Lance is a Saint !

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JerryA

Mountain climber

Sacramento,CA

Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 18, 2013 - 12:25pm PT

Horace Rumpole & I think that compared to the Olympic and UCI officials who are still making high salaries ,Lance and all of the riders who did the actual work are saints !

pud

climber

Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia

Jan 18, 2013 - 12:28pm PT

Ezra Ellis

Trad climber

WA, & NC & Idaho

Jan 18, 2013 - 02:09pm PT

Professional cycling is dead to me, ba humbug.
I thought he was a doper 10+ years ago.
What a jerk!

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jan 18, 2013 - 02:35pm PT

I don't think that Lance possesses many, if any, redeeming qualities, but I get a kick out of the pundits who say that the real victims are the competitors who got cheated out of the podium. And, pray tell, who are those cyclists? Consider that when Lance was stripped of his Tour titles no other competitors were given them in his place.
They ALL cheated.....professional cycling is a farce.

couchmaster

climber

pdx

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:13pm PT

It makes you long for the days of true honest champions

...like Greg LeMond.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:16pm PT

Either everyone should Perf Enhance or everyone should not.

why don't they just let everyone? Or have two different class of racers?

they still have to work hard to perform at that level.

The playing field is the problem.

zBrown

Ice climber

chingadero de chula vista

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:24pm PT

For it is he that allowed it all to happen and to continue for as long as it did.

A totally absurd contention.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:24pm PT

The problem is creating an even playing field. Drug deception technology always seems to be ahead of drug detection technology.
If you had two classes, one for users and one for clean riders, the class for clean riders would become the most prestigious. That being the case, it is likely that someone would cheat and use drugs in order to win.
The only way to create an even playing field is to have no restrictions on drugs. It could be a devil's advocate sort of thing. The rider has to decide between powerful, but dangerous, performance enhancers- the more performance enhancing the more dangerous and, perhaps, life shortening.

zBrown

Ice climber

chingadero de chula vista

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:27pm PT

The force is with you - nitric oxide

[Click to View YouTube Video]

SCseagoat

Trad climber

Santa Cruz

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:35pm PT

If the person who finishes last in a race is stripped of their finish because of drugs, does the person who finished next to last now get last place?

Jus' wonderin.

Susan

zBrown

Ice climber

chingadero de chula vista

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:38pm PT

Yes that is correct, provided that he/she doesn't fess up and lose it. If he does, then it's turtles all the way down.

zBrown

Ice climber

chingadero de chula vista

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:44pm PT

You already answered it

Regardless the UCI and the rest of those that silently condoned LA and his actions

Yes Armstrong did prolong it.

Maybe Doc Johnson is to blame too

G_Gnome

Trad climber

Pebble Wrestling.... Badly lately.

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:46pm PT

Chief said

Appears Lance's true abilities were exhibited in his first two TDF appearances and his very last.

'92 He finished 97 after DNFing after stage 12
'95 He finished 36
'09 He finished 23

His natural abilities never met the mark required to be a true Champion, did they now.

So obviously he could not complete with those doping until he started doping too. This is the point you miss in your tirades. All top level riders were doping in that period (and now most likely) or they were not at the top level.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:47pm PT

You're right.....people like Lance only fess up when EVERY single other option has been expended.
Even his confession is only partly true and contains a lot of lies and half truths.

This is common with pathologically self-absorbed people.....could be why it's so commonplace with elite atheletes, and politicians.

zBrown

Ice climber

chingadero de chula vista

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:48pm PT

Bingo

So obviously he could not complete with those doping until he started doping too.

crunch

Social climber

Jan 18, 2013 - 03:50pm PT

he problem is creating an even playing field. Drug deception technology always seems to be ahead of drug detection technology.
If you had two classes, one for users and one for clean riders, the class for clean riders would become the most prestigious. That being the case, it is likely that someone would cheat and use drugs in order to win.
The only way to create an even playing field is to have no restrictions on drugs. It could be a devil's advocate sort of thing. The rider has to decide between powerful, but dangerous, performance enhancers- the more performance enhancing the more dangerous and, perhaps, life shortening.

That's naive, Jim. It was some top cyclist, decades ago, using basic amphetamine-type speed, dying during a race that provoked the idea of drug-testing.

The temptation, the pressure, is too strong on young, impressionable athletes.

I think the drug testing is starting to get ahead of the dopers. Not by much. One of the things that caught Armstrong out was re-testing old urine samples with testing methods that did not exist when he supplied those samples. That's an open-ended threat for all current and future dopers.

Others may have doped, but Armstrong took it to a new level and in doing so has done enormous damage to his sport. I'm glad he never tried climbing

Gorgeous George

Trad climber

Los Angeles, California

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:00pm PT

I think Lance and Greg Mortenson should hook up and form a new charity, "Looking for Mr. Gullible," something like that. Imagine what a powerhouse team they could make?

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:01pm PT

Not naive Crusher. If Lance and crew were using more drugs than everyone else, how is it that he never ONCE tested positive. That being the case, absolutely evey cyclist on the Tour is under suspicion......there is simply no way to know.

The Tour is such a prestigious event and so important to a cyclist's career the temptation to cheat must be enormous. More so because cyclists know that many (likely the majority) of their competitors are doing it and they don't want to be left at a disadvantange.

edit: Crusher, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that Bradley Wiggins is clean?

rockermike

Trad climber

Berkeley

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:04pm PT

Se careful what you post here. Lance may be reading, and he doesn't take criticism lightly. Got a pink slip recently? Wonder who's pulling the stings. Found you rope soiled with acid? It could be payback time...

At least when a climber bolts his way up the A4 section the truth comes out eventually. lol

But I must confess, I've been known (or I should say, not known) to hang on gear surreptitiously mid crux. I'll have to give back my onsight awards.

Bruce Morris

Social climber

Belmont, California

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:09pm PT

Lance got molested when he was a little kid, and, in order to compensate for it and express his inner rage, he turned into a hyper, over-achieving endurance athlete that would go to any extreme to improve and win. Just the same kind of psychopathic personality you find so often in corporate America, except Lance went into professional sports.

But, my oh my, isn't LA starting to look old before his time, like he really trashed his core and is going to pay for it earlier than most? The vision and the price!

hb81

climber

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:09pm PT

The only way to create an even playing field is to have no restrictions on drugs. It could be a devil's advocate sort of thing. The rider has to decide between powerful, but dangerous, performance enhancers- the more performance enhancing the more dangerous and, perhaps, life shortening.

This has already been tried, it's called 1960s pro cycling.

crunch

Social climber

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:42pm PT

Not naive Crusher. If Lance and crew were using more drugs than everyone else, how is it that he never ONCE tested positive.

No, I did not mean naive, sorry. But the claim above is not true.

He did fail drug tests, apparently, both at the time of testing (he weaseled his way out of at least one failed test) and, more damningly, when they retesting old urine samples.

It was Lance himself who began and repeated the claim that he never failed a drug test, out of hundreds he took. Just another lie. He was not tested "hundreds" of time.

I forget where I read an analysis of this claim; it was in last few days. I recall something about one failed test being where he was hit up unexpectedly in his hotel room and refused to come out for an hour or so.

I'll add a link if I stumble on it again.

crunch

Social climber

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:44pm PT

This has already been tried, it's called 1960s pro cycling.

I thought it was called the 1970s East German Olympics squad.....

limpingcrab

Trad climber

the middle of CA

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:45pm PT

Admitting everything on TV must have really taken ball.

I don't think the confession counted though, Oprah was doping when she asked him

JLP

Social climber

The internet

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:48pm PT

I recall something about one failed test being where he was hit up unexpectedly in his hotel room and refused to come out for an hour or so.

WTF is an hour going to buy? He was probably busy banging the Olsen twins.

JLP

Social climber

The internet

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:52pm PT

His natural abilities never met the mark required to be a true Champion

This argument has gone stale.

It appears that in 2009, as an old man, he took 3rd place, behind at least 1 doper, w/o doping...

tooth

Trad climber

B.C.

Jan 18, 2013 - 04:58pm PT

Imagine that pro climbers were on TV.

Imagine that every network in the world would camp out every year and the eyes of the world would watch as PTPP and others ascended El Cap.

Imagine if they were making millions and millions of dollars off of our sport - advertising and televising.

Imagine if they had pink and yellow polka-dot jerseys that Pete had to wear each day.

Imagine if you grew up thinking that the top climbers got to be in on this circus.

Imagine if that was the pinnacle of the sport, revolving around $$$$$$.

Nike was 'shocked' that LA played the greed game that they have going. Professional sports are about $, and I don't think the players shouldn't get a slice of the pie. There isn't a lot of ethics in making $$$$ off of a poor sports person committing 6 hours a day to training, or 24 hours a day on the wall - they are doing the work but the network gets the ad revenue? Why shouldn't Dean Potter get the majority of the money produced by his climbing, rather than those promoting the climbing?

So while cheating and lying about it is wrong - I see it as the game of competitive cycling. Be as fast as you can get away with. Make your share of the pie. It isn't shocking at all to see this happening in every competitive sport. The people that love to ride just ride. The people that play the game win - until the multitude of governing bodies make it too complicated to hide the lies.

You would see this behavior somehow in climbing as well if you turned climbing into the circus that pro cycling has become. Instead, I see guys like Honnold and others doing beautiful things with the sport, pure, esthetic lines, BASE mixed in there, clean ascents and more and more alpine style stuff and when we are lucky enough to see some gopro footage it is inspiring and amazing to see. I'm enjoying it while I can!

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Jan 18, 2013 - 11:31pm PT

'92 He finished 97 after DNFing after stage 12
'95 He finished 36
'09 He finished 23

Hey The Chief, you think he was clean for those races?

Fool.

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Jan 19, 2013 - 12:31am PT

I don't need to use drugs like NO to last a long time. I prefer natural methods.

Here is that natural device that I use:

Captain...or Skully

climber

Jan 19, 2013 - 12:36am PT

Folk need to realize just how much of our so called "Culture" is based on lies. These are not isolated instances.
That's why I say we're all gonna die. Can we honestly look at ourselves and then change it? or not?

sac

Trad climber

Sun Coast B.C.

Jan 19, 2013 - 01:16am PT

I watched the Oprah interview.

I came to this conclusion:

Dude's a freekin' psychopath.

Cancer Boy

Trad climber

Freedonia

Jan 19, 2013 - 02:44am PT

I have substituted "Lance Armstrong" for "Raskolnikov" in my copy of Crime and Punishment. Waiting to see if it ends the same way.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Jan 19, 2013 - 02:48am PT

Hey, folks, Lance here. Just want to say I'm sorry

That I got caught.

Degaine

climber

Jan 19, 2013 - 11:05am PT

The Chief wrote:

Regardless the UCI and the rest of those that silently condoned LA and his actions, LA still needs to bear the brunt of it all. For it is he that allowed it all to happen and to continue for as long as it did.

You really are clueless if you think that the UCI and the sponsors weren’t in on it, condoning it, and threatening to fire riders if they did not perform better.

Having Lance bear the brunt of it all is what those behind the scenes want. It’ll be like 1998 all over again, with Festina and Virenque taking the brunt of the blame, that this behavior is a rarity, and it will all just be swept under the rug for another ten years until the next “great” rider comes along.

All those who have used are guilty, and their guilt should be handled accordingly, I don’t see why Hamilton or Landis or anyone else should be treated less severely than Lance. They came forward under pressure of prosecution, not because it was the right or honorable thing to do, and they took PEDs for the same reasons Lance did, money and glory.

Your fixation with Lance is unhealthy.

Degaine

climber

Jan 19, 2013 - 11:06am PT

The Chief wrote:

Why not compete with the natural abilities you have.

If they are not good enough, then you do not make the mark and off you are.

What a concept eh?

Well it’s not just natural abilities, there’s training and being coached right as well. Guys like Jordan were not only gifted naturally, but trained harder than anyone else as well. 10000 hours is apparently the key. Read Malcom Gladwell’s “Outliers”.

The Chief wrote:

You’re not really that stupid, are you?

Don’t know if I would believe that he was not using PEDs, but what’s certain is that everyone else was. So then it would be Lance’s natural abilities against a field of dopers.

’95 was Indurain, but notice how he quietly slipped out before the sh#t hit the fan in 1998.

Also, in 2009 Lance finished third and Cantador won. Contador is a known doper.

Hardman Knott

Gym climber

Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca

Jan 19, 2013 - 02:20pm PT

Your fixation with Lance is unhealthy.

Understatement of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

I'm knott at all a fan of copy/paste posts, and usually skip over the long ones. I expect everyone to do the same here.
I must warn you that It's gonna be quite a bit of scrolling (and these are just cases where people got caught). Enjoy!

From: List of doping cases in cycling (Wikipedia)

1800s

[edit]1886
In 1886 a Welsh cyclist is popularly reputed to have died after drinking a blend of cocaine, caffeine and strychnine, supposedly in the Bordeaux–Paris race. This was included in the 1997 International Olympic Committee study on the Historical Evolution of Doping Phenomenon, and listed as the presumed first death due to doping during a competition. The report did allow that in this period it was common practice, and not illegal.[1] This is alternatively reported as trimethyl poisoning.[2] However, the main Bordeaux–Paris race did not start until 1891, and the cyclist who supposedly died in 1886, Arthur Linton, actually finished second in 1896 and died a few weeks later, reportedly from a combination of drug induced exhaustion and typhoid fever.[3] Linton was managed by the notorious Choppy Warburton - See 1896 below.[4] The story may be apocryphal.
[edit]1896
Arthur Linton from Aberdare in Wales died aged 24 of 'exhaustion and typhoid fever' a few weeks after finishing second in the Bordeaux–Paris race and a race at Catford. Linton was managed by the notorious Choppy Warburton,[4] whose success was questioned, with claims that he drugged his charges.[5] Jimmy Michael is said to have accused Warburton of poisoning him, before he was taken to court for libel.[6] Rudiger Rabenstein claims that Arthur Linton was "massively doped" for the 1896 Bordeaux–Paris.[7] The British and French cycling union announced that Michael would be banned, even though there was no rule at that time against doping. In the end, Michael was not banned, but he left to ride in the United States.[8]
Nitroglycerine was used to stimulate the heart after cardiac attacks and was credited with improving riders' breathing.[9] Riders suffered hallucinations from the exhaustion and perhaps the drugs. The American champion Marshall Taylor refused to continue a New York race, saying: "I cannot go on with safety, for there is a man chasing me around the ring with a knife in his hand."[10]
[edit]1897
Choppy Warburton of Haslingden, England died aged 52. He was described by the Lancashire Family History Society:
“ "Choppy has been firmly identified as the instigator of drug-taking in the sport [cycling] in the 19th century."[11] ”
Warburton was banned from the sport after unproven claims of massive doping in the 1896 Bordeaux–Paris. His activities may have contributed to the early deaths of Arthur Linton, Tom Linton and Jimmy Michael.[12][13]
[edit]1900s

[edit]1904
Jimmy Michael of Wales, world cycling champion, died aged 27, en voyage to New York. The cause of death was noted as delirium tremens, probably brought on by drinking.[14] Michael was managed by the notorious Choppy Warburton[4] whose success was questioned, with claims that he drugged his charges. Michael was reported to have taken a potion and within a few laps collapsed on the track, picked himself up and then in a daze, set off in the wrong direction.[5] Michael is said to have accused Warburton of poisoning him, before he was taken to court for libel.[6]
[edit]1910s

[edit]1911
Paul Duboc of France was doped/poisoned during the Tour de France. He was favourite but collapsed in a ditch in the Pyrenees after drinking from a spiked/poisoned bottle, allegedly given by a rival team manager. He finished in second place.
[edit]1920s

[edit]1924

Henri Pelissier, 1919
Henri Pélissier, Francis Pélissier, Charles Pélissier of France. In 1924, following their abandon of the Tour de France, the first real drug scandal arose when the Pélissier brothers gave an extraordinary interview to journalist Albert Londres. They said that they used strychnine, cocaine, chloroform, aspirin, "horse ointment" and others drugs to keep going. The story was published in 'Le Petit Parisien' under the title 'Les Forçats de la Route' ('The Convicts of the Road'). Francis is reported as saying "In short, we run on dynamite." Henri is reported as saying "Do you know how we keep going? Look, this is cocaine, chloroform, too. And pills? You want to see pills? Here are three boxes - We run on dynamite." Francis Pélissier said much later: "Londres was a famous reporter but he didn't know about cycling. We kidded him a bit with our cocaine and our pills." Even so, the Tour de France in 1924 was no picnic.[15][16][17][18] See Doping at the Tour de France - The Convicts of the Road.
[edit]1930s

[edit]1930
The acceptance of drug-taking in the Tour de France was so complete by 1930 that the rule book, distributed by Henri Desgrange, reminded riders that drugs would not be provided by the organisers.[19]
[edit]1940s

[edit]1949
Fausto Coppi of Italy admitted in a television interview (date unknown) that he used 'la Bomba' as there was no alternative if you wanted to remain competitive. This referred to amphetamines, which had been developed for military use during World War II to keep aircrew, merchant seamen and submariners awake, alert and energetic. After the war they found a ready market among endurance sportsmen.[17] Coppi also said, "One day I will take the wrong pill and pedal backward."[20] He also joked on camera that he only took drugs when absolutely necessary, which is nearly always.[21][22]
[edit]1950s

[edit]1955
Jean Malléjac of France collapsed on Mont Ventoux during the 1955 Tour de France; it was widely attributed to drug abuse. Ten kilometres from the summit he was: "Streaming with sweat, haggard and comatose, he was zigzagging and the road wasn't wide enough for him... He was already no longer in the real world, still less in the world of cyclists and the Tour de France."[23] Malléjac collapsed, falling to the ground with one foot still trapped in a pedal. The other leg pedalled on in the air. He was "completely unconscious, his face the colour of a corpse, a freezing sweat ran on his forehead.[24] He regained consciousness after 15 minutes attention, oxygen, water, and an injection of solucamphre (a decongestant).[25] In the ambulance he insisted that he had been drugged against his will and that he wanted to start legal proceedings. He denied wrongdoing right up to his death in September 2000.
[edit]1956
Following the 14th Stage of the 1956 Tour de France, the entire Belgian team went down with a mystery illness. It was officially attributed to their having eaten 'bad fish' at dinner, an excuse also used in 1962 and 1991.[17]
[edit]1958
Roger Rivière of France admitted, after his career was finished, to having taken "amphetamines and solucamphre" during his hour record of 1958—including taking tablets during the attempt.[26]
[edit]1959
Charly Gaul from Luxembourg was implicated in July when French customs confiscated pills that were destined for him.[27]
[edit]1960s

[edit]1960
Knud Enemark Jensen of Denmark participated in the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome riding under the influence of amphetamines; he collapsed during the 100 km team time trial during the Games, fracturing his skull, and in a nearby Rome hospital shortly thereafter, he was pronounced dead. The autopsy showed he had taken amphetamine and another drug, Ronicol (Ronicol Retard) (nicotinyl alcohol tartrate), a direct-acting peripheral vasodilator that causes flushing and may decrease blood pressure.[28] (He was also reported as swallowing 8 pills of phenylisopropylamine, 15 pills of amphetamine and coffee.[1]) The chairman of the Dutch cycling federation, Piet van Dijk, said of Rome that "dope - whole cartloads -[were] used in such royal quantities."[29][30] Jensen's death led to pressure on the International Olympic Committee, which studied a report on doping drawn up by doctors demanding dope controls.
Gastone Nencini of Italy, was discovered by Tour de France doctor Pierre Dumas in his bedroom with plastic tubes running from each arm to a bottle of blood; retransfusion was a legal practice at the time.[31] In the 1930s Scandinavian runners were believed to have used retransfusion to increase the number of corpuscles that carry oxygen to the muscles. In 1972, Dr Björn Ekblom of the Sport and Gymnastics Institute in Stockholm found that retransfusing cells increased oxygen uptake by nine per cent and athletic potential by 23 per cent.
Roger Rivière of France, admitted that his career ending crash in the 1960 Tour de France was probably attributable to using Palfium (Dextromoramide), a painkiller that affects reflexes and judgment, during the descent of the Col de Perjuret on Mont Aigoual.[26] Palfium was used to deaden pain in leg muscles where it was directly injected, (sometimes while riding). It was suggested that it had so numbed Riviere's fingers so that he couldn't feel the brake levers.[17] He said he had an injection of solucamphor and amphetamine before the start and swallowed several amphetamine tablets.[32] He said he was an addict who downed thousands of pills a year.
[edit]1962
The Wiel's-Groene Leeuw affair. At the stage from Luchon to Carcassonne of the 1962 Tour de France, twelve riders fell ill and said 'bad fish' was the cause. Tour doctor Pierre Dumas realized they had all been given the same drug by the same soigneur.[17] Hans Junkermann of Germany had been ill overnight so the start was delayed by 10 minutes, but at the first hill he got off his bike and sat by the roadside, telling onlookers "I ate bad fish at the hotel last night."[33] Eleven other riders abandoned the Tour that day, including the former leader, Willy Schroeders, the 1960 winner Gastone Nencini and a future leader, Karl-Heinz Kunde. Jacques Goddet wrote that he suspected doping but nothing was proven - other than that none of the hotels had served fish the previous night.
[edit]1964
France passed its first anti-doping law in November 1964[34]
[edit]1965
Jacques Anquetil of France never hid that he took drugs - a common practice at the time - and in a debate with a government minister on French television said that only a fool would imagine it was possible to ride Bordeaux–Paris on just water. He and other cyclists had to ride through "the cold, through heatwaves, in the rain and in the mountains", and they had the right to treat themselves as they wished, he said in a television interview, before adding: "Leave me in peace; everybody takes dope."[35] There was implied acceptance of doping right to the top of the state: the president, Charles de Gaulle, said of Anquetil: "Doping? What doping? Did he or did he not make them play the Marseillaise [the French national anthem] abroad?"[36] The veteran reporter Pierre Chany said: "Jacques had the strength - for which he was always criticised - to say out loud what others would only whisper. So, when I asked him 'What have you taken?' he didn't drop his eyes before replying. He had the strength of conviction."[37]
French amateurs André Bayssière and Charly Grosskost collapsed in the Tour de l'Avenir in July. They were banned when they confessed to using amphetamines.[17]
Peter Post of the Netherlands acknowledged that he had doped at the Tour de France.[38]
Luis Santamarina of Spain was disqualified from the Milk Race in Great Britain, as one of three competitors who were caught in the first official blood tests. (See below - Performance-enhancing drugs became illegal) Having won a stage which started at Scarborough and crossed Rosedale Chimney, riding ahead of the race on one of the race's hardest climbs. He rode into the back of a car parked beside the road as an official waited to time him. He remounted and won the stage and led the race. Two days later he and three others were disqualified for doping. The Spanish team went home.[39][40]
Performance-enhancing drugs became illegal on 1 June 1965. The first riders to be caught were three amateurs, two Spanish (Luis Santamarina) and one British, who were thrown out of the Milk Race when they tested positive for amphetamines after Professor Arnold Beckett first applied sensitive gas chromatographic techniques to monitor drug abuse.[2][17][39]
[edit]1966
On 29 July testing began at the Tour de France. Raymond Poulidor was the first rider to be tested in the Tour at the end of a stage to Bordeaux. He said "I was strolling down the corridor in ordinary clothes when I came across two guys who asked if I was a rider. They made me go into a room, I pissed into some bottles and they closed them without sealing them. Then they took my name, my date of birth, without asking for anything to check my identity. I could have been anyone, and they could have done anything they liked with the bottles."[41] Next morning, on the way to the Pyrenees the riders climbed off, began walking and shouting protests.[42]
[edit]1967
Tom Simpson of Great Britain died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the 1967 Tour de France. The post mortem found that he had taken amphetamines and alcohol, a diuretic combination which proved fatal when combined with the hot conditions, the notoriously hard climb of the Ventoux and a pre-existing stomach complaint. Investigators discovered more drugs in his hotel room at Sète and the pockets of his jersey[43][44]
Evert Dolman of the Netherlands, was stripped of his 1967 Dutch National Road Race Championship title because of doping.[45]
[edit]1969
Eddy Merckx of Belgium tested positive for the stimulant Reactivan at Savona during the 1969 Giro d'Italia, after leading the race through 16 stages. Merckx was found positive at doping control and expelled from the Giro. Merckx steadfastly denied the charges. The controversy began to swirl when his test results were not handled in the ordinary manner. The positive doping control was released to the press before all parties (Merckx and team officials) involved were notified.[46]
Joaquim Agostinho of Portugal tested positive in the Tour of Portugal.[47][48] He subsequently tested positive again in 1973,[47] and the Tour de France of 1977.[49]
[edit]1970s

[edit]1972
Jaime Huélamo of Spain finished third in the 1972 Summer Olympics men's individual road race but was later disqualified after he tested positive for coramine.[50][51]
Aad van den Hoek[52] of the Netherlands tested positive for Coramine at the Munich Olympics, a drug allowed by the International Cyclists' Union but not the IOC.[53][54][55]
[edit]1973
Eddy Merckx tested positive for a banned substance in the Giro di Lombardia classic. He was disqualified from first place. Runner-up Felice Gimondi was declared the winner.[56]
[edit]1974
In 1974, an advance in testing caught 13 prominent riders including Herman van Springel.
Roger Legeay of France tested positive for amphetamines at the Paris - Nice race.[57]
Claude Tollet of France tested positive for amphetamines at the Tour de France.[58]
[edit]1975
Bernard Thévenet of France won the 1975 Tour de France by using cortisone. In 1982, after retiring from racing, he said "I was doped with cortisone for three years and there were many like me. [...] The experience ruined my health".[59]
Erik de Vlaeminck of Belgium never failed a drugs test in his racing career, but he was treated after it for amphetamine addiction at a psychiatric institute. Many stories circulate about his reported wild behaviour after races and when he put his career on hold. When he returned to racing, the Belgian federation would offer him a licence for only a day at a time until it saw how his life would progress. He refuses to speak of this period of his life.
[edit]1976
Rachel Dard of France was reported to have raced across France to avoid a positive dope finding and then ended up in a row which exposed organised drug-taking in cycling in the 1970s.[60] Dard and a team-mate, Bourreau, were caught trying to defraud the doping control with a condom of untainted urine in their shorts to give the impression they were urinating.[61] A few weeks later Dard went to L'Équipe and spilled the inside story, including the prescriptions for dope that Bellocq, the team doctor, had given him.[62] He said riders treated with cortisone and steroids were now in "a pitiful state".[63]
In the 1976 Vuelta a España, Belgian cyclist Eric Jacques took over the lead in the eighth stage, but it was later revealed that he failed a doping test, and he was penalized by having ten minutes added to his total competition time.[64]
[edit]1977
Bernard Thévenet of France won the 1977 Tour de France with the aid of cortisone.[59]
Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands tested positive for Pemoline in the 1977 Tour de France, although Pemoline was a legal substance at that time. In the 1979 Tour de France he tested positive for 'hormones'.[65][66]
A Belgian doctor, Professor Michel Debackere, perfected a test for the detection of Pemoline, an amphetamine-like drug, and caught three of the biggest names in Belgium: Eddy Merckx, Freddy Maertens and Michel Pollentier.
[edit]1978
Michel Pollentier of Belgium was caught trying to cheat the drugs control with someone else's urine in a rubber bulb in his shorts after victory at Alpe d'Huez. He was ejected from the Tour. Ironically his own urine tested negative.[17] See Doping at the Tour de France - The Pollentier incident
José Nazabal of Spain anticipated a positive test at the Tour de France, and so left the race immediately after being tested. See Doping at the Tour de France - The Pollentier incident
Antoine Gutierrez of Spain caused doctor Le Calvez to be suspicious during a test, thus raising his jersey to reveal a system of tubes and a bottle of urine. See Doping at the Tour de France - The Pollentier incident
Gilbert Glaus of Switzerland, the World Amateur Champion, tested positive for steroids.
Jean-Luc van den Broucke of Belgium confessed that "In the Tour de France, I took steroids. That is not a stimulant, just a strengthener. If I hadn't, I would have had to give up. What do you think? I'm on the bike all year from February onwards, I have to do well in the classics in all the little races, and also in the Tour de France. On the first rest day, before we went into the Pyrenees, I had a first hormone injection. I had another one on the second day, at the start of the last week. You can't call that medically harmful, not if it's done under a doctor's control and within reason."[67] See Doping at the Tour de France - Steroids and allied drugs
[edit]1979
During the 1979 Tour de France, the leader of the mountains classification Giovanni Battaglin tested positive for doping in stage 13. He was penalized by 10 minutes in the general classification, lost the points that he earned in stage 13 and received 10 penalty points in the mountains classification.[68] Battaglin was still able to win the mountains classification.
Frans Van Looy and Gilbert Chaumaz also tested positive for doping during the Tour.[69] After the Tour de France had finished, Joop Zoetemelk was found to have used doping, which he confessed later. Zoetemelk was penalized by 10 minutes in the general classification, but kept his second place.[70]
[edit]1980s

[edit]1980
Vicente López Carril of Spain, died on 29 March 1980 aged 37 from a heart attack. His death was noted by Willy Voet in his book Massacre à la chaîne although he acknowledged the impossibility of proving the link between these early deaths and the drugs taken while racing.[71]
Freddy Maertens of Belgium, admitted to the French newspaper L'Équipe, after his retirement, that "like everyone else", he had used amphetamines in round-the-houses races but he insisted that he had ridden without drugs in important races - not least because he knew he would be tested for them.
Dietrich Thurau ("Didi") of Germany tested positive on 3 occasions in 1980 and again in 1987.[72][73] After he stopped his career in 1989, he admitted in an interview in Bild that he used doping, and that most cyclists did.[74]
[edit]1982
Maarten Ducrot was a Dutch professional road bicycle racer. In January 2000, on the Dutch TV-show Reporter, he admitted that he had used cortisone and testosterone, as well as Synacthen, "a very bad medicine", and he still regrets using it. Ducrot said he experimented with synacthen in 1982 when he was an amateur.[75]
Ángel Arroyo of Spain, received a penalty for testing positive for the stimulant Methylphenidate (Ritalin) on stage 17 of the 1982 Vuelta a España.[76] Three other riders also failed the doping test after stage 17 for the same drug: Alberto Fernández, Vicente Belda and Pedro Muñoz Machín Rodríguez.[76] Methylphenidate was a popular performance-enhancing drug in cycling at that time. Arroyo and his team denied the allegations and asked for a second analysis of the sample. The B analysis confirmed the first positive test.[76] Arroyo was assigned a 10 minute penalty and stripped of his Vuelta win which was given to Marino Lejarreta. With the 10 minute penalty Arroyo went down to 13th place in the overall classification.[77] The disqualification of the winner of the Vuelta has been called the worst scandal that has ever hit the race on the official La Vuelta website.[76]
Marc Demeyer of Belgium died on 20 January 1982, aged 31 from a heart attack. His death was noted by Willy Voet in his book Massacre à la chaîne although he acknowledged the impossibility of proving the link between these early deaths and the drugs taken while racing.[71]
Michel Pollentier of Belgium tested positive on stage 17 of the 1982 Vuelta a España for the stimulant Methylphenidate (Ritalin).[76]
Steven Rooks was a Dutch cyclist whose professional career ran from 1982–95. On the Dutch TV-show Reporter in 2000, Rooks admitted (together with Maarten Ducrot and Peter Winnen) that they had doped in their careers. Rooks said he used testosterone and amphetamines during his whole 13 year career.[78]
Willy Voet wrote about Bert Oosterbosch riding the 1982 Grand Prix des Nations in his 2002 book Massacre à la Chaîne ("Breaking The Chain"). Oosterbosch was flat from the start due to the Synacten he had taken. The drugs initially blocked his ability to work hard. An hour after the injection it started working as planned and his tempo increased.[79] Note - Voet may have been referring to the 1979 or 1984 events.[80]
[edit]1983
Adri van der Poel the Dutch world cyclocross champion and Tour de France stage winner tested positive for strychnine. He said that his father-in-law, had served a pigeon pie for Sunday lunch, and only when he tested positive did he realise that the pigeons had been doped with strychnine.[81][82][83]
[edit]1984
Francesco Moser of Italy broke the hour record of Eddy Merckx in 1984. In 1999, he admitted blood doping to prepare for the attempt, helped by sports doctor Francesco Conconi. Such doping had not been declared illegal at the time.
John Beckman, Brent Emery, Steve Hegg, Pat McDonough, Leonard Nitz, Rebecca Twigg and Mark Whitehead of the U.S. admitted to receiving blood transfusions in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.[84] (See Systematic Blood Doping below for details) The practice was not against Olympic rules although Games medical guidelines discouraged it. The U.S. team coach Eddie Borysewicz set up a clinic in motel room.[85] The US federation banned blood-doping in January 1985.[86]
Systematic blood doping at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The U.S. cycling team's successes were coloured by revelations that riders had blood transfusions before their events, a practice known as blood-doping. The transfusions were to increase red blood cells in riders' blood. That would take more oxygen to their muscles. They received the blood of others with similar blood types.[84] The practice, instigated by national coach Eddie Borysewicz, was not against Olympic rules although Games medical guidelines discouraged it. Borysewicz and a colleague, Ed Burke, set up a clinic in a Los Angeles motel room and four of the seven athletes who had transfusions won medals.[85] The U.S. federation banned blood-doping in January 1985. Borysewicz and Burke were fined a month's pay. Mike Fraysse, a former president of the federation, was demoted from first to third vice-president.[86]
Steve Hegg, won a gold and a silver; Rebecca Twigg, Pat McDonough and Leonard Nitz won silver medals. The others were John Beckman, Mark Whitehead and Brent Emery. They were identified in the subsequent inquiry as having had transfusions. The rest of the team had refused.[84]
[edit]1986
Peter Winnen is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. He was professional from 1980 until 1991. In January 2000, on the Dutch TV-show Reporter, Winnen admitted that he had doped. He came third in the 1983 Tour de France (undoped) but he said that in the 1986 Tour de France "I was very bad and had the choice: go back to home or to provide me with testosterone." - Winnen reached Paris. During his career with Raleigh, Panasonic and Buckler, Winnen used testosterone, amphetamines and corticosteroids.[78]
[edit]1987
Kim Andersen of Denmark tested positive for doping in 1987, and was banned for life, a sentence that was later changed to a one year quarantine. In 1992 he was tested positive again, and fired from his team. He rode as an individual for the rest of the year, before finally retiring.[87]
[edit]1988
Pedro Delgado of Spain tested positive for probenecid at the 1988 Tour de France. Probenicid interferes with chemicals which the kidneys secrete, and thus aroused a suspicion that he was using it as a masking agent for steroid use. Though other sports governing bodies, such as the IOC, recognized probenecid as a doping agent, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which oversaw cycling, did not, and thus Delgado was allowed to continue in the event without sanction.[88]
Gert-Jan Theunisse of the Netherlands tested positive for testosterone during the Tour de France and received a ten-minute penalty which moved him from fourth to eleventh place overall.[89] He admitted in 2000 to using illegal substances during his career, according to an interview published by the Dutch regional newspaper Dutch "Eindhovens Dagblad". He confessed "to having used a great deal of Celestone", a corticoid, but he denied to having taken testosterone.[90]
Geert Van de Walle of Belgium died on 26 November 1988, aged 22, from a heart attack. His death was noted by Willy Voet in his book Massacre à la chaîne although he acknowledged the impossibility of proving the link between these early deaths and the drugs taken while racing.[71]
In 1988, the first rider was banned for using EPO.[91]
The emergence of EPO - In the late 1980s a recombinant drug created for people suffering from kidney failure became a substance abused by athletes seeking enhanced stamina and performance. The drug is recombinant erythropoietin, known as EPO, which was developed by the Amgen company. Recombinant EPO is a bio-manufactured copy of a hormone normally produced in the kidney and was not detectable by any test at the time.[92]
EPO stimulates the bone marrow in order to increase red blood cell production and thus the body's ability to carry oxygen. A study of 15 Swedish athletes by the Stockholm Institute of Gymnastics and Sports found an improvement of nearly 10 percent in aerobic performance. "Average" red blood cell volume of the population at sea level is about 45% red blood cells. About 5% of the population has less than 40% red blood cell, which is defined as "anemia" and 5% of the population, including many world class athletes, have a natural red blood cells volume of 50%... 1% of the population has 54% red blood cell volume.
The increased thickness of the blood (above 70% red blood cells) increases the risk of blood clotting which can block blood vessels causing a heart attack or stroke, especially in the middle of the night when the heart's rate is lowest. Doctors and blood specialists concluded that the drug could have been implicated in the deaths of as many as 18 European professional bicycle racers between 1987 and 1991. One of them was Johannes Draaijer, a 27-year-old Dutch rider who finished 130th in the 1989 Tour de France.[92] Although the autopsy did not specify the cause of death Draaijer's wife later told the German news magazine Der Spiegel that her husband became sick after using EPO.[93]
[edit]1989
Laurent Fignon of France tested positive for amphetamines at the Grand Prix de la Liberation in Eindhoven on 17 September 1989.[94][95]
Bert Oosterbosch of the Netherlands died on 18 August 1989, aged 32, from a heart attack and poor health. His death was noted by Willy Voet in his book Massacre à la chaîne (translated as "Breaking the Chain") although he acknowledged the impossibility of proving the link between these early deaths and the drugs taken while racing.[71] It is widely presumed, but not proven, that the death is attributable to EPO use[96][97] but this is disputed.[98] Voet also talked about Oosterbosch riding the 1982 Grand Prix des Nations. Oosterbosch was flat from the start due to the Synacten he had taken. The drugs initially blocked his ability to work hard. An hour after the injection it started working as planned and his tempo increased.[79] In fact, Voet may have been referring to the 1979 or 1984 events.[80]
Johan van der Velde of the Netherlands undertook hospital treatment for his addiction to amphetamines at the end of his career. He said in an interview with the author Jan Siebelink ("Pijn is genot") that he had trouble coping when that success began to dry up. Van der Velde said he remembered shivering at the start of an Italian race, the skin of his arms wrinkled in goosebumps, because of the amphetamine he had taken just to start. He was also disqualified from the 1981 Liège–Bastogne–Liège race.[99]
Sean Yates tested positive in the first stage of Torhout-Werchter.[100]
[edit]1990s

[edit]1990
Johannes Draaijer from the Netherlands. It is widely presumed, but not proven, that his death was attributable to EPO use.[92][96] The autopsy did not specify the cause of death, but Draaijer's wife later told the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, that her husband became sick after using EPO.[93]
Belgian Nico Emonds tested positive after winning the third stage of the 1990 Vuelta a España. He was stripped from his victory and set to the last place of the stage.[101]
The PDM Affair, In November 1997, Cyclingnews.com reported about an inquiry that had just been made public in The Netherlands.[102] This inquiry appeared to reveal doping in the PDM cycling team. The doctor of the team from between 1990 and 1991 was Wim Sanders who was the centre of the investigation which was reported to have been initiated when the General Manager of the team, Manfred Krikke, called the FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service) to investigate the medical business of the team. It was said that Wim Sanders supplied anabolic steroids and EPO to the team and was responsible for the ‘intralipid affair’ of the 1991 Tour de France,[102] when the entire team withdrew due to what was reported at the time as food poisoning.[103] In a 2008 TV documentary;[104] team members and team doctor Wim Sanders explain how the cause was in fact careless storage of Intralipid, a nutritional aid with which the team members had been injected.[105]
According to cyclingnews.com, 1990 was the height of the drug taking in the team and during this year, two riders had to stop with acute heart problems;[102] whether this refers to stopping with professional cycling or performance enhancing drugs is unclear. Team manager Gisbers denied any knowledge of doping in the team.[105]
[edit]1991
Carey Hall, the Australian track cyclist, tested positive for the use of banned substances and lost the medal he won in the World Championship at Stuttgart and placed on probation for 6 months.[106]
Sean Kelly of Ireland was described in Willy Voet's book 'Massacre à la Chaine': He won the Tour of Lombardy three times (1983, 1985, 1991 (also won amateur version in 1976)) and on at least one occasion he did it with the help of a corticoide injection. Kelly was controlled positive after Paris–Brussels in 1984 and that came as a surprise because he used the urine of a mechanic. But the mechanic was using a banned substance himself because he had to work long hours at night and needed the lift to stay awake."[107]
Stephen Pate, the Australian track cyclist, tested positive for the use of banned substances and lost the medal he won in the World Championship at Stuttgart and placed on probation for 6 months.[106]
Jesper Skibby of Denmark released his autobiography in November 2006, in which he confessed[108] to having used doping for more than 10 years. In 1991 he started using steroids, in 1992 growth hormones and testosterone, and finally by 1993 he was also using EPO. He claimed that he requested the drugs himself, and he did not name any other riders or contacts in the book.
PDM. Some teams used sophisticated recovery techniques whereby riders were put on a drip during the night and fed nutrients such as Vitamin B12. This practice was blamed when the entire PDM team went down with a fever on the 10th Stage of the Tour de France. PDM management blamed a virus although only riders were infected. Ten days later a press release stated that the team had used recovery substances which were past their sell-by date.[17]
[edit]1992
Jesper Worre from Denmark tested positive for use of amineptine, a stimulant drug, which had been prohibited on 1 January that same year. He admitted the offence and received a conditional quarantine. He is now particularly known for his strong and uncompromising struggle against the use of doping in professional cycling.[109][110]
[edit]1993
Claudio Chiappucci from Italy, confessed in 1997 that he had used drugs from 1993–1995, but later retracted that statement.[111] Chiappucci used the practice of Doctor Conconi,[112] who was accused of applying EPO to cyclists.[113][114] Conconi was found 'morally guilty', but was acquitted, because the crime had aged.[115] The judge had looked at medical reports of 33 cyclists in the period 1993-1995, including Chiappucci's, and all blood tests showed largely fluctuating hematocrit-values, indicative for EPO-use.[116]
Lennie Kristensen from Denmark tested positive for a stimulant drug. The Danish Cycling organisation banned him but the UCI did not.[117]
Stephen Roche of Ireland. According to an investigation in Italy into the practices of Francesco Conconi, Roche was involved in the case, having received EPO in 1993[118] In May 1990, Paul Kimmage published Rough Ride exposing apparently endemic drug use in the peloton, and Roche threatened litigation. It was reported in the Rome newspaper, la Repubblica, in January 2000 that Francesco Conconi, a professor at the University of Ferrara involved with administering EPO to riders on the Carrera Jeans-Vagabond with which Roche had some of his best years, had provided riders including Roche with EPO. Roche denied the allegations.[119] This was further reported in the Irish Times several days later, Roche again denying EPO.[120] In March 2000 the Italian judge Franca Oliva published a report detailing the investigation into sports doctors including Conconi.[121] This official judicial investigation concluded that Roche was administered EPO in 1993, his last year in the peloton.[122] Files part of the investigation allegedly detail a number of aliases for Roche including Rocchi, Rossi, Rocca, Roncati, Righi and Rossini.[123] In 2004 Judge Oliva alleged that Roche had taken EPO during 1993 but due to the statute of limitations, neither Roche nor his team-mates at Carrera would be prosecuted.[124]
[edit]1994
Joachim Halupczok from Poland - died, aged 26, on 5 February 1994. In 1988 he was the World Champion cyclist, Olympic Silver medalist, and was voted 'best athlete in Poland'. In 1990 he turned professional and took part in the World Championships in Japan, but in autumn that year health problems (heart arrhythmia) caused his retirement from the sport, aged 24. It was suspected that the problems was associated with the abuse of drugs (EPO).[125][126] His death was also noted by disgraced soigneur Willy Voet in his book Massacre à la chaîne although he acknowledged the impossibility of proving the link between these early deaths and the drugs taken while racing.[71]
[edit]1995
Bo Hamburger from Denmark admitted taking EPO from 1995–1997 in his 2007 autobiography. He had vociferously denied taking banned substances throughout his active career.[127][128]
Marco Pantani of Italy recorded a haematocrit level of 60.1% in the Milan-Turin race in October.[17][129]
[edit]1996
Rolf Aldag of Germany admitted having used Erythropoietin (EPO) in preparation for the 1996 Tour de France on 24 May 2007. In the press conference with Erik Zabel they said that he experimented with EPO.[130][131]
Udo Bölts of Germany confessed publicly on 23 May 2007 to having used EPO and growth hormones in preparation for the Tour de France in 1996 when he was with Team T-Mobile, and continued in 1997. Consequentially Bölts resigned as the sports director of Team Gerolsteiner on 24 May 2007[132]
Bert Dietz of Germany confessed publicly on 23 May 2007 to having used EPO in preparation for the Tour de France in 1996 when he was with Team T-Mobile, and continued in 1997.[133][134][135]
Christian Henn of Germany used banned substances (including EPO) while riding for the T-Mobile team in the mid-1990s. He admitted this in May 2007.[136]
Brian Holm of Denmark admitted doping during the 1990s in his 2002 autobiography. This did not cost him his job as manager for the Danish national team, despite some concern about him being a role model for the young riders. In May 2007 he admitted having used erythropoietin (EPO) on two occasions in 1996 at Team Telekom.[130]
Levi Leipheimer of the United States used a banned substance as an amateur during the 1996 U.S. National Criterium Championships, when he lapped the field.[137] It was later reported by VeloNews[138] that Leipheimer tested positive for a banned substance after the Championship, and a disciplinary panel recommended that he return his title. The Leipheimer family confirmed the violation, claiming that Levi had innocently used the allergy medicine Claritin-D to relieve hay fever symptoms.[139] The family claim that USA Cycling later relaxed its standards regarding the use of allergy medicines, however Ephedrine remains a banned substance. USA Cycling's official records name Matt Johnson as the 1996 event's champion.[140]
Rita Razmaite of Lithuania tested positive for Bromantan. She was suspended, along with a Russian coach and a Belarussian doctor, by the International Olympic Committee.[141]
Bjarne Riis of Denmark won the 1996 Tour de France under the effects of EPO, growth hormone and cortisone. On 25 May 2007, he admitted "for a time doping was a part of everyday life for me".[142]
Filippo Simeoni of Italy admitted in 2002 that he was instructed by doctor Michele Ferrari in 1996 and 1997 on how to use the EPO and Human Growth Hormone that were prescribed. He also testified in court that he had used doping since 1993. Dr. Ferrari was also Lance Armstrong's doctor and this led to a public falling-out at the 2002 Tour de France.[143] In 2001 and 2002 Simeoni was suspended for several months for doping use.
Erik Zabel of Germany, on 24 May 2007, admitted having used Erythropoietin (EPO) in preparation for the 1996 Tour de France. In the press conference he said that he experimented with EPO for a week, but then stopped due to severe side effects. Zabel also publicly apologized for having lied about his use of EPO in the past.[130][131]
The Telekom Affair – In May 2007, several former riders admitted to using banned substances (including EPO) while riding for the team in the mid-1990s, including Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, Brian Holm,[136] Bjarne Riis,[144] Bert Dietz, Udo Bölts and Christian Henn including the seasons in which Riis and Jan Ullrich won the Tour de France.[133] Team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich also confessed to participating and administering banned substances. The latter was Team Telekom's sporting director until 3 May 2007, when he was suspended following allegations published in former team member Jef d'Hont's book.[145]
On 25 May 2007, Riis issued a statement confessing to taking EPO, growth hormone and cortisone for five years, from 1993 to 1998, including during his victory in the 1996 Tour de France.[146] Earlier in the week, five of Riis' former teammates from Team Telekom confessed to having used banned substances during the 1990s when Riis won the Tour.[147][148] Riis said that he bought and injected the EPO himself, and team coach Walter Godefroot turned a blind eye to the drug use on the team.[149] Riis removed from the official record books of Tour de France,[150] but in July 2008 he is written back into the books along with additional notes about his use of doping.
[edit]1997
Djamolidine Abdoujaparov from Uzbekistan became the first rider to be disqualified from the 1997 Tour de France for taking banned substances after testing positive for Bromantan[151][152] and the bronchodilator, Clenbuterol.[153][154] It was later revealed that he had tested positive for drugs after six races in 1997, including the Tour de France. He was subsequently banned for a year after the International Cycling Union (UCI) appealed against a six-month ban imposed by the Uzbekistan Cycling Federation, claiming it was too lenient.[155]
Gilles Bouvard of France admitted on 28 July 1998 that he had doped when with his former team Festina.
Brian Dalgaard Jensen of Denmark confessed in a DR TV documentary in March 2003, to using EPO during his career, especially during his 1997 success in Belgium. In 2004 he was awarded an anti-doping prize for his openness.[156]
Rune Jogert of Norway tested positive for Ephedrine during a stage race in Germany (the Berliner 4-Etappen-Fahrt). He was suspended for 2 months from 1 February 1998, fined 500 Swiss francs ($US345) and lost 15 UCI ranking points. Additionally the Norwegian Cycling Federation was fined 5,000 Swiss francs (about $US3,500) because it had not taken any action against Rune Jogert and not told the UCI.[157]
Emmanuel Magnien of France admitted on 28 July 1998 that he had doped when with his former team Festina.
Michael Skelde from Denmark tested positive for testosterone.[158]
[edit]1998
Laurent Brochard of France was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 24 July he confessed to using performance enhancing drugs. On 15 December 1998 he was suspended by the French Cycling Federation for six months.
Francesco Casagrande of Italy was caught in March 1998 with a positive testosterone finding. He was suspended for 6 months, later increased to 9 months, and sacked by Cofidis.[159]
Laurent Dufaux of Switzerland was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 24 July he confessed to using performance enhancing drugs.
Pascal Hervé of France was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 25 October 2000 he admitted to doping during the 1998 Tour de France.[160]
Luc Leblanc of France, the 1994 world champion, admitted to the court in the Festina trial he had used performance-enhancing erythropoetin (EPO) to prepare for the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Spanish Vuelta over the last six years (1992–1998). He took EPO in 1994 to compete in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. "It is true, but I could have taken a lot more to win these races", said Leblanc. He also insisted that his Rainbow Jersey was not won on illegal substances.[161][162]
Rodolfo Massi of Italy tested positive for Cortisone during the 1998 Tour de France and received a 6 month suspension from the Italian Cycling Federation. He was also fined around $US1800, thrown out of the Tour while wearing the Mountain's jersey and arrested by police. He was accused of being one of the drug dealers in the peloton.[163]
Armin Meier of Switzerland was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 24 July he confessed to using performance enhancing drugs.
Christophe Moreau of team Festina was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 24 July he confessed to using EPO.[164][165] Confessing alongside the other team members - except Richard Virenque - Moreau served a six-month suspension before returning to racing.[166] On 15 December 1998 he was suspended by the French Cycling Federation for six months.
Per Pedersen of Denmark who raced the Tour de France on four occasions and worked for Team CSC as a directeur sportif in 2001, confessed to taking substances that are now prohibited. "It concerned cortisone", he admitted in December 2006.[167][168]
Didier Rous of France was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 15 December 1998, he was suspended by the French Cycling Federation for six months.
Richard Virenque of France was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 24 October 2000, he admitted to doping at the 1998 Tour de France[169] but on 22 December 2000, he was cleared by the French court.[170] On December 30, 2000 the Swiss cycling federation gave him a nine-month ban and a 4,000 Swiss franc fine.[171]
Alex Zülle of Switzerland was ejected from the Tour de France on 17 July 1998 with the entire Festina team. On 24 July he confessed to using performance enhancing drugs. His hematacrit level was recorded as 52.3%, whereas the maximum allowed figure is 50%. He also stated in court that he has been employing EPO for four years, including during his time with ONCE.[172]
The Festina Affair is the events that surround several doping scandals, doping investigations and confessions of riders to doping that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a car of the Festina cycling team just before the start of the race which led to an investigation, this was followed by the re-opening of a separate case into the TVM team and a subsequent searching of many teams during the race. The affair highlighted systematic doping and suspicion of a widespread network of doping in many teams of the Tour de France and was characterised by the constant negative publicity of the case, police searches of hotels, a spate of confessions by retired and current riders to doping, the detainment and arrest of many team personnel, protests by riders in the race as well as mass withdrawal of several teams from the race.
[edit]1999
Uwe Ampler tested positive for steroids and high testosterone level during the Sachsen Tour in August 1999. He admitted his error, blaming a cocktail of drugs taken during a bout of influenza.[173]
Frankie Andreu admitted in September 2006 that he had taken EPO to help prepare for the 1999 Tour de France, when he was riding for the US Postal team.[174][175]
Lance Armstrong tested positive for corticoids during the 1999 Tour de France. The small amounts of corticoids in a urine sample were explained by the prescription for skin cream (saddle sores / boil / allergy) that he subsequently presented to the UCI, thus he was cleared of any offence. He later admitted that saddle sores were a cover story for actually doping.[176]
Ludo Dierckxsens was removed from the Tour de France by his Lampre team after winning the 11th stage. At the post race drugs test he told the race doctor about his use of the corticoid Synacthene (Tetracosactide) under prescription to treat a knee injury from the previous month.[177]
Claus Michael Møller of the Dutch TVM team tested positive for banned substances and received a 2 year ban[178]
Marco Pantani, winner of the 1998 Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, faced an automatic two-week suspension while leading the 1999 Giro d'Italia for a suspiciously high red blood cell count (52%) which could have meant that the rider had taken the banned substance EPO.[179] He died of a cocaine overdose in 2004.
Laurent Roux is a French former road bicycle racer. In 1999, he was found guilty of using amphetamines and was suspended for six months.[180] In 2002, he was tested non-negative for amphetamines after an out of competition control.[181] In 2006 he also confessed at a doping trial in Bordeaux that he used EPO, human growth hormone, cortisone and testosterone.[180]
1999 Tour de France - In 2005 the French sports daily L'Équipe accused Lance Armstrong of using the performance-enhancing drug EPO during 1999 Tour de France. For years, it had been impossible to detect the drug, called erythropoietin, until UCI began using a urine test for EPO in 2001. According to the newspaper, tests on 1999 urine samples were done to help scientists improve their detection methods. The newspaper said 12 samples had revealed EPO use, including six from Armstrong.[182][183] In 2006 a UCI appointed independent lawyer, Emile Vrijman, released a report in 2006 claiming that Lance Armstrong should be cleared of any suspicion surrounding the retrospective testing of the 1999 Tour de France. Vrijman denounced the manner in which the doping laboratory in Châtenay-Malabry carried out its research, claiming that there were too many procedural and chain of custody gaps.[184][185] The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rejected it, calling it defamatory to WADA and its officers and employees, as well as the accredited laboratory involved. In January 2013, Armstrong admitted doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey[186]
In 2005, French daily 'Le Journal du Dimanche' reported that Spanish rider Manuel Beltrán, Danish Bo Hamburger and Colombian Joaquim Castelblanco were suspected of being among those whose frozen urine samples reportedly tested positive.[187]
[edit]2000s

[edit]2000
Eugeni Berzin was prevented from starting the 2000 Giro d'Italia because of Haematocrit level (due to the use of EPO) above 50%[188][189]
Neil Campbell tested positive at a World Cup track meeting in Turin on 13 July and at the British Championships on 29 July. Both samples showed higher concentrations of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) than permitted.[190]
Jan Hruška from the Czech Republic was thrown out of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games after testing positive for an unspecified banned substance.[191]
Emmanuel Magnien of France was banned for three months by the International Cycling Union (UCI) after testing positive for corticoids during Tour de France.[191][192]
Tammy Thomas, US track cyclist, tested positive for testosterone at the 2000 US Olympic trials, and in 2001 tested positive for a previously unseen steroid Norbolethone. She received a lifetime ban from the sport.[193] She was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of home confinement.[194]
[edit]2001
Niklas Axelsson tested positive for EPO in the 2001 UCI Road World Championships in Lisbon and later admitted his guilt.[195] He was suspended for four years by the Swedish Cycling Federation but made an early comeback in 2004.
Riccardo Forconi tested positive for blood doping/EPO use prior to the Giro d'Italia.[196]
Dario Frigo was expelled from the Giro d'Italia after police discovered banned substances in his hotel room.[197][198] In 2005 he was arrested and banned from the Tour de France after police found 10 doses of erythropoietin (EPO) in his wife's car.[199]
Marcin Gębka of Poland was excluded from the 2001 Peace Race after failing a hematocrit test prior to the event. He was one of three riders for the Polish CCC Mat team who received a two-week ban.[200]
Bjoern Glasner of Germany and Team Cologne was excluded from the 2001 Peace Race after failing a hematocrit test prior to the event. He received a two-week ban.[200]
Bo Hamburger becomes the first rider to test positive for EPO under a new system introduced by the UCI in 2001. Hamburger was later acquitted by the Danish Sports Federation after irregularities in the handling of Hamburger's B sample analysis.[201] Hamburger denied ever taking any banned substances, but in 2007 he published a book and revealed that he took EPO from 1995 to 1997.[202]
Pascal Hervé tested positive for EPO after the prologue in 2001 Giro d'Italia.
Roland Meier from Switzerland tested positive for EPO at the end of la Flèche Wallonne on April 18. The Swiss Cycling Federation (SRB) stated that the B sample 'counter-evaulation' was carried out by the IUML (University Institute of Forensic medicine) in Lausanne and it confirmed the first analysis.[203] He was suspended for 8 months by the SRB.[204]
Marco Pantani was banned for six months after an insulin syringe was found in his room at the Giro d'Italia. On appeal the ban was lifted.[205][206]
Piotr Przydzial of Poland was excluded from the 2001 Peace Race after failing a hematocrit test prior to the event. He was one of three riders for the Polish CCC Mat team who received a two-week ban.[200]
Ondřej Sosenka of the Czech Republic was excluded from the 2001 Peace Race after failing a hematocrit test prior to the event. He was one of three riders for the Polish CCC Mat team who received a two-week ban.[200][207]
Tammy Thomas, US track cyclist, tested positive for a previously unseen steroid Norbolethone. She received a lifetime ban from the sport.[193]
2001 Giro d'Italia - The Giro was overshadowed by a series of scandals related to doping. Police raided the hotels of several teams during the race, uncovering a variety of banned substances. Italian Dario Frigo, who was fighting for the race lead at the time, was expelled from the race as a result.[208] The week prior to the raid saw Pascal Hervé and Riccardo Forconi expelled from the race after testing positive for EPO. Italian police carried out anti-drugs raids on a number of hotels in the town of San Remo where the participants of the race were staying. About 200 officers were involved in the raid. Police officers search the rooms of riders from all 20 teams, confiscating medicines. The organizers decided to cancel the 18th stage after second-placed Dario Frigo was sacked by Fassa Bortolo team after illegal drugs were found in his room. Frigo later admitted carrying them as security in case he needed a boost during the final stages of the race. Italian Marco Pantani was banned for six months after an insulin syringe was found in his room. On appeal the ban was lifted.[209]
[edit]2002
Nicola Chesini was detained by Italian police as part of an investigation into the supply of performance-enhancing drugs during the 2002 Giro d'Italia. Chesini was taken from his hotel near Cuneo after the fifth stage of the Giro d'Italia.[210]
Stefano Garzelli, the 2000 Giro d'Italia winner, tested positive for the banned diuretic and masking agent probenecid, and was expelled from the Giro d'Italia. He was given a nine-month ban.[211][212]
Jef D'hont was a masseur to professional cycling teams. In 1998, he was involved in a major doping scandal during the Tour de France, namely the Festina affair. For his involvement in doping in the Française des Jeux team, he got a 9-month prison term on probation in December 2000. In April 2007, he exposed the doping practices of the Team Telekom in the 1990s, and admitted his own use of amphetamines in 1963.[213][214]
David McCann, from Northern Ireland, tested positive for the Norandrosterone in 2002 during the Tour of Austria, which returned a reading 3 nanograms above the permitted blood concentration of the substance. Laboratory tests showed the presence of a legal glutamine supplement he was using contained norandrosterone not listed on the label. This evidence led to him being given the minimum allowed six-month suspension and fined 2000 Swiss Francs.
In 2002, Gianpaolo Mondini was sacked from US Postal after it was revealed that police found EPO and growth hormones in his hotel room during the 2001 Giro d'Italia. He admitted using illegal substances.[215] The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) demanded suspension of up to four and a half years for possession and use of the drug EPO and possession of insulin.[216]
Lars Brian Nielsen tested positive for high levels of caffeine and was removed from the Danish National Team for the World Championships in Ballerup in September.[217][218] It was the second time Nielsen has been caught relating to doping. In 1997, he was found to have taken nandrolone and was suspended for two years.[218]
Kirk O'Bee of the US tested positive for an elevated testosterone-epitestosterone ratio at the 2001 USPRO Championships in Philadelphia on 10 June 2001 and received a 1 year suspension.[219] O'Bee declared that his positive drug test "resulted from a special training regimen recommended by his coach, which involved dietary supplements and exercise."[220]
Juan Pineda of the US tested positive for 19-norandrosterone and 19-noretiocholanolone at the First Union Invitational in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on 4 June 2002. He received a 2 year suspension on 25 September 2002 from the USADA.[221][222]
Piotr Przydzial from Poland (CCC-Polsat) tested "non-negative" for EPO, at the 55th Peace Race/Course de la Paix in the Czech Republic. He was tested after the fourth stage that finished in Chemnitz on 13 May 2002. Both Przydzial's A and B samples showed signs of EPO and he faced a two-year ban. Prior to the start of the 2001 Peace Race, Przydzial and Sosenka failed a hematocrit test (above 50%) and were not allowed to start.[223]
Raimondas Rumsas was given a four-month suspended prison sentence in January 2006 by the Bonneville court for the importation of prohibited doping substances during the 2002 Tour de France where he finished third. His wife Edita was given the same sentence with a 3,000 euros fine on identical charges, while Polish doctor Krzysztof Ficek was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for prescribing the drugs.[224] Edita Rumsas was arrested and jailed for 3 months after French police discovered a cocktail of performance-enhancing drugs including growth hormone and EPO in her car. She had claimed that the drugs were for her mother-in-law.[225][226]
Stefan Rütimann of Switzerland was given a 4-year ban by the Swiss Olympic Committee (COS) after testing positive for testosterone on May 5 during the Tour de Romandie. Rütimann declined to have his B test analysed, and was given a heavy suspension as he had also tested positive for banned substances in May 2001, when he was suspended for seven months.[227]
Roberto Sgambelluri was expelled from the Giro d'Italia after becoming the first professional cyclist to be caught using NESP, a stronger and longer lasting form of EPO. However, NESP is not produced naturally by the body, and is therefore easy to detect by doping tests as it stays in the body for a long time.[228]
Gilberto Simoni, the 2001 Giro d'Italia winner, tested positive for cocaine and was withdrawn from the Giro d'Italia, but was later cleared by the Italian Cycling Federation.[211]
Frank Vandenbroucke was arrested after the Belgium state highway patrol intercepted Bernard Sainz for travelling in excess of the speed limit and found a large quantity of amphetamines and syringes in the car. Sainz, known in the cycling world as Doctor Mabuse, said he was leaving Frank Vandenbroucke's home, which led to the police searching the cyclist's residence, where they found EPO, morphine and clenbuterol.[229] On 21 March Vandenbroucke was handed a six-month ban and a 10,000 Swiss francs fine by the Belgian federation.[230][231]
Faat Zakirov was expelled from the Giro d'Italia after becoming the first professional cyclist to be caught using NESP, a stronger and longer lasting form of EPO. However, NESP is not produced naturally by the body, and is therefore easy to detect by doping tests as it stays in the body for a long time.[232][233][234] He received a one-year ban plus a one-year suspended ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on 17 April 2003.[235]
[edit]2003
Mario De Clercq of Belgium was implicated in a doping affair involving both trafficking and taking banned performance-enhancing drugs, human growth hormone and Aranesp, a genetically engineered recombinant EPO. The ring included six riders plus four others including the chief defendant, Belgian veterinarian Jose Landuyt. De Clercq used human growth hormone and Aranesp, a synthetic drug which increases red blood cell levels, which Museeuw obtained from Landuyt. On 24 January 2007, Museeuw confessed to these charges.[236] The court proceedings were adjourned until 23 September 2008, pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the point of law.[237]
Igor González de Galdeano of Spain missed the Tour de France because of a six-month doping ban imposed on him by France's Council for Prevention and Fight against Doping (CPLD) after testing positive for Salbutamol during the 2002 Tour de France, as well after the final stage of the 2002 Midi Libre.[238][239] The UCI did not consider the Tour de France positive as a doping offense, and began a face-off with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which insisted the case was indeed one of doping. The UCI declared that there was no limit placed on the amount salbuamol used under prescription.[240]
Philippe Gaumont of France admitted during police interrogation to an ongoing pattern of EPO use that continued into the 2003 Tour de France[241] This was the end of a career in which in 1996 he tested positive for nandrolone in two races. In 1998 he tested positive twice for the nandrolone drug, but the case was dismissed. In 1999, a blood test conducted in the "Docteur Mabuse" justice case showed he was positive for amphetamines. In 2005 he wrote a book, Prisonnier du dopage ("Prisoner of doping") describing doping methods, masking methods and financial pressures.[242]
Geneviève Jeanson of Canada recorded a hematocrit level in excess of the allowable limit while with the Canadian National Team preparing for the World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, in late 2003. She was required to withdraw from competition for two weeks. She explained the finding by reference to an oxygen tent which she used as part of her conditioning and training program. After years of denial, in an investigative documentary broadcast on Radio-Canada (the French-language CBC) on 20 September 2007, Jeanson acknowledged having taken EPO more or less continuously since age 16 (circa 1998).[243][244]
Jesús Manzano of Spain admitted doping during the 2003 season. The UCI summary of 'Decisions on Anti-Doping Rule Violations made in 2007' stated that he was "Acquitted for legal reasons."[245] He is famous as the whistleblower of systematic doping in Spanish cycling and his statements led the Guardia Civil to conduct the Operación Puerto investigation around the sport doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Johan Museeuw of Belgium was implicated in a doping affair accusing him of both trafficking and taking banned performance-enhancing drugs. The ring included six riders (Mario De Clercq, Jo Planckaert and Chris Peers) plus four others including the chief defendant, Belgian veterinarian Jose Landuyt. Museeuw used human growth hormone which he obtained from Landuyt. The police recorded phone calls where Museeuw spoke of wasps (the Dutch word wesp rhymes with aranesp), a codeword for Aranesp, a synthetic drug which increases red blood cell levels. On 24 January 2007, Museeuw confessed to these charges.[236] The court proceedings were adjourned until 23 September 2008, pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the point of law.[237]
Scott Moninger of the US was suspended for one year due to contaminated supplements which contained the banned substance - 19-norandrosterone. These supplements were bought off the shelf of the local Boulder, Colorado supplement store. It was later proven by lab results from the same batch of supplements that the banned substance was not labeled on the product container. Although Moninger was suspended, he is considered to be a clean rider by his peers.[246][247][248]
Amber Neben of the US tested positive for the banned substance 19-norandrosterone after the Montreal World Cup race. Neben chose to appeal the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and, in the meantime, accepted a provisional suspension which began in mid-July 2003. She claimed that it was the result of taking supplements which were contaminated with the banned substance. A formal hearing of the North American CAS Panel reported in October 2003, that a doping violation had occurred, but further stated that it was not an intentional doping violation. She was suspended for 6 months from any race activity dating back to the beginning of her voluntary withdrawal.

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Jan 20, 2013 - 10:47pm PT

Well thats way too long to read HK, but if you include battle as physical competition (and I don't believe competition gets more fierce than that) then doping has been going on for millennia.

Does anybody remember Dana Carvey in the "all drug Olympics" skit on SNL?

Peter Haan

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Jan 21, 2013 - 02:11am PT

Here it is. Our very own Jim Herrington (photographer) saw through this freakish man years ago:

from his site, jimherrington.com

mcreel

climber

Barcelona

Jan 21, 2013 - 05:28am PT

I think the best treatment for Lance would be to simply ignore him. I for one don't give a sh#t for whatever he tells Oprah. The Tour and the other big comps could probably use the same treatment for a few years, to convince them that the big bucks will leave if they don't get their act together. Why should cyclists make more money than climbers, anyway?

Bad Climber

climber

Jan 21, 2013 - 09:31am PT

It's certainly bad enough that LA doped, but it's the incredibly nasty treatment of so many people--including is wife--that makes this dude extra bad. In that list of dopers, I was sad, but it guess not surprised, to see Merckx. Oh, well, another hero bites the dust!

I don't know if any of the participants are dopers (unlikely), but I really enjoyed the documentary "Ride the Divide," about the Great Divide Mtn. Bike Race. What a cool, non-commercial, desperate event. Made me want to do it!

Check it out on Netflix streaming.

BAd

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 21, 2013 - 08:35pm PT

at least the dude is hot.

weezy

climber

Jan 21, 2013 - 08:50pm PT

FRUMY

Trad climber

SHERMAN OAKS,CA

Jan 21, 2013 - 09:15pm PT

I find this funny coming from climbers who dope at the drop of a hat.
I have no problem calling him out for being what he is an a_shole, but a pro athlete doping please grow up.

By the way if you have never seen Dock Ellis talking about pitching a no hitter on LSD, check it out on-line. Too f_king funny.

Heyzeus

climber

Hollywood,Ca

Jan 21, 2013 - 09:21pm PT

Toadgas, that made me laugh!

Patrick Sawyer

climber

Originally California now Ireland

Jan 21, 2013 - 09:33pm PT

Aren't we flogging a dead horse.

What don't some of you get it, he deliberately ruined people's careers and reputations for fortune and fame. He hurt people.

Why in the world would you idolize this guy.

Leave it be. He's a cheat and a creep. And a user.

HE HURT OTHER PEOPLE. To hell with his Livestrong, that was good PR, and perhaps helped some cancer sufferers, but it was for his image, and he deliberately hurt people.

And did his drug doping cause his cancer? I don't know.

But the guy has far money than I ever will, most of it from cheating and doping.

Money that could do a lot of people good.

Duh, 2+2=5

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 21, 2013 - 09:39pm PT

people need to stop being jealous.

If there was some underhand way to rise to the top, any one of you scumbags would take it in a heartbeat.

holding people up to some standard of honesty and integrity and justice is unrealistic and frankly, not an accurate reflection of human nature.

rottingjohnny

Sport climber

mammoth lakes ca

Jan 21, 2013 - 09:44pm PT

Hardman...So you are saying there was never any drug abuse before Lance...? I catch your drift..RJ

Kalimon

Trad climber

Ridgway, CO

Jan 21, 2013 - 10:29pm PT

No doubt! Get a grip folks . . . we are lied to everyday, our very nation is founded on lies and deceit. What are we to make of this reality?

Lance is just another pawn in the game . . . why don't you all ride the Tour de France and place, let alone drag your sorry asses across the finish line in Paris, then get back to me with your blaring self righteousness.

rottingjohnny

Sport climber

mammoth lakes ca

Jan 22, 2013 - 12:18am PT

The peak of absurdity was Sean Kelly getting popped after using his team mechanic's urine...The mechanic was using a stimulant to stay ahead of the repairs...stupid irish...Ooops....sorry patrick...RJ

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Jan 22, 2013 - 12:21am PT

RJ, Patrick? Be afraid. Be very afraid. There could be tiny footsteps about.

Edit: Because I like you I'll just say that if you hear the Little Ones giggling it's already too late.

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 12:47am PT

No doubt! Get a grip folks . . . we are lied to everyday, our very nation is founded on lies and deceit. What are we to make of this reality?

yea. I think even Steve Jobs was known as a liar to get what he wants even to the point of believing his own lies with fervor. People need to stop viewing "lying" as a "bad" thing.

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 12:50am PT

That's the most retarded, self exposing mumble jumble I've heard in a long time.

the most retarded mumble jumble I've heard is the words and concepts and guiding principles that stem from the umbrella known as morality.

Degaine

climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 03:44am PT

Patrick Sawyer wrote:

Hi Patrick,

There aren't very many posters (if any) in this thread and the other Lance Armstrong thread idolizing the guy. And those who do have a few positive things to write certainly aren't idolizing him.

What most of us are writing (or at least me in any case) is that it's odd and disingenuous to crucify Lance but to give other riders and the system a pass. It's not one bad apple, it's the whole sport at a professional level.

This is a witch hunt in order to sweep everything else under the rug, and as usual the UCI and all the sponsors are hoping that the general public will look left (read pay attention to Lance) while they continue to doing what they've always been doing on the right.

Singling out Lance is like singling out Lt. Calley at My Lai, or Lynndie England at Abu Ghraib instead of going to the source much higher up. Plenty of people (including Landis and Hamilton), especially in the US, were plenty happy to make money off Lance when there was the appearance of him being clean, and now they're pointing fingers as if they never knew and had nothing to do with encouraging and condoning the us of PEDs.

Pointing the finger only at Lance is the flip side of the hero worship and idolizing that you are criticizing.

Degaine

climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 03:53am PT

PTC wrote:

people need to stop being jealous.

Where on earth did you get the idea that anyone posting on the Lance Armstrong thread's was jealous?

PTC wrote:

If there was some underhand way to rise to the top, any one of you scumbags would take it in a heartbeat.

Wow, you don't even know me and you're referring to me as a scumbag. You sure you're not just projecting?

I had the opportunity to "rise to the top" so to speak in the pharmaceutical industry, when they started asking me to lie, I quit.

PTC wrote:

holding people up to some standard of honesty and integrity and justice is unrealistic and frankly, not an accurate reflection of human nature.

I half agree, at least with the first part of your sentence. It is indeed unrealistic to, on the one hand, hold cyclists (I use cyclists as an example since this is a Lance Armstrong thread) to a high standard of honesty and integrity on the one hand, and then on the other hand, tell them that their livelihood depends on them accomplishing feats of strength and endurance that require them to cheat.

The accurate reflection of human nature, in my humble experience, is to "do the right thing" in general, but when backed into a corner, the fight or flight instinct for survival will take precedence over the notion of doing the right thing. To be a bit redundant, in the case of cycling, "survival" (read livelihood) was threatened if they did not take drugs.

I don't think it's unrealistic to hold modern society to such high standards. But it's a Maslow's pyramid sort of situation.

slayton

Trad climber

Here and There

Jan 22, 2013 - 05:50am PT

For the sake of clarity, I don't give a sh#t about professional cycling or any other professional sport. Don't much watch em and don't really care. Except inasmuch as I know that many, many others do watch and care, in particular younger, impressionable minds who might be looking up to individuals in these sports as heroes and role models.

I find it truly amazing that professional athletes make incomes as large as they do while providing society with nothing more than entertainment to the masses or perhaps hope to individuals that maybe they can do the same. Incomes of magnitudes higher than teachers, firemen, policemen, or any other profession that is actually contributing to society in a tangible way. Any number of "entertainment" professions could be lumped into the same bucket. It seems that these are our gladiatorial games to keep us pacified but I assign no higher ups or conspiracy to do so. It's all us. I think maybe it's because of human nature that we look outside of ourselves and mundane existence to find some kind of common ground with others, some kind of excitement beyond our daily lives. Thus professional sports, movies, music, and celebrity that so many seem to obsess about. Are they really worth that much?

Lance Armstrong, with all the hoopla and the Oprah interview is the name of the day. Most of the general public now following all of this, myself included, probably don't know much about the inter workings of the professional cycling industry. Reading this thread and reading much elsewhere it's obvious that particular sport has some serious issues to be worked out with regards to performance enhancement drugs. What's new? Same can be said of many, if not most, professional (and collegiate?) sports.

Lance Armstrong f*#ked up by doping, as so many others did in the cycling circuit and the overall culture of that sport needs to be examined and rectified by those involved. My major beef in all of this is that knowing that he had doped in the first place he not only went on to lie about it he went on to pursue, vilify, attack, and sue those that knew the truth and called him out on it. He might be a scapegoat for the cycling world but that's not mutually exclusive from being an as#@&%e.

And no, I'm not jealous. It's sad enough that, for whatever reason, our society places more value on entertainers than those who actually contribute. Society isn't and shouldn't be a race to the bottom. Not everyone sees the world and human nature as Part Time Communist does. We're not all out to step on each other for personal gain no matter what. The ends sometimes don't justify the means.

apinguat

Trad climber

kingfield, me

Jan 22, 2013 - 06:25am PT

wow
consider yourself deleted and blocked on facebook.

my best friends wouldn't step on a spider to get ahead -. whatever "ahead" means in the second place..

this country really is producing some POS's - you can be proud of yourself America

While we would all like to think we would be better, chances are very few of us have what it takes to make the most difficult and/or self sacrificing decisions. While you and the chief will scoff at this, tell me why so few involved in cycling stepped up to stop this? And cycling is one, mean nothing, simple example of human weakness.

I feel like a good number of dramatic posts about character are either naive youth feeling assured you "have it" or some old fart on the couch looking back thinking "I had it". Neither truly tested.

Patrick Sawyer

climber

Originally California now Ireland

Jan 22, 2013 - 06:42am PT

Degaine, I hear what you are saying.

But did those other cheats go out of their way to hurt the reputation and pocketbooks of people like Armstrong did?

My point is this, perhaps through Lifestrong, LA did people some good, but he also stepped on people. Question: when does the bad negate the good?

And PTC, I have had in my career the opportunity to step on people to advance and I NEVER have. My mom taught me values.

I am no angel or saint. Just a human trying to take care of my partner, and when she (dementia) throws a wobbly at times, she sometimes calls me a scumbag, like you called a lot of us in your post.

Back in 2003, I was doing shift work on the news desk at the then Ireland on Sunday. The editor told me to interview a certain political activist (now an independent TD). He told me to "stitch" this guy up. I have never ever stitched anybody up.

I interviewed the guy and submitted my article, which was as objective as can be. The editor changed my copy to his liking, stitching the guy up, and well, stitching me up since my byline was on the article.

Lance Armstrong stitched people up. Now PTC, you tell me that is right.

thirsty

climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 10:03am PT

The arguments over how to eliminate cheating from sports or wether to just allow people to use whatever supplements they like seem way off the mark in terms of where the actual illness lies. THe perversion is professionalism and the idea that paying to watch someone play a game is a good idea. Even in amateur competition you will have some cheating, but because there is no money involved, its just a matter of honor and who you want to play with.

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 10:40am PT

I had the opportunity to "rise to the top" so to speak in the pharmaceutical industry,

there is a big difference between taking the next "stepping stone" in career advancement and mandatory day to day life and $75 million.

LOL

nutjob

Sport climber

Almost to Hollywood, Baby!

Jan 22, 2013 - 12:53pm PT

PTC ascribes deception and dishonesty as basic elements of human nature, that we are disingenuous if we expect more.

I see deception and dishonesty as a form of moral entropy... Things tend in that direction in the absence of constructive thought and directed intention to create a world in which we want to live. It is ongoing work to fight the impulses of momentary satisfaction to shape a world we are proud to live in and be an active part of.

In the face of so many people who have given up the fight, it takes a lot courage and strength and clarity to keep up the good fight. That to me is what being human, having free will, is all about.

P.S. Don't need Jesus to think that way, but if that floats your boat and gives you a good framework for living, more power to you.

I think where things get really tricky is when doing the "right" thing hurts people who depend on us (hurts according to their own value system which may not match ours/yours/mine/etc). The morality becomes gray when you think about helping ones you love versus "doing what is right for humanity."

crunch

Social climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 01:38pm PT

slayton said it best:

Excellent.

Mike Friedrichs

Sport climber

City of Salt

Jan 22, 2013 - 01:47pm PT

Sometimes I think you people have no empathy at all. Sure LA lied, cheated, and really hurt a lot of people. But he has to live with that. And he has to live with that whether he is sincere or not, whether he has shame or not, whether he has regrets or not. Why is it so important to jump on him when he's down? Seems cowardly to me. Why can't you step back and see what he does with the rest of his life, not the past?

And the hypocrisy! I've known many climbers that don't have the courage to lead a difficult route without dope. You even have a "hippy lettuce appreciation" thread. Why not a EPO appreciation thread?

I'm not defending Lance Armstrong. I am pretty fascinated at how vindictive, self-righteous, and cruel some of you are. I hope you never have your past examined or exposed.

Degaine

climber

Jan 22, 2013 - 01:59pm PT

PTC wrote:

there is a big difference between taking the next "stepping stone" in career advancement and mandatory day to day life and $75 million.

LOL

My apologies, PTC, I didn't realize you were just trolling, so my fault for actually responding to you seriously.

Have a great day!

apinguat

Trad climber

kingfield, me

Jan 22, 2013 - 09:35pm PT

RW seems you have a lot of anger. I am sort of sorry you've written off so many people.

deuce4

climber

Hobart, Australia

Jan 23, 2013 - 05:01am PT

The most toxic aspect of the Lance saga is not that he cheated (he didn't escape its consequences, so nothing more needs to be said), but more the vengeance and abuse of his power as a public figure towards those who were critical of him.

That vengeance in fact helped convince people of his innocence, because it was impossible to believe that anyone could be so heartless in shredding other people's credibility so completely (and legally) unless he was in fact innocent. It was above and beyond what he had to do to maintain his reputation, and in retrospect, quite senseless and insane.

In Oprah's interview, he seemed to downplay the significance of his extreme bullying.

Bad karma for Lance, and only getting worse.

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 26, 2013 - 01:30pm PT

Bad karma for Lance, and only getting worse.

It's amazing people's need to employ moral terms to make sense of the situation. Or we start projecting the problem into the transcendental and global realm.

When all that is needed is taking a closer look into the psychology of it all. When you end up beating cancer, do you think you are going to let anything else get in the way? You are thrust into a rather skewed mentality of what is possible. If anyone has read Nietzsche, you will see that "will to power" is the driving force behind human intention and action, not concerns of what I "should" do.

rockermike

Trad climber

Berkeley

Jan 26, 2013 - 03:25pm PT

I wonder if all the people who bought Trek bicycles over the last decade can sue saying the bikes were misrepresented as actually helping you go fast. Its not about the bike, its the EPO. ha

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 26, 2013 - 03:34pm PT

I actually was asking the same question with my friend the other day. I was wondering if the people who started cycling because of lance armstrong are going to quit cycling because of lance armstrong now LOL

cycling has definitely experienced a boom in popularity, probably in large part due to the strong appeal and "coolness" that armstrong brought to the sport. But I am no expert on the public consumer history of the sport

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 26, 2013 - 03:45pm PT

Lance is a smug, dick wad...

bike or no bike...

that doesn't really get us anywhere. And it sure as hell doesn't explain his behavior.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Jan 26, 2013 - 03:52pm PT

It's all good! He says he's gonna help clean up cycling! Woot!
Or does that mean he's going into recycling? Good money in that, dontchya know?

Degaine

climber

Jan 28, 2013 - 01:13pm PT

PTC wrote:

Or we start projecting the problem...

You're the only one in here projecting.

rottingjohnny

Sport climber

mammoth lakes ca

Jan 28, 2013 - 02:20pm PT

I bagged this peak up McGee canyon back in 92 with this young impetuous cycling star who ended up riding with Lance for a short while...This kid ended up punching Lance out at a training camp...Now i can understand why...This young guy ended up living on the streets of sacramento as a crack head , revived his cycling career for a short while then ended up back on the streets...The tumultuous world of bike racing...

mrtropy

Trad climber

Nor Cal

Jan 28, 2013 - 02:37pm PT

Rotten Johny, My best friend has a brother who was a cycling mentor to that kid when he first started racing in Sacramento. I think he is still on the streets of Sacramento I think he a wife and kid around. His second comeback race was a crit in Lodi that he won- and of course part of the prize was a huge bottle of wine. But he was already off the wagon by then. Sad story....

Chad Gerlach

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/comeback-cyclist-gerlach-relapses

rottingjohnny

Sport climber

mammoth lakes ca

Jan 28, 2013 - 02:52pm PT

Trophy....It was funny hiking with this young bike racer , Chad ...He was almost running the whole day and was super fit...We were climbing this 3rd class death choss heap and Chad had never climbed before....Falling would have meant death but he was clueless to the realities of mountainneering...Everything was loose and pulling too hard would send these large boulders tumbling down the vertical dirt...I was the first one on the summit and found a jar with a notebook inside...Seeing that there was no name for the summit , i wrote my name on the front of the summit register....When Chad scrambled up to the summit he read the name of the Peak which was my last name and not knowing my last name , fell for it...I now have a summit in the sierra named for me and am famous...On the run out i asked Chad who was the fastest rider on his team and he replied Me , myself , and I....He said it without thinking and meant it...From then on we called him Me , Myself , and I...The streets of sacramento...Yes...!

Kalimon

Trad climber

Ridgway, CO

Jan 28, 2013 - 10:50pm PT

If an individual is a dedicated and serious cyclist, they are doing it for themselves . . . the current drama in the media would have no effect on their activity. Let's face it folks, riding hard is not for the weak willed.

Oh just one more little thing . . . the TDF is no joke and yes Lance won seven of them.

part-time communist

Mountain climber

Jan 29, 2013 - 02:52am PT

its almost like lance armstrong is like the modern day version of napoleon or Genghis khan

rottingjohnny

Sport climber

mammoth lakes ca

Jan 29, 2013 - 08:03am PT

Lance may be a chump but a lot of people suddenly bought those trek plastic bikes and started exercising and getting in shape so all is not lost...

Degaine

climber

Jan 29, 2013 - 08:25am PT

PTC wrote:

its almost like lance armstrong is like the modern day version of napoleon or Genghis khan

You must have facts in hand that the rest of us don't. How many thousands has Lance Armstrong killed?

Actually, I know the answer to that, just f*#king with you.

If anything you have a flair for useless hyperbole.

Degaine

climber

Jan 29, 2013 - 08:26am PT

rj wrote:

Lance may be a chump but a lot of people suddenly bought those trek plastic bikes and started exercising and getting in shape so all is not lost...

So perhaps the savings to the government in healthcare costs more than makes up for the investment in US Postal?

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