Astarloza responds to suspension
After his two-year suspension from racing was confirmed today by the Spanish Cycling Federation, Mikel once again stood by his claim of innocence. "I keep reiterating I'm innocent and therefore I don't agree with the suspension handed out. I'll appeal. I hope I'll be able to prove my innocence and I hope to return to racing as soon as possible." According to my local sources in San Sebastián, his home-town, he's been training like never before in the hope of returning to competition. Far too few details of this allegedly 'special' case have been disclosed to the public, so I'm not exactly sure what makes this case so 'special' and why Euskaltel are still standing by him. The B-sample came back positive just like the first, so I can't see why the team don't just let it go. It's over.
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Mikel says it was because he was minutes out of an altitude tent when he got tested. He said that when the UCI came an hour later noone would've talked about positive results.
(An altitude tent causes extra red blood cells to be made, which cause EPO levels to rise naturally.)
Euskaltel tested him numerous times last years and there were no signs of EPO usage (while in the same weeks they tested Landaluze positive). The tests during the Tour de France were negative as well.
That's basically his defence. What's true and what's not true, noone knows except Mikel himself.
As far as I know, Mikel tested positive for EPO, he was not ruled out by the biological passport. The altitude tent could be an explanation if he was caught with an unnatural blood profile in his passport, but that would have been plain out stupid by him, because you're supposed to report when you do altitude training (real or in a tent) so misunderstandings like that don't happen.
But he was tested positive for EPO, and that must mean they found traces of EPO in his blood that was not produced by his bode, aka doping...
In other words: his case looks like thin shit :P
Yeah, I read the story about the altitude tent as well, but I'm not buying it.
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