The rumor of the plastic residue findings comes from a reporter, Damien Ressiot, from L'Equipe, who mentioned it in a discussion forum (here it is), not even a editorial note in L'Equipe's web site. What irritates about this entire doping/anti-doping business is that it is handled in such an amateurish manner:
  • Is there a standard protocol to handle the samples? Laboratories in Cologne, Paris and Barcelona are mentioned in different stories (those samples earn frequent flier miles).
  • Shouldn't there be an official notification to the riders and their national federations right away? The finding for Contador was in July, he was notified in August; Mosquera found out through the press. And the issue of plastic traces is an unconfirmed rumor, posted in a bulletin board.

The takeaway for me is that I am not persuaded any rider is clean, and I don't trust the UCI either.