When athletes are ready for retirement, there are steps that must be taken to make it official and to remove themselves from the testing pool. In many cases, athletes who break a World and/or National record will need to ratify that record with a drug test. Athletes in the USADA Whereabouts testing pools are subject to varying requirements and compliance criteria to maximize testing resources and minimize the burden on athletes. In fact, a lengthy Internet search turns up no anecdotal evidence of transdermal testosterone being used by athletes for extended periods. From a testing standpoint it would have also been foolish since Zirbel, by this time, began to suspect he was being target tested. Zirbel tested positive at the national time trial championships on Aug. 29, 2009. Nor is the fiery Brit the lone voice of suspicion in a sport in which doping has evolved through the years -- as in many others -- from hard-core steroids to growth hormone and designer drugs. Belfort is expected to appeal to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for an exemption to stay on testosterone therapy for the Weidman fight, which is complicated by the fact that the same commission suspended him in 2006 after a positive steroid test. Anti-doping leaders thus fear testosterone exemptions might be used by athletes to dope under the disguise of legitimate medical need. The issue, said Catlin, is that synthetic testosterone remains one of the favorite drugs to enhance performance. Travis Tygart has since said, "The licensing body was aware of the positive test prior to the fight. Rather, it appears as though the commission and the public may have been deliberately misled in regard to the testing and how many tests Morales had failed. The moment that the "B" sample from Morales’ first test came back positive, standard testing protocol dictated that this information be forwarded to the New York State Athletic Commission. Under the WADA prohibited list, no amount of clenbuterol is allowed in a competitor’s body. But both the "A" and "B" samples taken from Morales on Oct. 3 and Oct. 10 had tested positive for clenbuterol. He said technically it is not accurate to say or state that, but with the exception of Merritt, any of the athletes in question tested positive for DHEA. Times to name a few — almost entirely reported the athletes as positive for DHEA, not testosterone or testosterone precursors. Papp believes that testosterone use and the use of even more powerful performance enhancers happens with frequency among masters cyclists, the age groups of 30-somethings and above that make up 76 percent of the sport’s participants in the United States. "Testosterone speeds up and enhances the metabolic processes," said Papp, who used a cornucopia of performance enhancing drugs throughout his career including testosterone. According to Joe Papp, a former second-tier professional cyclist and admitted doper, testosterone is what keeps an endurance athlete’s performance from degrading during prolonged periods of hard training or in stage races like the Tour de France. Zirbel flunked a drug test designed to detect testosterone, a powerful performance enhancer utilized by aging weekend warriors and professional cyclists alike.
