[VC Walcot] Musings on Contador.......

[Russell George]

I’ve been a bit confused over the Contador scandal. Clenbuterol is not
naturally occurring, therefore no amount of it is tolerated when
discovered in an athletes blood. However, the 50 pico grams per ml
discovered in Contadors sample were in no way an effective dose. The
daily effective dose of clenbuterol is:-

"Clenbuterol is usually used in dosages anywhere from 20-60 micrograms
(mcg) a day when prescribed. A dose of about 120 mcg (women) or 140
mcg (men) should never be exceeded in a day. (1 microgram = 1000000
picograms)"

His argument, and indeed the CAS conclusion, that he had been mugged
by circumstance (contaminated meat or whatever) appears convincing
until you burrow into the detail. I’ve been reading the CAS verdict on
Contador, and came across this:-

“in addition, an extremely high concentration of phthalates (additives
used to make
plastic products such as bags used for storing blood and blood components) were
found in Mr Contador’s urine sample of 20 July 2010, the day before
the Sample was
collected. The concentration of phthalates found in Mr Contador’s
sample of 20 July
2010 is much higher than the maximum concentration found in studies
conducted by
the WADA-accredited laboratory of Barcelona. This concentration is
also ten times
higher and more than the maximum concentration found in the other samples of Mr
Contador collected during the 2010 Tour de France. According to Dr Hans Geyer,
Deputy Head of the Cologne Laboratory, such concentration is consistent with a
concentration found after a blood transfusion. CAS 2011/A/2384 UCI v.
Alberto Contador”

The media don’t seem to picked up on this but it looks like he’d been
blood packing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_packing

21st July was the Pau to Tourmalet stage. That’s when the traces of
clenbuterol (approximately 1/1,000,000 of the effective dose) and
also, very significantly, phthalates (plasticers used to soften pvc
used in blood bags) were found in his blood. Samples taken prior to
the 20th were normal, both in respect of no clenbuterol present and
normal levels of phthalates. The tiny traces of clenbuterol wouldn’t
have made any difference to performance in themselves, but given the
presence of gross quantities of phthalates, they look like leftovers
from a preseason weight loss program, preserved in frozen red blood
cells, packed and stored in pvc bags.

Clenbuterol has a half life of 36-39 hours in the system, so if he
took 1 litre of his blood from his system 5 days to a week after
finishing a course for pre season weight loss that would be consistent
with using it pre season,  tapping off and storing a pint of
concentrated red blood cells, and then injecting them prior to the
Pyrenean stages, and the consequent discovery of 50 picograms in his
blood stream.

You may want to check the maths, as I did them after a couple of
glasses of wine, but I reckon the conclusion is sound.