Heras' B sample positive - another former USPS rider nailed

link?

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2005-11-25T180927Z_01_KNE558278_RTRUKOC_0_US-CYCLING-HERAS-TEST.xml&archived=False

Since US Postal formed in '98(?) I can recall only two former teammates (Heras and Hamilton) who have tested positive for drugs. They were caught while riding with new teams years after leaving Postal. By pro cycling standards, Postal riders are rarely involved in doping scandals. Compared to other teams - Cofidis, Liberty Seguros, Phonak, Lampre, etc., Postal is squeaky clean. Therefore, what you say is exactly wrong. For someone trying to convince the world he's clean, Lance hung out with the right crowd.

my spanish fork mail man who also delivers via 10 speed bike, is on dope. this is the 3rd us postal service employee i know of.

You can add at least Beltran to that list. And then you've got all the former staff which add to it, plus that 1999 urine sample from Lance, etc. etc., I'm not really keeping track but there sure is a lot of smoke for no fire.

What I find suspicious about Heras' case is that he had his best years at USP. Does it then make sense that he didn't juice at USP but started later. I guess maybe due to the pressure of being team captain, but then, he was USP captain in the Vuelta as well.

Hamilton left CSC (which has had no cases) for Phonak (which has had several) so that's not as clearcut. But one has to wonder if USP as the biggst and wealthiest team in pro cycling is just better at not getting caught than the European teams which are under a lot more scrutiny in their home countries than USP is here.

Only three documented cheaters in six years?

That's GREAT! Never mind, then. UPS is clean as a whistle!

Neither Beltran nor Heras were on Postal at the time; in fact, neither of them were within two years of being on Postal. Also, Beltran would have to fit into the category of "there is an unverifiable report that he tested positive on one sample but not on a second confirming sample". As for Heras' test, the B sample appears to be problematic (there was no positive reading when they tested it and they kept testing it and got a "positive"). I suppose that we have not seen the last of this case, or of challenges to the EPO test.

key word...FORMER

USP wasn't the wealthiest team in pro cycling. I remember seeing the $ numbers for the different teams and there were a few teams better funded.

From the desk of Hans Heid! Has anyone looked at the idea that the French trying to harm Lance Armstrong, the greatest rider ever, is now going through his former teammates to further paint a dirty picture of Mr. Armstrong:

"Together with Dr. Werner Franke, I have conducted specific testing to demonstrate problems with non-specific binding of the monoclonal antibody used in the current EPO test. In the context of the current urine EPO test, the accuracy of the result is wholly dependent on the assumption that the AE7A5 antibody will bind only to human and recombinant EPO. Non-specific binding in this context occurs when the AE7A5 antibody binds also to other proteins. If the AE7A5 antibody binds to other proteins, then the current urine EPO test can register a false positive result..... In the testing that I conducted with Dr. Franke, we found cross-reactivity with many proteins from human tissues and cell lines, in both immunofluorescence microscopy (IF) and Western blotting. We also found cross-reactivity with E. Coli proteins like Thioredoxin reductase. All of these proteins, if found in the urine of the athlete, could easily cross-react with the AE7A5 antibody and cause a false positive test....

Our findings regarding cross-reactivity leading to false positive results is consistent with research conducted by Khan et al. Pursuant to a research grant from WADA. See Khan et al., New Urinary EPO Drug Testing Method Using Two Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis, Khan et al, Abstract p. 119: "We have identified several urinary proteins with which the monoclonal EPO antibody used in the current EPO test has non-specific binding. The iso-electric points of these cross-reactive proteins overlap with HuEPO and rHuEPO.""

So, is Hera Guilty or is WADA trying to bring down yet another for USPS rider to hurt Lance Armstrongs' image. I say Lance for President!!

"The current EPO test has a 1 in 30 million chance of a false positive." - Quote from testimony in a USADA Arbitration. Who is correct and should Heras or Armstrong lose credibilty over such a fraud! IE - Dr. Catlin

"All of these proteins, if found in the urine of the athlete, could easily cross-react with the AE7A5 antibody and cause a false positive test...."

It is extremely unlikely that such proteins will be in the urine of an athlete. Lance is guilty. The French nailed him. Six times. Great job France !

What about the other samples tested during the same tour that were negative? Lance has 14 samples tested by this retro testing and 6 as you say were positive. EPO stays in the urine for 7 days, so explain that one realist or should I say child!

Google Rutger Beke if you think that Proteinuria is not athlete specific. Actually it is and not present in test subjects used to some what validate the test,(regular people and not exercising) your reality is that of a complete MORON!

No, only 2 documented cases of FORMER teammates in SEVEN years. Beltran was NOT documented. You make 3 errors in a 7-word sentence. YOU=DUMB GUY

Seriously, how do get such strange statistics? Do some own Western blotting with various cells and tissues and some immunofluorocence microscopy localization studies with the currently used EPO-antibody and you will be surprised. For example, in our hands the antibody stains brightly epithelial cells of human urothelium. Can you imaging what this means for the test?

www.marca.com has a load of news on it as it's a major item re one of Spain's sports stars. Plenty of stuff Q'ing the testing procedures, all in Spanish tho - strange timing tho on Heras's part as it would appear that he took the stuff when he was already in a strong lead in the Vuelta and thus would A- be guaranteed a test as a podium finisher and b - be guaranteed to fail the test with the EPO still detectible. That's what's always concerned me about some of the positives eg didn't Boulami fail his when tested after achieving the 3k SC WR, which he'd targeted and would thus be guaranteed a test? If these guys were indeed doped when caught, given the regularity with which they would be tested on the circuit and out of comp, it then raises Q's over all the clean test results they had previously produced.

As has been explained many times before, the rhEPO test is not SENSITIVE. It has difficulty in detecting rhEPO. So it is quite logical that you will get many "false negatives" when using this test.

The proteins which cross react with the EPO antibody mentioned in the post are all highly unlikely to occurr in the urine of an athlete.

Besides, the test used on Lance's samples by the French was using an improved protocol which had improved SPECIFICITY to rhEPO.

You can believe the lie that Lance was clean if that makes you feel happy. You can back this up with vague wishy washy arguments that there "may" be cross reactivity with x,y or z proteins or that degradation "may" affect the results.

However the truth is that Lance and others who have been caught using the test such as Bo Hamburger were using rhEPO.

Case closed.

We are talking about "false positives" and not about "false negatives"! The current EPO-antibody crossreacts with many proteins of different cells and tissues, including bladder epithelial cells, and you might know that bladder cells and contents thereof are very often found in urine, with high changes of jeopardizing the test. This is a new, recently recognized, major concern of several other concerns already known. A wrong test positive result is more likely than you wish or think.

I don´t talk in favor of Lance, Heras or others, I want to emphazize that there must be a much better foolproof test, to end all this doubts and to make 100% sure.

So, case not closed, start rethinking and work for much better tests.