Once again cycling finds itself reeling from a new drug scandal. Mind you, this one usurps anything that the sport has had to contend with in the past.
The outing of Lance Armstrong as an out-and-out drug cheat and the resultant stripping of his record seven Tour de France titles has largely nullified an entire decade of results in one of the world’s most popular and watched events.
And, like its reaction to all its previous major doping scandals, the UCI, and many of its faithful disciples, have stated that all this happened yesterday and the sport is far cleaner today.
It is a line that has been trotted out after every doping body blow that has rained down on the sport.
Armstrong’s primary defence throughout his years of denial – which as far as we know still exists today – is that he never failed a drug test.
That in itself is not totally accurate as the USADA investigation detailed although the treatment of them was less than overwhelming and he was never officially sanctioned.
The man himself has constantly purported to have been tested over 500 times and come up negative each time.
The UCI now puts that number at around 300.
Either way, it is a staggering outcome to consider that one man, of such profile, could successfully evade so many tests during more than a decade at the highest level of his chosen sport without being caught and suspended.
The trite “I have never tested positive” line has been hauled out time and time again yet once again the Armstrong case has shown that statement to be largely meaningless.
Five-time Sydney Olympic medallist Marion Jones continually spewed out the same defence, right up until her perjury case when she provided a tearful mea culpa.
The court took her belated apology into account at her perjury trial and reduced her sentence to six months in jail.
Time alone will tell whether Armstrong follows a similar path.
If recent history has taught us anything it is the fact that drug testing alone has provided little deterrent to those who wish to flaunt the system.
The downfall of many of sport’s highest profile drug cheats have come as a result of customs, police or court investigations.
The Festina Affair at the 1998 Tour de France came about as a result of the team’s soigneur being pulled over for a customs check on the Belgian-French border whilst en route to the start of the 1998 Tour in Dublin.
Willy Voet’s car was found to contain a virtual pharmacy of drugs and assorted paraphernalia ranging from EPO, HGH and steroids to syringes.
The Tour continued under the cloud of team hotels being regularly raided by police and the riders themselves actually staging a sit down protest at the start of one of the stages.
By the time the 1999 Tour rolled around, the cycling authorities were trumpeting a new era in the sport with the peloton having learned its lesson.
Then, in 2006, news broke of Operación Puerto (Operation Mountain Pass) that was conducted by the Spanish Police into a doping network run by Dr Eufemiano Fuentes.
The operation resulted in bans being applied to 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, dual Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso and Michele Scarponi, who later returned to competition and won the 2011 edition of the Giro.
Once again, cycling said that what was uncovered by the Spanish authorities was a reflection of the past and not the present.
And the same has been said again following the recent USADA investigation.
On each occasion the UCI has stated that the sport is far cleaner today and that the scandals of the past were just that – past.
Whilst the move to the biological passport system, whereby an athlete’s biological markers are entered into an electronic record, is a positive outcome for the sport but it has its limitations.
Namely, the anti-doping authorities need to have knowledge of, and testing procedures in place, for all performance enhancing drugs which are available to athletes.
That in itself is an impossibility for the gamekeepers are often a step or two behind the poachers.
The most recent example of this was the use of CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator), a third generation class of EPO.
At the time of the Beijing Olympics the drug testers were aware that it was most likely being used by endurance athletes but they had yet to develop a test for it.
In April 2009, once a test had been developed the stored frozen samples of several athletes were thawed out and as a result five were found to have been using the drug, including Bahrain’s 1500m world champion Rashid Ramzi and Italian road cycling silver medallist Davide Rebellin who were stripped of their ill-gotten gains.
Marion Jones was able to evade detection through more than 160 tests because she was using a designer steroid that was undetectable at the time.
Cycling’s governors may well say that the sun has risen on a new era in the sport but to think that there are no riders currently in the peloton who, by virtue of clever and nefarious doctors and chemists, are not using undetectable substances is merely fanciful.
It may well be just a matter of time before the sun sets on another tainted era and the UCI is forced to adjust its goalposts once again.
Editor’s note: The Roar is privileged to welcome Glenn Mitchell as an expert columnist to the site. Today is his first column.
OldManEmu
Guest
No doubt the dopers remain. A few random thoughts. To define cheating is to say one gains an unfair advantage over one's opponents. So how did Armstrong cheat? He is now being hung out as the poster boy for cheating. Cycling is being held out as the only sport in which doping is widespread. Ppphhhttt. Have a look at the amount of ink on your average NRL and AFL player and you will get an insight into how much thought they give to consequences of their actions. Better drugs, better doctors, better cheats.
sheek
Roar Guru
Glenn, Well done & welcome to The Roar. The problem here is human nature. As most sports fans should know, there is a modern Olympics begun in 1896 & there was an ancient Olympics in Greece oh so many 1000s of years ago. Those ancient, original Olympics were eventually suspended because of too much cheating, basically. It's depressing to contemplate that in about 4000 odd years mankind has learnt next to nothing about integrity & changed little in character.
sittingbison
Guest
I think its "cleaner", but its moved on to systematic team based doping, an individual cannot possibly do the drug taking regimen and blood doping. The problem with systematic doping is that it ruins the entire concept of "competition" and I am in no way condoning individual. More pointing out that its totally in the hands of doping experts and team infrastructure. Kimmage always described the "tell" as watching the riders as they crossed the finish. After 250km over hors cat climbs, are they as fresh as a daisy, breathing steadily and smiling, or shattered exhausted wrecks drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. I have no intention of starting a flame war, but there should not be USPS style racing where one team has four or five on the front day in day out, totally controlling a race, with 21 teams of nine riders. The names of the teams that have attempted this and accomplished it to one extent or another are few - Banesto, Festina, Telekom, USPS, Discovery, Astana, Sky. At the Veulta include Kelme and ONCE. In the entire 100 history of cycling. Other than SKY, all have been exposed as systematic cheats.
Bobo
Guest
Marcus - this reply is to you - it won't let me reply to your post @4.04pm Yes, the times show that there has been a change - and likely the oxygen vector doping of today is not as effective as in the recent past. However, if you look at the data, on the Finn's page linked to above, Hesjedal's time up Alpe di Pampeagon was over half a minute faster than Contador's fastest time in 2008, at the height of the CERA era. Wiggins' w/kg this year at the Tour was higher than Armstrong in the 2000 and 2002 Tour de France, and significantly higher than Contador in each Grand Tour save the 2009 Tour, where he was incredible in every sense. Link here: http://www.fillarifoorumi.fi/forum/showthread.php?38129-Ammattilaispyöräilijöiden-nousutietoja-(aika-km-h-VAM-W-W-kg-etc-)&p=1837977#post1837977 You can draw your own conclusions as to what that means - I won't put mine here.
sittingbison
Guest
I too would like to extend a hearty cheer and welcome to the oracle Glenn Mitchell . Its a pity the first article is about doping in sport, but I am sure we will all be entertained and informed by Glenn's future contributions. Glenn, it is with great regret that I suggest this is not even a false dawn, let alone portending to a clean future in cycling (I wont mention other sports). I do so for the very real aspect of the cyclists themselves, not the authorities or anti-doping measures. The problem is: 1) guys like Talansky saying "trust us" when there is not the slightest reason to do so after 20 years of lies, cheating, deception, corruption and fraud. 2) guys like Big Mig, Sammy Sanchez and Valverde (of all people) saying Lance is innocent, did nothing wrong 3) Cadels diary (which I am in do doubt he did NOT write) not even mentioning the names Armstrong, Bruyneel, Ferrari, USADA, UCI 4) Wiggo saying "I loves Lance", and expressing admiration for USP while winning the TdFS, but not a single word since USADA 5) Nobody in cycling - the peleton, federations or authorities except for Travis Tygart - expressing their disgust at being cheated all these years by the filthy cheating crew involved at USPS/Discovery/Astana 6) Riis ( the ringleader of the 1998 sit downs you mentioned) managing a team. After admitting to doping (after the SOL) and named by Hamilton. Vino taking over Astana and Anderson Katusha. 7) Contador and Valverde placing 1-2 in this years Veulta, with Vino winning Olympic gold. 8) Asho suggesting the 2009-10 ABP data of Armstrong not even being shown to the panel. 10) Hein and Pat suing Kimmage, and following through even after all the revelations 11) Hein and Pat suing Landis, and blackballing he and Hamilton, instead of listening to their accusations. 12) all the "its in the past lets move on" comments when its NOT in the past and we cannot move on 13) etc etc etc too numerous to go on. Basically I am saying the "morals" of the peloton have been so utterly corrupted by two decades of systematic doping that they now have no moral compass, they live in a bubble and have no perception of what is going on or what is acceptable. Even the new young guys like TJVG etc. I am certain the sport needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (not run by cycling). BTW its not only Armstrong "passing" a max of 236 tests, but all the others combined that we KNOW were doping - Hincapie, Tyler, Floyd, Barry, Ullrich, Basso etc. Its literally countless thousands of tests that were useless. Not even effecting proceedings. Testing at the event is patently ridiculous, only frequent unannounced and random OOC testing has the slightest chance to catch dopers. BTWx2 Anyone thinking this is exclusive to cycling needs their heads read
Marcus O'Callaghan
Guest
would you agree that cycling from 2010 onwards has been cleaner - or relatively less dirty? Your Alpe d'Huez data would support that. Not saying there is no doping, saying that there seems to be less - and the tawdry systemised doping might be a thing of the past. Yet mainstream media is treating it as current. But the more investigative action this forces, the better.
tommy
Guest
Glen, it is great to see you on the Roar. I'd really love to see a Roar expert provide some detailed analysis on Shield games & you would be in a great position to do this. There have been some strong performances in the early rounds of the Shield but no one seems to be paying it any attention instead focusing on the BS tournament in SA. Regards. Tom.
Bobo
Guest
Great minds think alike, Bison.
Bobo
Guest
It doesn't raise flags on the hypothetical maximum highest performance of a human male. What does raised flags, if you look at recent times, is that we have so many people riding at or near the undoped maximum. It's uncanny: a generation who all seem to hage more talent than Hinault or LeMond. As someone else said, 'Pull the other one; it yodels.' I agree that we need to completely separate testing and governance of all sports. If even the laughably easy-to-avoid measure in cycling were implemented in any other sport, whole teams would be suspended on the spot.
sittingbison
Guest
Marcus, the problem is they are still faster than Lemond and Badger, the last winners before the advent of oxygen vector doping.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
I would suggest it is another "false dawn". Cycling (and pro sports in general) have a loooooooooooong way to go before they can claim "mission accomplished" in this 'war on drugs'.
Marcus O'Callaghan
Guest
sorry - yes, w/kg... I agree with you that it is no guarantee of no doping, but as Science in Sport put it, it doesnt raise red flags on performances. Which is a happy development. Yes, there is no doubt more needs to be done - but this current scandal is more about what was then, rather than what is now. However, if it is used as a catalyst for more change (removal of McQuaid and Verbruggen from UCI for a start),so much the better. I would love to see some sort of independent board appointed to oversee the drug testing in cycling. Whilst it would never happen, given past disputes between him and the UCI, appointing Dick Pound as cycling's "internal investigator" would be an immediate fillip to cycling's reputation.
Rhys
Guest
Following the announcement of the 2013 TDF race schedule last night, I heard Chris Froome express mild surprise at the lack of truly challenging mountain stages. Given that it is the 100th edition of the TDF, Froome felt that Tour organisers would have pulled out all the stops re. classic mountain top finishes. Could the apparant reduction in out and out mountain stages be an acknowledgement that the peleton are more 'naturally aspirated' than before, or perhaps an initiative from Tour organisers to lessen the temptation to become 'super human' in order to challenge for a podium?
Bobo
Guest
VAM of 6.2 would be very low... did you mean w/kg? VAM is a misleading figure, because the figure is always higher on a steeper slope for a given power output. 6.2w/kg will give a higher VAM on a 7.5% slope than on a 6% slope. Although Alpe D'Huez is criminally overused by the Tour, it does serve as a useful comparison between years. A link the the Top 100 times up Alphe d'Huez is very revealing. Times for active riders, and top 45 overall, are here: http://www.fillarifoorumi.fi/forum/showthread.php?38129-Ammattilaispyöräilijöiden-nousutietoja-(aika-km-h-VAM-W-W-kg-etc-)&p=1908053#post1908053 http://www.fillarifoorumi.fi/forum/showthread.php?38129-Ammattilaispy%F6r%E4ilij%F6iden-nousutietoja-%28aika-km-h-VAM-W-W-kg-etc-%29&p=1908109#post1908109 Some comically fast sprinters' times there from 2004. What that shows is that yes, the effect of oxygen vector doping is reduced from the worst days of 1994-2005. It doesn't demonstrate that cycling is clean. The Padua investiagtion shows the absolute opposite, which is why the press needs to jump on it now, in order to stop cyclists like Evans saying 'that was in the past - cycling is clean now', and avoiding the hard questions.
Marcus O'Callaghan
Guest
Glenn, I appreciate your article, however I believe you need to add in some commentary on the performances of current day pro riders. I say that this tells us a new era may have already begun - starting in about 2010. Since then, the Tour de France appears to have been noticeably cleaner - if one measures "cleanness" by reduced performance in the mountains. In the Armstrong period and the few years after that, race leaders were climbing with a "VAM" of around 6.2 for close to an hour. In this year's Tour, they were doing this for periods no greater than 20 minutes. Whilst it is very hard to compare speeds/performance of different eras due to variances in the parcours, conditions and effort levels (ie. some climbs may not be done at "full gas" because of tactical considerations) - this VAM calculation at least doesn't raise red flags on "alien" performances. It is a good sign. Take a look at these articles for a better explanation http://www.sportsscientists.com/2012/07/tour-in-mountains-analysis-discussion.html http://www.sportsscientists.com/2009/07/tour-2009-contador-takes-yellow.html
Bobo
Guest
The UCI's written statement following its acceptance of USADA's decision, and its excoriation of the whisteblowers for 'bringing down the sport' show that the systems that created a monster like Armstrong are still firmly in place. I hope the press has the guts to report the current Padua investiagtion with as much detail as it did the USADA report. The revelations in that investigation make Armstrong look like an innocent schoolboy by comparison. Of course, the FDA material regarding Hope Rides Again is another story altogether... How far will the press follow the rabbit down the hole? Will anyone follow the links of Armstrong's doctors, Ferrari and Del Moral, in tennis and soccer (he worked for Valencia and Barcelona)? Will anyone look at the tennis players, athletes and footballers implicated in Puerto? Will anyone chase the digusting double-play between the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the for-profit Livestrong.com? Will anyone chase the widespread tax evasion, drug importation, illegal use and trafficking of prototype drugs that are revealed by these several investigations? Will anyone look hard at Australians' role in any of this? Will the press do its job?
Omega10
Roar Rookie
You have hit the nail on the head Glenn. The conditions which created Armstrong still exist and there is a very real possibility that it will be "business as usual" inside the peloton after this debacle fades in the public memory. You only have to read the pronouncements from the Tour's current king and study his training regime which includes multiple and prolonged training camps on the doper's island paradise, Tenerife and the feigned surprise of his team management when it was pointed out that one of their doctors had run a doping program at another team to see that the sport has a very long road to hoe before there is a decent grip on this problem. If there are not moves to strip the administration of the sport down and rebuild it and it's reputation then we will see more scandals down the track and the scourging of Armstrong will have been in vain.
Brett McKay
Expert
Great article Glenn, and a warm welcome to The Roar..