to boost his red cell count - and thus his endurance - shortly before winning a stage of the Tour of Spain on 11 September last year.

That sounds outlandish enough, but the New Englander's defence is one of the strangest ever made in an anti-doping case. It centres on the theory that Hamilton is one of twins, but that his twin died in utero, and before he or she did so, Hamilton received a small number of 'foreign' stem cells, producing subtly different red blood cells. These, say scientists who are defending the American, could explain the discovery of two types of blood in his system. :crazy:
(more at link above)

[Psephos]

1. ROFLMAO! n/t

[chalky]

2. Hey! Wasn't that a CSI episode?

eta: sure was--
http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/csi/season4/bloodlines.shtml

Shouldn't he have gotten his story from a more obscure reference?

[HuckleB]

3. This story is three or four months old.

What's up with The Observer? Talk about missing out on the timeliness of a story.

[Up2Late]

5. It's actually older than that, but Maybe they have some New...

...and updated info in it.

PLUS, unless you regularly follow sports, this IS new news to the Non-Sports Fans, and timely to BIG races that the casual fans might want to know.

[HuckleB]

6. I didn't see anything new in the article.

That's why I pointed it out. As far as the argument being presented by Hamilton, it was brought forth as part of his appeal in late February and early March. This basic story appeared in many sources at that time.

[HuckleB]

4. Two riders fail blood check at Dauphiné Libéré

Two riders fail blood check at Dauphiné Libéré

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8159.0.html

"Spaniard Isidro Nozal and Michele Scotto D'Abusco of Italy will not be riding the Dauphine Libere stage race Sunday after both riders failed early morning blood tests.

The 27-year-old Nozal rides for Liberty Seguros run by Manolo Saiz while 22-year-old Scotto D'Abusco rides for Lampre-Caffita.

Both were among those from four teams tested early in the morning Sunday ahead of the opening prologue of the seven-stage race, an individua time trial held over 7.9km.

The teams tested were Liberty, Domina Vacanze, Lampre and AG2R, the latter being the only non Pro Tour team on the race.

..."