The fine art of the veiled doping admission-non-admission

[eatyourvitamins]

This is more for humour than anything else... but it could potentially spark some debate regarding what has or has not qualified as such a statement.

Who do think has given the best 'veiled doping admission-non-admission'? They seem to be far more common and eloquent of late. Almost de rigeur...

I'll start the ball rolling by nominating Mr George Hincapie for this little gem from this CN story http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hincapie-unsure-of-long-term-impact-of-doping-controversy

Hincapie declined to comment on the ongoing inquiry, led by FDA agent Jeff Novitzky, but he said that he was not affected by speculation linking him to the matter.

“I think if you ask anybody that’s close to me, they’ll all say that I’m a good person and that I have a good character and at the end of the day, my family and close friends are what matter to me,” he said. “If they were to say I was a bad person or had a bad character, then that would affect me. But the other stuff [media and internet speculation], I’m not going to let that affect me.”

Any favorites? Nominate away.

 

[Chuffy]

I'll say no....

 

[frenchfry]

or this little gem:

I do think that, from what I know, cycling is doing probably more than any other sport to make it a clean sport and I’m proud of the way they’re handling it. I do think we’re on the cutting edge as far as testing goes and other sports will try to follow our lead.

I guess George is happy that doping control for some protected riders consists of making regular payments to the governing body. By cutting edge maybe he is referring to Swiss bank accounts and the like.

Nice guy? Maybe, but sometimes it isn't enough to be a nice guy.

 

[hscoach2]

Jan Ullrich...

"If you can't add 1 + 1 then I can't help you"

 

[JPM London]

Or "I have never tested positive" said by... Well, too many to note really!

 

[BotanyBay]

"I've never taken any banned substances, nor do I take banned substances"

-Lance

 

[Granville57]

I'll start the ball rolling by nominating Mr George Hincapie for this little gem from this CN story http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hincapie-unsure-of-long-term-impact-of-doping-controversy

I'll say no....

You took my top two before I had a chance!

I was just reading George's earlier.

“I think if you ask anybody that’s close to me, they’ll all say that I’m a good person and that I have a good character."

Funny how he's so convinced of all the things his friends will say, and yet none of them seem to offer, "George never doped." Interesting.

I truly hope GH realizes that he if ever does admit anything, he probably won't lose a single fan. I think most people would say, "It's OK. You rode for USPS. We get it, and we still like you. You're likable."

But don't BS us, George. That doesn't fly.

 

[humble]

A spanish and italian precursor to suspension, 'I am tranquil'

 

[Maxiton]

"This is my body, and I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it. Study it. Tweak it. Listen to it."

I've always thought this was particularly brilliant because it's elastic enough to take into account both, fans who know he doped or think he did - they will see this as justification; as well as the naive who "just know" he didn't or wouldn't - this group will see it as supporting their belief. Especially since he follows it with,

"Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my *** six hours a day. What are you on?"

I'm also pretty sure all this was copy written by one of Nike's agencies.

 

[orbeas]

"I've never taken any banned substances, nor do I take banned substances"

-Lance

This is quite correct as he had permission to use them from Messrs Verbrugen/McQuaid. and various doctors.

 

[BotanyBay]

This is quite correct as he had permission to use them from Messrs Verbrugen/McQuaid. and various doctors.

In the early 2000's, I noticed that he was very careful and deliberate in choosing his words. He never said he didn't take stuff. He just said he never took banned things. I always wanted the journalist to say "OK, what exactly DO you take?". I remember emailing Sal Ruibal of USA Today many years ago, pushing him to ask THAT question. He knew that if he did, he'd lose access.

If he still had a job with USA Today, I know he'd ask it now.

 

[Granville57]

"I only thought about doping"

-Basso

 

[eatyourvitamins]

A spanish and italian precursor to suspension, 'I am tranquil'

Classic. I've noticed that more than once too.

Lances are all so perfect... his legal team have had so many years to master it i guess...

 

[jae2460]

Reminds me of politicians:

Al Gore: I never inhaled...

Bill Clinton: I did not have sexual relations with that woman...

Perhaps they do have a future in politics...

 

[Cobblestoned]

In the early 2000's, I noticed that he was very careful and deliberate in choosing his words. He never said he didn't take stuff. He just said he never took banned things. I always wanted the journalist to say "OK, what exactly DO you take?". I remember emailing Sal Ruibal of USA Today many years ago, pushing him to ask THAT question. He knew that if he did, he'd lose access.

If he still had a job with USA Today, I know he'd ask it now.

So you have to handle with your illness for min. 10 years now ?
Wow. That explains everything and you must definitely be short before end-stage.
If you will ever have any knowledge of cycling, instead of knowledge about Armstrong and google, you will be impressed by all the drugs athletes take "legally". The limits are fluent and the big step is actually only a little one in these days.
Thats one of the main problems.

BTW, I didn't expect you to turn this into another Armstrong-thread. That was really surprising me.

 

[Cobblestoned]

"I have never ever cheated other riders in my life. That is a fact." - Jan Ullrich

 

[Hugh Januss]

Wow, only 14 posts in to a new thread and 'stoned is already in attack mode.

 

[Spank226]

Oscar Pereiro:

To be frank, I am not going into a game like this. I believe that during my entire cycling career that I never had any sort of problem with doping. I am not going to respond to something like from someone like Floyd Landis, who did test positive. I believe what he’s said and done these past few years has left him with very little credibility. It’s too bad, because he was a cool guy, but it’s really annoying what he’s doing in the manner that he’s doing it.

...This is just amazing! The UCI can tell me if I ever doped. I am not going to keep on going with this story.

And not to defend GH, but I was fortunate to have raced with him in the junior ranks and he was a phenom. He was in the 14-15 (later changed to 15-16) group and he was a friggin' stud. Lap the field in his race multiple times. Then enter the the next age group up 16-17/17-18 and lap them before taking the win, then enter the Cat 3 mens or Cat 1-3 mens race and get more often than not get a top 10 placing.

At Superweek, he would win the junior races handily against much older and experienced riders, and he'd do the men's races and again place in them. Granted, at 13 and 14 he was already like 6' and had a mustache (and we used to joke that his wife and kids were on the sidelines cheering for him!) so was more physically mature than his competition. But I remember being around him at Superweek once and his conversation was about how he wanted to be a rock musician when he grew up. Totally hum-drum about his cycling talent.

 

[Hugh Januss]

My favorite is the sheer quantity of guys who claim that the time they got caught just happened to be the first and only time that they 'tried' whatever it was they got caught for. With such a success rate from the testers it is a wonder to me that anyone would ever try to cheat.

 

[luckyboy]

A spanish and italian precursor to suspension, 'I am tranquil'

Oscar Pereiro being asked about whether he was relieved codename 'Urko' in Op. Puerto wasn't him.

"Relief? No, because I was also tranquil from the beginning because I knew there was no truth to that story."

 

[luckyboy]

My favorite is the sheer quantity of guys who claim that the time they got caught just happened to be the first and only time that they 'tried' whatever it was they got caught for. With such a success rate from the testers it is a wonder to me that anyone would ever try to cheat.

Didn't T.Dekker say something like that?

"In the press statement today, Dekker said the drug use was a one-time mistake and that he wants to return to cycling to prove he achieved his past results because of his talent and his teams' help."

 

[mwbyrd]

Oscar Pereiro:



And not to defend GH, but I was fortunate to have raced with him in the junior ranks and he was a phenom. He was in the 14-15 (later changed to 15-16) group and he was a friggin' stud. Lap the field in his race multiple times. Then enter the the next age group up 16-17/17-18 and lap them before taking the win, then enter the Cat 3 mens or Cat 1-3 mens race and get more often than not get a top 10 placing.

Also from Oscar (Velonews article):

That is an absolute lie. I never spoke to Floyd Landis about doping. I never spoke to Floyd before the time trial. I was in my hotel, then we rode the course, then we went to the stage, I never spoke with him with about anything like that. This is just amazing! The UCI can tell me if I ever doped. I am not going to keep on going with this story. It will just give it more publicity that it doesn’t deserve. He can say whatever he wants.

Interesting how no one if flat out denying doping right now. Guess they are thinking something big is about to be exposed....

 

[Barrus]

My favorite is the sheer quantity of guys who claim that the time they got caught just happened to be the first and only time that they 'tried' whatever it was they got caught for. With such a success rate from the testers it is a wonder to me that anyone would ever try to cheat.

The problem with this however is that when they would admit to doping more frequently they could be banned for life, seeing as this would count as another doping strike, in this manner it is the UCI/WADA rules that create such fantastic excuses

 

[hrotha]

Oscar Pereiro being asked about whether he was relieved codename 'Urko' in Op. Puerto wasn't him.

"Relief? No, because I was also tranquil from the beginning because I knew there was no truth to that story."

To be fair that's an issue with the translation. "Tranquilo" is a much more common word in Spanish than "tranquil" in English, and their meanings don't overlap completely. It sounds a lot better in Spanish, and it simply means you're not losing any sleep over this. A better translation would be "not worried."

 

[Cobblestoned]

To be fair that's an issue with the translation. "Tranquilo" is a much more common word in Spanish than "tranquil" in English, and their meanings don't overlap completely. It sounds a lot better in Spanish, and it simply means you're not losing any sleep over this. A better translation would be "not worried."

"Tranquilo" is one of the favorite words in Spain.
"Mañana" is their favorite word I think