Tyler Hamilton’s win in La Doyenne in 2003 was one of the highlights in what was generally a fantastic season. A great Spring campaign, a great Giro, a great Tour, a great Fall; unpredictable races, and closely-fought battles littered the events. But, with the luxury of 20-20 hindsight and a quick cross-reference of results listings to doping scandals, it’s safe to assume that season landed smack in the middle of an era of jet-fueled racing that rivals the 1990’s in their indulgence.
It’s a tough time to be a cyclist. Death, doping scandals, corruption in the organizing bodies of the sport. We test our athletes more than any other sport, but the tests are flawed and incomplete, and rumors persist that teams and riders pay off not just the labs to surpress positive tests, but also the UCI. Hamilton’s confession on 60 Minutes this week is the latest in an unsettling chain of events that keep peeling back more layers of the onion. I was a big fan of Tyler’s and part of me even believed in his innocence. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy – much too nice a guy to get involved in cheating. But there he was on television, talking openly about the magnitude of drugs-taking within the USPS team.
On the other hand, I’ve never been a fan of Armstrong’s. I find him to be arrogent, controlling, manipulative. His Tour wins were too formulaic; in sharp contrast to his fight with cancer, his racing showed no element of humanism. I have taken it for granted that his wins came with considerable assistance from a carefully planned and executed doping regimen. But these beliefs were woven together by a thread of doubt, and the possibility always existed that his were clean wins.
Hearing Hamilton talk of the seemingly nonchalant attitude towards doping at USPS and, in particular, by Armstrong, is surprising not in the content of the message, but in how hard the message hit. I expected the words. I had read them. I have even written many of them myself. But there was always a tangible element of speculation about them. For me, that element is now gone, and it feels strange to say the least.
Even as someone who generally accepts that doping is commonplace in the peloton, it hurts me every time another allegation of doping comes out. It takes me days to recover from it. But even if the worst happens, if Professional Cycling as we know it today falls apart, cycling will continue. Because cycling is more than watching others race bikes. It’s about racing or riding the bike yourself. It’s about overcoming your own limitations. It’s about the rider and the machine working together. It’s about cleaning, caring for, thinking about your bike. It’s about taking photos of it so you can look at it when you’re away.
Cycling rides through a storm today, but we will always have the bike. We will always have la Vie Velominatus.
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The
This is the same argument that suggests insider dealing is a victimless crime. It isn't. It destroys confidence in the market, and without confidence, said market doesn't function. Cycling has already got itself into a position where participants (and observers) have severely qualified faith in the outcome. Surely it can't hurt want to improve the situation by cleaning out the augean stables (will likely make sport more lucrative). Insider dealing will always be with us, as will murder, rape and war. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try and stop them from happening.
I've been thinking about some of the same things as I watch Contador in this Giro; at what point will the collective *we* admire his dominance? He discourages the Tough Underdog we love to cheer on (especially in the U.S.). We were discouraged and annoyed at Armstrong's [boring] wins. Were we annoyed with Indurain? Or Hinault? Or on back through the Greatest of the Greats?
Doping is disheartening for those of us wanting to believe in these guys' incomprehensible strength and endurance--things SO inspiring as one is out climbing his or her own version of the Zoncolan or sprinting for that mailbox 4 mailboxes on down the road, and that doping easily becomes the helmsman on our ship of disdain of the Unbeatable. But if [since] they all have doped, at some point, the ship sinks into the murky waters of memory/history, and all that's left is admiration of the dominance once so-hated. It's a very odd psychological phenomenon.
"Even as someone who generally accepts that doping is commonplace in the peloton, it hurts me every time another allegation of doping comes out. It takes me days to recover from it."
The message hit me hard too. All along there was plausible deniability but, at least for me, that is gone with regards to those 7 wins. It tore Tyler up to finally come clean and detail what actually went on. However, it wasn't Tyler's piece in 60 Minutes that really depressed me, it was the suggestion that Hincapie had corroborated these events to the grand jury. I thought (to to some degree still do) thought that Tyler was a badass for winning a stage of the Tour with his collarbone broken in two places, held together by tape, and grinding his molars to dust. I thought that there was a chance that these people I have admired did what they did purely though sacrifice and hard work. I hope that the young riders can reverse this bullshit. I hope that we see a clean Tejay Van Garderen and a clean Andrew Talansky battling it out for a Tour title in 6 or so years. Enough monku, monku, it's time to get out and ride.
Credit to Hincapie for keeping his yap shut and observing the Code of Silence (subpoenas notwithstanding, of course). Sometimes silence speaks volumes - he hasn't exactly rushed (or been called) to LA's defense, either. If I am not mistaken he is eyeballing a TdF record of his own this year. It appears the puppeteers in this big charade are going to give him that. I am not defending the doping but nobody likes a rat. These confessions and allegations are only coming out under duress, leading me to believe, that they are not motivated by good intentions alone. Not to say they aren't credible, but nobody's just coming forward and saying they cheated. That is until, of course, they get caught. A clear conscious is but a fringe benefit.
We all have a "Mother's Little Helper." A few tricks we like to pull to gain a little edge. Could be that special electrolyte slurry, could be that super light wheelset with the ceramic bearings, hell I know guys who rip a few bong hits before every ride. I imagine when you are racing at that level, and the competition and the money and the egos are at that level, well you have to take your tricks to that level too. Water, honey & molasses don't cut it anymore. Again, not defending, just trying to understand the mindset.
Assume everybody's doing it, and it is part of the game. Are we really to believe that Phillipe Gilbert won that triple crown clean? How is that possible if everyone else is doping? Passing the doping control is almost like a second stage of every race now.
@Nof Landrien
No it's not. Insider trading means other people lose money - clearly there are victims.
The rules on insider trading are to ensure a level playing field and that what is available to one is available to all. Just as legalising drugs would do. Anyone can take PEDs, not everyone can play golf with the CEO. Totally different.
How, in a situation where anyone could take PEDs and it was known and controlled, would someone else be harmed ? I agree people have been harmed but I'm talking about preventing this in future.
It only destroys confidence because it isn't supposed to happen. Take that arbitrary rule away and you have no claim to undermine confidence.
As for performance, they don't get that out of a needle. They don't take EPO and eat crisps for three months of winter (well apart from Der Kaiser obviously). It's a marginal, incremental thing. It rewards those who train hard, it helps recovery in training, it helps them to train hard and race hard.
To me it doesn't change anything about their riding and the admiration for it and in fact making things more level would only enhance that competitiveness.
One thing about the difference between past doping and current PED use is just that: the science and effectiveness of the substances and methods in use today is light years beyond anything used 30-40 years ago. Even in A Dog in A Hat Joe Parkin describes riders still using amphetamine injections as had been done for decades, and that was the late 1980s! I'm sure other versions of 'speed' or other drugs like steroids had been tried in the 70s and 80s, but it seems to me it was the 1990s when the technology of PEDs in cycling really took off. Can anyone imagine what Moser, DeVlaeminck or Merckx would've been like if they were on EPO or blood doping?? And let's not forget what tragedies can befall those racers who can't handles "The Game". RIP Pantani. RIP VDB.... Let's not forget, these heroes of ours are also human beings.
Let's not forget, these heroes of ours are also human beings
However, those who pressure teammates into doping, then bully them into continuously lying about it and threaten them with personal or professional harm if they refuse, don't fall into this category. I think we all know who this describes...
@Collin
I too worry about the impact to Livestrong. I have personally seen the profound level of help & support the organization can provide to people with cancer. I recommended Livestrong to a coworker who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She still thanks me each time we speak, as she is now 3 years in remission.
Thanks Frank for this post. I watched the 60 Minutes bit. It was a heavy interview in my opinion. Tyler was visibly in turmoil at ratting on a friend and at finally telling the truth of his ruined career with tv cameras right there.
I was also a big fan of his for many reasons and I defended his bullshit stories for quite some time. I'm not very bright. This interview shed some light on the pressure to dope, why he didn't come clean immediately and it seems like one massive nail in Lance's coffin. I do feel badly for him and I like more again.
It's overused but the truth will set you free, for Tyler and Cycling.
If we are out there, shaving our legs and hurting ourselves on our own crazy rides, the terrorists don't win? Sorry, I lost my thread...
You could really see that in his eyes. they looked like he had been balling since he came out to his family and friends days before.
My take on doping, as long as people depend on it for a paycheck then there will always be dopers. there is way more pressure for those guys to perform then we can ever imagine.
PS I dont like the COTHO because he is an arrogant prick not because of doping.