I am a cycling fan. I’ve followed the Tour de France, had Lance Armstrong ride an arm’s length away from me in the Pyrenees, ridden on the Champs d’Elysee and many other routes from the grand tours and classics. I love the history and pageantry associated with cycling and I have some idea of how hard is, having ridden in the depth or winter and pushed myself to the point where my body and will are completely exhausted. More than once after an epic ride, I’ve turned to my riding partners and said, “Do that again tomorrow? Fuck no.”
I am also a keen social observer, by training and inclination, so for almost a decade now I have understood that professional cycling is a rotten fruit. Just finished reading Floyd Landis’ seven hour interview with Paul Kimmage of the London Times (http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2011/landiskimmage). Regardless of what you think of Mr. Landis, much of what he says seems irrefutably true. I was particularly struck by his corroboration of something that I have have long observed–namely that the UCI (International Cycling Union, professional cycling’s governing body) is complicit with doping. Think about it, how could they not be, and have not been for a long time. How is it that the UCI keeps declaring cycling “clean” or “the cleanest” even as riders continue to test positive and the Tour de France, its biggest event, has had more than a decade of doping scandals. The parameters established for the so-called “biological passport” might seem normal for characters out of Marvel comics but they far exceed the values seen in normal humans. Getting caught today means over-doing it as opposed to not doing it at all.
Reading the Landis interview reveals all manner of sordid human interaction and malfeasance, precisely the kind of things that you expect people interested in maintaining their power to perpetrate (kind of like paying thugs to attack peaceful demonstrators who want one removed from power). And the complicity runs all the way down the food chain–including media stars like Phil Ligget and Bob Roll who decry the “cheats” at the moment of greatest hysteria, only to continue celebrating their exploits later or offer simple-minded explanations such as, “It’s the riders who can’t keep up who are doping,” even as the biggest names in the sports are implicated and/or busted. And yes, riders do get caught but not because of the UCI, but because WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and vigorous national bodies, in France and Italy especially, really want to see the problem of drugs in sport tackled.
Floyd Landis is certainly an imperfect messenger but he should not need to be for us to see truths that are readily apparent. There is an omertà among professional cyclists that if broken has immediate consequences. During the 2004 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong chased down Filippo Simeoni, a former Italian champion himself suspended for doping, who had dared to accuse Armstrong’s friend Dr. Michele Ferrari of aiding Simeoni’s doping. By chasing him, Armstrong effectively destroyed Simeoni’s opportunity of contending to win a prestigious tour stage. Simeoni was subsequently abused and derided by his fellow riders who apparently approved of Armstrong’s actions. I remember watching that episode and thinking, “What’s going on here? Why would Lance do that? Is he that petty?” It was one little crack among many that made me realize how unheroic these cycling heroes actually are. Pretty soon after, I stopped having dreams in which I was a professional cyclist. Don’t get me wrong, I still intend to ride the final 100k of Paris Roubaix with my friends, maybe one day with my son and daughter, but I’ll ride it as myself; drug free and happy to endure all my human frailties on my way to that sacred velodrome.
