Concerns that Jeannie Longo might be sent to the Olympic Games for France despite the serious doping charges her husband and coach faces appear now to be irrelevant after she was comprehensively defeated by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in the national women’s time trial championships today.
Defending champion Longo could only finish fifth in the test, covering the 26.8 kilometre distance in a time one minute and five seconds slower than the Rabobank competitor.
In contrast to previous years when the veteran was stronger than the rest, today’s race was one where the young riders shone; Prévot is just 20 years of age, while runner-up Audrey Cordon (Vienne Futuroscope) is 22 and the fourth-placed rider Aude Biannic (Bretagne) is 21.
Longo’s old rival Edwige Pitel (Rhone Alpes) took third at 45 years of age. Cordon was seventeen seconds behind Ferrand-Prévot, while Pitel was 41 seconds back.
Longo is one of the most successful women in the history of the sport. However last year question marks cropped up over her results when it emerged that she had three whereabouts violations against her name, and former US pro Joe Papp said that her husband Patrice Ciprelli had ordered EPO from him over the internet.
She was ultimately not sanctioned as the French anti-doping agency AFLD had not followed a French law passed on 14th April 2010. Under the new rules, athletes had to be officially informed they were part of the testing pool by the AFLD, and that this needed to be renewed annually; Longo’s lawyers successfully argued that while she was included in the target group two years earlier, she was never officially informed she was part of it after the law was introduced. The technicality was enough to avoid punishment.
Ciprelli wasn’t so fortunate, though. He was arrested in February over purchases of EPO and according to L’Equipe, police believe that he broke French law about the importation of dangerous substances on several occasions, including at least twice in 2010 and three last year.
The last of these purchases dates to May 2011, weeks before Longo took yet another French time trial championship.
Papp stated that Ciprelli indicated that the purchases were for his wife; he claims it was for his own personal use, and she denies using banned substances. However a shadow has undoubtedly been cast over her career and there were concerns that she could end up representing France in London 2012.
At the end of May French cycling federation (FFC) president David Lappartient conceded that her image had been damaged. “It is true that the Longo affair has touched one of the emblematic athletes of French sport,” he told Velo101.com. “People do not know what to think of this case since currently there is no charge against Jeannie Longo, it is on her husband who the charges rest. But of course everyone wants to know who the EPO acquired by Patrice Ciprelli was destined for. We all need to have an answer.”
However despite that, he said he was unopposed to the 53 year old’s possible participation in the Olympic Games. “As you know, there are criteria for selection for the Olympic Games, it is very standardized. So if Longo achieves these legal criteria, then there is no reason to oppose her selection,” he said.
That statement came despite the French anti-doping agency AFLD admitting at that time that she had not been subject to out of competition testing up until that point this year. RMCsport.fr said that her lawyers had contested her eligibility for the AFLD testing pool, claiming that she was already followed by the UCI. This was determined not to be the case, but it caused further delays.
While she officially became part of the AFLD’s testing pool on April 6th, under its rules, a sportsperson has two months to indicate their whereabouts. She had until June 6th to comply, meaning that she was not liable to out of competition controls until then. She has presumably been tested since then, leading up to today’s quiet performance.
Ferrand-Prévot is a former junior world road race and MTB cross country champion. She joined the Stichting Rabobank women’s team this year, and appears to have a bright future ahead.
French women’s time trial championship:
1, Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Stichting Rabobank women’s team) 26.8 kilometres in 36 mins 55.21 secs
2, Audrey Cordon (Vienne Futuroscope) at 17 secs
3, Edwige Pitel (Rhone Alpes) at 46 secs
4, Aude Biannic (Bretagne) at 46 secs
5, Jeannie Longo (Rhone Alpes) at 1 min 5 secs
6, Mélodie Lesueur (Ile de France) at 1 min 20 secs
7, Christel Ferrier Bruneau (Hitec Products – Mistral Home) at 1 min 22 secs
8, Mélanie Bravard (Team GSC Gestion) at 1 min 56 secs
9, Julie Bresset (Bretagne) at 2 mins 33 secs
10, Julie Krasniak (Lorraine) at 2 mins 35 secs