# "Finish" Bottles from Steve Tilford's Blog



## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

Racing on Opiates | Steve Tilford

Very good post as usual by Steve Tilford on the use of "finish" bottles. 

Apparently some teams are providing riders with bottles that contain a cocktail of opiate painkiller (Tramadol) and caffeine as a booster for the final k's. Since Tramadol is a prescription medication, you have to wonder how that works for a bottle being handed to a rider just prior to the finish? Before the race does the team doc just write a prescription for every rider on the team that could possibly be a contender? Is the team DS in the follow car authorized to dole out the opiate cocktail in a bottle without an express consent from a physician?

There's also mention of the bizarre illegal feed Froome took via Porte at the TDF. At the time that one was hard to figure out, but perhaps an emergency "finish" bottle explains things, because Froome did seem to have a remarkable save that day. Maybe some journo can ask Brailsford (and all the other teams) if Sky uses finish bottles?


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

> But, I guess the difference is that tramadol isn’t banned by WADA.


 from the article. Neither is caffeine.


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## mpre53 (Oct 25, 2011)

My understanding of the rules (probably an imperfect understanding) is that a rider has to have an existing TUE to use any banned substance, even under prescription. Is Tramadol a banned substance? Beats me. Maybe someone who knows pharmaceuticals can decipher the banned opiates list:

S7. NARCOTICS

The following are prohibited:

Buprenorphine, dextromoramide, diamorphine (heroin), fentanyl and its derivatives, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, pentazocine, pethidine.


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## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

Mp, as Coolhand points out, at this time Tramadol isn't banned. The teams using it have done nothing against the doping regulations per se, but it does seem to me even an otherwise legal opiate cocktail delivered via a water bottle in the final k's is something that needs to be addressed by WADA. It goes (Imo) to the murky nature of the way medical staff is used in the sport. Does fatigue because you've been up front during a long stage really do justice to the spirit of guidelines for prescribing a drug like Tramadol? Seemed as if the Garmin team doc had an unsettled conscience about it. 

Anyway, appears WADA is on the Tramadol case and without being obstructed by the UCI, I'm sure at least the "finish" bottle will be done away with.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

I took a car ride home from a domestic pro recently. He had a bunch of tramadol pills on the passenger seat. When I threw them in the back seat I asked what they were about. "Don't worry! They're legal. And good for a TT. Just like actovegin." What an idiot. 

Legal yet dirty.


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## JohnStonebarger (Jan 22, 2004)

Local Hero said:


> Legal yet dirty.


Kind of a thin line with that attitude, isn't it? How do you feel about tylenol before a TT? Is that dirty too?


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

mpre53 said:


> My understanding of the rules (probably an imperfect understanding) is that a rider has to have an existing TUE to use any banned substance, even under prescription. Is Tramadol a banned substance? Beats me. Maybe someone who knows pharmaceuticals can decipher the banned opiates list:
> 
> S7. NARCOTICS
> 
> ...


Tramadol technically isn't an opioid and thus not considered a narcotic. It has opioid like properties and I think they're considering classifying it a weak narcotic and possibly making it a controlled substance.


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## Local Hero (Jul 8, 2010)

JohnStonebarger said:


> Kind of a thin line with that attitude, isn't it? How do you feel about tylenol before a TT? Is that dirty too?


Oh I know. There are performance enhancers such as caffeine that are not banned. And there are drugs which do not enhance performance (marijuana?) which are banned. The entire conversation is full of grey...at least 50 shades. 

I think it was less the tramadol and more the actovegin that triggered my "legal yet dirty" comment. It is injected, it was banned for years, and it's illegal to use or import into the states. But it is not on WADA's list. 

Meh.


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## cyclesport45 (Dec 10, 2007)

It may not be illegal, but it smells like cheating to me. I vote for a lifetime ban for being stoopid.


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## misterwaterfallin (Sep 14, 2012)

cyclesport45 said:


> It may not be illegal, but it smells like cheating to me. I vote for a lifetime ban for being stoopid.


How is something cheating when it's not illegal?


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## Doctor Falsetti (Sep 24, 2010)

Taylor Phinney Interview: Getting the pill culture out of the sport

Taylor Phinney talked about finish bottles last year


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Cyclists used to do caffeine suppositories for the final K's. Same idea, better delivery method.


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