Will the chaperones have to check for Viagra soon?
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is currently examining whether or not the potency pill Viagra has a performance-enhancing effect in sports. The medication, which was initially developed for special heart diseases and is now mainly used to alleviate erection problems, could then be included in the list of forbidden substances.
"There have been statements to suggest that [Viagra] is performance-enhancing," said WADA president John Fahey to the press after a Foundation Board meeting on November 23. "That is being evaluated. Before any decision to put it on the prohibited list, there has to be a rigorous examination that allows the Committee to make a recommendation. No decision has been made."
The WADA president added that there was "no likelihood that there will be either a positive or a negative decision when examination is ultimately concluded."
The result of the study is expected in February 2009. The drug could be banned from use in high-level sports in September 2009.
Riders using Viagra for altitude?
By Laura Weislo
The story of Gerolsteiner rider Andrea Moletta's father being detained by the Italian anti-doping police in a car with a large amount of Viagra might have simply been the source of many dirty jokes had it not led to his son's withdrawal from the Giro d'Italia.
Natalino Moletta was stopped by the Italian Guardia Finanza as one of three passengers in a vehicle travelling from Padua to the Giro d'Italia which reportedly contained 82 packages of Viagra, along with a disposable syringe hidden in a tube of toothpaste and a refrigerator with other unidentified products. The search was reportedly part of a wider investigation into doping at gyms in Padua, but reports also indicated the car, and thus the products on board, were headed to the Giro d'Italia. However, there is no indication that the police action was aimed at the Gerolsteiner team.
"It was a targeted police action," Gerolsteiner director Christian Henn told dpa. He said Andrea Moletta could not explain why his father was caught up in the incident, and agreed to leave the Giro. "If they were looking at Moletta, why wasn't there immediately a raid in our hotel? So far everything has been quiet," Henn said.
Doping is rife in fitness clubs worldwide, and Viagra is a widely used as a recreational drug, so it is possible that the products in question have nothing to do with cycling. Still, the Gerolsteiner team deemed it serious enough to remove the rider from the race. Do we have yet another Willy Voet on our hands? Was the car bringing drugs to riders in the Giro? And if so, why Viagra?
Viagra, or sildenafil, is normally used to treat erectile dysfunction, but a 2006 study published by the Journal of Applied Physiology (JoAP) and reported in Science Daily claimed that the drug can significantly enhance performance at altitude in some cyclists. At the moment, the 'little blue pill' is not on World Anti-doping Agency's prohibited substances list.
WADA's spokesman Frédéric Donzé confirmed that Viagra is not banned in competition, but said that the agency is looking into the matter. "WADA is aware of the high altitude study presented in Science Daily. WADA monitors this substance, as it does with many other substances, and is currently funding a research project on the performance-enhancing potential of Sildenafil at various altitudes."
But is Viagra a performance enhancing drug outside of the bedroom? The JoAP study tested ten trained cyclists at sea level and in an altitude chamber simulating 12,700 feet (3870 m) above sea level (or about 1,200 metres above the Giro d'Italia's Cima Coppi). The results were remarkable: while no benefit was gained at sea level, the Viagra group improved its performance over a six kilometre time trial at altitude by 15% over the group given a placebo.
However, the average numbers were deceiving, because the Viagra group was split into "responders" and "non-responders". Four of the subjects had shown a more marked decrease in performance at altitude than the others with placebo, and when they took Viagra, the difference went away.
Another study from a group in Belgium from 2007 tested the drug on "healthy subjects" before and after acclimatization to altitude (5,000m) and saw the performance benefit of Viagra vanish once the subjects were adapted to the low oxygen environment.
The impact of altitude on exercise capacity varies widely from person to person, depending on physiology and acclimatization. Some adapt quickly at high altitude, while others can have severe reactions such as mountain sickness or pulmonary edema - which typically show up above 2,400m.
Whether or not the drug can give a benefit to riders at altitudes below this level remains to be seen. With Monday's mountain time trial from San Vigilio di Marebbe to Plan de Corones heading from 1,200 up to 2,273 metres above sea level, will we see riders popping Viagra to get up for the race? If they do - and if the drug is not banned by WADA, and only the riders who have the unfortunate physiology to have their blood vessels seize up in hypoxic conditions can get a benefit - is it doping?
29 November 2008
15 November 2008
US Forest Service Aknowledges bicycling as non-motorized activity
See the link or read the article - good step forward. Thomas, any comments???
For Immediate Release 11-11-08 Contact: Mark Eller, IMBA Communications Directormarkeller@imba.com303-545-9011
The U.S. Forest Service is taking important steps to differentiate mountain biking from motorized use. Fresh revisions to administrative directives include important new language clarifying bicycling as a non-motorized activity. This comes on the heels of a landmark internal memo on the same topic, announced at the IMBA World Summit in June.
With more than 130,000 miles of trails, the Forest Service provides some of the best riding on both coasts, and nearly everywhere in between. "Mountain biking is incredibly popular in national forests and we believe it's appropriate to clarify the distinction between mountain biking and motorized use. Better policies will foster improved partnerships and riding experiences," says IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel.
For several years, IMBA has asked the Forest Service to further document its mountain biking policies. While most national forests understand bicycling is a quiet, non-motorized activity, a few have implemented rules rendering bicycles akin to motorized travel. IMBA believes the new revisions to the Forest Service Handbook and Manual-the primary basis for control and management of agency programs-represent an important step in standardizing mountain biking management at the field level.
"We're extremely pleased the Forest Service is taking these steps to formally recognize bicycling as low-impact and human-powered. Embedding this information in their employee handbooks will promote better understanding and practices in all 175 national forests and grasslands," says Van Abel.
Trail Construction Standards Also Improved
Updated construction standards will assist Forest Service staff when building new routes and determining appropriate uses on existing trails. Notably, bicycling joins hiking as a potentially suitable use on all trail classes, from the most primitive of designated routes to more developed paths. While decisions regarding bicycle access remain at the local level, this national change is further recognition that the environmental impacts of bicycling are similar to hiking and less than other uses.
Scott Linnenburger, IMBA's director of field programs, says the revised directives also provide valuable information for national forests faced with difficult trail maintenance decisions. "It's a positive step forward in actively, responsibly managing recreation on the 193 million acres of Forest Service land," says Linnenburger.
IMBA and the Forest Service have been formal partners since 1994, and have renewed their third consecutive memorandum of understanding through 2010. Mountain bikers are an important volunteer constituency on many national forests and the volunteer National Mountain Bike Patrol works to inform, assist, and educate mountain bikers and other trail users on Forest Service lands across the country.
For more information, including a copy of the interim final directives, please visit the Forest Service website. The deadline for public comments is Dec. 16.
For Immediate Release 11-11-08 Contact: Mark Eller, IMBA Communications Directormarkeller@imba.com303-545-9011
The U.S. Forest Service is taking important steps to differentiate mountain biking from motorized use. Fresh revisions to administrative directives include important new language clarifying bicycling as a non-motorized activity. This comes on the heels of a landmark internal memo on the same topic, announced at the IMBA World Summit in June.
With more than 130,000 miles of trails, the Forest Service provides some of the best riding on both coasts, and nearly everywhere in between. "Mountain biking is incredibly popular in national forests and we believe it's appropriate to clarify the distinction between mountain biking and motorized use. Better policies will foster improved partnerships and riding experiences," says IMBA Executive Director Mike Van Abel.
For several years, IMBA has asked the Forest Service to further document its mountain biking policies. While most national forests understand bicycling is a quiet, non-motorized activity, a few have implemented rules rendering bicycles akin to motorized travel. IMBA believes the new revisions to the Forest Service Handbook and Manual-the primary basis for control and management of agency programs-represent an important step in standardizing mountain biking management at the field level.
"We're extremely pleased the Forest Service is taking these steps to formally recognize bicycling as low-impact and human-powered. Embedding this information in their employee handbooks will promote better understanding and practices in all 175 national forests and grasslands," says Van Abel.
Trail Construction Standards Also Improved
Updated construction standards will assist Forest Service staff when building new routes and determining appropriate uses on existing trails. Notably, bicycling joins hiking as a potentially suitable use on all trail classes, from the most primitive of designated routes to more developed paths. While decisions regarding bicycle access remain at the local level, this national change is further recognition that the environmental impacts of bicycling are similar to hiking and less than other uses.
Scott Linnenburger, IMBA's director of field programs, says the revised directives also provide valuable information for national forests faced with difficult trail maintenance decisions. "It's a positive step forward in actively, responsibly managing recreation on the 193 million acres of Forest Service land," says Linnenburger.
IMBA and the Forest Service have been formal partners since 1994, and have renewed their third consecutive memorandum of understanding through 2010. Mountain bikers are an important volunteer constituency on many national forests and the volunteer National Mountain Bike Patrol works to inform, assist, and educate mountain bikers and other trail users on Forest Service lands across the country.
For more information, including a copy of the interim final directives, please visit the Forest Service website. The deadline for public comments is Dec. 16.
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