Mathias Flückiger Provisionally Suspended After Testing Positive for Zeranol

Aug 18, 2022
by Sarah Moore  
Today s track conditions will suite Mathias Flueckiger just fine.

Swiss news sites RTS.ch and SRF.ch are reporting that 2021 vice-Olympic champion and 2021 World Cup overall series winner Mathias Flückiger has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the anabolic substance Zeranol.

Swiss Cycling was notified of the potential anti-doping rule violation by Swiss Sport Integrity on Thursday afternoon. The in-competition test was carried out on June 5, 2022 at the Swiss Championships in Leysin, a race which Flückiger won for Thömus maxon Swiss Mountain Bike Racing.

In accordance with the Swiss Olympic doping statute, the 33-year-old has been provisionally banned with immediate effect and will not be competing in the European Championships on Friday. The B sample is still pending.

Flückiger was most recently in the news after his crash with Swiss teammate Nino Schurter on the last lap of their home race in Lenzerheide. The two crashed away from the cameras on the way to what would have been a double victory. Flückiger then missed Snowshoe and Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cups due to illness.

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Member since Mar 30, 2011
1,321 articles

341 Comments
  • 206 4
 Fluck no!
  • 107 5
 Are you flucking kidding me?
  • 8 41
flag likeittacky (Aug 18, 2022 at 14:39) (Below Threshold)
 @AFunFox: beat me to it
  • 55 3
 ...for flucks sake
  • 36 3
 Well Fluck
  • 33 4
 What a fluking nightmare
  • 39 2
 Fluckin doper
  • 34 2
 Flucking idiot...
  • 25 2
 He really Flucked up
  • 4 18
flag freebikeur (Aug 18, 2022 at 15:56) (Below Threshold)
 He will have to sit on his hands while waiting for his B test, that poor Fluckfingers
  • 11 1
 What the fluck
  • 24 1
 He’s Flücked
  • 60 5
 Fluckiger? I barely know her...
  • 23 2
 His reputation is totally flucked now
  • 12 2
 Doped to the flucking gills!
  • 11 1
 FlückinA
  • 13 1
 My fantasy team is Flucked!
  • 8 1
 Of for Fluck's sake
  • 6 1
 What a fluke
  • 7 2
 Go Fluck Urself.
  • 26 3
 See what happens when you Fluck around with Nino!
  • 7 51
flag effeffeff (Aug 18, 2022 at 21:18) (Below Threshold)
 It's ü, not u. There are worlds in between pronunciation-wise.
  • 90 2
 @effeffeff: go Flück yourself
  • 10 2
 flück around and find out
  • 5 23
flag HardtailHerold (Aug 19, 2022 at 3:03) (Below Threshold)
 It was at this moment, he knew, he fucked up...
  • 10 1
 He Flucked up.
  • 4 3
 Between this and the Nino thing he's Flucking his career right up. The Mathias is adding up to end of the line for him.
  • 4 1
 @me2menow I enjoyed this.
  • 27 1
 Quite an influcks of these jokes
  • 4 1
 He flucked around and found out....
  • 3 1
 Came for these, left feeling fluck'n positive! Big Grin
  • 2 1
 Zeranol will flucking shrivel up your nuts!
  • 102 0
 Reads like a bad joke, but this morning an interview about the Lenzerheide-Gate with Flückiger was released in which he stated:

„I have a hard time when my character is questioned, because for me fair play and honesty are very important guidelines in my actions as an athlete and as a person.“

Source: www.watson.ch/sport/interview/381615019-mountainbike-flueckiger-spricht-erstmals-ueber-den-knatsch-mit-schurter
  • 175 1
 Liars always swear they are the most honest person you have ever met.
  • 55 0
 @RonSauce: While simultaneously claiming everyone else is lying...
  • 172 1
 "Also, I would just like to randomly state that I have been drinking from a lot of bottles given to me by Nino Schurter. That's NINO SCHURTER. And also randomly he has been looking a little shifty lately. I sure hope he is as 100% HONEST LIKE I AM given the bottles he has been giving me lately. And by "he" I mean "Nino Schurter.""
  • 66 7
 I hear a known side effect of Zeranol is a sure case of reckless passing against the national favorite on home soil.
  • 43 3
 This is probably a little bit of a stretch, but one has to wonder if he knew about the positive result coming down and if that played into his decision not to go to the North American rounds.
  • 19 64
flag mallai (Aug 18, 2022 at 18:17) (Below Threshold)
 @nilswalk: yup..I believe that..plus the covid positive..ANYBODY can fake a covid positive, including TDF riders this year who tested positive at very suspicious times..Did you notice how some teams were masked 24/7 and some were not, making it look like covid was rampant...yet the public/fans were not getting sick?
  • 2 0
 @Lokirides: Aha, so that's what happened lol. Great comment, dude!
  • 3 0
 @nilswalk: This was the first thing I thought of as well. Either way, seems he’s been feeing an unreal amount of stress. If this was hanging over him it certainly wouldn’t have helped all the attention his failed pass brought him. I kind of assume either this is a mistake, which somehow it always is with pro cyclists, or he’s gotten away with it on every other UCI podium so he didn’t even think twice about it.
  • 20 34
flag andrewfrauenglass (Aug 18, 2022 at 21:03) (Below Threshold)
 @streetfighter848: Mathias Trump Fluckiger
  • 5 0
 @nilswalk: I don‘t think so. Two things, first this interview was released on 18.08. so he wouldn’t have given his ok for that if he knew what was coming. And second, he was registered for the European Champs today and already in Munich.
  • 36 3
 @MarcusBrody: Isn't it really Rude to drink from someone else's water bottle, especially if it contains something "special"?
  • 22 0
 Apparently Flückiger yelled Moooooo-ve when he tried to pass Nino
  • 8 0
 @wobbem: Wasn't that the udder one?
  • 18 24
flag colincolin (Aug 19, 2022 at 0:39) (Below Threshold)
 Isn't it fair play when everyone's on the same stuff in the off-season? Please don't tell me there are clean guys at the top. There aren't.
  • 1 1
 @RonSauce: That's because they're lying.
  • 2 0
 This. And he still protested his innocence and kept moaning about how he wasn't treated fair and how everyone was mean to him. Disgusting.
  • 6 30
flag FarmerJohn (Aug 19, 2022 at 5:41) (Below Threshold)
 And Trump won the Election
  • 3 0
 @wobbem: I'm here for comments like this.
@korev: +1 to you too.

That was a nice laugh over breakfast.
  • 1 1
 @korev: i can't imagine any of the top riders (actually any pro rider at all) sharing bottles due to covid and the apparent reason of being acused of having any illegal substance in it. Thats just the lamest excuse of all.
  • 2 2
 @RonSauce: Remember Lance's "what am I on?" commercial?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxnqHvEbGnc
  • 3 0
 @nilswalk: he claimed to have tested positive ….for covid
  • 3 1
 @robbyking: ”What am I on?”
“All of it!”
  • 86 1
 "We received an anonymous call from someone that sounded oddly like Nino, but we're sure that's just a coincidence"
  • 47 2
 Nino: "Yo Matt, feeling thirsty? Take a swug of this delicious cool drink..."
  • 32 0
 You got it all wrong man. It was a call that they traced back to Pinkbike headquarters. They heard the caller say “ No one messes with NINO. NO ONE!!!” Then “Meeshka quiet!”.
  • 2 0
 Especially when you know that denunciation is a professional sport in Switzerland Smile
  • 59 0
 I can tell all of you exactly how this will play out. Zeranol means he will be claiming "tainted meat" in the next week or so. There will be denial and obfuscation by him and his team for months until the actual report comes out showing his levels of Zeranol were much too high to be caused by eating beef.
  • 9 0
 Yah. It's one of those drugs which is convenient to take as you have a readily available excuse if busted (same reason Fromme had a Sabutamol prescription....no way his off-the-chart Sabutamol levels were from a few puffs).
  • 2 1
 Definately something like this.
  • 13 1
 Most likely he will blame bad grain products:

Zeranol is a non-steroidal estrogen agonist. It is a mycotoxin, derived from fungi in the Fusarium family, and may be found as a contaminant in fungus-infected crops.
  • 12 0
 @Joecx: It's a commonly used growth hormone in cows. Most people that get busted claim tainted meat but it would be interesting to see the grain excuse.
  • 19 0
 This is really good. Near impossible to test positive for Zeranol from beef contamination, especially in the US which is probably one of the few countries that use Zeranol on Cattle (banned in EU). "Over the last 15 years, USADA has also performed more than 100,000 tests, and there has been only one zeranol positive."

www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/education/zeranol-faq
  • 13 0
 What are the actual performance benefits of Zeranol?
  • 9 3
 He used a salbutamol nebuliser in the bus pre start. Pictures of it on the net.
The dose you get can be influenced by air pressure and altitude
Most likely his urine level was over the limit because he did not stop for a pee during that stage.
It was a very short stage in time and length. But very hilly with no flat sections between the climbs where you would normally stop for a pee and be able to catch back up. And as He lost a lot of time the day before, the other teams piled on the pressure from the start. So he most likely didn’t get rid of the salbutamol from earlier as he normally would have.
@dr-airtime:
  • 19 2
 @hamncheez: makes it easier to come out ahead when you crash somebody on the last lap of a race.
  • 12 2
 @bkm303: wow that was a good one hehehe...Too may cases of "bad burritos" in sport. Contador had a very famous one with Clenbuterol in 2010 TDF,he blame a beef stake.
My favorite case of doping is still the ciclocross lad femke van den driessche,she won a few races in an e-bike without noticing hehehe.
  • 9 3
 @gcrider: nah dude, inhalers give you a small dose directly into the lungs, there is some performance enhancement sure, but you won't get any sort of anabolic effect. You have to be taking something like a syrup or pill form in some high amounts.

Disclaimer: not a doctor, just a user.
  • 4 4
 Or they could be just over a tiny limit. I will give him the benefit of the doubt till the B sample and facts are released.
  • 12 2
 Ach nein!!!! Diese Flücking Slim-Jims sind nicht normal!!!
  • 4 1
 @WestwardHo: most Mexican football players are advised not to eat beef before World Cup so they don’t test positive.
Apparently it’s pretty prevalent in Mexican beef
  • 5 1
 Sort of a doctor
A nebuliser is not a puffer. A puffer delivers 100 micro grams per puff
The nebuliser dose can actually be higher than the other methods. You listed @RonSauce:
Drugs.com
Salbutamol respirator solution 5 mg/ml - for use with nebulizer:
Intermittent treatment - Adults and adolescents aged 12 years and over: The usual dose is 0.5 ml to 1 ml of respirator solution (2.5 to 5 mg salbutamol). Some patients may require up to 2 ml (10 mg salbutamol).

Salbutamol oral syrup 2 mg/5 ml:
Adults (over 18 years old): The usual dose is 5 ml to 20 ml, up to 4 times a day

Salbutamol tablets 2mg and 4mg:
Adults: The recommended dose is 4mg 3 or 4 times a day. Your doctor may increase this gradually up to a maximum of 8mg three or four times a day
  • 17 0
 @gcrider: I genuinely want to know what a sort of doctor is! Like, you're a med student but not finished your training or like, "I'm not a doctor but I played one on TV"?

Either answer is acceptable as far as I'm concerned.
  • 18 0
 Dentist that worked in a hospital Assisting (usually badly) a maxfac surgeon @bce:
  • 94 0
 @gcrider: You could have just said "Yeti rider"
  • 12 0
 Lol @mbl77:
Niner
Colnago
Volvo
  • 12 0
 I even upvoted you @mbl77:
  • 10 0
 @gcrider: also sense of humor
Good comments.
  • 26 0
 @gcrider: Road cycling, a sport which is 95% based on a humans VO2 max. To then just by chance, find a highly successful team full of diagnosed Asthmatics that require daily medication………. is ridiculous.
  • 9 1
 @up-left-down-right: It's just amazing how many asthmatics manage to be top pro cyclists sarc>. Claim you're an asthmatic, obtain a Theraputic Use Exemption, and puff away without recourse.
  • 8 2
 @up-left-down-right: at peak human performance its very common for respiratory to be inflamed causing asthmatic effects, something like 1 in 3 will suffer.
  • 2 1
 My god, it’s like you can see the future.
  • 5 0
 @homerjm: or the weightlifter that failed for SARMs and claimed it was from giving her boyfriend (a bodybuilder who admits to be using) a BJ
  • 10 10
 Because cows are treated with Zeranol in a certain freedom country. Maybe it could be a good decision to stop eating this shit. (and meat in general.)
  • 10 1
 @CustardCountry: If this actually happened, it's the best doping story I have or will ever read.
  • 3 0
 @bananowy: a lot of people who use Zeranol insert a pellet (normally implanted into calves to aid growth) which slowly releases the drug.

It was briefly popular in the 80s but fell out of favour as the effects didn’t compare to most other options.

Also it’s quite common for it to lead to the development of gynomastia as a side effect.
  • 2 0
 @stubestrong: when I'm really pushing hard on the road bike/turbo trainer or running, I certainly get what could called asthma symptoms, even though I certainly wouldn't call myself asthmatic. Pretty sure that'd be enough to get me a TUE exemption. Whether I'd deserve it, and whether use might push my performance up, who knows?...
  • 7 1
 @CustardCountry: I meant the bj incident, but the added info on Zeranol is interesting too, thanks. Note to self: if I ever want to dope, take something that won't give me moobs Wink
  • 3 0
 @bananowy: he’ll use the “Contador defence” and claim tainted beef. I’ll bet any money on it.
  • 1 0
 It wasn’t as ridiculous a defence as I first thought.
The farmers brother had previously been guilty of doping his beef
Only 213 bovine had been randomly tested for clenbuterol between 2006 and 2009 in the Basque region. 1 had tested positive, but wasn’t reported to authorities
There was a vet / farmer / bodybuilder clen ring busted in Spain before his case went to CAS
The UCI temporarily removed Clen from banned list for riders who raced an event in China at one stage. Some did test positive after.

After reading the 98page CAS decision ,who decided tainted supplements were the most likely cause ,so only gave him 2 years. I thought tainted beef or blood doping was most likely cause due to Massive levels of plasticisers in blood and an confidential informer.

www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/cas-2011-a-2384-contador.pdf


Only @CustardCountry:
  • 6 2
 @Goose76: I never meet a DH/enduro casual rider/racer that has asthma,just saying...There are all in the TDF.
I have seen people with 1 leg,1 arm,1 eye,non functional fingers but those people never take any medication cos the bike ridding,bike was a bless for them.
  • 4 0
 @homerjm: Its not unheard of. Elliot Jackson was diagnosed with Astham for years. However, it turned out to be vocal chord dysfunction. In a pink bike interview, he stated that its one of the reasons he retired from World Cup racing.
  • 2 0
 @Mightycor: That's a shame, I never knew that.
  • 1 0
 @bkm303: TDF winner Alberto Contador said the same thing: www.espn.com/olympics/cycling/news/story?id=5632256
  • 1 1
 @dr-airtime: eeer his salbutamol was for asthma. It’s a threshold drug and he demonstrated that that threshold can be exceeded on the recommended dose dependant on how the body metabolises the drug when fatigued. He repeated those efforts in simulations and showed that this is most
Likely what happened. Closed case. Move on. Or is this a reopening of the asthma is a convenient desease for drug cheats debates?
  • 2 0
 @homerjm: I have (exercise induced) asthma. I never had any symptoms at all until my mid twenties when I started skiing daily. I would say I"m also a "enduro causal rider" who rides about 6500 feet of climbing a week.
  • 2 0
 @golefty: Sabutamol has anabolic benefits when you take it orally, plus it helps you loose weight when you mega dose it (hint: oral or nebulizer during training). It is a great cycling drug. The puffer and an asthma diagnosis is a convenient excuse.

Froomes level's near impossible so most likely explanation is: 1) nebulizer of sabutamol on morning of race so he could win the Vuelta 2) Blood transfusion before that pivotal stage messed up as it had too much sabutamol from when he was taking it during training......
  • 2 0
 @golefty: Salbutamol can be used as a masking agent, especially in large concentration, that's the big issue anti-doping experts have...not necessarily Froome getting some miniscule performance benefit just from the salbutamol (although research does provide strong evidence there are lots of undiagnosed asthmatics who actually would benefit from asthma treatment). It's a troubling belief that a sizeable amount of the peloton, who are among the world's most aerobically fit individuals, all need inhalers....
  • 2 1
 @golefty: But, do you think Froomey was cleans?
  • 2 0
 @Jamminator: I’m not aware of it’s masking agent use. First I hear if this and probably some docs too. Exercise induced asthma is not uncommon amongst many athletes. From runners to football players to cyclists , to aquatics sport athletes. It’s not strange to find a high concentration of asthma suffers in a anaerobic sport like cycling
  • 1 0
 @aaronjb: hard to tell
  • 1 0
 @golefty: No, no it's not.
  • 61 2
 I think Zeronal is used as a kind of growth enhancer for cows, isn't it? So maybe that accident with Nino really was an accident, as Dopiger might just have slipped a pedal with his hoof.
  • 9 1
 Or the SPD-Horseshoe came off? Shit happens.
  • 4 1
 Perhaps he had a mid ride thurst and an empty bottle meant he had to suck on some wild udders. We've all done it.
  • 44 8
 Leave Mathias alone! There are indications that this is a well orchestrated conspiracy that originated at the highest levels of the Nino fanboys cabal.
  • 39 1
 Levy?
  • 74 1
 @als802: Shhhh
  • 22 1
 @als802: Naaah. Pretty sure he's just into cars these days
  • 55 1
 @dancingwithmyself: Only huge diesel trucks, especially if they're lifted and on 40s Wink
  • 4 1
 @mikelevy: Damnit, now I'm going to have my dash clogged up with a million replies to rehash the argument from the truck article. As usual, should have kept my mouth shut . . .
  • 1 0
 Yes, you got me, but too late. He's toast!
  • 36 1
 This might be a dumb question. What does vice-olympic champion mean? Never heard that term before.
  • 5 1
 1st thing I thought as well.
  • 73 2
 It means first looser.
  • 20 6
 He finished in second place / got a silver medal in Tokyo.
  • 126 17
 So does that make Trump the vice-president champion? Or is he not accepting the title as he still thinks he won?
  • 6 1
 @sportstuff: hahaha, very nice
  • 15 1
 We might be finding out what the "vice" in "vice-olympic champion" means...

(too soon?)
  • 4 2
 In Canada we have Deputy Prime Ministers, so would that also mean Fluck was Deputy-olympic champion?
  • 2 1
 @geephlow: I hope so!
  • 2 1
 Would this also mean he gets his medal at the Olympics revoked?
  • 13 4
 @sarahmoore: 4000 hits on the Google for that phrase (using quotation marks). Nope, it's not a thing. Don't try to make it a thing.
  • 1 0
 @crallint: I hope so, and his 4th place at Lenzerheide too!
  • 4 0
 It means you can’t beat Pidcock, even with the help of steroids.
  • 8 0
 I was hoping the vice-olympics were some kind of alternative event that might actually be worth watching.
  • 9 1
 "Bronze medalist" is synonymous with "chief executive Olympic champion"
  • 4 1
 @PinkyScar: that would also be antepenultimate olympic champion
  • 2 0
 @Braindrain: Would the teams be called Vice Squads?
  • 34 3
 Absolute cheating muppet......or not. I'm awaiting my b opinion.
  • 3 1
 This comment is underrated. Nice one mate.
  • 29 1
 Du bist nicht normal!
  • 21 2
 Shit, better take him out of my fantasy team. Wait….
  • 19 0
 So, “That’s racing”?
  • 19 1
 Mathias Flücked up…
  • 18 5
 Hugely bummed for the sport - that seriously sucks.

Bit of a side issue - but if the sample was from June and the finding is upheld, that would toss his Lenzerheide result. Which means Schurter would have broken a record, no?
  • 30 0
 In Lenzerheide they finished 3rd and 4th after the crash, it was Leogang on June 12th that Fluckiger won and Schurter finished second.
  • 2 0
 It only would have made him not be at the race. Anything could happened during that race let alone the last lap.
  • 1 17
flag dr-airtime (Aug 18, 2022 at 14:50) (Below Threshold)
 No. I am pretty sure they finished second (Mathias) and Third (Schurter) from the crash so Nino would just be upgraded to second. Still....Mathias shouldn't have been racing which means....
  • 7 0
 Ugh, so shitty. Here's to hoping it's not more widespread...
  • 2 0
 I doubt it. I know he was leading before the crash but Nino finished 4th after it.
  • 27 0
 @jalopyj: but if the positive test happened on June 5 all his results from then to now would get voided. So Nino would go to 1st in Leogang on June 12 I think?

Shitty/anticlimactic way to take the record though. Can't imagine anyone would be too happy about that.
  • 33 2
 @sarahmoore: was this when they had a row and Nino said he was "not normal"?
I got down voted for pointing out the heritage of that term in the road cycling world at the time.
Maybe Nino could smell something fishy eh?
  • 4 0
 @dr-airtime: No, they were 3rd and 4th.
  • 2 2
 @bkm303: that would be the most shitty, especially since it would appear that Nino placed some blame on him for the crash incident nobody saw that robbed him of seemingly his record clinching win. And then it would be also be Flückiger who could cause his record clinching win to be had due to a technicality and behind the scenes. But only if something actually comes from this. It's always a bigger deal off the start.
  • 12 2
 @chakaping: Other riders know. They always know.
  • 2 0
 @bkm303: Yes. One would think. Curious why no one has latched onto that. It would be all events post June 5th?
  • 2 1
 @aaronjb: Nobody is in a better position to guess than the other riders. And I thought pro cyclists wouldn't be throwing that phrase around by accident.
  • 9 1
 @bkm303: Sadly ironic, as Nino's team manager (and perennial silver medalist at XC worlds) Thomas Frischknecht received his single world championship win in a similar way - albeit years later, and when the first-place finisher voluntarily admitted to doping and handed the jersey to TF.

This probably hits close to home for Frischknecht, having lost the glory and money associated with having been able to wear the rainbow stripes for a year. And here we are again with Nino's record-breaking win.
  • 4 2
 @bkm303: Chances are that doping is more widespread than we would think. I'm a law student and some time ago I did an internship at a prosecutors office. My boss was working on case against a sports physician from former East-Germany who they suspected to have supplied lots of athletes with illegal substances.

I can't go into detail, but let's just say after all the things my boss told me she had found out I can't really take "professional" athletes serious anymore.
  • 3 0
 @Muscovir: That's not what Tyler Hamilton's book portrayed!!
  • 1 4
 Meh, it only sucks because its against the rules.

Doping control is hilariously bad and disproportionately affects some countries more than others.

If anything genetics give a way larger advantage than doping. But having good genetics isn’t against the rules.

If we didn’t have doping it still wouldn’t be a level playing field.

I’m all for anti doping if anti doping actually worked, but again, it’s hilariously bad and unfair in of itself.
  • 5 0
 @bentopi: But isn't that just the nature of competition in sports, nobody cries foul over somebody else's good genetics. It's not about having a fair playing field genetically, that's why the cream rises to the top.
  • 4 0
 Mtb is probably way cleaner than higher profile sports for the simple reason doping is very expensive and most mtb riders and team owners make very little money and have very little participation by nations with state sponsored doping

@Muscovir:
You might like this talk by Bryan Fogal The academy award winning director of Icarus.
youtu.be/bwYTyuQEDB8

He also is great on rich roll podcast

youtu.be/cpRNsFQahHw
  • 3 1
 @gcrider: thanks for sharing the talk, Icarus is one of the best sports docs ever. Highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it yet.
  • 2 2
 @bentopi: Nope, on all counts. Sorry.
  • 1 3
 @gcrider: One might argue that the incentive to use PEDs is higher, given that only a very few at the top can make a decent living.
  • 19 4
 He was just taking a break, though, because of all the big meanies on the internet! What a joker. Don't let the door hit you on the way out of the sport.
  • 6 1
 Yes, he probably knew that racing wouldn't make sense anyways
  • 5 1
 Hmmmmmmm... Are you insinuating he was using the internet "bullying" incident as a convenient red-herring to gin up sympathy? How dare you sir! How. Dare. You.
  • 5 4
 @fudgedredd: I know, I know. We were all so mean to him that he traveled back in time after that race and doped for the early June test, and here we are. We got owned!
  • 1 0
 Be best.
  • 14 0
 Seriously, another duckin dopeing scandal in pro cycling. To me this casts a shadow on all the cyclists which is a shame because there must be a least a couple who aren’t cheating.
  • 10 1
 Really???!!! You think after Lance all of cycling cleaned up? There are and always will be doping in cycling. Doesn’t matter which discipline.
  • 10 1
 @Whataboutism: Wait... Lance wasn't the only one?! Nooooooooooooooo
  • 4 0
 @fudgedredd: Floyd has the good dope.
  • 8 0
 @Whataboutism: And in all other sports where money and/or fame is up for grabs.
  • 18 1
 So he didn't come to the US because he was scared of USADA. Let's be real.
  • 8 1
 If anything, travelling to the US would have made a convenient excuse, as the US apparently uses Zeranol on cattle. That said, the USADA data indicates just 1/100k positive tests in the last 15 years....

M.F.'s Inner Dialogue: "So you're saying there's a chance?!"
  • 1 0
 Along with a number of other top riders. Especially the Women. Hmmmm
  • 16 2
 Well shit. No matter how you felt about the guy before that's bad news all around. Sucks for the sport, sucks for the other riders, and sucks for the fans
  • 19 2
 catching cheaters is good for the sport. Now people that aren't cheating can win. There is nothing bad about ensuring the integrity of the sport. The attitude that it's bad for the sport is how they let Lance do his thing for so long. I know that wasn't your intention, but it's a common stigma around this sort of thing. Sporting bodies should be applauded for outing their own.
  • 13 0
 @Cheddar420: I'm like 99% sure "sucks for sport" is referring to the fact that someone was possibly doping on the WC circuit and not the fact that someone might have been caught doping.
  • 8 0
 @pmhobson: Thanks, yeah I'm referring to the fact that someone was doping not that I think "testing is bad for sport" or something silly. That someone who's figured prominently in the series was doping obviously is bad news for confidence in the validity of the past results. How long has this been going on? How many riders were hurt by this? Of course I agree that it's good he was caught, but the fact that he did it will unavoidably sow doubt and confusion
  • 2 1
 @Cheddar420: "Cycling" and "integrity" are two words that don't go very well together
  • 1 0
 @Cheddar420:
"Sporting bodies should be applauded for outing their own."

No, they shouldn't. Sorting out cheaters is the bare minimum. The fact that other sporting bodies don't (cough FIFA cough) doesn't mean it's worthy of praise.

Worthy of applause would be if they actually stopped the cheating. I'm not convinced there's any sporting body succeeding in this.
  • 25 10
 NEWS FLASH Matthias Fluckiger signs with Yeti, while making a switch to EWS.
  • 16 2
 Sad to say, but whenever someone makes a leap like this after several years in the pros, well, it's not usually a nifty new coach.
  • 3 0
 He had claimed it was from extensive altitude training.
  • 6 0
 @CantClimb: yeah, a swiss figured out he should train in the mountains, okay
  • 15 1
 Whole new meaning to what Nino told him after the race "you're not normal"
  • 14 1
 If you're gonna be dumb, you'd better be tough
  • 3 1
 That makes me feel better about being a big wuss - it means I must be really smart. Joking aside, I love that quote.
  • 2 0
 Roger Alan Wade hellz yea!
  • 4 1
 “Hi, I’m Mathias Fluckinger, and this is Jackass.”
  • 16 6
 A failed result just means a rider and their doctor failed to account for a variable. Everyone in the top 20 is using some kind of pharmaceutical assistance.
  • 3 2
 Exactly
  • 6 0
 How come the doping tests take so long for being checked?

Why don't they test the A and B sample at the same time?

Seems like waiting for the best oportunity to mess peoples carrers up for good or give the team a chance to pitch in and see how to wiggle out of it (or even pay themselves out of it)?

Seems like it creates to many chances for false informations and rumors spreading out until nobody beloeves anything anymore....
  • 4 0
 The athlete have to ask for the B sample to be analyzed, otherwise it is not done. It is extremely rare that the B sample shows something different than the A sample, so it is more likely that he will try to find an alternative reason for the drug to be in his body.

In general, I think this was a pretty quick result compared to other positives, tested in June and notified in August (or earlier, we don't know when Fluckiger was notified).
  • 2 0
 @nilsj: according to SRF and Swiss Cycling he was notified between training and the press conference at European Champs in Munich. That's also why he was not at that pc.
  • 2 0
 @nilsj: It will be the "supplement" excuse as always.
  • 12 1
 Matha Flucker!
  • 5 0
 Zeranol is approved for use as a growth promoter in livestock, including beef cattle, under the brand name Ralgro (by Merck Animal Health) in the United States.[4] In Canada, it is approved for use in beef cattle only.[5] Its application is not approved for use in the European Union. However, it is marketed under the brand name Ralone in Spain.[2]
  • 9 4
 At a certain point just let them dope and see how fast them boys can ride. I'm all out of Flucks to give. Mark Mcquire and Sammy Sosa proved that doping makes some sports better for the whole fambly to enjoy. Fluck it, let them smoke meth and put some cars on the track that must be lifted by hand, watch viewership Flucking skyrocket. Yeehaw Mathias!
  • 2 1
 But then people die. Performance enhancing drugs kill people. That blood would be on the UCI's hands if they just decided not to stop people's doping when they caught it. The sport would turn into a doping arms race (not unlike in pro road cycling in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s), where the only outcome is rider's lives being destroyed along with the integrity and possibly the future of the sport.
  • 3 0
 @HGAB: I was kidding, hard to convey in typed format but it was a bit over the top
  • 4 0
 @mildsauce91: @mildsauce91: I apologize for overreacting, you're definitely not the first person to joke around about that. I've read up on this issue a lot and it sometimes makes me frustrated when it seems like people aren't taking the stakes of it seriously (and sometimes that blinds me to when people are clearly just making jokes).
  • 5 0
 @HGAB: I probably don't know enough about it honestly. I didn't feel passionately either way, was just being dumb. Don't apologize, I learned something!
  • 5 0
 At a WC in Quebec years ago, my hotel room was right across from FIS’s “Doping Control” room. At the time, it seems like the right thing to do was to put a “Doping” sign on my room.
Using FIS letterhead and the same lobby colour copier was a nice, authentic touch.
Good times.
  • 13 7
 Never liked him anyways…all adds up. Jk…but he fully roid ragged on Nino in that crash no doubt
  • 9 8
 Actually he just sat there while Nino raged on him.
  • 10 2
 @warmerdamj: People usually sit and avoid eye contact when they can't say sorry after flucking up big time
  • 5 0
 So the test was administered back in June and it’s just released now. I imagine he knew he failed the wiz quiz back then and that’s why he “sat out” the last 2 races?
  • 9 1
 THEY ALL ON THE SAUCE
  • 3 0
 Some interesting input on the STW thread about this singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mathias-fluckiger-provisionally-suspended including some input from the guy who wrote Fromes defence which satisfied the UCI & WADA.
  • 8 6
 The endurance and fitness side of MTB gets a lot of press but I wonder what drugs the DH racers are taking?
Lots of testing and understanding of the drugs required for aerobic capacity with the road racing, but what extras do the DH riders take?

Pain killers, beta blockers, nootropics, Adderall?

Does anyone know what kind of drug testing is done on "extreme" sports athletes?
  • 10 1
 Nah. Racing done under the banner of the UCI so they get tested like UCI road racers, UCI XC Mountain Bikers, etc. If they are doing anything is like everyone else, microdosing in the evening after the testing window closed to be clear by morning.
  • 17 3
 Ask Graves and Rude what to take. They took Higenamine and Oxilofrine. I guess Enduro won't be too far away from downhill in a doping view.
  • 1 0
 @font style="vertical-align: inherit;">font style="vertical-align: inherit;">dr-airtime /font>/font>: Your comment is the one that most reflects reality. you have told the absolute truth
  • 4 0
 @dr-airtime: which testing window? XC racers get blood tested at 5am on the day of a World Cup.
  • 1 0
 @prevail: did not realize that. Figured the UCI/ITA wheareabouts system only applied to like 7am to 10pm like other sports. Exception maybe WC dates for MTB?
  • 3 2
 I think any athlete on the podium is tested and maybe some random athletes from the pack. But I´m not 100% , I saw Bernard Keer and Amaury going to the doping test in their videos.
I bet any of DH guys takes drugs, I do not think they would have a real advantage from them in a DH run,too much risk for too little to win.
XC,marathon or enduro is a very different thing,fitness make a huge impact.
  • 9 0
 @homerjm: fitness has a big impact in dh as well. Try to ride a 4min track at your limit. You'll see how your riding gets worse to the end of the run because you get tired. Also max power is important in sprints as well as in big impact situations. Steroids will definitely improve the performance there. Also drugs increasing your focus and decreasing the reaction time will definitely help in downhill. You have to make split second decisions, being more focused and faster will help stay on your line or keep you upright
  • 4 1
 @bashhard: dude you convinced me , you selling?
  • 2 1
 @bashhard: "increasing your focus and decreasing the reaction time will definitely help in downhill" - how come decreasing reaction time could be a good thing in downhill? please elaborate, i'm curious
  • 4 0
 @pbuser27288: how could a lower reaction time be anything else as an advantage?
  • 2 0
 @pbuser27288: decreasing the reaction time means you react faster to certain things. If you notice your bike going off line earlier, you can react faster and might be able to get back on the line instead of getting further off line because your reaction time was too long to readjust
  • 4 0
 @pbuser27288: He means the shorter the time between making a decision to act and doing that act is beneficial - the lower the reaction time the quicker your reactions are...
  • 1 0
 @bashhard: In a DH race run you need good fitness and endurance,but you need a ton of things to align to win a race too. Just look Amaury wining after a huge crash,or wining with no chain...
Yes it could be beneficial, but all those guys are tested like any other athlete. A perfect mindset would have more impact than any drug I bet. For 4 min you do not need drugs,you need a ton of things to be good at.
  • 5 0
 @bashhard @prevail @slimboyjim Ha! There I fell right into a some weird language and/or logical thinking trap. Of course you are absolutely right and it makes perfect sense. For some reason I understood "decreased" as "worse" or "slower" reaction time. Gentlemen, pardon the mix up! :-D
  • 2 0
 @homerjm: I mean.... the risk to their bodies from crashes is pretty high and the marginal gains are the difference between 1st an 30th.
  • 5 0
 Pharmacologist here, seeking new job good world class references, only one mistake.
  • 5 1
 Well, since Swiss championships were prior to Leogang, and if B sample is also tested positive, we can assume that NS beat the record of Absalon with 34 wins in WC
  • 3 1
 Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof. How does that one sound? Or should I go with the tainted pork route? What about a rouge bottle pass? Can someone find me a doctor willing to take the fall?
Okay, let's go for the all-out denial.
Maybe I could start a podcast in a few years like Lance and George and all the other dopers that stole jobs and opportunity.
Oh for Flucks sake nobody is going to listen to my podcast, I really flucked up.
  • 9 8
 Hmmm.....I was quietly speculating if this was another reason Nino was so pissed. Nino been dominant for so long and then all of a sudden from the age of like 30-32 Mathais is like the first or second best rider in the world. The old late career resurgence. Nino maybe new was being taken out by an enhanced Mathias? Mathias has always been top 10 in World it Looks like (I haven't followed XC for that many years) but the last few years he is definitely 1st or 2nd best in the World.....we've seen this late career resurgence story so many times...
  • 15 0
 Best not to speculate too much IMO. You could make the same argument for Nino, Bec McConnell, etc if you want to take it there. Hopefully I'm not just being naive but I'd like to think just having a good season isn't enough to call your results into question. It's not like Fluckiger never had results before.
  • 6 1
 Quick searching. Zeranol is a Growth "promotant" for cattle used mainly in the US of course. Appears that the EU has banned its use in EU cattle since 1988. Mathias tested positive in Switzerland. I can already see the defence: "Never heard of Zeranol, I'm shocked, source of the drug must have been contamination from the meat I ate and meat came from [insert: non-EU country], I have always been a proponent of clean sport".

www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/education/zeranol-faq

ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_02_604
  • 12 2
 @bkm303: Bec was off the charts at the start of the season...tried not to speculate there but she has since fallen off so I give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was in form of life and of course couldn't hold it all season (who could?)
  • 8 0
 @dr-airtime: That should pair well with my Ivermectin.
  • 7 0
 @bkm303: "You could make the same argument for Nino" .....lol except Nino has been the best in the world for 10yrs, so hardly a late career resurgence Smile
  • 2 0
 @mh731: I agree with you but plenty of ppl in the last couple seasons have claimed Nino was off the pace / too old / etc.
  • 1 2
 Only 1st or 2nd when MVP and Tom P aren't racing.
  • 2 0
 @Raivkka: gotta show up to win...
  • 4 0
 Should have stuck with alcohol. Performance benefits are not as good though. Unless it is raining.
  • 2 0
 Zeranol is approved for use as a growth promoter in livestock, including beef cattle, under the brand name Ralgro (by Merck Animal Health) in the United States.
  • 5 1
 Didn't realize those new Continental tires have such an advantage!
  • 5 1
 He has the thin face and shifty eyes of a zeranol fiend that's for sure
  • 2 0
 Had to google what a vice-champion was. It means he came second. So why no just say that. You're no more a champion in 2nd place than you are in 22nd place.
  • 3 1
 We should just have roid league cycling. Screw it, if people want to use performance enhancers, lets see how far the body can go.
  • 1 1
 Ya, the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach!
  • 2 1
 Is there any chance that during the crash with Nino the anabolics was transferred into Mathias's blood?

I told you, it always starts with just one energy gel and here you are.
  • 6 2
 Karma?
  • 5 2
 Look at his veins in that photo, you think he's NOT roid raging?!
  • 3 0
 I thought Zeranol was a hemorrhoid treatment. Silly me!
  • 3 1
 It's why they're are so big Wink
  • 1 0
 Try trenbolone suppositories. You'll have anabolic hemaroids like arni in no time.
  • 1 0
 @theberminator: You'd be putting piles of weight with that...
  • 4 0
 How do I get some?
  • 5 1
 From your local vet I guess. Not sure if you'll have to pretend to be a cow.
  • 3 0
 Its a growth promoter in cattle. Lay off the whoppers
  • 2 0
 Do they offer SPD's for hooves? mooooooove over Nino.
  • 2 1
 Mathia Flücked up.

Guess Nino might have been on to something when he screamed at Mathias, "You're not normal!"
  • 3 1
 That flücking sucks man….
  • 6 4
 lol he didn't pay enough cover-up money.....like the rest have Razz
  • 2 0
 That's why he needed the win in Lenzerheide so badly...
  • 2 0
 such an old product...kinda weird
  • 3 1
 Well nino can finally get a fair shot at the win lol
  • 1 0
 Yeah. Now he just has to beat thomas pidcock.
  • 6 4
 All your heroes are juiced
  • 2 0
 I thought 'vice' was a pretty good pun
  • 4 3
 Man that sucks for NINO. Taken out for his big record breaking win but Fluckiger no playing fair
  • 2 0
 What's zeranol sounds like good shit I want some.
  • 2 0
 So Nino was right in telling this guy he wasn't "normal"?
  • 3 1
 On the bright side, He'll have a nice pair of tits soon
  • 1 0
 It's an isolated incident. He's definitely the only racer doing it. If he even did it.
  • 2 0
 great now he has progressed to UCI pro road racing
  • 2 1
 what happens when you lock horns with Nino...grin
  • 2 1
 That mother flucker flucked up
  • 2 2
 Flücking hell. I don’t believe it, not Mathias. It’s an innocent mistake, surely?
  • 2 1
 Nah, son.
  • 1 4
 Not good at all.. [Face Palm Head Shake.]

I hope for the sake of the sport it's a False Positive.
Regardless of the outcome of the B-Sample this is not good for the sport.
The replies in this very thread are proof of the long lasting stigma from the last major Doping scandal.
Another cycling discipline full of doped up frauds will be the common Joe Public view.
  • 1 0
 What does Zeranol do for you?
  • 25 2
 Makes you Beefy.
  • 10 1
 @Augustus-G: rich and marbled
  • 1 0
 What? NO. Not another doper on the scene. That
FLUCKING DOPER
  • 1 0
 dodgy steaks and sharing bottles
  • 2 0
 Is that like weed
  • 2 1
 I just assumed he was an ex roadie
  • 2 1
 I wonder how this could have flucking happened.
  • 1 0
 His level has suddenly lifted this and last year!
  • 1 0
 He’s really not having a good year.
  • 1 1
 Richie Rude, Jared Grave, and now Mathias. Let's hope these cheats don't taint the sport like road cyclists have done.
  • 1 0
 After a quick read up fuck that shit
  • 1 0
 Test everyone for everything .Dooow eett now !
  • 2 2
 “Due to illness” I’m calling bullshit. He knew he got popped on the test and sponsors didn’t want him racing.
  • 1 1
 Self influkded karma
‍♂️
  • 2 2
 Next year UCI can run the dMTB series for doped up riders.
  • 1 1
 Are we getting a Friday fails or is this it
  • 1 1
 Post flucking’ Friday fails already!
  • 1 1
 Cross contamination. Some Alberto Contador tainted beef crap.
  • 2 2
 Disappointing - I backed him in the fantasy Fantasy League.
  • 1 1
 Let me guess, he's blaming Nino for his doping.
  • 1 1
 What the Fluck is zeranol and what does it do? Asking for a friend!
  • 3 4
 Fuckn cheating twat. Everyone else is working hard and he spins by on some cool drugs. Fuckn cheat.
  • 1 0
 Another helmet busted
  • 1 1
 You gotta be flucking kidding me!
  • 1 2
 What the fluck is Zeranol?
  • 1 1
 “Your not normal”
  • 1 1
 Well Fluck a duck!
  • 1 1
 Get the Fluck outta here
  • 2 2
 He's not normal.
  • 9 11
 Can we just admit..that if your sport requires Lycra...you are most likely doping.
  • 2 0
 If your sport is a sport, you're most likely doping
  • 1 1
 Flückin Tool
  • 1 1
 Fluck that!
  • 1 3
 Yep blame it on the road weenies
  • 3 6
 Isn’t he a bit of a douche anyway? Nino has always seemed like the much nicer and approachable of the two.
  • 1 2
 DOPER!!Frown
  • 6 9
 Drank from the wrong bottle?
  • 7 1
 Ate from the wrong trough
  • 8 11
 Now test LeComte
  • 7 0
 Wouldn't she have been tested every time she was on the podium? And most likely a few random times on top?
  • 5 0
 @Gibbsatron Tell us why she would not be tested? It seems you know something...
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