Tour de France rider turns down TUE that would have enabled him to continue - drops out of TDF

Well played lad, about time there was some integrity shown in the modern day peloton.

A heat allergy?

racket wrote:

A heat allergy?

How would red spots on his skin keep him from competing? Take the cortisone already.

hEatPO allergy***

racket wrote:

A heat allergy?

Heat rash, maybe?

LetsRun.com wrote:

Lotto-Soudal cyclist Tim Wellens yesterday abandoned the Tour de France after declining to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption on the grounds that he does not want his reputation to be questioned.

This is stupid. The only place that might question this TUE would be Letsrun.com, I'm sure Letscycle.com would be fine with it.

This happened back during Lance's heyday with no less a personage than Jonathan Vaughters; today the Directeur Sportif (and team founder) for Cannondale Drapac.

In that case it was a wasp sting that was so bad that he could only see out of one eye. He quit the race the next day and got the shot.

http://www.velonews.com/2001/07/news/frustrating-end-for-vaughters_1265

Ultimately Mr. Vaughters would never complete a Grand Tour. He had a diary running through a major cycling website when he dropped out of his last Tour de France a year or so later on. The very last entry there was him convincing himself and his readership that he just wasn't built for three week stage races after all. This despite having delivered some really exceptional results in one week contests at the same level.

Implicit in the TV coverage back then was the notion that he could have taken the remedy and risked a few more pulls at the random drug testing roulette wheel instead.

Try Thies wrote:

racket wrote:

A heat allergy?

How would red spots on his skin keep him from competing? Take the cortisone already.

I used to get his every summer. The spots covered my arms, chest, and back. My doc said It was the skin's reaction to sweat. It never affected my running.

age grouper wrote:

Try Thies wrote:

How would red spots on his skin keep him from competing? Take the cortisone already.

I used to get his every summer. The spots covered my arms, chest, and back. My doc said It was the skin's reaction to sweat. It never affected my running.

Heat rashes make you itchy because the bumps rub against your clothes. If they never affected your running you did not have a severe enough rash to qualify for cortisone.

I rather think this kid is an idiot. He's dropping out of the Tour de France? Just stupid for his longevity.

Rubbing - Itching wrote:

age grouper wrote:

I used to get his every summer. The spots covered my arms, chest, and back. My doc said It was the skin's reaction to sweat. It never affected my running.

Heat rashes make you itchy because the bumps rub against your clothes. If they never affected your running you did not have a severe enough rash to qualify for cortisone.

Actually, it was and I did get cortisone cream. Problem was it took a couple of weeks to get rid of the spots and then would eventually come back. It was unpleasant, but did not affect my running.

I don't know what this kid has, but his excuse seems kind of hoaky. I suspect there's more to the reasons he quit.

If it's really just a refusal to accept a simple treatment, I wonder if he is in a possible violation of his contract.

If you want to see a case of untreatable heat/sweat rash, look at the recent problems with Marian Hossa. Looks like he has a heat-releated skin condition that might be a career-ender.

Nobody is...without PEDs.

Never Forgets wrote:

This happened back during Lance's heyday with no less a personage than Jonathan Vaughters; today the Directeur Sportif (and team founder) for Cannondale Drapac.

The very last entry there was him convincing himself and his readership that he just wasn't built for three week stage races after all. This despite having delivered some really exceptional results in one week contests at the same level.

On another front, 30 riders refused water and dropped out, as the water would have allowed them to continue. However they didn't want their reputations to be tarnished.

Try Thies wrote:

I rather think this kid is an idiot. He's dropping out of the Tour de France? Just stupid for his longevity.

His longevity of what? What type of "longevity" does finishing a TdF affect positively?

Actually, TUEs for exactly this type of product have been very much abused in previous Tours. There can be perfectly legitimate uses for this product but it is also a performance enhancer and has been used as such by numerous riders in the past. Perhaps this rider did not want ant hint of suspicion clinging to him.

This flags up a wider problem in T&F as well as cycling; because TUEs have been abused so flagrantly in the past are athletes going to become wary of using them in perfectly legitimate situations? Hardly fair on those who need certain medication at certain times that they can't use the stuff without creating widespread suspicion that they are cheating!

I get such spots and Claritin twice a day does the trick

No good deed goes unpunished.

You were running 4 hour world class races every day for 3 weeks?

maybe it did?what are you PBs?

age grouper wrote:

Try Thies wrote:

How would red spots on his skin keep him from competing? Take the cortisone already.

I used to get his every summer. The spots covered my arms, chest, and back. My doc said It was the skin's reaction to sweat. It never affected my running.