In July last year, Stuart O’Grady retired from cycling. He retired suddenly, just as the 100th edition of the Tour de France finished in Paris.
O’Grady retired because he was certain his name was about to appear in a French Government Senate report conducted into the 1998 Tour de France, which, of course, was dominated by the Festina affair.
The 17-time veteran of the world’s most famous bike race was convinced his name would appear on a list of riders who had tested positive for EPO during the race.
As a yellow jersey wearer and stage winner at the race, O’Grady had had several post-stage doping controls and, given he’d taken EPO in the lead-up to the race, was sure his name would emerge.
As it happened it didn’t, O’Grady’s name only appeared on a list of those whose tests were ‘suspicious’.
But O’Grady says the fear of anticipating the report’s release and the obvious fallout that would follow was enough to convince him his time as a rider was up.
Furthermore, it was time to come clean about the dirty secret he had kept for 15 years.
So O’Grady confessed to doping before the 1998 Tour de France, but in his words, he “only did it once”.
As I wrote back in late July when this story broke, O’Grady was my first cycling hero. I’d met him soon after his first Tour de France in 1997, and after only seeing the race on TV, this “flesh and blood connection” was all I needed to be totally hooked.
I followed his career closely ever since that day.
But the “only did it once” comment never sat easily with me.
I wanted to believe him, but in my opinion, even when we know we’re about to do something wrong, if we get away with it, the temptation to try it again is often too great to resist. After all, we’re only human.
So I found it hard to believe O’Grady only doped once. Well that was until I read his book, Battle Scars, which has just been released.
That said, what O’Grady says qualifies as “doping once” and what I consider, as “doping once” are different.
In my world, it means, you dope on one occasion. Once. Just a single pinprick and then that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.
What O’Grady explains in Battle Scars as doping once, is doing it in preparation for one race, which in this case was the 1998 Tour de France.
As he reveals though, it wasn’t just one injection. It was something he did every second day over a 10-12 day period, all from a single vial he says he bought from a pharmacy in Spain. O’Grady says he was too scared to inject every day just in case he took too much.
O’Grady writes he then took the remaining EPO with him to the Tour – which in 1998 started in Dublin – but when he saw police stopping team cars on the Belgian border and finding EPO, he was too scared to use the rest.
Then incredibly, on the very day he realised a lifelong dream and claimed the mythical Maillot Jaune, O’Grady went to back to his hotel room to watch Festina officials being arrested on TV.
O’Grady says it was that moment that convinced him of what doping could cost him. So he waited until his teammate was out of the room, smashed the vial, and flushed the EPO away.
It’s easy to be cynical about cycling stories, but reading this chapter has changed my mind about what O’Grady has admitted to.
So despite him riding right through one of the sport’s dirtiest eras, I believe the Festina affair was enough to convince O’Grady to stop doping there and then.
Stuart O’Grady refers to this time as a “tiny moment in my career”, and a few days out of 20 years is a tiny moment, but the fallout had a profound effect on his life, not to mention his family, friends and the sport of cycling.
From reading Battle Scars, I can understand why he decided to take EPO. The physical pain of his debut Tour de France and the fear of struggling to cope in ’98 were strong. The intrigue as to what the fuss about EPO was all about. And, perhaps crucially, the lack of someone to debate the pros and cons of EPO with.
He says of that time in late June 1998, he had no coach and no housemate to discuss it with. He just knew from what he’d heard in the peloton you could get EPO in Spain, so that’s where he went.
Eventually he says he summoned up the courage to go in and buy some. And then after more agonising about the morals of what he was considering, he did it.
But from then on, it was a secret until O’Grady confessed to his Orica-GreenEDGE boss Shayne Bannan during last year’s Tour de France.
A few days later he told his family and then the rest of the world.
Reading this, and also hopefully the book, you’ll have your ideas about what to believe.
Maybe it’s because I want to believe O’Grady that I’m prepared to publicly retract what I originally said, but I genuinely believe the events of the 1998 Tour de France were so profound that their coinciding with O’Grady realising a life-long ambition created a perfect storm.
Yes, my definition of “once” and his are different, but Battle Scars has put those doubts to rest.
John Thompson-Mills
Expert
re Cofidis...from memory, O'Grady claimed that riders were being arrested before he'd even begun riding for Cofidis and then the team withdrew from racing etc. so essentially, it was all going on around him. When Millar was busted, O'Grady says he called his good friend to see if it was true, which of course it was, Millar later came to stay with O'Grady for a while, but they both say Stuart never fessed up to his dark little secret. Millar just remembers how non-judgemental and supportive O'Grady was.
Bobo
Guest
You can believe that a perpetrator only commits the crime for which they are caught - 'honest guv!' - but in the world of cycling, and in the teams for which O'Grady rode, the notion that he doped during 1998 but held back thereafter is not credible, in my opinion. I hope I am wrong. What we know of doping in the 90s and 00s is that it was institutionalised and often team-wide. Given the advantage gained by a rider using oxygen vector doping methods*, the indulging and enabling attitude of the UCI to the Festina Affair (including Verbruggen's public comments - look at the Cyclingnews archive from the time) and the rider protests demonstrating exactly where they stood in 1998, I simply don't see 1998 as the game-changer as far as a rider in the peloton is concerned.** The evidence is to the contrary, including in O'Grady's Cofidis team of 2004, which had a virtually universal doping program, with few exceptions. Regarding Cofidis - John, how does he explain THAT in the book? [*The figures I have read indicate that EPO extends time to exhaustion on a welltrained male by up to 50% and increases power output by about 8%, but I can't find the journals in question at the moment, so don't quote me on them figures.] **the press and public on the other hand, finally woke up after Festina.
John Thompson-Mills
Expert
thanks for your comments. The debate will go on and on with everyone holding justifiable opinions. I caught up with O'Grady late last week when he came into my work for a radio interview. Have to say, I can see both sides of opinion on his story, but I (perhaps naively) do believe that such was the gravity of the Festina affair just as he was pulling on a jersey that he had dreamt of all his life, it did scare him into shunning doping. When he look at his results post the 1998 TDF, he never quite was fast enough to win the Green jersey, or good enough to compete on the highest peaks and therefore challenge for GC honours. Not that winning is the only measure but O'Grady actually didn't win a huge amount of individual races--two Tours Down Under, a stage in the 2004 TDF, the HEW Classics and GP Villers-Cotterets and Paris-Roubaix. There were lots of podium finishes, but with his undoubted talent I'd be disappointed if, as some allege, he was a serial doper because he had a lot of "nearly" moments. As for the people who say he shouldn't be allowed to profit from his book, well, unlike Schapelle Corby O'Grady isn't a convicted criminal. Doping may be an offence in some countries, but O'Grady hasn't been convicted of a crime and at this stage there's no evidence to make a case that proceeds from the book should be frozen. O'Grady has denied he doped at any other time though, so it will be on his head if one day, more details emerge.
Jamie
Guest
Hmmm. Has anyone here smoked a couple of joints/cones "just to try it out" and stopped after that??? Just saying that some people make mistakes at a point in their lives. Does it mean that they should be banished forever.... Just because it's sport related we make all these claims that they can't be trusted.. At least he got it legally - albeit immorrally.....
simmo green
Guest
You only need to come to discussions like this to realise how blindingly naive and righteous Australians can sometimes be. You need to examine the history of the sport, the unreasonable expectations of race organisers and the riders need to recovery quickly throughout a season that now lasts from January to November. Ottavio Bottechia said it, Anquetil said it as did Hinault, not that they needed to. You still don't get the difference between 'performance enhancement' and professional survival.
deanp
Guest
Are you trying to say that O'Grady only came clean because he mistakenly believed he would be included in the list of definite cheaters rather than the list suspicious cases?
delbeato
Roar Guru
i wouldn't say that it was the most tainted. there's little reason to believe other endurance and power-based sports, such as swimming or running, are cleaner.
delbeato
Roar Guru
one of my concerns with the debate on doping is that it is characterised by judging a rider as "doped" or "clean" - when in fact we know that in many - if not most cases - riders have doped for a period of their career, and ridden clean for other periods. something makes me doubt Stuey rode doped all of his career (i don't know) - but i have strong doubts about his claim to have only doped leading up to the '98 Tour.
Rob JM
Guest
Ogrady was a sprinter back in those days. He has never been in the GC or TT crowd where taking EPO gives you a huge advantage. Not that you can trust a drug cheat.
Douglas Leith
Guest
I congratulate Stuart for his outstanding achievements in an environment saturated by drugs. If he only doped once then his achievements were all the more remarkable. The public is duped into believing that drug use is the exception, a lie used to maintain the interests of those who profit from the sport and require an audience. The fact that Cadel Evans is called "Mr Clean" says something about drug use and about how remarkable his achievements are aswell.
Aussie in Mexico
Guest
Also just to point out, if you look at his Wiki page and see the list of crashes/injuries that the man has had, he is obviously as tough as nails. In his sport, it is very dangerous. Taking EPO is probably not such a big deal when you know your going to break many bones and have many serious injuries in your career. Obviously cyclists have to give everything to be successful in professional cycling. I have admiration for his competitiveness but not for his dishonesty.
Aussie in Mexico
Guest
With all due respect to those who believe Stuart O'Grady only doped for one race, I think they are hiding from the truth. 1. If you look at his confession, he states that he took EPO because he couldn't compete in the races. I have one question, if he couldn't compete and he stopped taking EPO when all of the other cyclists were, how did he manage to suddenly be one of the best riders in professional cycling?????? How can he state he took EPO to compete and suddenly change his mind and then go on to beat the riders and teams who were on EPO. It defies logic. 2. As has been stated in other comments he only confessed to doping as damage control so his confession was forced and not genuine. Obviously he is protecting himself. I am not so angry about his doping as I am about the failure to bring him to account. He hasn't had to defend his actions and be questioned (so that those who have admired him get an honest answer). To the author of this article, I understand you have met the man and love cycling. The fact is he was one of the best in an era of systematic doping in a hardcore endurance sport. It isn't cynical but logical that the man was part of the system, culture, problems etc. I wish cycling was clean but no sport is, I just hope like you that our heros defy the odds and can win. However in the tour de france it just wasn't possible when you had whole teams on EPO for 3 weeks of intense racing.
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
fool me once.....shame on you....
anfalicious
Guest
Personally I don't take people who say "I'm coming clean because I'm about to get caught but I swear the one time I was going to get caught for was the only time" all that seriously. But then I don't think there's been a clean cyclist up the front of the tour, well, ever.
fadida
Guest
Yep. Anyone whose read anything about cycling in this period (any period?) has the right to be very sceptical. O'Grady was a successful rider in a time where to be successful you had to dope. Sadly cycling is the world's most tainted sport
delbeato
Roar Guru
that's a good summary
Tim Renowden
Expert
If he was lying before, can we believe he's telling the truth now? Some people will, some won't. I don't really believe he's telling the whole truth, but he may not be telling lies about stopping using EPO. We have no way of knowing. I don't think I'll buy his book.
delbeato
Roar Guru
yes, you could buy it in Switzerland - at least at that time - over the counter. it is used for treating kidney malfunction or something, i can't remember precisely. the thing is - from what i understand, it's not like Popeye's spinach which you inject it and suddenly you become superhuman. you need to be more sophisticated than that. this is the reason Lance spent $millions on Dr Ferrari - to manage his doping treatment. and yes, it's very possible O'Grady's team was involved in doping. the majority of teams and riders were during those years. when you here a story "i never saw anything" or "i did it just once" - your BS meter should be going off the scale.
fadida
Guest
Sadly sport is littered with dopers who have confessed to doping "just once". It has of course turned out that the doping was not "just once". Unfortunately O'Grady's entire career must now be considered "dirty".
Griffo
Guest
Whether his story is true or not his career is still tainted. For someone who was considered such a battler, embodying the Aussie spirit, for someone who managed to wear the Maillot Jaune, come runner up for the Green Jersey, win Olympic Gold and the Paris-Roubaix to then find out that he took drugs diminishes everything he achieved whether he achieved those cleanly or not. It was just so disappointing to find that out after all the years of supporting him.