Michael Rasmussen ratted out Ryder Hesjedal. Then today Ryder says that he “voluntarily” went to USADA and kneeled in front of them, made his confession and was sent off to do 100 Hail Marys. He paid the price of self hatred and regret, because the statute of limitations seems to have expired and now he is in the clear.
It isn’t close to a surprise to me. Before Ryder raced on the road, he was super, I mean really super charged, racing off-road. His attitude at the time wasn’t of any sort of remorse or regret. He was very cocky and showed no signs of being humble. There were a bunch more Canadian MTB riders, other than Ryder, Sheppard and Seamaus, that were juiced. Velonews did an article back then about why the Canadians were doing so much better than the Americans on an international level. All the guys from BC were interviewed and their consensus was because that they were all good friends, had a Russian coach and drank the same water or something. It was so insulting at the time that I nearly wrote a letter to the editor of Velonews and just told them what was really going on.
I still need to write a post on my visit to Denver before the Tour to “witness” how thorough the Garmin Team is making sure that their riders are clean. The invite was because I’d aggravated Jonathan Vaughters so much that he wanted to present his side in person, I guess.
When Jonathan was throwing stones back at me through forums, etc. he challenged me after I implied that Ryder was “dirty” just because he rode for the Postal Service for a season. He and I both knew that Ryder took drugs to race bikes. It was so obvious.
Now I’m sort of pissed off about the whole thing. According to the article linked above, Jonathan knew all about Ryder’s drug usage and confession when he was giving me shit publicly for calling Ryder out. Pretty prick-like thing to do.
This isn’t even taking into account of all the sponsorship money these great Canadian riders took from the pitiful Americans. The American Professional MTB sponsorship completely vaporized just about the same time as the Canadian, and Europeans too, were killing everyone. There were dozens of Americans racing the international World Cup Cross Country circuit, the within a year, there were virtually none. Looking back, it seems so unfair.
I wonder if Ryder is giving back his World Jerseys and medals from racing MTB bikes juiced? I am also wondering why Ryder decided to race clean. Maybe he can write a book about it and we can all rush out and get it. No matter the reason, I’m so glad that he came to his senses, all on his own, quit using PED’s and then went on to win the Giro clean. It must be so rewarding personally for him.
How about this podium from back in the day? What a joke. I’d pretty much quit doing World Cups by this time.
Ryder’s Grand Tour results. Pretty consistent huh?
Knowledge of Rasmussen’s confession and the scrutiny that was sure to follow Ryder might also account for his lack of performance this past summer.
What is it about the pointy sideburns and metro specs that make JV and his “clean” team so bulletproof. Vaughters, even more than Brailsford, needs a serious grilling from the sporting press.
Awesome post. Yea it always seemed weird that Roland Green got busted but his best buddy who was almost equally as “good” walked free. And the whole clean Garmin thing is pretty absurd at this point. We’re any of these guys ever really clean. Dumb.
What pisses me off is the long term effect of doping being swept under the rug.
All of these Garmin Vaughters Slipstream jerks that have found the light are still benefiting from years on the juice and who knows what other bullshit. Even IF these creeps are riding clean now and the level has come down they are levels above where they would be au natural.
Of course there is the money too. More money, more time, more drugs, more money, more spotlight, more, more, more…
Can’t give back the legs, won’t give back the money.
I doubt Hesjedal is clean, just like I doubt Garmin are clean. They are very careful about their ‘marginal gains’.
Hesjedal telling the world he stopped doping in 2003 is BS and treating fans of the sport like idiots, while he raced under Bruyneel and Rihs at Phonak.
JV snakeoil sales man.
He did what he felt he had to do to make it in a time when the sports culture left you with little choice. Either step back or get on board. No doubt he regrets it now, he probably regretted it at the time but that was the way of it back then. I’d say he’s probably been clean since joining Garmin and given the time that has now passed, I’m not that bothered by what he did or didn’t do ten years ago. I’ve bigger things to worry about in the present.
I’m sorry, maybe I got it all wrong, but … are you suggesting that the American riders were clean at the time?
I think JV knew this was coming all along, this “confession” is just another yarn of half truths and convenient timing. They had the PR package warmed up on the back burner. JV is making $ now but I wonder how long the sport can support this kind of crap before it implodes financially. Its almost like the confession had become a part of the formula for success
Steve, you haven’t said much about this one:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wheelmen-book-excerpt-what-to-do-about-lance-armstrong-part-3
Invite you know who over for a glass of wine and a non-sensual footrub
Ryders GT history is very similar to that of Chris Froome…….
JimW-
the BBC released an article about long term effects of doping and how they performance enhancing can be felt for nearly a decade. see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24730151
Garmin is a publicity stunt that was perfected by JV. Kudos to him.
I am not convinced Froome is clean after seeing his pathetic showing at USprochallenge, sure he may have been tired but it looked like he was on an off ‘program’ cycle.
It angers me that Garmin and JV have built this brand around transparency, and then we find out that they are only transparent when it is in their best interest. JV writes columns in Cyclingnews where he seemingly peels back the layers of the sport – he published that voicemail from Hein Verbruggen, for god’s sake. Fans of the sport come to trust him because he acts like he’s showing us what is really going on. Hell, his boys got on their knees to take down Lance, and then they all acted like saints afterward for doing so. Then we find out that he bartered some super hush hush confession for Ryder, his marquee rider? And he’s currently using that as a reason for why we shouldn’t care about this?! Dude, JV, that makes it 100 times worse! Talk about torpedoing your brand and the trust of your fans! Talk about treating your fans like children! We chose to cheer for Garmin because there’s this perception that these guys represent some type of truth in the sport, and then bam, turns out they organize conspiracies and backdoor deals just like everybody else. I expect that type of shit from Astana or Katusha, but to find out that Garmin does it too really pisses me off. “Ryder told the truth already to the authorities”, big deal! Confessions don’t mean squat unless they are to the fans. What if the chicken hadn’t written his tell all? When exactly was Ryder going to get around to telling us?
Yeah but Slipstream is Clean NOW…. Everyone knows that ped usage stopped in 06 or 07 when 2014 rolls around.
It’s time cycling cleans house. If anyone involved has ever been implicated, had knowledge of, or participated in using PED’s they are done. Sponsors should back this up. That means no Garmin bucks, no Trek dollars, no Specialized cash. Those corps could do better by flooding Berryman, Dirty Kanza, XFondo’s with support. I prolly wont make it to Girona, but I might make the Tour of KC, or Tulsa Tough, keep the money here and reinvest. The everyrider is tired of these guys. How bout these big sponsors knock down entryfees at cycling events instead of buying cheats BMW’s
The hypocrisy all across the PED plain is palpable now, and the histrionics from certain former TDF winners (and others) is beyond stale. There’s simply no equity in any of this, and frankly I just don’t see how there ever will be.
Good luck with your CX adventures and if you find yourself looking for a road ride in Atlanta, give me a hollar!
“Dancing in the moonlight playing in the background . . . . ”
. . . . . Mr Tilford, you are a real cyclist. As for the others that doped and later on “tried to change their statements” . . . . what can be done?
Just be honest, keep it one hundred, in other words, be real. Today is a day to dress up and get candy, pretty much a day for children.
All the cyclists who needed all that candy, blood doping agents, etc etc are the equivalent of children playing in a MANS game. You already know, thats why a playa like myself arrives to scribe something on your site.
The professional cycling life isnt for some folks. Not for me, sir, seeing as how paying a fee to race when
You, however sir, seem to be the last of a dying breed. Thank you for your time and articles on cycling. Big thanks for all the cyclists that are honest. To all the “naysayers” . . . . . a big LOL. Eat a candy apple instead of putting a needle in your arm or whatever it is these boys do to get faster.
Once again thank you for your posts Mr Tilford, sir.
I just don’t buy any of the stories about quitting in 03, 06, or whatever imaginary line they draw. These guys are supermotivated to win at all costs. You just can’t tell me that they get a taste of the success that their entire life is focused on achieving and then say, “I ‘m good. gonna race clean now, even though this stuff is amazing”. The pressure from everyone’s expectations to stay at that level would be intense. Total BS. More like addictions counseling. I think the only guys being completely honest are the ones who have hit rock bottom and have nothing left to lose.
I always get a reality check when something like this (Ryder’s “revelation”) happens and then read, and realize, how much their cheating affected so many others. I can’t imagine how angry I would be to have been a professional cyclist trying to make a living clean and constantly come up against these dopers. As for the long-term effects of steroids, I had a friend that was prescribed testosterone for a few months for a medical condition when he was in high school. Years later he claimed he still benefited from them (rapid fitness/muscle gains) and he was a strong cyclist when he stayed focused on it. And here I believed all the press lately about how nice of a guy was Ryder. Total BS.
The holier-than-thou shtick from Vaughters has always rubbed me the wrong way. One, he’s a doper, just like those he now condemns. Second, when someone pointed out that his teams sure seem to have a higher then average number of former dopers on them, he replies that his teams are simply more honest. I know he’s smart enough to understand the difference between true honesty and “honesty” only after a rider’s doping past has been exposed. It’s like he doesn’t think anyone less intelligent than him can understand the difference.
I can live w/ the belated regret, the half admissions and I understand how that generation got there but Vaughters’ running interference by attacking the critics is shitty. He’s been trying to keep a leaky raft afloat for a long time, waiting for the perfect time that everyone could come clean and get off easiest. I think Vaughters is honest about his goals but it’s a messy business and he’s had to make some difficult choices about how and when to deal with loads of inconvenient facts. Prior to “The Fall”, if Garmin had been completely honest and public with all their riders’ pasts, they would have ceased to exist. He owes some apologies but I don’t know how he could even start separating the truth from the PR and damage control.
I loved this post and nearly every comment left in response to it. I was on the Slipstream bandwagon from day 1, but Ryder’s “confession” is just another nail in the coffin.
And Steve, this is two days in a row when you haven’t held anything back. You ravaged Schleck’s abilities yesterday, and you called JV a prick today. I love that you don’t hold anything back. That’s why read your blog EVERY day. Keep it up!
Vaughters had so many opportunities to come forward and make a stand. He seems to have chosen to do it in a politically correct way that allowed him to still get paid while seen to be trying to move the sport through the doping scandals. I don’t blame his approach but when you take this approach, you can’t put yourself out there as a “life time crusader against doping” now that it’s politically and economically convenient to do so. When I see him on stage next to Betsey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJQyDPTWrLI ) I get a little perplexed. How can he sit next to Betsey, one of the few people who took a stand, lost everything economically and politically, and cast an image that he suffered and was victimized to the same extent?
The sport of cycling needed and still needs a US version of George Washington and JV is not him. The sport needs to move beyond him; he is no bridge to the future. Start over. If there was an asymmetrical distribution of information on the sport where JV and other insiders held all the information, they could tip toe and dance but the distribution of information is evening out where the fans and social media have changed the meaning of crisis management.
Crazy stuff, but not surprising. Steve, I would love to hear your thoughts on the European CX scene. Are all those guys clean? I find it hard to believe, but there is never any doping drama in the CX scene. Only the Road. I think it was a couple years ago that pre-worlds, Bart Wellens checked into a hospital for near kidney failure. That seemed like a dead giveaway, but nothing was ever said.
I agree with everything that Steve wrote about Jonathan Vaughters. Cycling would be a far better sport without Vaughters and Riis.
I would love to see Steve do a podcast with Mike Creed soon.
What really is truth?, I think it means something different, to all of these guys. From the late 80’s to the mid 2000’s, the Pro cycling world was a very dark place. And guys that aspired to Pro cycling careers, really only had 3 choices. Dope, Quit, or toil anonymously in the amateur/semi pro peloton. That is really what it boiled down to. And most of these guys, really don’t feel sorry for what they chose. Maybe they don’t feel it was fair, but they don’t feel like they had a choice, at least if they wanted to live the life they chose. Lance isn’t sorry for what he did, and that’s why he sleeps just fine at night. He defended himself in a very venomous way, but Lance was never a nice guy, so I don’t know why anyone would be surprised. He feels like he was wrongfully singled out, and I for one have to agree. Either destroy them all, or let it alone. Travis Tygart called it “the most organised and extensive doping scheme, in the history of sport”. To me, that just means it either was a vendetta, or Travis is the biggest moron to ever walk this planet. Every single team, had just as organised and extensive doping schemes, as the teams Lance was on. The only difference was Lance and Bruyneel. The work ethic made them invincible for 7 years. The math is simple, everybody dopes, you train more miles than the other dopers, you have no lives accept on the bike, and you win lots of races. If every team had the same commitment, you would see speed records, that nobody could ever touch. You have to ask yourselves several questions. (1) In the same situation, what would you have done. (assuming that Steve knew what was happening, we all know his decision) (2) Do you really think it’s possible to have a clean peloton. (3) Even though everybody was doping, did you enjoy those races. Unfortunately, I have had to answer all three. I drank the Kool-Aid, I did enjoy those races, and I don’t believe you will ever have a completely clean peloton. I’m old, and I grew up in an era when people still had moral character. Confronted with the choice, I still chose to dope. The kids today have no structure, and far less moral character. What decision do you think they’ll make. People want to win, and they will do whatever it takes. As a Masters racer, I still want to win. But not at the risk of my health. When you’re young, you don’t think about things like that, you think you’re bullet proof. Let’s face it folks, the peloton is probably cleaner than it was. But I assure you, somebody is cheating. At the right time, in the right race, a clean rider can win. (which didn’t used to be the case) But cyclists are going to cheat, and they’re is no way to completely stop it.
Saw a comment from Brad and thought about the ” Change.org Petition ” that i raised and advertised on this Blog ! Lots of people against ” Doping/PED ” here , yet it appears NO ONE took a few seconds to add to the numbers ?
Each of us , alone carry no weight , but as a group can cause UCI & WADA , to get more realistic with their efforts to clean out the closets . Tuesday @briancooksonUCI tweeted a link in respect of an ExtraO. meeting that discussed efforts made since the election . With work being done on the Constitution , Anti Doping , Womens Racing , Etc , there is hope that the ” Thieving /Lying/Lowlifes in the Peloton ” , will have the blowtorch turned on their toes ( see Homeland TV show ) and quit while ahead of their ” Outing ?
Steve , you carry the weight to cause Cookson & @Gaudryt to listen to what you know , even if only unpublicised and in private , you are close to the end of your career , so even if some of the lowlifes try to tar/denigrate your reputation , there are enough that know you had a CLEAN reputation and fought on regardless of the shortcutters .
Will UCI do something about this :
http://t.co/rWbNMZSNDN
AND I am sure there are many more horror stories in other countries , including that Blog by ” les ” , steve refers to recently
“No matter the reason, I’m so glad that he came to his senses, all on his own, quit using PED’s and then went on to win the Giro clean. It must be so rewarding personally for him.”
No irony intended, right?!
very well said steve. putting in words what many of us are thinking.
JH. – I think you’re confusing irony and sarcasm
Good stuff –
Totally agree. I think anyone who has ever had a connection with doping in the past should be purged from the sport forever. That is the only way to know we’ve gotten a clean start.
So then, my question is – after we burn Garmin down – who is next? Can I suggest BMC? When do we get to start playing “connection” with them? I can’t wait until we get to open up the closets of BMC head soigneur Freddy Viaene, or better yet – Jim Och and his days with Motorola, Phonak and his financial relationship with Thomas Weisel…Or even better – the BMC soigenur Flandrian Sven Schoutteten whose house was raided and found loaded with doping paraphernalia in 2011….And didn’t they hire Bobby Julich as an adviser back in May 2013? And how long did that bastard Hincapie ride for them, keeping his mouth shut and guarding all of Armstrong’s secrets until he could conveniently confess and then retire, after he got to take his victory lap on the Champs Elysees to end his career?
God damn, I loves me some Halloween witch burning…..JV better make room on the Garmin pyre for the BMC boys (and girls) if we’re going to start playing the “connection” game….I can’t wait!!!!
@ken Being a nice guy and taking PEDs are not mutually exclusive.
I work in the sport, and have had the opportunity to meet and work with a number of guys who were popped or admitted taking PEDs. Julich, Landis, Museeuw, Ullrich, Zabel and even DiLuca were all incredibly nice, pleasant, and incredibly professional to work with.
They are all nice guys who did bad things. While I don’t agree with the decisions they made, I am somewhat thankful that I wasn’t talented enough to have been given the choice.
There is no incentive for riders to step forward and admit their choices on their own. At some point we all are going to have to stop being shocked or disappointed when these things come out, and will have to accept how sordid the past really is. The messaging is always going to be self-serving. We also have to admit, that while things may get cleaner, it won’t be 100% clean; there always has been cheating, there always will be.
Sometimes we just have to accept that we like sausage, and that we just don’t want to know how it is made.
Well put, Steve. One of the things that is tough to understand unless you were in the thick of it is that not only did these assholes steal money from the riders who tried to do it clean, but they attacked the clean people who tried to call them out. I wrote about an unexpected meeting with Tyler Hamilton after he got busted the first time and how I found it strange that all of my friends were treating him like everything was normal. I wanted to scream out “doper”, but didn’t because it was such a weird circumstance. After I wrote about it, Tyler’s wife and the Tyler mafia came down on me, trashing my credentials, calling me a loser and saying that I was just jealous of such a great athlete. They made my life miserable for two weeks, and I even had people threaten to beat me up because I didn’t believe in Tyler.
While that was a miserable experience, it was nothing compared to what Emma O’Reilly went through. It was impossible to try to out these guys back then. Lance destroyed anyone who did it. Tyler did the same thing and took money from people to defend himself, even though he knew he was doped to the gills. Floyd was the first one to be unsuccessful using the tactics of Tyler and Lance. The evidence was there, there were people who had nothing to gain by speaking out, but they were screaming it out anyway. Nobody listened. Or at least not enough people to demand change.
At the time, it was such a crazy environment because if you were racing clean, you could suspect that people were doping, but you couldn’t KNOW 100% that they were doing it. We would all talk about Rasmussen, Roland Green, Hesjedal, etc., etc., etc. and we were 95% sure that they were doing it, but you have no proof other than their ridiculous results and inhuman performances. If you spoke up about it, you sounded like, well, a jealous loser.
And ever since this whole thing came out with Lance, Hincapie and the Garmin boys, I see it happening all over again. JV proclaiming that he is the way to salvation? Holy shit, really? We are supposed to put our faith in a doper who built a team supposedly based on the mission of racing clean out of a crew of people he knew were dopers? Who magically decide to start racing clean in 2005 or 2006? WTF?
We need to get these guys out of the sport. I don’t have the solution, but these people are not it. They have shown over and over that they can’t be trusted, so the future is not with them. These assholes have no regrets for what they did because of the argument that “everyone was doing it”. This is complete bullshit, and this rationalization is the reason that doping blew up so out of control. Everyone, or almost everyone who succeeded at a high level was doing it, but there was an enormous contingent of clean athletes with at least as much, if not more talent than the “champions” who were cannon fodder in the middle of the pack. When you watch Floyd come out of nowhere to help Lance win his last Tour and all of a sudden start ripping the entire TdF field’s legs off, you can’t say that it was a level playing field and those guys were just “better”. Lance, Floyd and Tyler were all amazing talents, but nobody can do those things to the elite peloton unless they have an unnatural advantage over the others.
In sport, a supremely talented person might be 1% better than the rest of the top athletes in the world. And that is the kind of talent that comes along once in a generation. In cycling, due to the advantages of drafting, even one of these freaks of nature cannot just ride up the road and put 4 minutes on 150 of the fittest guys on the planet. It doesn’t happen. But they all justify their cheating by the same rationalization: everyone is doing it. We can’t let this continue, and people who say that this is “water under the bridge” and we should let it go, are just wrong. These guys made the decision to dope. A lot of guys made the decision not to dope. The dopers are trying to continue their rationalization that they are OK now because they stopped and that they are victims of the times. No, all the guys who didn’t dope, didn’t get the big contract, didn’t become famous, those are the victims. You are frauds. You are cheaters. You can’t be trusted. Period. Please leave sport. You can’t fix the problem; you are the problem.
Sorry to rant. But I totally understand what you’re saying and I hope that you keep saying it loud!
I have no delusions of grandeur – I wouldn’t have been a world champion if there was no doping, but it really pisses me off to hear people defend dopers and imply that the people who did it clean are somehow jaded and have no right to be upset by these assholes. They cheated people financially, they cheated the fans, and then they lied about it until they couldn’t lie anymore. And without any remorse whatsoever.
The only doper I have any sympathy for is Jerome Chiotti, who came out on his own and owned it. No positive test, he just decided that he didn’t do it fairly and he wasn’t happy with it, so he announced that he was a doper, gave back his medals and quit the sport. But all the rest of these losers should be thrown out of the sport and prosecuted for drug trafficking and fraud.
EFF dopers, they all SUCK!!!
I am a BC Canadian Cyclist and I could’t agree with your comments more.
But you gotta give Geoff Kabush a pretty big shout out, that guy is also a BC MTB Machine… and he wasn’t drinking the same kool-aid.
Just curious Steve,
Why DON’T you ever call anyone out from BMC? Whats’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander, I guess, eh?
Where can i get a stick on decal :
” You are frauds. You are cheaters. You can’t be trusted. Period. Please leave CYCLING. You can’t fix the problem; you are the problem.”
TIME the fans started telling the public their NEED !
roberto, from the late 80’s till 2000???? take a good look at this list. just about all the stars were caught over thre years….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling
Here’s a good example of why the “it was a level playing field argument” is BS:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/15750/Parisien-questions-claims-by-Hesjedal-and-Barry-that-they-stopped-doping-years-ago.aspx
Tilford touches on how frustrating that time period was. It’s all kind of surreal to me. My ride at Haro was handed over to… surprise: Chris Sheppard, Seamus McGrath, and then Michael Rasmussen.
Don’t let anyone tell you different. It’s nothing short of thievery. As they look for ways to justify doping in their own minds, the fading images of themselves on podiums that were truly a ‘joke’ can only become less and less significant.
Geez, if JV has created and run a team he’s claimed exists to prove you don’t need to dope – and guys on it ARE doping….it’s a bigger, sicker, scam than BigTex’s!
I hope like hell that’s not the case but am cynical enough to wonder.
Tilford’s comments on Schleck’s descending cracked me up too.
Steve thank you for having the energy to NOT let this issue be ‘water under the bridge’.
Nathan, so well said.
Paul- Yeah, that is incredible that those three guys “took over” your slot on Haro. That was just about the same time as Todd and I were replaced by Bart and Filip Meirhaeghe. I argued with this chick, Sandy, at Specialized about how it was “okay” to get rid of me if that is where they were going, but they had an obligation to keep Todd Wells, the best young rider in the US at the time. Plus, I told her that the guys she was hiring took drugs. She didn’t didn’t believe me or maybe just didn’t care.
I understand the dilemma that cycling industry companies face. Specialized may not have cared. Top corporate brass throughout the industry seemed quite willing to let Trek perpetrate US Postal team lies if it served to “grow the pie” for them, too. Smaller companies, if they spoke out, were quickly blackballed and shrunk. The number of companies that spoke out over a decade can be counted on one hand. Most obvious is one certain brand that Trek licensed and was so willing to cast aside.
It was very hard to work in the industry during the “I Believe Tyler” campaign that various companies launched after his positive test. I was thinking, “Who do these companies think they are, launching that campaign while this case is just getting started? What message is that sending to junior racers?”
I hope that corporations going forward won’t just jump on the bandwagon that makes them the most money in the near future. That’s asking a lot, I know. You would think if any industry could do that it should be the cycling industry. In the meantime, brands and marketing departments walk a tight rope. Further, transparency and consumer knowledge will go a long way. I wonder if dealers and their customers will respond positively to brands that held a higher moral ground, while moving a few steps away from brands that we know now cared little about the future of the sport.
Seamus had issues way back in 1997:
http://www.canadiancyclist.com/dailynews.php?id=247
These guys have been dirty a long time.
Canadians are naturally strong racers. Even the gals have hipster sideburns and back-zits, for example.
Speaking of former pro cyclists who really got screwed out of $ and podiums. Anyone want to speculate as to why Greg Lemond, who probably could have won or really contended at the ’91 and ’92 TdF, supports Garmin? Surely it’s not simply because they use his trainer, right? I don’t think so.
Guys, we all lost to the cheaters. I lost my Trek ride to Kirk Molday, remember that pack filler to Champion? My life was and is far better than all the guys you have mentioned. I have no regrets. I have a great wife, kids, job and I still love to ride bikes. I am most proud of all my great friends that have immense moral character and raw talent: Tomac, Overend, Wiens, Brown, Furtado, Kloser etc.
See you on the trail.
DP
Well said, Daryl. Tomac, Overend, Wiens, Brown, Furtado, and Kloser have character and class far beyond the likes of the names we’ve mentioned in an accusatory way. I like to see them still stand up and be heard on issues, like Travis has done, here.
Ex-pro’s seem to come here to vent on things because this blog lives in the spirit of Tilford: Scrap, put out the elbows elbows and never give up. He hits on stuff that no other digital or print pub is going to and tells it like it is.
I’m happy about my own life and have no regrets – and Daryl, I’m happy for you, too. You’ve helped me more than you know in the last 30+ years – and you still crack me up, which is bonus. All the riders I’ve known who’ve ended their lives prematurely – mostly directly related to PED use – they lost a lot. Way too much.
Steve I understand your frustrations and I was just another guy who got into Mtb in the late 80’s for the thrill of the sport. I looked up to guys like you and all the top guys racing in North America. I remember racing my first Cactus Cup crit and you always winning. I never made it to the level you guys did but I loved it and raced for 5 years.Like many others borrowed lots of money from my parents and realized my dream wasnt going to come true.
My point is twenty years later I am still a huge fan of the sport and still race amatuer events. I grew up with the guys mentioned and trained with them and have followed them to races all over the world. I am not here to defend them but feel we all play a part in this and instead of pointing fingers and blaming individuals we need to focus on the sport.
You have a very powerful website with lots of followers, use it to educate new and young riders instead of making them hate people who have made mistakes.As a role model back in the day can you honestly say you went up to these guys and called them on their bullshit. They were young and may have listened.There is always going to be that guy in the school yard selling pot but i can’t always be there to protect my kids only educate them.
So, just to be clear: Canadian MTB riders (Green, McGrath, Sheppard, Hesjedal, Molday) were drug cheats (and later, Euro riders too), but all U.S. MTB riders of the same generation were drug-free role models? Seems unlikely that only the road cyclists went down the EPO path. Daryl and Paul, any U.S. names you can add to the list?
I would say some the euro guys were long before the few Canadians to dope. I can only vouch for the names I listed and myself. I don’t know of any US mtb riders using PED’s in the early-mid 90’s I quit after 97.
Ceramic- no real name?
I always thought it was odd that Roland Green “retired” at his peak.