I live about 45km north-west of Valencia in the 'campo,' more commonly called the countryside. The nearest pueblo, or village, is Casinos and I'm lucky enough to have stunning views. On a clear day (which is most days) we can see clear down the valley all the way to the coast and the Med. We sit in the curve of a horseshoe with mountains ranging either side of us that offers protection from some of the vagueries of the Spanish weather. We often note that the Valencia region has different weather from the rest of Spain as a result of the mountains. The climate can be extreme here though. When it's hot, boy! is it hot! When it rains, it's a veritable torrent. And in the short, sharp winters (of which we have had only one, thus far) it is bloody freezing, not just because of the lack of central heating in Spanish houses, but also by virtue of living at an altitude of 488m. Anyone who lives in a rural area spends an inordinate amount of time pawing over the weather forecast and we are no different. It really can make or break your plans, but in a different way to the unreliable UK weather. We can plan a BBQ and know the weather will be good. We can say, a week ahead of time, 'let's go the beach' and know it will be sunny. The question often is, 'just how sunny will it be?' If it's 45C in the shade then a day at the beach can turn into a BBQ of a different sort! So, making plans with some advance warning of the weather is a must!
All in all we love it here. The people are friendly and have opened the doors of their community and their houses to us in a way that I could never imagine possible in the UK. It is safe, very low crime levels and stunningly beautiful everywhere, from the cities to the pueblos to the mountains. As time passes and blog entry follows blog entry I hope that some of you begin to develop a feel for life here and how two foreigners have been made welcome. I will try to avoid anything too personal because I am a private person and I have no wish to live my life in a fishbowl (assuming anyone reads this of course), so be patient and so will restrict my comments to the more impersonal rather than relating what I had for dinner and what colour my underwear is. Comments are of course most welcome, as are questions. And so, onto my first mini-blog and what for me is a sad time for Spanish sport.
Spain is a country rich in sporting pedigree. In the last year alone Spanish sports stars have won the football World Cup, have dominated world tennis, won two of the three Grand Tours of world cycling to mention but a few. I, myself, am a cyclist, so one of the things I was looking forward to most on moving here was to get to grips with some tough, rugged cycling routes, both on and off road, and so I have. Spain is cycling mad. The campo is jam-packed with cyclists every weekend of the year and this weekend was no different, but this weekend there was only one topic on the minds of most as they pounded out the kilometres. Alberto Contador, Spanish hero, 3 time winner of the Tour de France, arguably the best cyclist in the world, had failed a drugs test. When I heard I was just shocked. I heard on CNN initially, then an hour later Contador held a press conference where, inevitably, he expressed his sorrow, his own shock and his innocence.
The facts are these. On July 21st, on a rest day at the Tour de France, Contador, as yellow jersey wearer was tested, as he was the day before and the day after. This is standard procedure. What was not standard were the findings of the tests. As is normal in these cases, both the A and B samples have to be tested and provide the same result before any further action can be taken. At the UCI (cycling's international body) testing centre in Cologne, Germany, minute traces of clenbuterol, a banned substance and a steroid to boot, were found in the samples provided by Contador. He was informed himself on August 24th, but in line with UCI recommendations, he kept silent until September 29th when the official announcement was made. In the press conference Contador said how, even if he is eventually cleared, that his reputation and credibility would be 'seriously damaged' and he told how he had even considered retiring from the sport in the wake of the accusations, first published in L'Equipe, the highly respected French newspaper. Ina subsequent article in L'Equipe it was suggested that the substance had found it's way into Contador's system by way of a blood transfusion, although Contador himself strongly denied this, blaming some contaminated meat for the aberrant results.
Clenbuterol is a a constituent part of many asthma medications and acts not just as steroid agent, but also as a stimulant, and as such has been on the international banned list for some years. It is now being phased out worldwide in favour of safer medicines but is still used in some veterinary products as a way to stimulate the growth of lean muscle tissue. Professional athletes are deemed responsible for what enters their own system but the levels of the substance found in Contador's system do give rise to a level of doubt and may give some weight to his contaminated meat explanation.
"Knowing the history of Clenbuterol intoxications in Spain and knowing the fact that nowadays Clenbuterol can be detected in extremely low amounts, it is obvious that in this particular case the scenario of an accidental intake of Clenbuterol by consumption of meat is extremely likely," says Contador's cheif scientific advisor Dr Douwe de Boer.
On the day's before the 21st Contador showed no sign of the drug, and on the 22nd the level was so low as to be almost undetectable. The levels detected, say Dr de Boer, were 50 picograms/ml, a value that is 40 times lower than should be detectable in the testing labs and is a level 180 times below the level needed to induce any sort of physical effect (or advantage, in this case). But this is still early stages in this affair and the story will run and run, thus while further investigations are made Contador has been suspended from competition and, if found guilty, will face a probable 2 year ban.
Those are the basic facts of the case. However, what you don't hear or even see is the damage done to a sport struggling for credibility after years of drug-related trauma. I was just a kid when Tommy Simpson, a 29 year old British cyclist, dropped dead of exhaustion on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux in the 1967 Tour de France, his body bloated with amphetamines and diuretics. Since then professional cycling has reeled from one drug disaster to the next, with many of the legendary names of the sport falling victim to the lure of victory at all costs. Names such as Marco Pantani (the Pirate), a climber par excellence and winner of both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 1998, who was found guilty of blood doping in 1999 and died tragically in 2004 of a cocaine overdose; Floyd Landis, 2006 Tour winner subsequently banned and stripped of his title; Djamolidin Abdoujaparov, Leonardo Piepoli, Stephan Schumacher, Alexander Vinokourov, Ivan Basso, Jan Ulrich and Britain's David Millar amongst many, many others, have all faced bans and have added to the cloud of suspicion that hangs over the sport. Millar (see pic) of course, has gone onto become one of the sports most outspoken critics and is now a highly respected anti-drugs campaigner and one of the first people journalists turn to in the wake of any new allegations. Millar has, incidentally, publicly stated that he stands '100% behind' Contador and does not put any credence in the allegations against the Spanish rider, in the same way as he supported Lance Armstrong throughout his post-cancer, Tour winning career despite a seemingly never-ending list of accusations that still linger to this day.
My wife with David Millar at the 2009 Tour of Britain
More than any other sport in living memory, cycling has seen it's star wane and wane again under the weight of endless drug-related traumas. Tour cyclists are rare breed of man. It is hard man's sport, perhaps the hardest of any sport, anywhere. They place incredible strain on their bodies, day in, day out, and perform physical miracles the like of which us mere mortals can only dream about. In the face of such adversity and such immense physical exertion it is perhaps understandable that some may resort to questionable methods to gain the upper hand, but this is no excuse. I love cycling. I marvel at their courage, determination, their physical prowess, their ability to hammer their bodies into submission hour after hour, day after day, and so, for me, these latest allegations cause great sorrow and I cannot help but wonder when it will all end.
Sadly, as if to add fuel to the flames, within hours of Contador's press conference, came the news that 2 more Spanish cyclists, Ezequiel Mosquera and David Garcia de Pena, have both tested postive during this years Vuelta a Espana which only finished last month. Mosquera finished second overall and was involved in some the Vuelta's most exciting days including the epic mountain top finish against eventual overall winner Vincenzo Nibali (of Italy) on the Bola del Mundo. Some amazing performances from a cyclist who had shown great promise throughout his career but only at the age of 34, and in his twilight year(s) has fulfilled that promise. Perhaps now we understand why!
Pat McQuaid, UCI President, has forcefully expressed his views on the Spanish cycling authorities saying that they 'don't want to battle against doping' and in the wake of Operación Puerto, the doping investigation that started in May 2006 and centred round Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, they are not doing enough to get to the bottom of the problem and that, as a consequence, Spanish cycling is suffering more doping scandals than it should be.
Yesterday, while out riding some horribly tough and steep farm tracks, I asked some of the guys what they thought about it all. Most just shrugged their shoulders and had nothing to say, almost as if they had been expecting this somehow. Only one offered an opinion and that opinion was undefined. He said 'he would just wait and see what happens in the end,' the same as Millar (despite his support), Frank Schleck (2nd in the Tour this year) and others had said. I wasn't sure what I was expecting as a response, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn't this. I guess I was looking for his fellow countrymen to offer words of support, to show a little sympathy for the man perhaps, but maybe it's gone beyond that. Maybe everyone is just tired of all the crap, all the cheating, all the lying. I know I am, but I'm not sure I would ever get tired enough to be quite so ambivalent in the face of the loss of a national hero. Maybe the Spanish ran out of sympathy when Alejandro Valverde was caught and banned two years ago? I don't know. What I do know is, that whatever comes to pass in this latest sordid affair I will still be watching and marvelling next year.
Peter
NB. Biggest congratulations to Thor Hushovd for his fantastic win yesterday in Geelong, Australia! All Hail Thor! World Road Race Champion 2010
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