The Bust
The 2010 winner of the Tour de France has tested positive for a banned substance. Doping authorities have revealed Alberto Contador tested positive for clenbuterol on July 21. Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator—a stimulant used to treat asthma.
The defense has already spun into high gear. Dr. Douwe de Boer, an “independent expert,” has concluded that the clenbuterol must have come from contaminated meat. The concentration level of clenbuterol found in Contador’s system was at trace levels, meaning there hadn’t been enough in his system to aid his performance the previous day. However, Contador was also tested the two days prior to the positive test, on July 19 and 20. Tests from those days show no trace of clenbuterol.
Permit me a moment of suspicion: Are we really meant to believe that clenbuterol routinely contaminates meat but of the thousands of test samples cyclists give each year only Alberto Contador consumed enough contaminated meat to result in a positive test—and it just happened to occur during the Tour de France?
Really?
Even though we’re just finding out about this in the last week of September, Contador has known of the finding since August 24 and WADA has known even longer. It’s fair to ask: Why did it take so long for the news to come out? It didn’t take this long with Landis.
We have several possibilities to consider:
1) Contador is innocent. He just got really unlucky and ate something (maybe meat) that was accidentally tainted.
2) Contador really did use clenbuterol. The lab employed by WADA did crappy work and didn’t find clenbuterol that was in his system on July 19 and 20.
3) Contador is being framed. Someone tried to sabotage Contador by spraying an asthma inhaler on his food.
Of these three options, the one that would surprise me the least is #2. Contador would hardly be the first cyclist to use asthma medication to dope. But while #2 would be the least surprising explanation, I cannot say that I think #1 or #3 are out of the realm of possibility.
I’d really like to know why it took so long for the news to come out. There’s more to this part of the story than meets the eye. Was there some sort of effort at a coverup that only proved untenable after several weeks’ consideration?
This is bad for cycling. No matter what the reason, this is precisely the attention cycling doesn’t need. And while I want the truth to come out, no explanation can remove the black eye this event will leave. The horse is out of the barn: another Tour de France champion is positive for dope. That story line will follow this year’s Tour de France for good.
Really wanted to believe Landis, but got fooled. I won’t be fooled again! Did Bjarne know of this situation when he signed Contador…?
with such a small amount he coulda been slipped it…or have eaten something contaminated.
Clenbuterol stays in the system a long time. It is also easily detectable. For these two reasons alone any self-respecting doper doesn’t bother with the stuff. Because Contador didn’t test positive for it throughout the rest of the race and when he did test positive it was at a level 400 times below the threshold for detection, it is probable that they can locate the exact time and source of the contamination.
Whether the contamination defense will work is another question. Recently some riders have been using a contaminated-supplement defense that in at least one case found an acquital but later that was overturned by the CAS.
Your question, Padraig, of why the delay in announcing this probably has to do with WADA and the UCI handling these announcements poorly in the past. A little cirumspection in these matters hardly seems a bad thing.
The question I think that is interesting is whether intentionality can be a defense. If a substance is found in your system and you didn’t deliberately put in there, or worse, someone dosed your food or drink with it, are you still guilty? It would seem the rules say, yes.
That would be a great pity and leave at least me with another sense of unfairness. BTW: While Landis has confessed to doping, I still tend to doubt whether they really got him on the one they busted him for. So, the blackeye continues not to be doping in the peloton, but the rigged and unfair system they have in place for rooting it out.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he was using it. But then again I wouldn’t be surprised it came from the claimed beef contamination, given the amount of drugs pumped into our food (Oddly that doesn’t stop me from overeating). I do find it sort of odd that Fuyu Li (RadioShack) also tested positive for it this year and also claimed it came from food. While I don’t keep abreast of all the ins/outs and whos/who of Pro cyclings dope allegations (who’s go the time??), I had never really heard this drug come up before. Now here is at least two this year (with the same excuse). Makes you feel like some of the guys in the peloton figured something out. I hope I’m wrong though, because I’m tired of all the dope stuff (as most of us our). But then again, I say that every time a rider gets busted.
Another curious part of this, that Contador raised in his press conference, is the amount is so small how would one even administer it? The amount is 50 picograms (or 0.00000000005 grams per ml). You can’t grind it up and sprinkle that amount in your coffee, and not have any appear the day before or the day after.
And what you neglect to point out, Padraig, when you mention that Clenbuterol is bronchodilator—a stimulant used to treat asthma, is that is also an anabolic, and it is for this reason it is not used in the US. In other words, it can build muscle. I think we’re all familiar with the use of steroids in cattle to create larger animals.
I think this is going to come down to a question of intentionality and I’m not sure Contador, or anyone else, is going to win with that defense. And that stinks.
Its a disaster for cycling and the Tour!
Theres not real way of knowing, but these kind of cases do suggest accidental contamination – but that is irrelevant on two fronts:
First: the doping authorities don’t tend to care, they have to take a “you’re responsible for what goes in your body” stance
Second: The media in general don’t care.. its just another one after Landis, VIno, etc etc and at the same time the whole Lance circus is gearing up.
Glad I’m not someone trying to secure sponsorship funds at the moment! Maybe thats why they delayed it… doing it earlier would have been in the middle of most treams agreeing final sponsorship deals for 2011. Where as now, most of the deposits are in with the UCI alread, right?
Perhaps the sample being tested in a non-French lab has something to do with this taking so long to come to light?
As much as I truly want to believe in AC, there are a few details that are bothering me with his ‘explanation’. Firstly, his history of allergies in the Spring and the fact that the medication detected is one administered for asthmatics – people known to be susceptible to allergies.
The one other ‘theory’ that is really eating away at me has to do with the timing of the positive sample – the rest day before the decisive stage to the Tourmalet. Clenbuterol is a Steroid and Steroids are used for recovery. Ask any bodybuilder: steroids don’t make you bigger, they help you recover faster between workouts, so you can workout more often and therefore get bigger. Contador’s positive is from the rest day. Who’s to say he didn’t, just this once, screw up his timing a little bit, maybe take the incorrect dose of a masking agent and actually got caught?
In the last couple of years, Contador has not been the same animal going up the Cols as he was during his first Tour win. The Climbers juice is EPO, which enhances the blood’s oxygen transporting capabilities. But everyone is looking for EPO these days. However in the last couple of years AC’s TT speed has really gone to another level. You need massive leg strength to be a Cancellara beater.
I know this is simple science, but his performances in the last couple of years make sense to me now.
I’m pissed off at the entire scenario, whether he is guilty or not.
@randomactsofcycling Are there known masking agents for Clenbuterol? What I know of the drug is that it’s extremely easy to detect (just look at the concentration they have him on), which tends to make me think there probably aren’t any good masking agents.
As for the other speculation about his climbing ability over the last few years and the crackdown on EPO…sigh.
Indeed this is terrible for cycling. Every possible scenario for Contador having cheated his way to wins over the last 3 years will be posited with new enthusiasm.
… and Cancellara saves the day. Again.
Spartacus was awesome. Even the helicopters were having trouble keeping up with him.
The amount found is so miniscule that there’s really no case here. Move on.
This is total donkey dung. I wondered why I seemed to care less and less as the year wore on. I’ll stick to the spring classics thank you.
Thing is- by all accounts it was such a small amount (50 trillionths of a gram) that the likeliest source was in fact food contamination as has been known to happen when eating beef that’s been treated with the chemical.
The real issue is whether or not Contador will lose the TdF title and receive a 2 year suspension. His B sample confirms the A result and as the UCI and WADA have been as of late, enforcing a strict zero-tolerance policy the only logical choice is to suspend Contador and remove his TdF title.
If the UCI and WADA overlook this positive they’ll be overturning precedent they’ve previously established and opening the door for “food contamination” excuses for doping results of any kind that will have to be accepted.
This is one of those crummy situations where one’s fervor to see the world in black and white had now come back to bite them in the ass.
As was reported by both the New York Times and ESPN (I mention them because they are so readily available), Clenbuterol is a common contaminant in supplements (why, I have no idea). Contador is not the first to claim Clenbuterol contamination, nor would he be the first to successfully use it as a defense — an American swimmer had her ban reduced from two years to one after proving that she ingested it through an otherwise legal supplement.
I think the “your body is your responsibility” rule is important and I don’t know how the UCI can pass on Contador and still look others in the eye. Where’s the cut-off? How much is too much, how little is little enough? Nevertheless, I can’t really see how this leads to him intentionally taking the drug at therapeutic levels – as Sophrosune says, Clenbuterol is not a good choice for dopers, it is too easily detected (as is evident from being able to detect *1/400th* the minimum level).
I am trying hard to remain agnostic here until more information comes out, but based on what we know now (not much), I’m inclined to agree with Sophrosune. Given the ease with which the drug is detected, I can’t see a motive to use it, especially when the race is already pretty well won. Further, the amount detected is so small as to be irrelevant to performance. I can’t see intentionality (not that that matters), but moreover, I can’t see actual cheating here.
Clearly, this is not good for Contador or the sport in general. From my current vantage, I would say what happens next is ENTIRELY up to the UCI, and to a lesser extent ASO.
VeloNews is saying that Contador is suspended already, which is a troubling idea, because it suggests that there is more information than we’re aware of.
Pierre Bordry has offered the possibility that Contador transfused on the rest day and that the blood he added was from a time he was using Clenbuterol, which explains why it didn’t turn up in previous tests.
Michel Audrun, one of the founders of the UCI’s Biological Passport system, thinks it’s contamination. The micro-dose detected doesn’t concern him at all, because it wouldn’t have had any substantive influence on Contador’s performance.
This is all available at VeloNation.
Given that the finds occurred after the rest day, and given the trace amounts found, it’s likely he pulled a “Landis” on us and reinjected some of his own blood that he had stored weeks before when he was using the substance, or thought he had cleansed through his system prior to storing it. Either way, not good for the sport as we again are under the spotlight for having the sports’ most prestigious champion accused of cheating.
The king is dead! Long live the king!
Everyone: Thanks for your comments. You bring up many important points.
Sophrosune: Agreed. From everything I’ve read, clenbuterol is easy to detect and stays in the system for a (relatively) long time. It seems a stupid way to deliberately dope. Still, having read the entire transcript of the Landis appeal before CAS, I can say I learned for sure the labs don’t always do first-rate work even on seemingly simple stuff, so I can’t help but wonder what they might have missed in the tests from July 19 and 20.
There are problems with the contaminated supplement defense. I’ll have to prepare a separate post on that issue and the underlying rule, which is called “strict liability.” In short, if it’s in your body, it’s your problem.
RandomActsofCycling: I’ve found nothing about masking agents for clenbuterol on the Interwebs. There may be one, but it’s not widely known, that’s for sure. Bodybuilders are unconcerned with masking it.
I’ve been doing some more reading on clenbuterol and am surprised the degree to which it is used as an anabolic agent. When considering the amount of clenbuterol in Contador’s system, people need to look at this with different eyes. Body builders often start a clenbuterol cycle at only 20 micrograms; I suspect cyclists would see benefits from a much smaller dosage.
I would have thought that WADA would have set a threshold level for clenbuterol, the way they have set for many other drugs, that is, a point below which you are considered not to have tested positive.
This is a particularly bad day for cycling. Mosquera has tested positive for a masking agent for EPO. Riccardo Ricco’s house has been raided and tablets of unknown composition seized and the homes of old teammates and his partner’s brother have been raided as well with products seized.
My biggest single question is why the announcement was handled the way it was. The UCI and WADA threw Landis under the bus the moment they had the chance. Strict liability says Contador is guilty, period. Is it a good rule? That’s a separate question.
Oh, and another thing: All the talk on this morning’s ride was Contador; there was zero mention of Cancellara winning his fourth TT title. Sad.
Contador’s story hold up scientifically.
http://lostroadworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/contadors-story-hold-up-scientifically.html
Before everyone completely discounts this based on their grasp of the relative scale of a ‘picogram’ – let’s keep in mind that this amount is the volume present within the test sample, not the dosage that he took. The test sample this is being drawn from is a fraction of a vial of urine in this case, probably not much more than a drop. The amount in the urine surely represents a much larger presence that already exists and has been ‘processed’ by his body.
But the really tough thing for Contador is that Fuyu Li received a two year suspension for essentially the same amount – and even employed the exact same experts and defense. That precedent doesn’t seem to leave the UCI any other options here.
@Padraig
“Body builders often start a clenbuterol cycle at only 20 micrograms; I suspect cyclists would see benefits from a much smaller dosage.”
20 micrograms is 20 millionths of a gram or 0.00002g
50 picograms is 50 BILLIONTHS of a gram or 0.00000000005g
A cyclist only needs 1/400,000 of the dosage? I’m unconvinced, especially given the relatively well established record of clenbuterol food contamination. I think A.C. deserves the benefit of the doubt here.
The first thing I could think of after I dropped my coffee was ‘Floyd’ and ‘it was my beer’ not testosterone.
Then as I read on in disbelief I saw the levels and the previous negatives. I submit that primarily the clenbuterol is a bronchodilator, based on the class of drugs it is, as an alpha agonist. I have never prescribed it and bet its not even available in the US, but will see. Clenbuterol would be great in mtn stages for obvious reasons, but I will have to look as to whether it is even a ‘pro-growth’ agent or not, as has been speculated. More later when I research a bit. Either way, if used as such, given half lifes and all, it is bad.
I guess it is usually used for weight loss or to decrease fat by increasing metabolism. But the levels are so low, based on the half life alone there doesn’t seem a possibiity that he could have reached thereapeutic doses without being busted by an earlier test. Check my blog post for full analysis.
he re-infused dirty blood. I find it highly unlikely that only the leader of the TdF consumed dirty meat. Aren’t EU food standards light-years ahead of the US’s?
Clenbuterol has a 1/2 life of ~38hrs. Typical dose therapeutically is 20mcgs daily, but athletes that are doping it may run up to 200mcg/day. I would expect if he were even using lower doses of it, it would be detected at a higher level than the trillionth fraction it was. The pharmokinetics and previous negative samples seem contrary to me, but hey, that is what it is.
There are 2 other food contamination sitings, interestingly, both in Asia as far as i can see, each w/a group of several dozen, directly linked to bad meat.
The saga continues.
But, my man Spartacus drilled it today!
milli = one thousandth
micro = one millionth
nano = one billionth
pico = one trillionth
Yes, Padraig, 20 micrograms is small but 50 picograms is…a way smaller amount!
Yes, why did the UCI announce the Mosquera positive the day they informed the athlete, but they gave Contador a month to organise a Press Conference? There is more to this…..
Again, thanks everyone for your contributions. As has been mentioned in these comments and elsewhere, the 50 picograms is what we are to understand was present in the sample. That suggests there was a good deal more in his body. I’m by no means ready to string Contador up, but I’d really like to know more about how clenbuterol breaks down in the body … and just how sound the lab is that did the work.
And yes, the example of Mosquera’s positive shows that the wheels of justice turn differently. Honestly, I’m surprised that a Spanish cyclist got such a raw deal; I thought WADA and the UCI reserved the bus tires for Yanks.
It’s actually 50 pcg/mL.
Studies have shown that 60% of clenbuterol is excreted through the urine.
In Germany the story reads like this:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5846/German-journalist-claims-UCI-denied-Alberto-Contador-positive-test-says-rider-may-have-received-transfusions.aspx
Several have pointed out the blood transfusion explanation, which to me seems a likely fourth possibility.
As a point of clarification, clenbuterol is not asthma inhaler. That’s albuterol. Different stuff, different effects. Clenbuterol is not administered as an inhalant but orally, and unlike albuterol, it can impact body composition.
Robot, it is interesting to read the different reactions to this athlete’s tests. Here is Australia we are absolutely trying to focus on the Road Worlds, but all the talk is Contador. Most are in disbelief, suggesting Contador should be given time to clear his name. A very different character, one Ricardo Ricco, is instantly guilty for a second time for ‘unspecified’ tablets that may turn out to be Panadol or Aspirin.
I find myself increasingly cynical toward any defense these days and am disappointed in myself. But precedent has been proven to be a pointer toward Human Nature in so many cases that it is difficult to see any explanation as more than ‘spin’. The transfusion theory, to a previously self confessed ‘simple scientist’, seems plausible.
i like the transfusion angle myself: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5846/German-journalist-claims-UCI-denied-Alberto-Contador-positive-test-says-rider-may-have-received-transfusions.aspx
But doesn’t a transfusion only make sense if you see a jump in his hematocrit the next day? I buy a transfusion as a way for the Clenbuterol to arrive suddenly in his blood, but then his other values should also skew from previous tests, shouldn’t they?
BLOODY HELL!!!!
I´m picking on this contaminated food excuse used by his PR crew. It sounds preciselly measured and deliberately picked to spread this “benefit-of-doubt” vibe.
It stinks (fittingly) of “something´s wrong” but at the same time it´s plausible, scientifically reasonable, easily understandable and thus supported – all in the exact measure. And hey, it´s classical!
All may be cleared up soon, or maybe never. I´d bet that in decades to come, well´read it as today we read Merckx´s Giro scandal. Another great caught up in the ugly politics of cycling and tainted by doping allegations.
Very smart.
Man, this crap never ends. Unbelievable – well, unfortunately – very believable…
I’ve already reached saturation point on this story/issue/evermore inflated soap opera.
So let’s change subject and talk about some nice stuff for a change, you know, all the background noise that WOULD have made the top of the storyboard on any other day;
1. Cancellara winning a 4th TT worlds
2. Millar’s fantastic ride for 2nd
3. Martin’s gutsy ride for 3rd
4. Porte’s unlimited potential
5. Cannondale stepping up big time and becoming co-sponsor of Liquigas for 2011.
Everything else is just verbal diarrhea – wasting precious oxygen on an issue
that will not be resolved by anyone discussing it ad nauseum.
Robot: From what I’ve been learning about transfusions, at least from one well-placed source, they try to make it appear that as little as possible has changed. Plasma is added so that hematocrit doesn’t go through the roof.
I think the transfusion theory has real legs. It’s the most plausible explanation in my mind.
I think the transfusion theory works as well. It’s far easier to wait and see how the race is panning out to determine exactly how much extra boost you need. Contador was under serious pressure coming into the end of the tour so he tops up. It also explains why so little clenbutenol was found in his system.
If the UCI plays by their own rules, Contador must be stripped of his Tour title. But they usually bend them as they like so don’t count on that. If he further can somehow get his meat contamination to be acknowledged as the truth he will not have to face a ban.
There is no threshold for Clenbuterol because the human body cannot produce it, any traces found have come from the outside. Now it is up for the “experts” if it is an indication, maybe with others sample results, for blood doping and off competition doping with Clenbuterol or not.
And why this is overshadowing the the worlds? Because the UCI tried to cover it up and did not inform the public over a month ago nor weeks ago as they had the confirmation of the B-sample.
@cthulhu I am not so sure the rules are quite as black and white as you and I thought. I think the Contador camp are going to play on WADA’s “Minimum Required Performance Level (MRPL)” rule. While there may not be any threshold for the amount of Clenbuterol, there is this MRPL issue. If Contador couldn’t have gained an advantage from it, there is some possibility for it to be dismissed.
To be honest, I don’t thing the governing bodies kept their mouths shut on ths long enough, which is contrary to this cover-up notion. If the science or the investigation was still not concluded, then don’t say anything until it is.
Cthulhu and Sophrosune: Doneye1 makes a valid comment regarding Fuyu Li above. The defense (meat contamination) is the same, the levels in his samples were likewise too low to provide a performance benefit and yet the punishment was doled out under the notion of strict liability on the part of the athelete (i.e. it doesn’t matter how it got there; its presence alone is warrant for suspension). This makes it difficult for the UCI to do anything in a different manner with respect to Contrador lest they appear to in fact have different rules for different cyclists based on random political alliances within the peloton. It also undermines any defense Contrador can provision (or arguably makes it irrelevant).
Of course this is the UCI we are talking about….
Here are a few things I have learned about the clenbuterol in my few hours of metanalysis and something we should keep in mind to keep it all in context, because it really helps us speak intelligently on the matter.
The clenbuterol is orally administered, not inhaled, good point for those that made that
Typical dosings are 20mcg (microgram=1/1000 mg and a mg is 1/1000 of a gram, thus 1/1 millionth of a gram).
Contador was found w/50 pico-gram on day 1
20 pico-gram on day 2
trace on day 3 of his positive findings, reproduced on the B samples.
It is primarily used as a stimulant, as a class of drugs for bronchodilation/asthma treatment but with the noted side effects of increased fat to muscle distribution due to its stimulant properties; thus increased body temp/metabolism, increased BP, fat catabolism.
It takes at least 2 wks for this to be seen in an effect in a person.
It is used 2 wks on, 2 wks off for optimal outcome in the doper, so that adrenergic (adrenaline/nervous system) receptors are not down-regulated or ‘lessened’
The 1/2 life is biphasic, it goes up in 2 phases, at 8 hr and at 38hr. For practical purposes most recognize the prior, because this determines both uptake of the drug in the body and elimination.
It is highly metabolized in the liver but unlike most drugs w/first pass metabolizm it is approximately 75% bioavailable after 1st dose.
-Now, here are the variables in play:
-Body weight of the person
-Amount of meat consumed
-what amount was given to the animal pre-slaughter
-What is the amount of clenbuterol in the meat consumed, because the type of meat is variable.
Clenbuterol does not change w/cooking.
Studies have demonstrated based on 60 kg individual what it would take to cause ‘food contamination w/clenbuterol’. Assuming
that the bioavailability of clenbuterol in humans
is roughly 75% (see above), a therapeutic dose
(20 mcg) of clenbuterol could be achieved after the consumption
of as little as 267 g (9.5 oz.) of product containing
100 ppb parent clenbuterol; alternatively, if the
product contained 500 ppb clenbuterol, toxicity might
be observed after the consumption of only 53 g (1.9 oz).
(Source: D. J. Smith
periods of zero, three, or seven days
administration of [14C]clenbuterol for seven days and preslaughter withdrawal
Total radioactive residues and clenbuterol residues in swine after dietary
J Anim Sci 2000. 78:2903-2912.)
In animal studies, the drug was found up to 288hrs after the last dose.
The urine/plasma ratio’s are relatively 1/100 ratio.
I used the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health as a source for all the other information.
So, this all hopefully helps us see more on clenbuterol.
IMHO, its not a good doping drug due to half life, and is easily detectable in urine for a very long time. It would seem silly to me to choose this, IMHO.
It is a good drug for dopers from the standpoint of outcomes, it works.
The food contamination is very plausible.
So is the autotransfusion as some have offered, this is a spot on possibility of off season dope, and a ‘forgotten’ skeleton in his closet if you will.
When Taylor Phinney got up Thursday morning I wonder if he knew that he was going to inherit the world’s hopes for the future of a clean sport?
It would appear that both the UCI and Contador are claiming to have science on their side, but things have gotten so murky that it’s hard to apply common sense to the situation.
There are some racers that I think really are innocent, like Bjorn Leukemans, who got a raw deal, fought it and came back. There are others like (drumroll, please) Riccardo Ricco or Vino who claim innocence, get rightly convicted and return unrepentant. Only time will tell which camp Contador belongs to.
There is no upside.
Of course, if the L’equipe article is correct, and they have linked a plastic di(2-ethylhexyl) as being detected which is only in blood transfusion bags, then Contador is screwed.