Di Luca fails drug test – Test EVERYONE!

May 27, 2013





It hit the social media airways – textways, I guess – before I saw it in the mainstream media. Another rider gets pulled from competition for doping. This time it wasn’t as prominent a name as Armstrong or Contador, but Danilo Di Luca was a career cyclist who had many races under his belt. At 37, he’s on the tail end of his pro-cycling life and this positive test probably spells the end of his racing career.

But is losing a 37-year-old in an out-of-competition test a big deal? To me it is. It means that the UCI and other organizations are finally getting serious about testing their athletes. This is a great thing! This might finally mean that everyone gets tested and the sport gets clean.

Yes, we’ve heard that song and dance before. But in an age of information – reference how early I heard of this transgression and not via traditional channels – hiding your cheating is going to be harder than ever. Further, brands that sponsor riders daily take more heat from consumers via social media than ever before.

So, if you’re Radio Shack and your rider cheats, I’m going to give you an earful via Twitter and Facebook and probably write about it here on one of my blogs. That’s a difference that wasn’t around a decade ago and businesses can see that these situations have a real impact on fans and consumers.

Grabbing a quote from the BBC article that covered the situation quite well, the Vini Fantini team director was irked and righteous. To wit…

Vini Fantini team director Luca Scinto said: “Di Luca is an idiot. I never wanted him. He is sick and needs help.”

You can read more here online.

And start tuning in here regularly – the TDF is coming.