I’ve been reading all the articles on this “drug scandal”, from the riders perspective and others. And the reoccurring statement that I keep seeing is that the sport is so much cleaner now and that was a different era.
Bradley Wiggins saying Lance’s era was 10 or 15 years ago? I will state once more, Lance bumped Bradley off the Tour de France podium, to 4th, in 2009. I don’t even want to go back and link all the articles, from tons of different sources, riders, the UCI, the Pro Teams, but somehow everyone is on the same page and has this theme that the sport is in a different, cleaner, era now. Why?
I have no idea what they are using for facts to make that statement and why they are assuming this is anything more than positive thinking. Did you see the list of guys in this article that condenses the Gazzetta dello Sport report on the Padua investigation in Italy? Here are a few – Yaroslav Popovych, Franco Pellizotti, Michele Scarponi, Denis Menchov, Alexandre Kolobnev, Vladimir Gusev, Vladimir Karpets, Mikhail Ignatiev, Evgeni Petrov and Alberto Ongarato. Plus, the Italy police are investigating Liquigas, Lampre, Colnago, Geox, Androni, Katusha, Quick Step, Cnf-Inox, Farnese Vini, Acqua&Sapone, Astana, RadioShack, Vacansoleil, Isd, Csf, Lpr, Diquigiovanni, Tinkoff, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner and Milram. Plus, I could make another list, at least this long, of people’s names coming up in testimony. It is incredible.
That’s a lot of guys and a lot of teams. Many of the teams are defunct now, but many are current. But do you think it is close to all of them? Looking at that list, what percent do you think it is of the current riders still taking drugs in the profession ranks. Think it’s 5 percent? 10 ? Those are pretty big percentages. I’d say it is much less if I had to guess. Either way, whatever the percentage, the sport is still definitely in trouble and still really polluted.
Tom Bonnen from Cyclingnews.com – “We must just keep doing what we do now, everything is well with us,” he said. “The only thing we can do is perhaps imagine that they follow us 24 hours a day, so the world can see what is happening in racing and so we recover our credibility.”
And here’s another Tom Boonen quote, just for fun. And it’s… USADA is also exaggerating. They’re also pretending like they’re the holiest business in the entire world right now, and they’re also full of crap.”
Everything is well with us (the sport of bicycle racing)? And, USADA is full of crap? I’d like to see the facts to back up those statements.
And here’s a beauty about Lance from 5 time Tour de France winner Michguel Indurain, from Velonews.com – “Even now I believe in his innocence. He has always respected all the regulations… He has won all the cases he’s had,” Indurain told Radio Marca.“ Then he goes on to say, Armstrong “has always been a fighter. What surprises me is that he doesn’t keep fighting… I think he will come back and appeal and try to show that he played fair for all those years.” Wish I could bet him on that.
And what about the guys working with the riders. How about Allen Lim, Mr. Skratch Labs. I don’t know him personally. As far as I know I’ve never met the guy. He’s got a PhD. in sport physiologist, it seems. In this article, it states that Floyd said Dr. Lim helped him with blood transfusions. As far as I can tell, other than Lance, no one else much is calling Floyd a liar nowadays, except Allen Lim.
It goes on to say that – “While I became aware of Floyd’s attempt to dope himself and Levi [Leipheimer] in 2005, my actions were neither complicit nor complacent and I made it clear that this wasn’t right, encouraging them as much as I could at the time to ride clean,” Lim wrote.
I can’t really agree with that statement much, but he said it, I didn’t. He was employed to work personally for Lance Armstrong for 2009 and 10. He goes on to say the reason that Floyd made this up is – “I believe that Floyd made the accusations he did about me in 2010 because he knew that I knew what he had done in ’05. I also figured, but don’t know, that he was mad at me for working for Lance and that he resented my attempts to thwart his doping,” Lim wrote.
Whatever. I needed to include this in the “I Have to Call Bullshit” post from last week. It makes no sense. And here is Dr. Lim, personally training Lance Armstrong. He states that “The PowerTap was a major part of my doctoral work….” And he can’t tell that Lance is taking drugs? After he has been doing work with Floyd and Levi who he knows, for certain, that were taking drugs. He has all the numbers. And he is Mr. Squeaky clean? Bullshit.
I’m sorry Dr. Lim, but you came up with your new gig a little late. Now you have a legitimate niche in the sport, one that is probably good for the athletes. What can’t you just fess up like the others?
Taylor Phinney, Tim Johnson, Christian Vande Velde, and lots of others, train with him. I’d have to advise them that they probably shouldn’t associate with him anymore. Much like Greg LeMond suggested to Lance about Dr. Michele Farrari a “generation” ago in the sport. It makes the sport look bad.
From the original Velonews article, Mr. Lim is quoted – “I do believe that the sport has done an incredible job at cleaning itself up over the last five or six years, primarily due to the hard work and risk taken by the riders who are now coming out. There’s an entire generation of cyclists who have never been exposed to what the previous generation have had to see or deal with. Given what has been revealed in the last few months, that fact is pretty incredible and gives me tremendous hope and pride.”
Pride? He takes pride in what? I’m also wondering what Dr. Lim thinks a generation of cycling is? It must be less than 5 years, since everyone simultaneously came clean by 2007. Our new young riders haven’t been exposed to the drug issue? Here’s a guy that has been paid for years to train Floyd and Lance and bases this training on wattage. I don’t even know why I wrote this after reading what he said. It all must be true.
Why not? There isn’t anyone left to confess it’s so clean.
You hit the nail right on the head.
Clean in 2012.? Ha!
.
.
.
Yep, if Lance were the only one doping after 2007 that would be a conspiracy. Maybe, that should be Armstrong’s public relations strategy. “Yes, I doped. I spent my career doping, but I single handedly did so much to clean up the sport. Look none of the guys I raced with on my and I should emphasize my Radioshack team were allowed to dope anymore, and we know for a fact everyone I assembled onto that team were historically dopers.”
This is such a joke. It is just depressing every day to wake up and see sponsor after sponsor walking away from the sport. I like you Steve see this commentary from the riders, and these cut/paste confessions, and it depresses me more, because I walk away feeling that everyone in the pro peloton is fake (i.e., Alberto and Frank getting caught doping not because they took those drugs, but because they took their own blood from months before, and just happened to be taking those drugs back then when they were working to get cycling lean). I don’t know where the sport is going to go from here, but if I were at USA Cycling or UCI, I would be pointing my finger/hiring investigators to look into other sports. Nothing like a good doping scandal in say the NFL to get people to forget or at least consider (start thinking) that pro athletes are little more than animals breed and raised for the amusement of the idiot populace.
Tom Boonen is right, the USADA is full of crap, they like to pick on Cycling while all the supercharged Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockeyplayers are treated like Gods and the Fans love it when the big guys kill each other. Watch football for a change..you think those monsters are clean ? , in their heads or in their bodies?
LOL , lots of nonesense!
Mit freundlichen Gruessen
Bernd Faust
Steve,
Has Jim Ochowicz come forward with any thoughts on Lance?
It’s times like these when I feel the whole freaking world has gone nuts except me – and Steve.
“The sport is so much cleaner now” is the omerta way of saying “The drugs we use today are actually sterile and provided by real doctors with PHD’s”. I guess they might have a point there!
The amnesty idea being tossed around would be brilliant, especially for the guys that have been doped to the gills all these years, never been caught, and never been banned or served any kind of suspension. They could “come clean” to make cycling’s future better, then laugh in the face of all the guys that came clean and got banned right before the amnesty program.
You’ve been around this sport longer than me and we’ve both seen this “the sport is much cleaner now” excuse comes a year or so before the next corruption scandal. COUGH sky! COUGH
The sport’s leadership is fundamentally broken. Previously, I’ve been assured that the newest elite American riders are clean, but as the USADA’s reasoned decision mentions, Americans who had ethical problems with doping did it anyway. Since nothing has changed at USA Cycling, why would the doping stop?
I have a kid who is athletic and will not be involved in competitive cycling, nor do I recommend it to other parents. We ride for fun and that’s it.
BTW, how many USAC members have a problem with the way their federation is still at least passively doping elites? Maybe 2%??? The comments at doping stories over at VN are pretty telling in this way.
I share your exasperation with the sport, but I’m powerless to do anything but post anonymous comments.
What about your teammate who tested positive as a runner in europe?
What about Jpow and Twells being coached by a guy who gave Levi dope?
Once again, “my Brian Jensen” has never tested positive for anything. That runner is a different person.
And about Levi’s “coach”. As a current rider, especially racing on a international level, you shouldn’t be associating yourself with guys like him.
What steve says is true regarding brian jensen (I am sure this is as common as john smith in denmark). just google brian daalgard jensen doping and look at the photo images. not the same guy. pretty easy research to do.
I doubt it could have any actually repercussion but do you think its wise calling out a coach of an athlete employed by the same company as your partner?
In June 2006, Lim gave the following interview to Outside Magazine:
Outside: Floyd has had an impressive spring. Have you been surprised by how successful he’s been?
Lim : Not at all. What people don’t realize is that these results are a product of the intelligent decisions Floyd made last season and all the hard work he’s done—last year, in the off-season, and over the last decade. He pulled out of last year’s Vuelta [a España] before burying himself, which gave him more time to recover in the fall, allowed him to have a productive winter, and has brought him some good results this spring.
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/road-biking/Q-amp-A–Creating-America-s-Next-Cycling-Icon–with-Allen-Lim.html
We know know that Dr. Lim was aware of Landis’ 2005 doping when he made these comments. Apparently he believes that doping is consistent with “intelligent decisions” and “hard work.”
Yep, the “it’s so much cleaner” line is repellent. Continuing the PR BS is selling the next generation down the river.
Don’t these idiots realise nobody believes them any more?