Quote:
Originally Posted by creekster
Mattbb, thanks for the input. Sounds like you were there, which begs the question: why were you there? Are you an exhibitor, do you own a shop or, like Arch, are you just a wealthy warrior-rider who goes to be the first in your pace line with the latest gear? Seriously, it sounds like you are well-connected to th industry and even if you choose not to reveal how it is you are connected, I beseech you to keep us informed of the info you do get.
What is Greg's crusade against doping? Either he has one and the press ignores it but for his confrontations with LA (which may justify those confrontations), or he only has a jones for attacking LA. Lemond's crusade seems more about the subtext of getting people to concede that he was a great rider until there was doping and that LA does not deserve the adulation he receives (which might be true anyway, but it is not a zero sum game involving LA and Lemond).
I grew up on Lemond, as I have recounted in this forum before, and I think he was a great rider. And he has been through a lot, including the mess that was the Landis hearing. Even so, what Armstrong is doing is without question a step in the right direction. It just seems to me that he should have been quiet at the conference and waited until the exact contours of LA's drug testing program is revealed. Instead, it looks like he is just a bitter old poop.
Also, agree with you about Contador. If I were him I would be ticked.
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I'm just one of the working poor (okay, sports photographer). I've been covering all the racing events this past week for various bike and sport magazines like Luv2Bike (a new local cycling mag), Triathlete Mag, MTO Bikes, and Mountain Bike Action (if they go for it --my Cactus Cup shots).
Anyway, I think Greg feels his career was cut short by the dopers. There was that Greg LeMond special a year or two ago where you could see his frustration when he mentioned that guys who were off the back one year were suddenly much, much faster the next year. At the same time Greg felt he was in better condition than the year before and he was struggling to keep up. Not long after that season the Festina doping scandal broke and some of his suspicions were confirmed.
Zoom forward a few years and you see this rider win all these TDFs and people attribute it to training and dedication (no question). At the same, just about all the top riders in the peloton behind had been caught or named in doping investigations. If I remember correctly it is something like 8 of the top 10 in the 2005 TDF have been caught or investigated.
I think that Greg feels that there has been very little meaningful change in the doping regulation and enforcement and also a real lack of desire for Pro Tour / UCI / ASO to really change anything -- you know the
bite the hand that feeds you type of thing.
I believe Greg when he says he loves the sport and wants to fix it. I talked to him and he really is sincere in this desire. He loves to ride and talk about cycling and can still kick some behind when he rides. I think it is ironic that people are so fast to jump to Lance's defense when it is most likely that he too has benefited from a rigorous pharmacological program before and after cancer treatment. But he is a national hero and anyone questioning him will be vilified.
Yesterday Greg was asking for data from Lance's earlier career that can be compared to current tests. There should be no doubt that Lance will be riding clean this time around. I still root for Lance when he races --maybe not as much as I used to though. Just like I did for Jan, Tyler, Michael, Alex and Floyd.
mbb