always with rigor and honesty. And I have passed more than 50 blood and urine controls during these years to prove it.?

"I don't understand the positive test, nor the sanction, and I cannot accept that my name remains damaged by something that I am absolutely certain I have never done...I am going to do whatever it takes to show my innocent and I want to clarify that, in spite of the fact that I will be far away from racing and the grand tours, I will continue riding with a clear conscience."

Tyler Hamilton, former US Postal and Team Phonak rider, last week also had his appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld following doping charges.  
Hamilton is accused of blood doping during the 2004 Vuelta a Espa?a.   His ban will end on 22 ^nd September 2006.

The CAS released a statement outlining their ruling:

"On September 11, 2004, Tyler Hamilton won a stage of the Vuelta and underwent a blood test. The WADA accredited Laboratory in Lausanne/Switzerland reported that the sample provided by
Hamilton was positive for the presence of transfused blood. On the basis of this report, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) initiated a disciplinary procedure which led to a hearing before the AAA [American Arbitration Association]. The AAA Panel found on April 18, 2005 that there had been a transfusion of a third person's blood to Hamilton and accordingly that an anti-doping rule violation had been committed by him. He was suspended from competition for a period of two years commencing April 18, 2005 and all of his competition results from September 11, 2004 including those obtained in the Vuelta competition were cancelled.

"Later, Tyler Hamilton filed an appeal with the CAS in order to request the annulment of the suspension. He challenged the reliability of the HBT [homologous blood transfusion] test which was applied to him on the basis that it was a 'brand new test'.   In a very detailed award, the CAS Panel has found that the HBT test as applied to the samples delivered by Hamilton at the Vuelta was reliable, that on September 11, 2004 his blood did contain two different red blood cell populations and that such presence was caused by blood doping by homologous blood transfusion, a prohibited method under the UCI rules. As a consequence of this anti-doping rule violation, the CAS Panel has confirmed the two years' suspension imposed on
Hamilton."

Don?t forget, there is just one day left to enter the Thomson bike tours free European vacation giveaway.    Click on the link HERE to register. Best of luck.

Until next week

Ian
ian@roadcycling.com