Tour Drug Test Results; Pistorius, Steenkamp Lawyers "Talking"

Tour de France Free of Failed Tests

In a year with admissions of doping from Lance Armstrong and other top cyclists there is one positive doping note for the sport: all drug tests at this year’s Tour de France were clean.

"We don't have any adverse findings from the Tour de France this year," CADF Director Francesca Rossi said at a press conference on Tuesday announcing the findings. A total of 622 drug tests were carried out in conjunction with the Tour, but she declined to say the event was doping free.

Armstrong, most famously, never failed a drug test during his career which included seven victories in the Tour, cycling’s most prestigious event.

She said the findings were good news, adding that perhaps riders are "more scared" of the new drug testing policies.

"The perception was that they realized that we were unpredictable," she told Cycling News.

Normally you test the yellow jersey, the winner of the stage and you test a random. But this year we changed our strategy. We were in the hotels in the evenings more."

British cyclist Chris Froome won this year’s Tour de France.

Pistorius, Steenkamp Lawyers in Discussions

Media reports say the lawyers for families of Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp are in discussions.

Pistorius, the South African double-amputee Olympic sprinter is charged with the pre-meditated murder of Steenkamp, his then girlfriend on Valentine’s Day.

He will begin his trial in March and the talks are reportedly to reach a settlement before the trial begins.

A representative for Steenkamp’s family told The Associated Press both sides are "talking" and a lawyer for Pistorius confirmed the talks to a South African newspaper.

Tokyo Issues Final Newsletter

Tokyo 2020 sent IOC members their fourth and final newsletter promoting their bid.

The "Discover Tomorrow" newsletter focused on a number of issues including the marketing possibilities of a Tokyo Olympics.

Tokyo 2020 wrote that Japan has the world’s second-largest sporting goods market and presents the possibility for the biggest primetime TV audience of any games. Tokyo’s 35 million metropolitan residents offer potentially high ticket sales, and the 47 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city could lead to a number of sponsorship opportunities, the newsletter pointed out.

On September 7, the IOC will vote on Madrid, Istanbul or Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympics.

Istanbul Guarantees Infrastructure Abilities

Istanbul says Turkey’s booming construction industry means infrastructure will not be a hurdle if the city is chosen to host the 2020 Olympics, the bid claimed in a statement on Tuesday.

Turkish Economy Minister, Zafer Çağlayan’s, recently announcement that the country’s construction industry has $14 billion of international projects in 2013.

"[I]n TOKI, we already have a powerful and existing delivery agency with a proven track record of delivering high-quality infrastructure on time and on budget." Hasan Arat, Istanbul 2020 bid chairman said of the country’s construction agency.

"We are ready to start work immediately," he said in reference to Olympic work.

Swiss Withdraw McQuaid Nomination

Just two days before a hearing to determine the legitimacy of Swiss Cycling's nomination of Pat McQuaid, the federation has dropped its support of the Irish president.

According to a message first received by VeloNation, the Swiss body "carefully considered" arguments before making its decision. Swiss Cycling has yet to issue a public comment since the news leaked.

In May, the Swiss claimed the backing was unanimous, but according to VeloNation, rumors began to swirl soon after that some board members were unhappy with the decision.

McQuaid has now lost the support of two federations after having failed to receive a nomination of Cycling Ireland in June.

Written by Ed Hula III and Nick Devlin.

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