Transfusion theory favoured in Alberto Contador’s test
Several doctors have come forward in support of the theory that the irregularities in Alberto Contador’s blood tests have been caused by blood transfusions. The Spanish triple Tour de France winner tested positive for banned substances
on the second rest day of the Tour. Last Thursday, the test results were announced and the UCI officially dealt Contador a provisional suspension.
"In any of these cases you've got to let science do its work,” said Jonathan Vaughters, director of team Garmin-Transitions. “The general public will not be willing or have the time to look into the facts. It's a headline, it's a
twenty second blurb, it's a 140 character Tweet and their minds are made up when in fact it's a very complex story."
Vaughters has requested that we “let science sort it out” and has been critical of the media frenzy. It was originally reported that he had tested positive for trace amounts of banned substance Clenbuterol, used to make EPO-boosted
blood appear normal.
"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," states a report by Contador’s scientific expert.
The amount of the substance has since been reported to have been much higher than originally announced, and another substance known as plasticisers has allegedly been detected. Plasticisers are a chemical used in medical bags intended
for the storage of blood. The amounts found in Contador’s blood suggest that he had a blood transfusion during the Tour.
“A test performed on at least one of Contador’s urine samples from the Tour revealed levels of that chemical eight times higher than the minimum amount that signifies doping, according to a person with knowledge of the test results,”
reported the New York Times.
A suggestion that is gaining ground among doping experts is that Contador has used Clenbuterol earlier in the season, then given blood when only minimal traces of the substance remained in his system. According to this theory, blood
transfusion would explain how the substance got into his blood in such a small amount. However, the test for plasticisers has only been available this year and can therefore only be used to support existing evidence, not as proof of doping on its own.
“Even without a validated test, it could be looked at in a case-by-case basis,” said Francesco Botré of the World Anti-Doping Agency. “If someone has a very, very high level of plasticisers in the urine, it would be hard for that athlete to explain how that
happened if not from doping. If the level is lower, it obviously would make it much harder, but it would still be possible to prove."
The presence of plasticisers was originally reported by German television journalist Hans Joachim Seppelt, then later supported by French sports newspaper L’Equipe. Contador’s spokesman Jacinto Vidarte has stated that since the Spanish
lab itself hasn’t publicly issued these results they cannot be taken seriously.
"[Contador] categorically denies having a blood transfusion,” said Vidarte. “There is nothing to that. It is a science fiction story.”
His comment is a bit of an exaggeration, since autologous blood transfusion, meaning using your own blood, is a well-known and well-recorded form of doping. David Millar, who won the silver medal at the World time-trial championships on Thursday, won the
gold in the same event in 2004, but was stripped of the title when evidence of autologous blood transfusion was found.
"People who know me and people who have been working with me know that I'm innocent," he said. "I completely trust the dope test process. I had eight tests during last Tour de France. Scientific evidence supports me."
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