Come on, folks, David Rebellin, Mr. Ardennes Classics, just got popped for CERA from his Silver Medal at the Beijing Olympics? The Rebellin positive story broke on cyclingnews.com today. According to cyclingnews, they went back and tested certain stored samples taken during the Olympics, and reapplied the same CERA test that popped Ricco, Piepoli, Kohl,and Schumacher. The article states this is only based on the A sample, and the rider can elect to have the B sample tested. Gee, I wonder what the results will be? GUILTY!

My old cycling sensei and college racing buddy from the UNH days submitted this as a comment, but I am entering it here as a post. This is a letter Emanuel sent to Velo News in response the recent news of Tyler Hamilton’s retirement due to a positive dope test:

“…submitted to Velo news-you were on that ride I think…”

I found the Tyler Hamilton story really sad. As one who wanted to be a professional cyclist through the same era as Tyler I find his story difficult to fathom, and his sadness resonates with my past. I remember him riding past me 20 years ago near the backroads in Exeter, NH. I was on the UNH cycling team at the time and remember asking, who is that? My teammates said this young guy who was going to be New England’s best rider ever. I then went to Europe as an amateur, read Paul Kimmage’s book, read each weekend in the paper about another Dutch cyclist who died of EPO, returned home, and quit. 20 years later I am happy and have a healthy happy life. I am glad I didn’t make it, live the harsh life of a pro cyclist, do drugs or punish myself so hard that it would have resulted in the same. I hope Tyler can be happy. Life is precious; it’s the only life we have, and we have to make the most of it.

Emanuel Betz
Richmond, VT
05477