I must admit to not having read most of the cycling memoirs in the Works. I may eventually but the local public library doesn’t carry any of them and never will so I’ll have to buy them or ask Frank to tote everything he has to Hawaii. I did get off my wallet and buy these two and it was money well spent. David Millar and Tyler Hamilton have produced two excellent cycling books, parallel stories in very general terms and times. The contrast of how two people in similar straits handle the truth and the divergent roads it puts them on is compelling.
Doping in professional cycling is still secretive enough that it is best told from someone all the way on the inside. Journalists will be lied to by cyclists. Federal grand juries do better at getting the truth but we usually don’t hear it. Cyclists who lived the lie and need to unburden themselves make a good conduit. I can’t begin to explain it as well as Tyler or David did; their inner world of professional cycling is nothing we hear much about. In the 1990s it was the wild west where the law was absent. Spanish “doctors”, syringes and mini-centrifuges ruled the day. It’s such a huge subject, too interwoven with passion and pressure, so much grey area. For a person like me who likes to talk about doping in black and white, I’ve learned how institutionalized and insidious it was (past tense, I hope). It’s not so simple. It’s tragic. To feed the young ambitious athlete into a system where there is no choice but to accept the drug system is criminal. When money is at stake and the UCI is complicit, as is team management, those are some criminals.
Racing Through the Dark-by David Millar. I’ll also admit to being a long time admirer of David Millar. He has always been well- spoken and not afraid to confront, two qualities I admire and personally lack, but they make a good writer. Millar is a military brat who found his cycling talent in the 10 mile British time trial club races. He ended up living his dream, riding on the Cofidis team, France’s well- funded but dysfunctional squad. He spent his first few years with Cofidis riding clean, yet watching how others “prepared”.
“In my youthful exuberance, I was telling anybody who would listen that I’d won in De Panne and broken the course record with a hematocrit of only 40 percent. I went to see Casagrande and his roommate, whom I refer to as L’Équipier (the teammate), so that I could show Casagrande the test results.
I stood there, a big grin on my face, expecting Casagrande to congratulate me and say something morale boosting. But he didn’t. After a pause, he handed the results back to me and then turned to speak to his roommate in Italian.
“Perché non é a cinquate?” Casagrande asked L’Équipier, puzzled, Why isn’t he at fifty?
No one talked about doping and no one talked about not doping. Eventually, after VDB self-destructed and Casagrande was busted, Millar became a team leader. And with that mantle came the responsibility to produce results, be a professional. And eventually he was implicated by a teammate, evidence was found, he was out of cycling, deeply in debt, and drinking his way to the bottom.
For some interesting video here is a recent Spanish documentary from the inner ring.
The Secret Race-by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle. Tyler Hamilton and I grew up in the same end of Massachusetts, he went to the same prep school @rob and I dropped out of, so I always felt slightly connected to him. So I was a fan boy and stood by his fantastic excuses for too long.
The whole wretched story of doping in cycling is right here. Tyler Hamilton cheated and lied for so long, it took until 2011 before he could tell his parents the truth. And despite his decade of lying, this book rings true. His reward was getting out from under the lie. I think he would have written the book for free just for the unburdening. He states many times the lightness of being after testimony and though he knows it’s very unlikely, hopes Lance can feel the same lightness that comes from telling the truth. This book is Tyler Hamilton’s story but it is closely linked to part of the Armstrong saga.
Like Millar, Hamilton was unaware of systemic drug use until he had joined the professional ranks. US Postal drugs were at first team- provided and paid for. Once you proved yourself as one of the best riders on the team, as someone who could help Lance win the Tour, you earned the right to use EPO. It is fascinating reading, it’s horrifying, it’s depressing. Most unsettling is Lance Armstrong’s behavior. There are many revelations regarding Armstrong’s psychotic need to win. I’ll share just this one.
Tyler was eased out of US Postal because he was too strong a rider and perceived as a threat to Armstrong. So Tyler left and signed with Phonak in 2004. There was a time trial up Mont Ventoux in the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré weeks before the Tour de France. Tyler beat Lance in the TT. Later during the Tour, Floyd Landis, who was still riding for US Postal rode along side Tyler.
“You need to know something”
I pulled in closer. Floyd’s Mennonite conscience was bothering him.
“Lance called the UCI on you,” he said. “He called Hien, after Ventoux. Said you guys and Mayo were on some new shit, told Hien to get on you. He knew they’d call call you in. He’s been talking shit nonstop. And I think it’s right that you know.”
This little story is amazing for many different reasons and the only good one is Floyd Landis telling it to Tyler. I’m guilty of saying some negative things about Floyd, mostly because he was such an idiot liar. But at a point, when he has nothing to gain and he has lost everything else and he starts telling the truth, he gains back my respect, just like Tyler Hamilton has.
I ended up reading these books one right after the other. As I said before, I recommend them both. David Millar is a better writer. He actually has more demons to battle than Hamilton so his story of redemption is inspiring. Tyler Hamilton’s story is more depraved (in a doping sense) but both books are important. A lot of people in cycling are now admitting to past deeds in very unspecific terms. These two authors are both shining lights into some dark corners and making the inevitability of drug use in cycling more human and understandable. Also, in reading these books back to back, it highlights the contrast in how these two people dealt with their fates.
Both had the bad luck to be nearly singled out as dopers when a large percent of the riders were dopers. Millar realized it was the doping that killed his passion for even riding a bike. He took no joy in his EPO-assisted victories, only a temporary satisfaction that the task at hand was completed. He decided to come clean and to become an advocate for clean racing and changing the corrupt system.
Hamilton could not admit to anyone but his wife (who already knew) that he had been a cheat. His lie was so crushing he couldn’t even see a way out. He then spent all his money and energy protecting the lie for years, for nothing, obviously. It was the threat of perjury in that finally broke open the dam. It’s a cruel lesson to learn; the truth will set you free, even if it takes forever.
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@Leroy
I think you can look at this from a couple directions though. Yes this is terrible for the near term of the sport and completely unfair to the riders left out in the cold by Rabobank who (the riders, not RB) are presumably not responsible for the state of the sport. However, in the long term this may be the beginning of actions that decimate the UCI and the established corrupt leadership in the sport. If you believe that the UCI is corrupt its not a stretch to believe the sponsors are complicit. Look at Nike for at least implications of this. I know JV made some talk about breaking from the UCI and going his own way. If only a couple more sponsors head for the door it puts the next couple of seasons in jeopardy, paving the way for a UCI implosion. Terrible for the season, maybe not terrible for the sport.
I think I would have preferred to see Rabobank hold this over the head of UCI to force some change, but this may be the only way forward. Time will tell. Very conflicted.
@razmaspaz
A couple of points: (1) Rabo is still paying for this year; they don't want their name in the sport anymore, however. The riders are not out in the cold immediately. But their withdrawal is representative of the biggest problem in the sport -- there is a huge overhang of headline risk to sponsors from years of rampant doping, even if it's better now. As Hinault said recently, this should have been cleaned up years ago. If I ran a business, I wouldn't want to be buying this risk with my ad dollars.
(2) I read Rabo's statement as a veiled indictment of the current leadership of the sport: "We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport. We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future."
@Nate
No doubt about #2.
@Nate
I realize these are the real stakeholders that cycling answers to. Promoters and rights buyers have yet to lift a real finger on this. The promoters make all their money from the broadcast rights so until the promoters feel the pinch from reduced royalties they won't push on UCI for anything. I hope that Rabobank signals a move of the team sponsors towards a vote of no confidence in UCI. If nobody shows up to race in UCI races because there is nobody to sponsor the athletes, the UCI dies.
As for #1, I was not aware they were paying for 2013. That's reassuring. I was aware they would continue to sponsor amateur cycling at some levels. The point is that the exit of a sponsor of this magnitude will cause second looks by every single sponsor from Movistar to Bissell. It is a calculated move though as it could be spun as Rabobank walking away at the first sign of a challenge, rather than stepping up and leading thru the muck. Successfully carrying the torch through something like that can say a great deal about what a bank could do for its investors and partners in business, but the risk may not be worth the payoff.
@Leroy mate you are still fighting blind. Go read LA's SCA testimony (your comments are uninformed until you have read at least this document). But to save you time I willtell you the really provable perjurous statement from him - he clearly, very clearly, couldnthave been clearer, stated that he had never taken PEDs. And that might be what screws him. By the by, they showed the footage of this testimony on Australian TV last Monday (google four corners lance Armstrong and you can probably get it online) - whilst Lance was a world beating cyclist, I think he is an even better liar. He was very impressive.
Dunno whether US authorities will take action - everyday people make bullshit statements under oath that are later proven false - and if they do, not sure he would go to jail if found guilty.
Dunno whether you guys know but our vice president of Cycling Australia, Stephen Hodge, resigned yesterdaybecause he doped when racing (he was a super domestique on teams like ONCE - for riders like JaJa). now this fella hadn't been caught by anyone but justtendered his resignation because of mistakes he had made 20 years ago. An admirable gesture from a real gentleman - Australian cyclingswill be poorer for his absence.
@Marcus
Man, it's a shame. I don't believe this is the correct model. I think Vaughters was wise in keeping riders and staff with a history. Nearly everyone has a history if they were a veteran pro. Sky and Oz are going to lose too many good people this way, if everyone is honest.
@Leroy
Mate, what part of my post made you think it was a tirade "at" you, or that I thought innocent riders, sponsors and teams leaving the sport is a good thing? It was only "addressed" to you because you had posted the news of Rabobank's announcement. The point, to be very clear, is that Pharmstrong, Brooneel, Ferrari, the other cheaters and UCI have fucked things up for everyone else, riders and fans alike - that the result will be less sponsorship and more folded teams, and worst of all more pompous uselessness from the UCI. I would've thought it was pretty obvious (e.g. the phrase 'worst of all') that I don't think that's a good thing. That, in fact, my point is really very similar to yours, inasmuch as it is a lament (well ok, rage) against the damage done to the sport by the cheaters (and those who seem insufficiently interested in rooting them out).
But to your suggestion that it would be better for it not to come out: I do not agree. Just because Pharmy has gone doesn't mean everything is good. Getting that egregious prick Brooneel out of the sport and away from poisoning more young men's and women's souls is worth it alone. Not to mention the far greater corrosive damage that would have been caused by a perpetuation of the knowledge that the bastards had got away with it. Not to mention the, to me, moral offensiveness of hoping that evil doesn't get it's comeuppance.
Finally, although my initial post was not a tirade at you, here's a comment that is: if you don"t like the profanity and you don't like the cute names, that's your call. But it's what we do here, quite a lot. And if we had had to choose between sweary name games and being condescending, I rather think we would choose the sweary name games.
@G'phanfiat the very least this business has brought you back see form. Something we hadn't seen since you were calling yourself Good Geoff or was it Jeff?
@Marcus
Perjury is a really serious business - look at Marion Jones : 6 months jail for lying under oath ( several times ) and in a far less conspicuous or serious context. There is precedent for the case. And I cant see how the Dallas DA armed with all the evidence ( no, Troy - not proof : evidence ) and the sworn testimony of dozens of witnesses could not convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that LA lied under oath in his 2005 videotaped deposition. Either this or get LA to admit to taking PEDs - then it's all over. Also - with all the publicity, how can the DA be seen to do nothing in the face of such overwhelming evidence.
@Marcus form v substance. Like a cycling team, the name changes but the substance remains the same. Except, of course, I have no substance.
@smithers whilst I make no claims as to knowledge of US legal intricacies or law courts generally (I was a finance lawyer -never went near a court) - I would posit that Marion Jones lying to two separate grand juries (ie. She lied in a criminal investigation) was a far greater offence than Lancy bullshitting a lawyer in a civil deposition... But i think lance would be better served in the short term by doing less triathlon training and more "how to make a shiv out of a bar of soap" practice.
But then again Lancealready knows how to get disparate nationalities such as Belgies, Colombians and Spaniards workingThor him - so he would probably be Top Dog pretty quick.