Doping is no secret in cycling
Several commentators who have long been deeply involved with the road cycling industry are not surprised that Alberto Contador has tested positive for banned substances. The three-time Tour de France winner has been found with Clenbuterol
and plasticisers in his blood, the favoured interpretation so far being that he had undergone autologous blood transfusions during Tour de France.
Naturally, Contador has denied it, as have the vast majority of the huge number of riders who have been banned for doping over the years. One exception to the automatic “I didn’t do it” response is Bernhard Kolh, who was caught doping
in 2008 and immediately came clean.
“I was tested 200 times during my career, and 100 times I had drugs in my body,” said Kohl to the
New York Times. “I was caught, but 99 other times, I wasn’t. Riders think they can get away with doping because most of the time they do. Even if there is a new test for blood doping, I’m not even sure it will scare riders into stopping. The problem
is just that bad.”
The Austrian cyclist finished in third in the 2008 Tour de France before a test was returned positive for blood-booster CERA and he admitted the infraction. He has since become a tell-all source for doping in cycling. Kohl has responded
to the Contador scandal matter-of-factly. Of course Contador was doping, everybody who wins the Tour is doping. That’s the only way to win, according to the Austrian.
"Floyd Landis won the Tour de France and his average speed was 40 kph," said Kohl. "This year it was Contador and it was also about 40. It was nearly the same average speed. Landis was doped. Maybe in 10 or 15 years, you can win (without drugs) if we work
with the anti-doping movement."
Kohl is certainly not alone in this view. Landis seems to support the suggestion, though he hasn’t said it so directly. More recently, Italian anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri has come out to support the view that doping is the norm in the professional
peloton and said it’s likely to stay that way.
“It’s not fair when we single out one rider in a 100. If the other 99 have doped too but are not prosecuted, it’s not fair,’ said Torri. “As long as doping is a viable economic option it’s always going to exist. It needs to be made so that it’s no longer
worth it economically.”
The 78-year-old prosecutor is responsible for the bans that have been dealt to Danilo Di Luca, Alessandro Petacchi, Riccardo Riccò, Alejandro Valverde, Ivan Basso and many more. Riccò was recently caught with at least 50 unidentified pills and may be facing
a second ban.
“[Contador] can blame it on a fillet he ate but that’s not enough, he needs to prove it,” said Torri. “But we’ll see what explanation [Riccò] provides. He could always show that they were for his grandmother. There’s always a grandmother, a fillet or something
else.”
David Walsh has weighed in with Kohl and Torri with his pessimistic view of the sport. Walsh is the author of
From Lance to Landis and LA Confidentiel, which both attempt to expose the culture of doping in professional cycling.
"The sport is already seriously damaged,” said Walsh. “Opinions are now so polarised that there are very few people who believe in this sport and who are capable of being turned off by the next big positive.”
The author has expressed that he doesn’t “buy” Contador’s tainted-meat explanation and has said that he is not surprised when people dope, but he is when people are caught.
"You've now got Contador and Mosquera both in trouble and you have to think that this sport is going nowhere."
The author has been critical of the UCI’s response to the revelation, stating that they are uncomfortable with the idea of a top rider doping and are therefore reluctant to react properly and forcefully.
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