Jens Voigt is set to retire as we speak, having one final crack at a long break in some race in the Cycling backwater of the USA. Is it fair or fitting that he should go out like this, slipping out the back door with little fanfare, while others have been doing a farewell tour of all the big races, replete with fancy commemorative shoes and a song and dance? It’s probably apt that Jens is just doing what he’s always done: getting on with the job at hand and not saying too much. It’s almost like he’s been given the Golden Handshake, received his gold watch (well, another Trek), and gently herded out of the room, along with the elephant.
There’s no doubt that Jens is a hero to almost the entire cycling world; fans and contemporaries alike instantly warm to the big guy. He’s probably a great bloke to get on the beers with, keeping everyone entertained with his goofy German sense of humour (an oxymoron, I know) and regaling his enthralled audience with stories of that time he towed the peloton up the Galibier, dropping pure climbers like flies one by one. And because he’s a big, goofy, lovable German, no-one would even consider to question his morals or ethics when it comes to his role in the sport, and his considerable time in it. He’s Jens, he’s a bloody legend.
There’s always double standards applied when it comes to our Cycling heroes. Pantani: revered, matyred. Gunderson: condemned. Contador: forgiven, re-accepted. Valverde: despised. O’Grady, Rogers: well, they’re Australian, so even though they admitted/tested positive, no Aussie would ever cheat, right? They’re just lovable larrikins who got caught in the crossfire, and were unlucky or only “did it once”. Sir, your pig is fuelled and ready for take-off.
I’ve loved watching Jens going on crazy long breaks, laughed at the many soundbites he’s provided us, and he was even convinced to mouth our catchcry, although he probably had no clue as to what he was being cajoled into. He always has time for his fans, and that’s a sign of a true champion of the people. Imagine if Gunderson was a bit more humourous, if he’d cracked a few jokes instead of cracking skulls, if he’d told some part of his body to ‘shut up’ instead of telling other riders to do the same. Maybe he’d still be squeaky clean in the eyes of the fans, just like Jens.
While I respect a man who has ridden at the front of the peloton for 20 years and well into his 40s, and take inspiration from that, I can’t just sit here and digest every stock-standard quote that is rolled out. Jens came from one of the world’s most notorious doping programs in the East German system, but somehow wasn’t earmarked for the treatment. He rode professionally from 1997, the height of the EPO era, through Festina, through the Gunderson years, through the Landis/Rasmussen/Contador years. Yet he saw nothing. He rode on teams with more than a sprinkling of convicted and/or known dopers, yet he heard nothing. He rode under Directors Sportif who oversaw some of the biggest doping programs ever witnessed, yet he witnessed nothing himself. He continued to race at the same high level, and above, as the world’s best racers, well past the age when they threw in the towel, yet he wants us to believe he’s done it all on mineral water and sauerkraut.
While I love the guy, I’m not stupid, and neither are the cycling public. We don’t need to be treated like fools by every rider that ever rode in the Pro ranks, but we are, still. Even Gunderson has admitted he’d still be lying to us all, his family, children and cancer community if he hadn’t been outed. That’s the mentality of the Omérta in action. Jens is as old school as they come, and unfortunately he’s taking that mindset with him into retirement.
I wish Jens all the best, but I also wish he’d shown the same hardman qualities off the bike as he did on it, and spoken out about what he did actually see, hear and do. That would make him even more a legend.
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View Comments
@Rom
Nice. I was going to call the article "Shut up Jens", but maybe "Speak up Jens" is more appropriate...
The way the omerta was enforced by Quick-Step Omega Pharma with egg timer would make any rider currently under contract a little worried about speaking up. And jensie has what, twelve children to raise?
I am a Jens fan and have been for a long time. He is a man who likes to punish his bike. And he is a good interview and not afraid of the using the f word. I'll miss him. But I agree with Brett that he could, without implicating himself, still shed some light on cycling dark past. He is old enough to know something about it.
Without a lot to add to the conversation, chalk me up as another who found him entertaining, but almost in a childishly amusing way. Wouldn't dispute his place in the "old times", but still managed to find him mildly funny and generally harmless.
Fair point that being honest and forthright may have been one way to improve his hard man status, though I don't know that he really needs any improvement there.
@brett
Now that Jens is retired, maybe he's got a book in the works and will tell us what he knows.
@brett
Yeah , saw nothing , heard nothing , took nothing...
@brett
Yep , been few and far between this winter , but I now have Beer on tap ! So ride we should , I'll be riding Sunday 9-12 , 90-100k ?
@piwakawaka
Cool! This your place?
Not sure how I feel about this one.
While the pervasive presence of doping is clear; I have to admit, I've never made the jump to assume that literally all of the peloton was doping. So given I've never made that leap, I need something more to be convinced Jens doped. Being surrounded by dopers, a doper does not make. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be surprised, but I just don't share the certainty others clearly feel. I also agree that the circumstances reasonably raise questions. So asking one of them - which performances are Jens' questionable ones? I'm not seeing him inexplicably winning stages then backing up. I'm not seeing palmeres littered with victories beyond his clear talent. He won a occasionally but generally paid the price. Or am I being selective in my recollections?
All that aside - what of his responsibility tell all? I do relate to that sense that there could be some value in him coming clean about all that he must have seen. There is also a level of complicity in withholding and lying about what you know - and I'm more convinced he must have seen more than he admits to than I am that he took more than he admits to.
@dyalander
I tend to agree with you here. We don't condemn every rider that was even remotely a part of that era do we? If we're going to assume that everyone was doping, then we don't get to pick and choose which one's are going to be OK with us.
Just because I live in Milwaukee, it doesn't mean that I drink beer and eat brats every day. (Well, not every day.)
I think there is a better than good chance that he did see more than he lets on, but I don't think that he has an obligation to do a tell-all of any sort. What purpose would that serve? We all know what happened during that era. Rehashing it over and over again will NOT help move the sport forward. I'm not saying that we need to ignore it, certainly not. It happened in cycling, baseball, track and field. Pick a sport. But we have to find a way to move past it in a constructive way, and it's not just the responsibility of the UCI or USA Cycling, it's up to all of us.
For me, I'm a fan of Jens. He's funny, outgoing, and entertaining. Something that I think the sport is lacking sometimes. Plus, he gives everything he has every time he gets on the bike. I don't think any of us can fault him for that.
@sthilzy This place! http://www.salvationcoffee.co.nz
The Jensie never doped.
The East Germans gave him one shot of something in the 1988. He was young, he had no say in the matter.
Whatever it was, that shit's still working.
The Jensie never doped.