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island911 island911 is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: an island, upper left coast, USA
Posts: 73,167
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevin993 View Post
The strategy seems pretty simple to me:

1) I just wanted to ride - everybody else that organized or administered the sport were responsible for the rules and testing. They did such an awful job that us riders couldn't be clean and complete. You can't really blame the teams and riders (and me) because we (I) had no choice.
2) The organizers had to know once riders started to use PEDs, but they had a good thing going. They had testing for PR purposes, but wanted us to keep our mouths shut to avoid upsetting their sport. If we said anything to upset the sport, they would find a way to use a negative test to ban us and we wouldn't be able to ride.
3) Since doping was permitted in the "real" rules, we had to make the best of those rules. We had sponsors to look after, employees to take care of and bills to pay - we had obligations, so we had no choice but to use PEDs if those were the "real" rules that the organizers and administrators were going to apply.
4) Yes, I gave reporters and whistle-blowers a hard time about PEDs, but I was just reflecting the pressure that I got from the organizers and administrators of the sport. They looked to me as a leader and I got caught up in enforcing the code of silence that was keeping the sport going.
5) Given all that, I was just doing the best I could in the context of a flawed sport. I didn't make the rules, but had to abide by the rules if I wanted to ride. Everybody else got so greedy.
6) In retrospect, I acknowledge that things happened and mistakes were made. Individual teams or riders aren't worth talking about because they (we) were all in a similar position. However, is there anybody in the organization or administration of the sport that you'd like me to talk about? They're the real culprits - us riders are just victims that got swept up in all the madness.
Years on bump.

I do remember thinking, Lance has that freakishly huge lung capacity, so his winning checks out. And No WAY anyone would go to such extremes to cheat. I mean, for a bicycle race? And yet industrial level cheating happens. Banking clean blood so he could spoof the test? The switcheroo transfusions he had endure... The people paid off or intimidated to go along with the ruse... Force to proclaim, there is no cheating. No Way...

Imagine if this level of cheating happened in other places. Like say, dog racing... or VW emissions... Nah, people would never have such elaborate cheating schemes. Bicycle racing is alone in massive fraud. If the media says someone won a race, they won the race. End of story. there is no cheating. No Way...

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Disclaimer: the above was 2¢ worth.
More information is available as my professional opinion, which is provided for an exorbitant fee.
Old 11-08-2020, 09:10 AM
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