Lemond's thoughts on doping

Found this at pezcyclingnews.com today:

ABOUT DOPING
Pez: What do you think will be the long-term effect of the doping scandal and do you thing there is an answer or end to the problem?

GL: If we don’t face the problem openly and transparently then there will be a slow erosion of the sport and the sport itself will lose its credibility. I don’t know if it will affect people’s love of cycling completely, there are those who will love the sport and watch the Tour De France no matter what because of the dynamic nature of the sport and the stories within the sport itself, but the sport might not be looked at with the same regard it once had.

I believe it will lose those that believe in ethics in sports. The truth of the matter is that there are drugs in this sport that really transform athletes and I hate seeing a sport where you wonder if it is the drug and the doctor that is winning the race or if it’s the rider. What happened this year was a dramatic telling of the problem in the sport of cycling. It should be a wake up call for anyone who has doubts about the depth of the problem of doping in cycling. I believe that it is much worse than most people can imagine. The one positive outcome is that finally the UCI and the sport have had enough and hopefully this will be a new start for the sport. You hate to say it, but cycling really needed to be brought to its knees so that it can rebuild on a good solid foundation.

I think for the first time in years the UCI has taken a really hard-line step in not just making the athletes accountable but the management accountable. I think there are solutions to the drug problem but it will not be easy or pleasant. Retroactive testing must happen. Profiling athletes’ physical parameters from a young age so that you will see their true potential and their natural physical abilities would be a great start and when you see dramatic changes in their Vo2 max you could red flag the athlete and see what might be the reason for the change.

Greg LeMond: The PEZ-Clusive Interview!
Thursday, October 19, 2006 10:40:41 AM PT

by Dave Berson

Greg LeMond returned to the Lehigh Valley as the keynote speaker for the International Cycling Center and U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame 2006 awards. Ten years after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame Greg looks great and had lot’s to say as we hooked up for this PEZ-Clusive interview…

Pez: How does it feel to come back to the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame 10 years after your induction at ceremonies held at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome?

GL: It feels great. I did two days of bike riding here and you realize not only how good the riding is but how the entire community really embraces bike riding. I went down today to the most bizarre but really coolest thing I’ve ever seen, the bicycle exchange at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. There were hundreds and hundreds of cars, people exchanging bicycle parts, racing equipment and it’s cool. I love Pennsylvania, the riding is so nice here. I’m going to the Hall of Fame ceremonies tonight and one thing on the agenda is to someday have a permanent Hall of Fame down in this area. I think it would be really great to see a world class Hall of Fame in the USA.

Greg took in a little riding at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome.

ABOUT JUNIORS
Pez: What advice do you have for juniors and young racers starting out?’

GL: First, get a good coach and especially get connected with a local club or team that has some ex, older, good racers who they can learn from. Bike racing has, in the last 10 to 15 years, become so much about physiology, training, how you do intervals, but bicycle racing isn’t just a physical sport, it’s a tactical sport. You have to learn tactics from other racers and also from racing. As a young racer the more you can race the better. All types of racing, road, track, and criteriums. If you want to be a winner you have to do it all. Even mountain bike races should be included in a young person’s repertoire. Riders should not focus on the quantity of riding but on the quality of their rides, they should learn how to sprint properly and how to do an echelon. I am shocked sometimes when I ride with experienced racers who do not know instinctively to switch an echelon when the wind changes. They should also develop a very good pedal stroke and an ability to rapidly change cadence from low RPMs to high RPMs, where you’re able to use the high pedal speed to accelerate.

Greg’s a great story teller with a ton of great stories – as these young fans find out.

ABOUT DOPING
Pez: What do you think will be the long-term effect of the doping scandal and do you thing there is an answer or end to the problem?

GL: If we don’t face the problem openly and transparently then there will be a slow erosion of the sport and the sport itself will lose its credibility. I don’t know if it will affect people’s love of cycling completely, there are those who will love the sport and watch the Tour De France no matter what because of the dynamic nature of the sport and the stories within the sport itself, but the sport might not be looked at with the same regard it once had.

I believe it will lose those that believe in ethics in sports. The truth of the matter is that there are drugs in this sport that really transform athletes and I hate seeing a sport where you wonder if it is the drug and the doctor that is winning the race or if it’s the rider. What happened this year was a dramatic telling of the problem in the sport of cycling. It should be a wake up call for anyone who has doubts about the depth of the problem of doping in cycling. I believe that it is much worse than most people can imagine. The one positive outcome is that finally the UCI and the sport have had enough and hopefully this will be a new start for the sport. You hate to say it, but cycling really needed to be brought to its knees so that it can rebuild on a good solid foundation.

I think for the first time in years the UCI has taken a really hard-line step in not just making the athletes accountable but the management accountable. I think there are solutions to the drug problem but it will not be easy or pleasant. Retroactive testing must happen. Profiling athletes’ physical parameters from a young age so that you will see their true potential and their natural physical abilities would be a great start and when you see dramatic changes in their Vo2 max you could red flag the athlete and see what might be the reason for the change.

PEZ-Man Dave Berson in action – asking a few questions at the 2006 USCHoF dinner.

I also do not believe the governing bodies of the sports such as the UCI or USA cycling should have any input on setting policies on how the sports are regulated in terms of policing doping and administering the tests. You cannot have the fox guarding the hen house, there is a built in conflict of interest. Some athletes have called for the elimination of WADA and the UCI and I don’t agree. The athletes who have been caught are usually those that think these organizations have a grand conspiracy going on but I just don’t believe that is happening. It seems that when an American gets caught they blame it on the French and the labs. The other athletes that have been caught from other nations don’t ever blame a country or lab of even the “French conspiracy”.

WADA has been a crucial part of what’s going on and it is WADA that has put the pressure on the many sports federations to change. A lot of people in the cycling world like to criticize WADA but they criticize it because it keeps hitting right at the truth of the matter. Dick Pound takes a lot of criticism from the cycling world but he knows exactly what is going on in our sport and a lot of implicated athletes just want to shoot the messenger.

The sport of cycling, and many sports for that matter, is at a crossroads, either we have sports as we used to know and love them or it becomes pure entertainment and anything goes. I know that personally, I would not want my children to race in the current professional peloton and if it is the “anything goes”, as some think it should be, I would not want to have anything to do with the sport. I do hope that the current crisis in cycling will wake the world of cycling and force the sport to change, or we will see a slow death of the sport.

WADA is taking some very good steps toward solving the problem. They are trying to work with Interpol, which is a worldwide police agency. It is groups like WADA that I hope will get governments to criminalize doping. Right now you can get fined by your federation or governing body but what if it was made a felony in every country to be doping? I’m a big believer in plea bargains like they do in our criminal justice system but if an athlete takes drugs and is not willing to come out clean on the whole system, how it is working, then you get kicked out for life. If a rider cooperates then they can come back and race after a reduced punishment period has been served. Perhaps you give them a second chance because it’s not just the riders that are involved in this sophisticated doping program it’s the team managers, the sponsors, and many others who are pressuring the rider to do the program.

I think that what Frankie Andreu did recently is really the right step, the right direction for things. I heard rumors that USADA might penalize him and that would be the worst message to send to the world of sports. I understand why he felt the need to come forward and hope that any penalty he receives is symbolic. He made a mistake and is now trying to lead the way towards honesty in cycling and I respect that.

more at: http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4446