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Wednesday's Mailbag: What else? Doping

Published: Jun. 28, 2006

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Clean cyclists should condemn cheaters
Editor:
I have no qualms with Lance Armstrong being pissed about the documents alleging that he doped being leaked to L'Equipe. If Lance has indeed been "clean" throughout his career, then such a libel deserves correcting, perhaps even similar legal action as the authors of "LA Confidential" incurred.

I have been a lifelong cycling fan and went to the Tour four times to watch Lance compete. I want to believe that Lance and other cyclists achieve their success through talent and hard work. That's why I think Lance's public ire should be directed equally towards those cyclists who use performance-enhancing drugs, including his former teammates and friends David Millar, Roberto Heras, Tyler Hamilton, etc.

I find the silence of Lance and other "clean" cyclists in the face of constant positive drug tests, police raids, and even admissions of guilt by their fellow competitors to be the most damning evidence that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is widely accepted, if not universal, within the professional peloton. It strongly suggests that no one actually feels cheated when someone gets caught because they all live in the same glass house.

Would Lance keep quiet if Jan Ullrich beat him by drafting off the team car for an entire time trial? How is using performance-enhancing drugs any different? The only difference is that it happens behind closed doors until exposed by drug tests or investigations. Thus, it is Lance's silence about his fellow competitors' misconduct that casts as dark a shadow over his own achievements as any reports in the newspapers.

In fact, today VeloNews reported that Laurent Roux admitted in a French court that he supplied and used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career I am waiting for the flood of press releases from Lance and other cyclists denouncing his misconduct. The silence is damning.

Philip Bentley
Portland, Oregon

WADA running a witch hunt
Editor:
Finally, someone with both the stature and the proof is stepping forward to call WADA on its overkill techniques. The anti-doping stuff around cycling has gotten to seem like the witch trials in Salem or the Inquisition in Spain. Too many wild accusations, punishment not consistent with the crime, guilt declared before any evidence is available, etc.

No, we don't need something as laughable as baseball's anti-drug policy. But the draconian measures being taking in cycling are overkill. When athletes can lose two years of their careers because a food bar they ate was contaminated ... we've gone too far.

As far as the personal vendetta some officials seem to have against Lance, at least Lance has the power to fight back, although that doesn't make the vendetta right. But I do feel sorry for the riders with less power and less clout.

Quite frankly, when WADA goes so overboard, it makes me feel much more sympathetic even to those cyclists who are obviously guilty. Let's get a fair, rational policy and stop this witch hunt.

Anne Brock
Mariposa, California

Does focusing on past make cycling cleaner today?
Editor:
I am writing to second the motion made by Matthew Gibble in his letter (see Monday’s Mailbag, "And the final word"). There has been so much recent press about alleged doping by Lance Armstrong during his career. Much of the noise has come from people with motives: L’Equipe’s crusade to make French cycling relevant again by dismissing a decade-plus of non-French domination of their own race; Greg LeMond’s pathetic and transparent quest to regain his status as America’s best clean cyclist; and Dick Pound’s efforts to maintain his self-proclaimed status as the savior of worldwide sport.

We need to remember that proving innocence is a difficult thing, particularly in retrospect. The absence of evidence or proof of quilt is not per se proof of innocence, just reason for reasonable doubt of guilt. There will never be a test that "proves" someone did not take performance-enhancing drugs at any time in their cycling career. However, none of the evidence presented thus far with regards to this overly exposed story is incontrovertible (or uncontested) evidence of guilt.

Did Lance dope? I don’t know, and furthermore, I don’t care. As a fan and participant, the more important question is: "Would all this time and effort have been better spent to improve the likelihood of catching current abusers of EPO and other performance-enhancing drugs?"

The Tour starts Saturday. Perhaps actual bicycle racing can push this irrelevant and egocentric, he said/she said, it’s-all-about-me ca-fight off the front pages of cycling rags and newspapers everywhere. I hope so!

Pete Watson
Denver, Colorado

LeMond’s a straight shooter
Editor:
Another round fired by both sides in the continuing feud between Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. This is sad. Both are Tour legends who should both have their rightful place in cycling's pantheon of gods.

My first thought each time is, what does Greg have to gain from what he is saying about Lance? The answer I come back to each time is, "Nothing."

Greg always was, and still is, a straight shooter who ducks no questions and gives reporters the real scoop, not some polished, PC babble. Greg always wore his emotions on his sleeve, and that is why we all came to love him 20 years ago. He was our first American cycling hero, the boy next door who conquered Europe in "their" sport — and heck, he did it twice with a pound of lead in his body! He's always been real and authentic in all ways. If Greg says it, I tend to believe it.

Lance always was, and still is, all about Lance when it comes to cycling. We've seen time and time again that anyone who disagrees with Lance is dismissed by The Great One as silly, or insolent, or jealous — or now, "not in check with reality." Cross him and he throws you to the wolves. Never mind even considering that where there's smoke, there just may be fire. If Lance says it, I tend to cringe and not know what to believe.

That's not a good sign.

So Lance, lay off Greg. He led the way for you. Show some respect for a true legend.

Mark Ratcliff
Mountville Pennsylvania

A Tyler believer no more
Editor:
I have been a Tyler Hamilton believer throughout this whole thing, backing him whenever the topic arose from group rides to coffee shop banter, but now my head is truly hanging low. When documents like these are produced, how can you deny what was going on? Today I am truly saddened and admit defeat in my efforts to support someone I always have considered one of the truly honest people in cycling. I’m sorry, Tyler. This is too much.

Kris Swarthout
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Let ‘em dope
Editor:
Doping, doping, doping — he said, she said, the lab screwed up, somebody leaked testimony. Holy soap opera.

The solution: Let 'em dope to the gills and let 'em race. At least we'd have a level playing field. And we might see some trustworthy research on how all these doping products impact health.

I know that sounds defeatist, but I'm just not convinced that we'll ever get to a point where the testing is ahead of the doping products and the workarounds. Plus, if racers start seeing real research on how these products may affect their lives, they may make different choices.

Either way I'll enjoy watching bike races, and I'll enjoy even more my own time on the bike (isn't that what this is all about?).

Get out and ride.

Sven Cole
Conway, New Hampshire

Let ‘em dope, within limits
Editor:
After reading the latest allegations and revelations, I'm very close to giving up on following pro cycling. It's depressing to see Hamilton, et al, implicated in the latest investigation. Hamilton's stage win at the 2003 Tour always had me wondering (especially given Erik Zabel's comments in the documentary "Holletour"); now I have no doubts. The same goes for just about any of the superhuman efforts I've seen in the past few years, especially at the grand tours.

It's clear that the current testing system is broken: run by boobs and fooled by many, many riders. I would defy anyone to come up with a feasible plan to replace it with something more effective. I really think that there is only one solution to this mess: Eliminate testing for particular drugs and set limits on certain physiological levels to keep riders from endangering themselves (e.g., hormone and hemocrit levels). If someone wants to be stupid and use HGH, EPO or transfusions to improve performance, more power to him — it's his body. We already know that racers will do just about anything to succeed. Let's get back to just worrying about racing.

Randy Crist
Omaha, Nebraska

Let ‘em dope, and tell us what they’re on
Editor:
In light of the newly leaked info from Spain, here's a solution — let's treat pro cyclists like race horses. When you bet on the ponies you get a list of the horses that, among other things, discloses the different drugs a particular horse might be taking. This is only fair as there is money being bet on the horse’s performance, so the bettors need to know anything that might affect the horse's speed.

Likewise, money is at stake in cycling, so let them take or do whatever they want, but they have to disclose it. So, when we get a list of riders for an upcoming race it would state that the entire team just transfused red blood cells or just finished a two-week course of EPO.

Then, at least, we won't have to wonder anymore.

Jim Brady
Chicago, Illinois

Revelations a bigger deal here than abroad
Editor:
Having raced and coached for three decades, none of the current "revelations" about doping including Hamilton and Armstrong is surprising. Cheating has always been a part of pro bike racing. Without a doubt, cycling is one of the cruelest of endurance sports. We are subjected to countless hours of training and racing in all conditions and in the case of pros, distances and frequency that defy reason. Cycling has always been revered in Europe as a spectacle involving the essentials of human drama – emotion, heroics, tragedy, passion — and yes, cheating.

Personally I find doping stupid, as the long term health effects and moral dilemma are just not worth it (especially if like me the talent just isn’t there).

And here is where the cultural divide between Europe and North America plays out. Americans in particular see cycling as a healthy activity and Lance Armstrong as a beacon of good living and hope. So doping is a big deal within that idealized view. Most Europeans however, see cycling as a mode of transportation and in the case of fans, a form of entertainment – period. The courts and press are full of indignation but the fans just shrug and show up by the millions at the major races.

Where cycling may ultimately lose its popularity battle is in North America - swallowed up after a long breakaway by the sprinters teams with one kilometer to go...

Howard Chang
Toronto, Canada

Illusion shattered
Editor:
I have been following cycling since 1989. I marveled at the way the pros could go and go and go. I was so fascinated with cycling I took up the sport and did quite well as an amateur but could never break into the magical national level status. I thought that these people were the real athletes and I was born a person that didn't have the ability.

Over the last few years I have unfortunately stumbled upon reality — the pros have great doctors and lots of drugs to pass around. To get into the pros you have to resort to the same tactics. Nobody can attain such feats without drugs. Are you telling me the cream of the crop in other countries is using drugs and the Americans are not?

Tyler Hamilton is living in a dream world, thinking that everyone should believe him. Now more evidence is out. I know it still has to be confirmed but this doesn't look good for him. Who I really feel sorry for are the people that he bumped from his various teams that didn't get the big break. The people who do it legitimately and never make it.

Damn you drugged, cheating cyclists. I will still keep cycling and watching the sport, but now it is more for the drug drama than anything else, to see who has got caught cheating today. That's pretty bad.

Ron Jawanda
Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Denials lack credibility
Editor:
It's a bit disheartening to say the least, that as we approach the beginning of this year's Tour, we are bombarded by story after story regarding doping. What is even more disheartening and a bit ludicrous are the denials heaped upon us, as if we don't see all this (admittedly) circumstantial evidence and come to the conclusion: "God, they must all be doping." That's my conclusion, quite frankly, after the size of the Operacion Puerto affair was disclosed. There is no way in hell that only a few individuals are doing this.

When super-trained athletes cheat, that takes them up a notch. The only way to stay on that level is to do the same and try to out-cheat your rivals. Training will only take you so far against someone who is taking EPO and injecting steroids.

As a cycling fan I still love the sport. But doping must either be stopped or legalized. I'm getting sick of listening to self-righteous riders like Hamilton and Armstrong denying any involvement. I don't believe any of them anymore. And that is a sad state.

Mark Crosby
Ringoes, New Jersey

Hey, we’re riding clean
Editor:
Knowledge of doping along the lines of that alleged by the leaked details of Operacion Puerto cuts our sport down the middle, attacks the mystique at the heart of our sport.

When we are out riding we often like to imagine ourselves up against the pros. When I am on holiday in Europe battling the big climbs I wonder how I'd compare to the top grimpeurs in the peloton. I always had it in my head that they were only better than me because they had more time to train and maybe even some had a touch more natural ability.

But now when I ride I think about the drugs the pros might be taking, the pills and injections, and I no longer care how I compare. I ride clean. Every guy on the club run rides clean. We train, we ride, we suffer and we enjoy but we are not medicine cabinets on wheels. We are the true heroes of our sport, each and every one of us.

Rolf Rae-Hansen
Edinburgh, Scotland

Remember, innocent until proven guilty
Editor:
This Operacion Puerto doping fiasco is a huge "if/then" scenario as regards Tyler Hamilton. If the documents are authentic, and if the named parties are proven to be who authorities would have us believe they are — Hamilton and his wife, Haven — then and only then is Hamilton screwed. He's not guilty until proven so.

I can make allegations all day and night about someone, but until I have proof they should receive the benefit of the doubt. That being said, our world press does not operate in such an indiscriminate fashion. The press loves to report the facts, don't get me wrong, but it also loves to enhance perceptions of events.

Kimball Fife
Logan, Utah

Is cycling press an accomplice in scandal?
Editor:
I’ve always believed that doping was more the exception than the rule. VeloNews and the cycling press in general supported the "debate" – is doping widespread or just limited to a few bad apples? I think Operacion Puerto is about to clear that up for all of us. Yet, despite being caught red-handed, literally, we still hear the denials from everybody involved, even those caught walking out of the clinics with supply in hand.

The press presents both sides as if it is an impartial witness. Yet we know that many in the media covering cycling either come from professional-cycling backgrounds or have been intimately associated with professional cyclists for many years. It seems implausible to believe the press isn’t aware of something as pervasive as the extent of doping Operacion Puerto is just now confirming.

If doping is the rule, not the exception, more than just the peloton is to blame. The cycling press and product manufacturers had to be aware of the problem all along. We need more protagonists, like Greg LeMond and fewer reluctant witnesses, like Frankie Andreu. If Andreu believed the top cyclist in the world was cheating, why did he stay silent until subpoenaed? He certainly had an open forum to raise the issue.

Are we to believe the commentators on OLN are surprised by Operacion Puerto? That VeloNews was unaware? I guess I did, for a while. Not anymore.

Jim Egan
Atlanta, Georgia

Let’s hope sport survives its idiots
Editor:
After scanning the various headlines on VeloNews.com regarding Operacion Puerto, the LeMond-Armstrong feud, CAS's ruling on Hamilton's medal, etc., I can't help but think of the famous quote by baseball player Bill Terry: "This must be a great sport to survive the idiots who run it." I might modify it for cycling to "the idiots who ride it." We can only hope that our sport proves as resilient.

Doug Bach
Madison, Wisconsin

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.