Ex-WADA head Pound slams UCI drug testing

LOS ANGELES — Cycling's governing body set up a drug testing system that was designed to fail and allow Lance Armstrong and other riders to avoid detection, said the ex-boss of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Doping officials knowingly ran a testing regimen that the sport's top teams circumvented and where competitors would be tipped off in advance, Richard Pound, who headed up WADA between 1999 and 2007, told AFP in an interview.

Despite alleging eight years ago that cheating was rife, his complaints to the UCI (International Cycling Union) about the sport's anti-doping measures were repeatedly ignored, Pound said.

"It is not credible that they didn't know this was going on," Pound said. "I had been complaining to UCI for years. They come in in the morning at 5.00 a.m. and do tests then go away, and riders are not chaperoned."

"The race starts at 1.00 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. in the afternoon and there are no tests prior to race to see if they are bumped up," he said, adding that after a day in the saddle, riders would be unchaperoned for an hour before being tested again.

"So then you go in and get saline solutions and other means of hiding the effects (of performance-enhancing drugs) EPO and whatever else it is."

"You have to say 'I wonder if it was designed not to be successful?' " Pound said of the system, lambasting the UCI, which is under attack in the wake of a devastating U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report on Armstrong.

The report, which was released Wednesday, detailed Armstrong's alleged use of testosterone, human growth hormone, blood doping and EPO and included sworn statements from 26 people, including 11 former teammates.

The sports agency, which had already stripped the cyclist of his seven Tour de France titles, said Armstrong orchestrated the most complex doping scheme in sports history.

"If they persist with denial then they put their whole sport in jeopardy," Pound said, noting that doping investigations may spread to the Spanish and Italian professional cycling communities, among others.

UCI president Pat McQuaid argued earlier this week that the sport "has moved on" and better tests mean riders are now much cleaner than in the previous era, in which Armstrong, now 41, competed.

"The peloton today is completely different," McQuaid said.

Pound, in reference to the USADA report, said he was dismayed by the scope and vivid details of the alleged doping practices by Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service teammates.

"I thought it was a very thoroughly researched report with evidence sworn or otherwise," said Pound, who remains on WADA's 38-member Foundation Board.

Armstrong has always maintained that he did not use banned substances during his career, but in August he chose not to contest USADA's charges.

The Texan rider's days of sparing no expense to hire big-ticket lawyers to muzzle critics may also be coming to an end, Pound suggested.

"I don't think it is credible for Armstrong to say 'all 26 of these people are liars and cheats and axe grinders,' " the former WADA president said in reference to the sworn statements in the USADA dossier.

"I am afraid his time has just run out on that.

"What is going to be a surprise is (if) after all this, Lance persists in saying he never did it. You got to hope he will . . . admit 'I was the best of the worst.'"

Pound said cancer survivor Armstrong should also speak out against the use of performance-enhancing drugs, not just for himself but his five children.

"What are his kids going to think of him? They are going to carry around this burden," said Pound, while stating that many Armstrong supporters, especially in the United States, are still likely to dismiss the allegations.

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Canucks pound Sharks, take 2-0 lead in series

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The harder the San Jose Sharks tried to get back at the Vancouver Canucks, the further they fell behind.

Rout: Vancouver's Raffi Torres avoids a check from San Jose's Ian White in Game 2 on Wednesday night. The Canucks beat the Sharks 7-3 and lead the Western Conference final series 2-0. AP PHOTO

Daniel Sedin netted his second power-play goal of the game, Chris Higgins added another, and Mason Raymond scored just after a penalty expired in the third period for the Canucks, who routed the undisciplined Sharks 7-3 and took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night.

"If we had a bad power play they could take some liberties against us, but when you've got a power play as good as us it makes them second guess trying to finish hits," said Higgins, who also had two assists. "It's a big weapon for us. If we can get them to take bad penalties, all the better."

The game became a blowout in the third period, but it turned on a breakaway by defenseman Kevin Bieksa, and his one-sided fight with Sharks forward Patrick Marleau six minutes later. Marleau admitted to dropping his gloves first, and he has 5 cm and 10 kg on Bieksa. But Marleau hasn't fought in five years and was clearly overmatched.

"I've got an older brother, too, so I'm used to getting that," said Marleau, who also scored his third goal in three games during a first-period power play.

Still, the lopsided bout upset San Jose- especially Ben Eager. The Sharks' tough guy yelled at the Vancouver bench, then ran Daniel Sedin face first into the boards on his next shift 90 seconds later, earning a boarding penalty.

"Eager was ranting and raving at his bench going berserk, but it wasn't Kevin that dropped the mitts, it was Marleau," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "So I'm not sure what he (Bieksa) was supposed to do there."

Eager took another penalty for tripping Raymond 6:57 into the third period, Higgins made it 4-2 on the ensuing power play, and the rout was on.

"I can't see in their heads, but I'm not sure what got them rattled," said Bieksa, who added an assist on Higgins' goal to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick. "I don't really care too much about how they're feeling. . . . That's been the strength of our team all year, our power play. A lot of the times we've won by three, four goals. They were close games until the other team started to get undisciplined. And on our power play we capitalized."

Eager scored with 2:33 left, but even then he ended up in the penalty box for yapping at Roberto Luongo and sparking a scrum. Eager finished with five minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct as the Sharks combined for 53 minutes in penalties while losing for the fifth time in six games.

San Jose's lone win in the past six games was in Game 7 of the second round over Detroit, which got the Sharks into the conference finals for the second straight year.

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