I wasn’t going to post anything about this, but then Jonathan tweeted below, so I figured I might as well, since everyone is already asking.
Anyway, Jonathan called a couple nights ago and we did have a nice longish talk. I really didn’t know what he wanted to talk about initially, we had to do a couple back and forths, but eventually we connected.
The guy is very quick mentally. Of course I know him casually, but I’ve never ridden on a team with him or spent any time with him one on one, so didn’t really expect such a lively conversation.
I think/know the reason I got the call was because of some of previous posts I’ve done here that have rubbed Jonathan the wrong way. He said something towards the end about me being a little “brash”, which I readily accepted. I don’t normally pull many punches in that regard.
We talked a lot about the current situation of doping in the sport and also history of doping in cycling. I listened to his take on it and he listened to me. We are sort of coming from opposite sides. Maybe not so much so, but to me it seems like he is on the inside looking out and maybe I’m on the inside somewhat, looking in, but mainly on the outside looking in.
Jonathan does seem to know a lot about blood values and power numbers. I know very little, mainly what I’ve read.
Whatever, it wasn’t an adversarial conversation at all. I truly enjoyed it. I do understand his concerns and believe that he is trying to address the situation as best he can, considering his position. It is very complicated with so many people, entities involved, that the process seems nearly broken to me.
Anyway, the end result of the whole deal, and mainly the reason Jonathan called, was to invite me to go out to Colorado in a couple weeks and talk to a few of his people that are involved in the physiology and testing of his riders before the Tour. I guess Tommy D. is going to be doing some testing in Denver and I can watch the whole procedure and see what I think. He even offered to test me if I so choose. I’ll probably take him up on it, to just to try to understand the benefits of what they are doing scientifically to try to evaluate and identify what they are specifically looking for during these tests.
There is no downside here. I’m glad Jonathan decided to pick up the phone and call. I’ve got a lot of questions and I’m pretty sure that he has some of the answers.
JV … showing some true class. Nice to see you guys talk it out, you guys are both leaders of the sport in your own way so it can only benefit when you work together.
That is one hell of a catch!!!!! No story there?
STeve – can’t wait for you to report on the testing you observe and your own testing.
JV – a very classy way for you to reach out to Steve.
Tom D. is obviously clean . . . now. Check his recent results.
Let me guess… it’s a test of Tommy D’s own core strength?
I enjoy your blog and more than anything admire your passion for our sport, no matter what people think of your opinion. I will be looking forward to your post about your trip to Boulder. Keep healing up! Looking forward to seeing you race in Lawrence at the end of the month!
I think that you guys working together to publicly be transparent in this day and age is exactly the type of thing that needs to be done to set the sport in the right direction. Steve, I think you are the perfect person to witness the measures that Jonathan is putting his riders through to guarantee that they are racing clean. I can hardly wait.
Steve,
Please just ask JV why he felt the need to create a PR approach to his “announcement” that he succumbed to the pressures of the sport’s dark side. I think JV is (now) adding a lot of value to the sport and helping to move things in the right direction, BUT he lost points in my eyes for failing to take full responsibility for his actions and for launching a PR campaign to mitigate the impact of his announcement on his “personal brand”. – Hergules
Pretty cool for JV to reach out, much class as noted in a previous comment. Sounds like it was a good conversation. Looking forward to the followup.
Interesting idea of Vaugthers though performance numbers can easily be altered by an 11 year old.
So much of the doping discussion now is just slicing the reality of cheating into thinner and thinner slices. You can’t get your virginity back and we can’t put the doping genie back in the bottle. Truth and reconciliation? 100% truth first and then we can talk about reconciliation.