Tiernan-Locke banned for 2 years

[Biff]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tiernan-locke-banned-for-two-years

Can't say I'm surprised. His results after joining zero tolerance Sky didn't seem to fit with what he achieved previously. Wonder what his 'absolutely confident' previous manager Brian Smith will have to say.

[mcshroom]

... and sacked immediately
http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17545_9385337,00.html

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Pretty much guilty until proven innocent these days.  It has to be that way.  Who didn't get fed up with the mantra 'cyclists are dopers' every TdF?

[Rhys W]

... and sacked immediately

He mysteriously disappeared off the Team Sky app (and presumably website) a long time ago.

[Biff]

I wonder if he'll go to CAS? Not doing so will pretty much be an admission of guilt IMHO.

[clarion]

Oh dear.

[TimC]

Oh dear.

Definitely. I had high hopes for JTL. What a shame.

[Nuncio]

UKAD national andi-doping panel tribunal ruling on JTL in this PDF (if I've done it right)

JTL defence was that he went on a massive bender after signing for Sky and was tested 2 days later, not having eaten anything or drunk much in between.

[spesh]

Looks like he prepared better for the Tour of Britain than he did for the World Championships, then.

The reasoning went onto say that, “There was no dispute that the abnormalities in the sample were consistent with the use of an erythropoietic stimulant which had been discontinued approximately 10 to 14 days before the sample was taken.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tiernan-locke-suspension-confirmed-by-uk-anti-doping

The Secret Pro doesn't hold back:

One case that the biological passport did get right was Jonathan Tiernan-Locke. When he popped back into the scene I just took one look at the way he was riding and I knew 100% that he was loaded up to the eyeballs. He had basically been off the bike for five years and had a reputation for bouncing off the walls of the nightclubs during that time.

Then he comes back on a sh*thouse team and is riding off the front against the best riders in the world, and putting minutes into them. Had he ever done that before? I didn’t need to look at any bio passport when he came back — I just knew because of the way he was annihilating everyone else in the races that he was up to his eyeballs on EPO.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/08/the-secret-pro-transfer-season/

[andrew_s]

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/08/the-secret-pro-transfer-season/

OOPS! THAT PAGE CAN’T BE FOUND
and not listed on the Secret Pro section of the front page either.

Looks like someone got nervous about lawyers

Google cache

[Nuncio]

OT. Someone who crashed in the first week of the tour, and who carried on but was hampered by the injuries.  An evident English speaker, with a turn of phrase suggestive of being an Australian.  Anyone else in addition to Simon Gerrans fit the bill?

[rafletcher]

OT. Someone who crashed in the first week of the tour, and who carried on but was hampered by the injuries.  An evident English speaker, with a turn of phrase suggestive of being an Australian.  Anyone else in addition to Simon Gerrans fit the bill?

And in a oublication based in Oz too. Seems probable.

JTL not appealing the ruling it seems. I wonder if Sky will want his wages back.

[David Martin]

Be interesting to see if JTL can replicate the result. Shouldn't be too hard, just go out on the town, have a mahoosive hangover, and get tested 2 days later.

Can't see any plausible mechanism for the change in reticulocyte age profile, but maybe some tests are needed.

[Gareth Rees]

OT. Someone who crashed in the first week of the tour, and who carried on but was hampered by the injuries.  An evident English speaker, with a turn of phrase suggestive of being an Australian.  Anyone else in addition to Simon Gerrans fit the bill?

CyclingTips say they take a number of steps to conceal the identity of their Secret Pro. They use a ghost writer, which would explain the occasional Australian turn of phrase, and they use red herrings to avoid him being identified by elimination.