It seems like it would be good to have different penalties for different PEDs; lower for those with less performance impact, and higher possibility of coming from contaminated food. Taking clenbuterol is cheating, but it helps you get skinnier right? This is a small gain compared to something like EPO. You aren't going to get EPO from contaminated food unless you happen to be eating a retired race horse. Steroids are in between these examples.
Really just thinking out loud here, and I'm sure there are good counter examples and arguments to this idea.
i'm no expert, but when the contador thing came up (did anyone else find it amusing when bob roll would repeatedly say ****adoor?), i thought they said clen was a masking agent.
anyway, you touch on a key point: there are always shades of gray. you've got the guy plotting for an advantage -- a big one, then someone looking for a minor advantage. you might also have a person who took something but didn't know the rules (e.g., a supplement like DHEA that their doc recommended)... or the person who bought the off-brand protein powder which had some trace of another banned substance in it.
how do you differentiate?
i have not seen the full policy, but apparently testosterone is now legal for low-level amateurs....if you've never finished in the top 5 of an event with 50+ riders. i also heard that if an amateur gets popped for something that has a medical purpose and they can prove it AFTER THE FACT, then despite it being banned they are good to go. seems really shady to me.
some doctor that does all the T stuff sued ... and won. so now there is a recreational TUE for amateurs.
oy.