From CGN today, the worst doping excuses…they vary from their Aunties sweets to absorbing a conjoined twin. These were all real excuses used by the pros for failing a drugs test! I’ve heard them all.
Gilberto Simoni – Midway through the 2002 edition of the Giro D’Italia the previous years champion Gilberto Simoni of the Saeco team, tested positive for cocaine and was promptly withdrawn from the race, the day after winning stage 11. The Italian’s defences to how the recreational drug had found its way into his system were quite imaginative. First, he proclaimed that an anaesthetic from his dentist contained cocaine, and secondly that the positive test came from some Peruvian sweets given to him as a gift by his aunt that he’d eaten and that contained the banned party drug of choice.
Tyler Hamilton – In 2004 American Tyler Hamilton of team Phonak tested positive for a blood transfusion, shortly after winning Gold in the individual Time Trial at the Athens Olympic Games. After originally being able to continue riding as his B sample was frozen he tested positive again at that years Vuelta Espana where he was banned for two years. However, one of the rather fantastical defences used by Hamilton was that he may have absorbed a twin in utero and is, therefore, a tetragametic chimaera.
And more…my fav is Jack Daniels by Landis. Also see, from 06, 11 doping scandals in 5 years.
11.
Don’t forget Lance told us he was the most-tested athlete on earth. Too much sex is another, that’s what Bjorn Leukemans claimed. Before that, when Vino tested positive for homologous blood doping at the 2007 TDF. His defense iss that the test took place after a crash the day prior, and all the blood had rush to his legs.
Vino initially retires but, once his two-year ban is up, returns to the sport and wins the 2012 Olympic road race. I miss Vino. He was the perfect villain.
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