Millar: Pro cycling cleaner than it's ever been

[Rex Hunter]

Good news from a member of World Anti-doping Authority's Athlete's Committee...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/millar-pro-cycling-cleaner-than-its-ever-been

 

[auscyclefan94]

He's not wrong, in saying it's a lot cleaner but i think their have been cleaner year(S).

 

[cyclegeek]

Come on man!

 

[cyclegeek]

He's not wrong, in saying it's a lot cleaner but i think their have been cleaner year(S).

You have to be specific in saying cleaner in comparison to 1903 or 1993?

Come on man!

 

[auscyclefan94]

Come on man!

Point taken, just re read ppost.

 

[Rex Hunter]

He's not wrong, in saying it's a lot cleaner but i think their have been cleaner year(S).

I disagree. I think it's cleaner now than it has probably ever been. The drugs may not have been as effective in the pre-EPO era, but they were probably more widespread. With the biopassport making it hard to use EPO to any significant level anymore, that advantage has also come right down, making the risk less worth it.

 

[cyclegeek]

Said it before. To much to lose! Why would a cyclist that is naturally gifted today, risk being ostrasized(sp.?) from cycling for 2 or more years. Not worth the risk. They would have to be extremely foolish.

 

[the vagabond]

Said it before. To much to lose! Why would a cyclist that is naturally gifted today, risk being ostrasized(sp.?) from cycling for 2 or more years. Not worth the risk. They would have to be extremely foolish.

You dodge the issue by inserting the words "extremely gifted." One could just as easily ask: "Why would a person who loves cycling but can never rise above domestique making $30K Euro a year not risk doping when he stands to win a couple races and maybe make $300K?"

 

[BigBoat]

Ha ha, lol, some humor for the evening. "He's a nutter" .

 

[the vagabond]

Let's not forget Millar was not just a light doper

I've got nothing against Millar, but his born-again-Christian-like preaching on doping can't hide the fact that he was a honking doper in his day. I was in Hamilton in 2003 standing just past that first left-hand turn before the climb up the escarpment and timing the riders and juiced-to-the max Millaralready had 6 seconds on everybody 2kms in before he even started cranking up the climb. This beats the hell out of training all winter, he was thinking!

Couldn't help but notice his platinum-dyed hair at the podium, which for some reason was a trademark of all the heavy EPO users in the early 00s - VDB, Frigo, Virenque, etc. Was the dye a masking agent?

Anyway, cheers to you David, you're doing good, but you can't change history.

 

[workingclasshero]

Said it before. To much to lose! Why would a cyclist that is naturally gifted today, risk being ostrasized(sp.?) from cycling for 2 or more years. Not worth the risk. They would have to be extremely foolish.

less of the cycle, more of the geek

 

[pmsc111]

Did he become a member of the World Anti-doping Authority Athlete's Committee before or after the Police raided his house?

 

[Rex Hunter]

Did he become a member of the World Anti-doping Authority Athlete's Committee before or after the Police raided his house?

They must have invited him to be a member - you don't just choose to be on the committee. They must have seen his confessions and rare work against doping after a ban.

 

[fatandfast]

Millar is a convicted f-up. Any return to some thing he never had is fine. There is some nationalist/I speak English endearment that is totally unnecessary. He has had a result or 2 since he was not juiced so clean serves him well. He should talk about bike racing instead of doping all the time ,if it's behind him then put it behind. Win races,or go to school and counsel people about the evils of drugs. Get off your high horse and ride your bike. If you want to admire somebody look up to the guy that`takes action before dirty pee controls your life.

 

[the vagabond]

Did he become a member of the World Anti-doping Authority Athlete's Committee before or after the Police raided his house?

That's just a coincidence. See, he had actually quit doping just at that moment, the same way Tiger Woods had decided on his own to stop seeing other women just at the moment his wife found out, the same way I discovered the wonder of Jesus on my own just, coincidentally just at the time I ran out of money and was lying drunk in a jail in West Texas. . .

 

[Rex Hunter]

A convert who knows what he is talking about is more valuable to the anti doping commitee.

Now, on the issue of cycling been cleaner than it's ever been. For the reasons stated previously i think he is right. What say you?

 

[pmsc111]

A convert is more valuable? Would you put Jeffrey Dahmer[if he was still alive] on a committee against mass murder?

Is cycling now cleaner? No! They found drugs that are still in clinical trials during the Tour[which looks like drug companies are using athletes as guinea pigs]. The athletes, if they can get away with it, are only too happy to comply. If they get caught there is a never ending line coming through.

What rare work has Millar done? if caught there are three options. Retire. Deny, deny, deny. Or do what Millar is doing. Drugs are bad, children. Don't do them! And bore all & sundry as to how born again you now are.

 

[Race Radio]

A convert is more valuable? Would you put Jeffrey Dahmer[if he was still alive] on a committee against mass murder?

Is cycling now cleaner? No! They found drugs that are still in clinical trials during the Tour[which looks like drug companies are using athletes as guinea pigs]. The athletes, if they can get away with it, are only too happy to comply. If they get caught there is a never ending line coming through.

What rare work has Millar done? if caught there are three options. Retire. Deny, deny, deny. Or do what Millar is doing. Drugs are bad, children. Don't do them! And bore all & sundry as to how born again you now are.

That has to be a first, comparing a doper to a guy who ate people.

It is pretty common for recovered addicts and criminals to be successful in helping others not take the same path they did.

 

[Race Radio]

Said it before. To much to lose! Why would a cyclist that is naturally gifted today, risk being ostrasized(sp.?) from cycling for 2 or more years. Not worth the risk. They would have to be extremely foolish.

This guy has $28 million reasons to dope

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/53/9IR3.html

 

[lwebb12]

That has to be a first, comparing a doper to a guy who ate people.

It is pretty common for recovered addicts and criminals to be successful in helping others not take the same path they did.

To some people, once a criminal always a cannibal.

 

[pmsc111]

Yeah, the Dahmer reference is over the top. But I find Millar's position a bit hard to take.

 

[lwebb12]

Yeah, the Dahmer reference is over the top. But I find Millar's position a bit hard to take.

I don't think he is clean.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I don't think he is clean.

Well he better have a shower then.

 

[lwebb12]

Well he better have a shower then.

Someone needs to brew a pot of coffee first...

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

To me all this really says is that

1. It's limited by Millar's knowledge, and should be considered his opinion. Yes, he has an educated inside opinion, but it's an opinion, none the less. Not based on any direct factual anything. Considering how outspoken he is, those not only doping or facilitating it, but upholding the omerta are not going to hang with the guy, or give him info contrary to his opinion.

2. Doping has probably been driven farther underground and into covert workings than at any point in his lifetime.

3. Doping is likely practiced most extensively by those with the greatest financial resources, way out of sight of those like Millar.

4. We would have stopped hearing about doping scandals, which haven't really gone away, have they?

5. The power numbers are still as high as any other time in cycling history, including during recent years when riders were admittedly heavily doped.

Also, considering how effective O2 carriers are, if there were that many people clean, there would be a much larger backlash by the riders from being cheated. Not only against dopers, but in an effort to go beyond the norm to prove to a very skeptical population that their sport is clean. Instead, the opposite still prevails. Someone like Damiano Cunego speaks out in vague terms and not only does no one stand behind him, we have other leaders in the sport telling him to his face they'll crush him.

So, sorry David. I do agree it's cleaner than in the past, certainly compared to 200-2004, since which probably 2/3 of the PT has since been busted or connected to a scandal. But I think it's simply factually incorrect to imply that the sport is almost clean.