US Postal Doping Conspiracy

With regard to USADA’a publication on the US Postal doping conspiracy

“The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.  ” – full report USADA

I’m not sure which is the saddest part:

• The extent of the doping and cheating in cycling (which we all feared was occuring, but the sheer scale and audacity still leaves us breathless)
• The fact so much evidence was ignored for so long.
• The fact the Cycling authorities had so little interest in pursuing better detection of athletes and that it took an independent authority to collect the overwhelming evidence.
• The fact cycling authorities were more interested in banning overshoes and angles of saddles.
• The fact many people think a culture of doping (which can be very dangerous) is not a problem so long as those in question do some ‘good charitable works’
• So few in the pro cycling world (with some honourable exceptions) are willing to welcome this investigation and the opportunity to clean up cycling.
• Many of those involved in oversight of doping programme (e.g. Johan Bruyneel) are still operating at the top level of procycling
• Doctors who should be trusted, encouraged and participated in potentially dangerous doping activities.
• Those few professional riders who spoke out against doping, were isolated and forced out of the peleton.
• If Lance Armstrong had accepted opportunity to come clean and testify like all other 11 US postal riders (and best friend George Hincapie) Armstrong really could have left all this behind him and moved on.

Some moments of humour in this affair.

According to two witnesses, the USPS team doctor Pedro Celaya (who is charged by Usada and will face a CAS hearing later this year) was thrown into a panic at the 1998 Tour de France by the Festina scandal, in which the French team was caught red-handed with a vast medicine cabinet of illegal drugs.  Celaya flushed tens of thousands of the USPS’s stash of drugs down the toilet – though, this would not have been much help if the French police had raided the team, because the toilet was in a camper van.

“The great irony is America would be thrilled to have a performance-enhanced Postal Service.” Jason WSJ

“The moral of the story is that if a cyclist looks too good to be true, then he probably is. But if a cyclist looks too good to be true and has an entourage of lawyers, press flaks, doctors and bodyguards, then he definitely is.” – Matt Seaton