US cycling scene in the 70s and 80s

[blackcat]

...
While Eddie may not have messed with the juniors, he had no problem jacking up Montgomery Subuaru's team. I've mentioned before about misbehavior at Thom's Park City house where they trained prior to the US Olympic trials. Lance was first in line and showed early "pro" attitude. Having raced against Weisel and the usual 5 other guys in the age group at Masters Natz my opinion is not all were dirty, not all were clean. They gladly took his support money, though.
What's new? Thom has a big compound in Sun Valley. He's a very big supporter of the US Ski team. Thom's son is on the US Ski team. You'd think USSA could find another rich dude to take money from to avoid the stank.

Thanks for chiming in, Oldermanerish.
Much appreciate your first-hand input.

How big is that "may", if I may ask?

As you know, the legal read of a book will take out anything that won't stand up in court so all kinds of stuff has to go out. I think many sections of Wheelmen suggest such redrafting post legal read.
And so one is left reading between the lines quite a bit. But doing so, one of the things I took from that second chapter on Eddie B is that he brought all his Eastern Block doping skills to US Cycling. And the chapter is in fact quite unambiguous about Eddie B's 'training' programs whilst still in Poland, with explicit references to amphetamines and hormones and him supervising a guy like Ryszard Szurkowski (who it is not difficult to do the math on). And then of course we have 1984, but even more so the years leading up to those Games, with USOC implementing some kind of internal testing system allowing free PED experimentation. I mean, reading all that, you gotta make such a leap of faith to assume Eddie didn't have a direct hand in doping juniors. And as we know he was interested particularly in recruiting and guiding juniors. Or am i being too cynical here?

The other thing I take away from Wheelmen is, as you suggest, that Lance was doped for Triathlons as a teenager and that his mother and step dad were completely in on what he did and highly supportive of it. Whether EPO was already in the mix is a different question.

what do you think?

Rather than speculate on his treatment of juniors I kept to what experiences were reliably disclosed by friends/teammates. I can say that juniors from our 'hood were exposed to an emphasis and education to dope themselves by coaches that followed. Perhaps the legal line of actual dealing was one smart coaches wouldn't cross; particularly if parents were willing enablers.
We know that blood-doping was legal for the LA Olympics and almost every US Team rider participated. Some clearly continued down that path without USA Cycling assistance but, with the shared history of the USAC management and the pro generation they spawned there was distinct motivation to protect secrets of the past.
As for Lance and tri-EPO; the timing seems unlikely.

yeah just roids(testo) and amphetamines for Lance and tri

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

We need someone who will talk. Lets ask JV1974.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

We need someone who will talk. Lets ask JV1974.

Good one. JV994 has this place on block.

 

[sniper]

'us clean americans vs. them dirty europeans'.
it sure is one of the well preserved myths of the 80s.

Alexi Grewal with a reality check, 2008:

My first temptation to dope came the first time there was something at stake. Such a thing so small as making the 1978 junior worlds selection camp and such a thing so grand as having to compete with Greg LeMond was all it took for me to pop that pill (street speed) and throw all reason to the wind.
...
As I progressed up the scale, stimulants like caffeine were just a by-word. Rocket fuel was tea with one Vivarin, double rocket fuel was tea with two. As an amateur among the pros, caffeine injections replaced the pills and the stomach cramps went away too. When in Rome do as the Romans do!

...
The hard stuff, ephedrine, was reserved for when you really needed it, a few certain events where I was prone to asthma, and when you really wanted it, such as the Bob Cook Memorial. Ephedrine was illegal of course so I never used it when I knew there was testing! Even so, a time or two, I was caught out by inadvertent usage or surprise testing.

...

The fear of doping hit me for real the day I dropped into the continental professional scene. From day one with Panasonic-Raleigh it was made known that “The Program” was the high and holy way, salvation open to all, and required of all to survive and win. ... Our syringes came gift wrapped in the morning and evening during stage races

...
Should I have ever been headed for classic or Tour podiums surely I would have entered the full-blown ’roid ranks. Dangle Liège or Paris glory in my face and there is no question both feet would have crossed that line. No one wants to hear that but it is very true. Whether it be the blood of bulls or goats, I would have drunk from that cup in a heartbeat for any measure of that glory.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2008/04/news/an-essay-by-1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal_74053

 

[Tonton]

Re:

eloquent blog from Marc Madiot about the US cycling scene 'then and now'.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/author/marc-madiot-blog-american-cycling-then-and-now/

Some good stuff in there, but the agenda looks obvious to me: punch JV in the eye for his comments about French teams and Rolland...like him or not, agree or disagree, Madiot is outspoken. And doping-wise, his position is quite clear: he never hid that he used amphetamines during the criteriums, like rock stars on the road who do gig after gig and need to keep going. Other (otherwise) clean riders did the same: after TdF crits were half of a rider'syearly income, as crazy at it seems. Madiot wants a clean sport. How clean is FDJ, Madiot's team? I would venture to say clean, although the beginning of '16 (i.e. TTT performances) deserves scrutiny. Again, for the later part, I'm biased and I admit it . Pinot's training files have a lot to do with it. I'd like an updated edition to see '14-'16 progress...

 

[Oldermanish]

Re: Re:

eloquent blog from Marc Madiot about the US cycling scene 'then and now'.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/author/marc-madiot-blog-american-cycling-then-and-now/

Some good stuff in there, but the agenda looks obvious to me: punch JV in the eye for his comments about French teams and Rolland...like him or not, agree or disagree, Madiot is outspoken. And doping-wise, his position is quite clear: he never hid that he used amphetamines during the criteriums, like rock stars on the road who do gig after gig and need to keep going. Other (otherwise) clean riders did the same: after TdF crits were half of a rider'syearly income, as crazy at it seems. Madiot wants a clean sport. How clean is FDJ, Madiot's team? I would venture to say clean, although the beginning of '16 (i.e. TTT performances) deserves scrutiny. Again, for the later part, I'm biased and I admit it . Pinot's training files have a lot to do with it. I'd like an updated edition to see '14-'16 progress...

Madiot's memories of California training leave out some recollections of other riders: He and Yvon tended to train separately...a lot. They had a regime involving much big gear riding on hills and their own soigneur/helper. Very obvious they weren't riding up the hills of Northern California on coffee...in the early Spring.
He may want that clean sport now. That's possible and less complicated.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Madiot's memories of California training leave out some recollections of other riders: He and Yvon tended to train separately...a lot. They had a regime involving much big gear riding on hills and their own soigneur/helper. Very obvious they weren't riding up the hills of Northern California on coffee...in the early Spring.

Coffee is much better in Colombia for sure .

 

[sniper]

bringing this over from another thread:

...
Talking about timing: coincidentally, this "clean americans vs. doped europeans" narrative started emerging forcefully in the mid/late 80s, right after the 84 Olympics scandal had made them realize that doping really should best stay burried deeply under the carpet.

To add to the above:
7-eleven as a sponsor had suffered reputational damage from the 84 blood boosting scandal:

"They knew I wouldn't do it," says Dr. Thomas B. Dickson Jr. of Allentown, Pa., the bike team's unofficial doctor. "I had a run-in the year before with the coaches. It wasn't blood or anything, it wasn't anything dangerous. But I said, 'Look, y'know, knock it off. Put the syringes back in your pockets. Because if the press gets ahold of this, number one, you're gonna see 7-Eleven [a major sponsor of riders and builder of the Olympic velodrome] as a small speck on the horizon.' "
(source: http://www.si.com/vault/1985/01/21/546256/triumphs-tainted-with-blood)

"In the six events for which the US riders won medals, 7-Eleven riders had figured in five of them."
(source: Wheelmen)

It's not hard to imagine that from 84 onwards (or from 85, when the scandal broke), 7-eleven would have a memo sent out to all its cyclists urging them to pay additional attention to (a) not testing positive and (b) spreading the message of 'clean cycling'.


I'll finish this off with a Gisbers quote:

QS: Did Alcala's rejection of those products have anything to do with the fact that he previously rode for an American team, where you cannot even pronounce the word doping?

Gisbers:
Are you kidding me? All Americans shout that they never use anything. But the hormones were invented in that country. Not long ago David Jenkins, British Olympic champion, claimed that in the USA per year 250 million dollar of anabolics are used in topsport every year. Those people are hypocrits.
...
http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/1990/07/14/millimeter-voor-millimeter-help-ik-erik-breukink-uit-6935491

 

[sniper]

SI article from 1985 with some first hand statements regarding Eddie B's role in the 1984 blood boosting scandal

http://www.si.com/vault/1985/01/21/546256/triumphs-tainted-with-blood

Dave Grylls ... too, was quoted as saying there had been pressure from the coaching staff.
...
The staff they blame is headed by Edward Borysewicz, known to the cycling world as Eddy B.
...
The U.S. cyclists who boosted were those most snugly under the wing of Eddy B., who could not be reached for comment as this article was being prepared.
...
Doug Shapiro, a rider who didn't make the Olympic team but who has talked to several who did, says, "Eddy B. tried to sell the blood doping to everyone."

And yes, there was a boycot. But it's hard to argue the blood boosting didn't yield success:

Before L.A., the U.S. hadn't won a medal in Olympic cycling since 1912, a very long drought.

...[L]ast August, Eddy B.'s riders made history. His team won nine Olympic medals, including four golds. Borysewicz was named Man of the Year by the Cycling Federation's official publication. Cycling U.S.A.
(source: http://www.si.com/vault/1985/01/21/546256/triumphs-tainted-with-blood)

"In all, Borysewicz’s US team won nine medals, including five golds, out of a possible fifteen in the 1984 Olympics, including the men’s road race. ... The United States won more medals in cycling during the 1984 Olympics than the American cycling team has won in all other Olympics combined, before or since those games."
(source: Wheelmen)

 

[sniper]

Re:

..."The federation had gained money for coaching and support of athletes from President Jimmy Carter's inquiry into the domination in sport by what were perceived to be state-sponsored amateurs from communist countries. Fraysse spoke to Borysewicz about bringing his experience of Polish sports schools."

further to the above:

"We've been looking into this stuff [blood boosting] for years and years and years," says Fraysse, now the acting USCF president. "We weren't gonna fall behind the Russians or East Germans any more."
http://www.si.com/vault/1985/01/21/546256/triumphs-tainted-with-blood

 

[TrackCynic]

Although it was in the 90's, this team was the link between all the nasty stuff happening in the 70s and 80s and the USPS years. Interesting to see the names invovled and how some of them are still involved in the running of our sport, even at juniors level!

What's also interesting is there is one US athlete mentioned in this who I know refused to "get on the program" and was dismissed soon after. Another casualty of Weisel's whatever-it-takes values.

Montgomery-Bell Team Announcement
Post by Kevin Metcal » Tue, 28 Feb 1995 13:33:29
Enclosed is the press release announcing the 1995 Montgomery-Bell pro
team. There will be a press conference in San Diego this Tuesday to
formally announce the team to the press.
---
MONTGOMERY SECURITIES AND BELL SPORTS FORM TOP U.S. PRO CYCLING TEAM FOR
THE 1995 SEASON
SAN FRANCISCO- Following a one-year hiatus from the professional
cycling ranks, Montgomery Securities has teamed up with Bell Sports, Inc. to
re-enter the pro circuit with the Montgomery-Bell Cycling Team. Set to
compete in the 1995 cycling season, the Mongomery-Bell team will be a top
level pro cycling team with the added objective of placing a number of it's
team members on the Olympic Cycling Team for the 1996 Atlanta Games.
From 1990 to 1993, Montgomery Securities sponsored one of America's
premier cycling teams and in 1993 became the second American-based team to
ever receive a bid for the Tour de France and to compete in the World Cup.
The 10-man Montgomery-Bell team will be captained by seasoned race
veterans Darren Baker and Nate Reiss. Baker, 27, and Reiss, 31, both
previously raced for Montgomery-sponsored teams, and thus have European
stage racing experience. The team's roster possesses riders of all skills -
climbing, stage racing, sprinting and criterium racing. The team will also
feature one female cyclist in five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic
Medalist Rebecca Twigg, perhaps America's greatest ever female cyclist.
The team will be supported by a strong list of sponsors. Besides
co-title sponsors Montgomery Securities and Bell sports, Inc., the team's
sponsors include GT bicycles, Chart House restaurants, PowerAde sports
drinks, Bausch & Lomb sunglasses, American Isuzu Motors Inc., Travelodge
lodging, Marker outerwear, Parentini cycling clothing, Spinergy wheels,
Shimano components, and EXTREME energy bars.
For the upcoming 1995 season, the team's race schedule will consist
of the major U.S. events, races Montgomery's pro teams have won in prior
years. Along with co-title sponsor Subaru of America, Montgomery won the
1992 U.S. Professional road championship and has won stages at the Tour
DuPont. The teams 1995 schedule will include the Tour DuPont, which runs
through Delaware, ***ia, North Carolina and South Carolina; the
CoresStates Championships in Philadelphia; Pittsburgh's Thrift Drug Classic;
the First Union Grant Prix in Atlanta; and Minneapolis' Norwest Cup. In
1996, the team will concentrate on its preparation for the Olympic Games
with an eye on racing overseas the following season.
Led by Baker and Reiss, Montgomery-Bell hopes to dominate cycling
in the U.S. Baker has twice placed third at the Thrift Drug Classic, a race
many call the toughest one-day event in America, and most recently took
ninth overall at the 1994 Tour DuPont. Reiss won the Points Competition at
the 1992 Tour of the Basque Country in Spain and was named the 1991 U.S. Pro
Rookie of the Year.
Other stage race hopefuls will be Tyler Hamilton, Eddy Gragus and
Chad Gerlach. Hamilton, 23 was sixth in the prologue at the 1994 Tour
DuPont and was a World Championship Team Member last year as well. Gragus,
26, closed out his 1994 season with a victory at the Tour of Yugoslavia, and
was the fourth-placed amateur at the National Road Race and Criterium
Championships. This past season, Gerlach, 22, was named Best Young Rider at
the 1994 Tour de Toona and Cascade Cycling Classic.
The team's experience group of speedsters will be led by Radisa
Cubric, Dave McCook, and Craig Schomer. Cubric, 32 is coming off a fine
1994 season in which he placed second overall at Superweek International and
fourth overall in the USPRO points series despite missing the last few
races. McCook, 24, will wear the stars and stripes jersey in 1995 following
his victory in this year's USPRO Criterium Championship. Schommer, 28, is a
two-time World Championship medalist and a 1988 Olympian.
For all-around stage racing and climbing, road race veterans such
as Marty Jemison and Clark Sheehan will help guide the team's younger
riders. Jemison, 29, won the 1993 U.S. National Road championshp and spent
the 1994 season overseas with the Dutch WordPerfect squad. Sheehan, 25, a
consistent force with the Coors Light and Saturn teams over the years, was
named the Nuprin Comback Rider of the Year in 1993.
The Montgomery Securities Masters team has consistently been the
top age-rated team in the nation since its inception in 1990. With a roster
featuring four former Olympians and three former World Masters champions,
the team had another successful season in 1994 - winning over 60 races, six
Masters World Games titles, five Masters World Cup victories, nine National
championships, and such landmark amateur events as Cyclismo '94, the Tour of
Nutley and the Tour of Somerville.
For 1995, the Montgomery Masters Team will be led by four former
Olympians in Harvey Nitz (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988), Wayne Stetina (1972, 1976,
1980), Ken Carpenter (1988 & 1992) and Thurlow Rogers (1984). Also on the
roster are former Masters World Champions Steve Johnson, Thomas Weisel and
Glen Winkel, six-times Masters World Games and five-time Masters World Cup
champion Vic Copeland, former Masters National Champions John Creed, Jerry
Malone, Larry Nolan and Ron Smith, and top California riders Kevin Metcalfe
and Andre Mogannam.

 

[Oldermanish]

Although it was in the 90's, this team was the link between all the nasty stuff happening in the 70s and 80s and the USPS years. Interesting to see the names invovled and how some of them are still involved in the running of our sport, even at juniors level!

What's also interesting is there is one US athlete mentioned in this who I know refused to "get on the program" and was dismissed soon after. Another casualty of Weisel's whatever-it-takes values.

Montgomery-Bell Team Announcement
Post by Kevin Metcal » Tue, 28 Feb 1995 13:33:29
Enclosed is the press release announcing the 1995 Montgomery-Bell pro
team. There will be a press conference in San Diego this Tuesday to
formally announce the team to the press.
---
MONTGOMERY SECURITIES AND BELL SPORTS FORM TOP U.S. PRO CYCLING TEAM FOR
THE 1995 SEASON
SAN FRANCISCO- For 1995, the Montgomery Masters Team will be led by four former
Olympians in Harvey Nitz (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988), Wayne Stetina (1972, 1976,
1980), Ken Carpenter (1988 & 1992) and Thurlow Rogers (1984). Also on the
roster are former Masters World Champions Steve Johnson, Thomas Weisel and
Glen Winkel, six-times Masters World Games and five-time Masters World Cup
champion Vic Copeland, former Masters National Champions John Creed, Jerry
Malone, Larry Nolan and Ron Smith, and top California riders Kevin Metcalfe
and Andre Mogannam.

Having to race against most of these guys on the Masters level I can say some were juiced, some not IMO. History proved some definitely did. History proved some absolutely promoted it. Legends, all.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Pre Thom Wiesel history from Les Earnest is required reading. The guy needs a wordpress installation, badly. Lots of interesting stuff in there, but kind of hard to digest

http://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/cyclops/

 

[sniper]

Re:

Pre Thom Wiesel history from Les Earnest is required reading. The guy needs a wordpress installation, badly. Lots of interesting stuff in there, but kind of hard to digest

http://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/cyclops/

thanks for this.
Agreed, Les is the man.
He writes really well and clear, imo, not *that* hard to digest.
His pieces on the Coors Classic lack of testing and USOC internal testing program facilitating PED experimentation were real eyeopeners.
Also interesting to read how Eddie B and Burke lawyered up to avoid heavier sanctions following the blood boosting fiasco. And Les warning USOC about EPO and them not doing anything with it.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Ahh, the eighties. Hello Chris Carmichael, Rene Wenzel, and Angus Fraser. I know this story creeps outside the 70's and 80's but, always worth reposting for newer readers.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dope-and-glory-10-04-2001/

In the context of this thread, it's really shouldn't surprise anyone.

Also, going backwards a bit, you guys need to dredge up stuff on perennial cycling character, John Howard. This is all pre-Internet and I've only had vague references to the guy, few of them good.

 

[Elagabalus]

Re:

bringing this over from another thread:

...
Talking about timing: coincidentally, this "clean americans vs. doped europeans" narrative started emerging forcefully in the mid/late 80s, right after the 84 Olympics scandal had made them realize that doping really should best stay burried deeply under the carpet.

To add to the above:
7-eleven as a sponsor had suffered reputational damage from the 84 blood boosting scandal:

"They knew I wouldn't do it," says Dr. Thomas B. Dickson Jr. of Allentown, Pa., the bike team's unofficial doctor. "I had a run-in the year before with the coaches. It wasn't blood or anything, it wasn't anything dangerous. But I said, 'Look, y'know, knock it off. Put the syringes back in your pockets. Because if the press gets ahold of this, number one, you're gonna see 7-Eleven [a major sponsor of riders and builder of the Olympic velodrome] as a small speck on the horizon.' "
(source: http://www.si.com/vault/1985/01/21/546256/triumphs-tainted-with-blood)

"In the six events for which the US riders won medals, 7-Eleven riders had figured in five of them."
(source: Wheelmen)

It's not hard to imagine that from 84 onwards (or from 85, when the scandal broke), 7-eleven would have a memo sent out to all its cyclists urging them to pay additional attention to (a) not testing positive and (b) spreading the message of 'clean cycling'.

Try to go at this without any confirmation bias, Sniper. Nelson Vails didn't blood dope and, apparently, Alexi Grewal got together with Eddie B. only about 20 min. before the start of the road race:

http://competitorradio.competitor.com/2003/02/1alexi-grewal/#more-2

Go to -22:08

It's near the beginning. The time counter only counts backward.

 

[sniper]

Re: Re:

...
Try to go at this without any confirmation bias, Sniper. Nelson Vails didn't blood dope and, apparently, Alexi Grewal got together with Eddie B. only about 20 min. before the start of the road race:

http://competitorradio.competitor.com/2003/02/1alexi-grewal/#more-2

Go to -22:08

It's near the beginning. The time counter only counts backward.

thanks.
yeah, it's well-known that Alexi and Eddie B didn't get along.
Les wrote about that, and i found it in other sources as well
Apparently Eddie was even planning some sort of plot with his riders to try and make sure Alexi wouldn't qualify for the 84 Olympics.
Interestingly, later Alexi did show up at Lemond's fundraiser for Eddie B when his house had burnt down.
Seems they'd burried the hatchet.

With the tension between them in mind, one might be tempted to think Eddie B was behind Alexi's positive at the Coors Classic 1983. However, as I understood from Les EArnest's piece, Eddie later helped to exonerate Alexi.
On the surface it doesn't seem to make much sense.

In any case, it sure seems Alexi wasn't doped by Eddie.
Did you read Alexi's essay/blog from 2008?
sobering read:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2008/04/news/an-essay-by-1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal_74053

maybe somebody knows more about what went on between eddie and alexi?

 

[sniper]

The other thing about Alexi is that he was a *known* (and caught) doper.
I don't think there was anybody in, or close to, the peloton of his days who didn't know he doped.
It's probably why Peter Post's Panasonic thought he'd be worth the investment and went on to sign Alexi for 1985.
What I'm getting at is that 7-eleven had no problems signing him in 86.

(and reconcile that with some of the 'tough' antidoping talk we've heard from 7-eleven people in the post-84 period.)

A bit of a similar story with Steve Hegg.
Caught blood boosting in 84, and popped for caffeine in 1988 which meant he was banned for the Olympics that year. In other words: a known doper. Yet in 1989 he's signed by Subaru-Montgomery.

What I like about Alexi is that he's never claimed doping made him go backwards. Quite on the contrary.
This is an Olympic road champion, who's admitted to doping, to benefitting from it, and to not regretting it one bit.
Now, have a look at his results as a European pro. Practically non-existing.
It should tell us something about the quality and quantity of doping in the European peloton in Alexi's days.

 

[gillan1969]

Re:

The other thing about Alexi is that he was a *known* (and caught) doper.
I don't think there was anybody in, or close to, the peloton of his days who didn't know he doped.
It's probably why Peter Post's Panasonic thought he'd be worth the investment and went on to sign Alexi for 1985.
What I'm getting at is that 7-eleven had no problems signing him in 86.

(and reconcile that with some of the 'tough' antidoping talk we've heard from 7-eleven people in the post-84 period.)

A bit of a similar story with Steve Hegg.
Caught blood boosting in 84, and popped for caffeine in 1988 which meant he was banned for the Olympics that year. In other words: a known doper. Yet in 1989 he's signed by Subaru-Montgomery.

What I like about Alexi is that he's never claimed doping made him go backwards. Quite on the contrary.
This is an Olympic road champion, who's admitted to doping, to benefitting from it, and to not regretting it one bit.
Now, have a look at his results as a European pro. Practically non-existing.
It should tell us something about the quality and quantity of doping in the European peloton in Alexi's days.

sniper...to re-iterate...being 'anti-doping' post 84 is a world away from what anti-doping means today...

it just wasn't an issue...you took your off season ban, or small fine or time penalty and then carried on regardless...

anti doping is now a 'thing'...it never used to be a 'thing'

nobody cared...it wasn't a USP (not UPS )

the genesis of how it became a 'thing' is interesting but it's a wide story (incorporating changes on other sports and society at large)...using it to seek to paint two particular US cyclists, who many believe to be amongst the cleanest, as actually the dirtiest does your 'research' no favours.....

 

[sniper]

Excerpts from the LA Times piece on Steve Hegg's positive in 1988.
A pretty fun read.
Fits right into the "best excuses for dope" thread.

Hegg Contends Olympic Ouster Is Unfair : Disqualified for Using Stimulant Before a Race, Cyclist Disputes Validity of Test

Before he won his gold and silver medals at the 1984 Olympic Games, cyclist Steve Hegg had described himself as a competition junkie, saying the drive to excel "is in my blood."

But Hegg, a Dana Point resident, was disqualified from the U.S. Olympic team on Sept. 10 because something else was in his blood -- caffeine.
...

The United States Olympic Committee says that the use of caffeine in "an amount greater than 12 micrograms per milliliter in the urine is considered doping."

In other words, someone would have to consume approximately eight cups of coffee in one sitting and be tested within a minimum of two hours to fail the test.

Hegg disputes the test results, but a USOC sports medicine expert says his argument has no basis in fact.

"It was extremely hot down in Houston. It was in the 90s all day long," Hegg said during an interview last week. "I attribute the problem to the heat and the dehydration . . . that made the caffeine more concentrated," Hegg said.

"I used the same amount of caffeine in Houston that I have used in any other international world championship-type race, and have been tested a million times and never had a problem before."

"I always drink two large cups of coffee, from like the 7-11 or Stop and Go type before races . . . 16 ounce (size), probably.

"In the morning, I don't know, I had four to five cups at breakfast, three or four anyway. Then we had rain delay. I had warmed up once already. I was pretty dehydrated, so I started drinking Coke, because I knew there was small amount of caffeine in there and I wanted that.

"I lost track how many of those I had, but I mean we had a 3-hour rain delay so I'd been sitting there and it (the Coke) was free so I was drinking it."

"We finally got to race that night. I'd been waiting and waiting and waiting and drinking and drinking and drinking, trying to stay hydrated, and it never even crossed my mind that I would be (over the limit). "

...



http://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-18/sports/sp-3449_1_drug-test

 

[sniper]

Interesting and concise recount of the carreer of Clark Sheehan starting 1983.

A native of Denver, Sheehan found himself drawn into cycling in much the same way as other Colorado natives during the late '70's and early '80's - by the Coors Classic. "I grew up in Denver and watched the Washington Park Criterium, the pack passed me the first time and I was hooked!" He began racing in 1983 at the age of 14, and soon showed his aptitude for the sport by winning a junior national time trial title. There followed an 'apprenticeship' under the then national coach Eddie Borysewicz at the Olympic Training Center, as well as a stint racing in Belgium.
...
at the end of 1990, Sheehan joined the powerhouse Coors Light squad, whose director Len Pettyjohn had pegged him as the 'next big thing'.
...
Borysewicz was rebuilding for 1995 with a new squad sponsored by Montgomery Securities, and offered Sheehan a contract.
...
After leaving the US Postal Service team at the end of 1996, Sheehan found a balance between racing and family, riding solidly, if unspectacularly, for lower-profile teams Colorado Cyclist (1997) and 7Up (1998-99). It was during the '99 season that it occurred to Sheehan that the two teams might be more successful if they combined their resources. The result? The 2000 7Up-Colorado Cyclist professional team, led by Sheehan and another ex-Postman, Anton Villatoro.
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/teamprofiles/1999/sheehan99.shtml

In 2010, Chuck Coyle, one of Sheenan's former 7up teammates, got indicted for ordering PEDs on the internet in 2006. http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/11/news/who-is-chuck-coyle_150932
Here's Sheenan's reaction:

Coyle’s former 7Up teammate Clark Sheehan, a well-known and respected member of the Boulder racing community, said he also has a hard time believing Coyle used EPO.

“I think there’s a lot to his story,” Sheehan said. “I never saw anything suspicious when we were teammates. His story is definitely plausible. Chuck’s a good friend, and you can easily see him being the nice guy, helping out people without ever considering that they might be using him in that way. I’m speechless. It’s like the [Tom] Zirbel and [Scott] Moninger cases, people that know them know that it’s not right. It makes you really think, and question why this is happening.”
http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/11/news/who-is-chuck-coyle_150932#RXRjo881KquKIJE0.99

 

[sniper]

Kiefel interview:
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/interviews/pez-talk-american-pioneer-ron-kiefel/#.VycMdkcjWM8

Kiefel: I made the 1979 national team, and by 1980 we were racing in Europe as amateurs. Most of our competition was the Eastern Bloc: USSR riders like Baronov and Surkirichankov, Czechs and Poles. We did the Milk Race [in Britain] in 1980 and won the prologue.

For the record, the average lunchbox of a USSR rider in that period consisted of anabolic steroids, amphetamines, and a bag of blood.

This is new to me, about how the 7-eleven team came about. Again Eddie B is in the mix.

... Kiefel: In the spring of 1984, Davis Phinney, Doug Shapiro, Thurlow Rogers, Alexi Grewal, Andy Hampsten, Jeff Bradley, Greg Demgen, Roy Knickman and I were on the U.S. National Team under the guidance of Eddy B. We went to race in Europe, and we won about 60 percent of our races. Then after our ’84 season, Jim Ochowicz called and said he was forming a pro team, 7-Eleven, so I joined him. In 1985 I went to training camp, then that spring we went to Europe.

So that's right after the 84 blood doping scandal, and Eddie B's plea for re-legalizing blood doping.
http://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/cyclops/polite.htm
(cf. viewtopic.php?p=1913494#p1913494 on Hampsten)

 

[sniper]

This is most revealing, from Inga Thompson, recounting her stint racing for Eddie Borysewicz.

Eddie B., a real 'maverick' I think David Walsh would have called him. A 'straight talker'.

"Inga, stop whining if you can't handle the pressure", Pete Kennaugh would have said.

Even in 1984, my brief exposure to the national program just made me want to avoid that world as much as possible. I have the same impression now that I did then – I just wasn’t ever going to be a “chosen one.” And I believe it was primarily because I refused to take a blood transfusion before the Olympic Games – because they thought I was too independent or “strong-willed” or whatever – there’s really no other way to describe it.

To explain that in a little more detail, I found out about the blood-doping plans during the Coors Classic earlier that year. That race was basically our last big tune-up before going to Los Angeles. One of the managers of the Levi’s-Raleigh team, I don’t recall who, told us that the national coaches would be coming around to ask us if we’d be willing to participate in the blood-doping. Well, I said “no.” And I think that because of this – because I refused to submit to their authority on this – Eddie B. basically decided he would do everything he could to get me to quit. Those coaches didn’t want anyone on the team who threatened to think for themselves.

Right after this, on the rest day of the Coors Classic, we were all tired, just dog tired and I was looking forward to getting a day off and recovering. The Coors Classic was a really hard race and it was my first real stage race ever. Well, at breakfast that day, one of the national coaches takes me aside and says, “Eddie B. wants you to motorpace today.” I said, “Motorpace?” I’d never motor paced before in my life. So here we are, on the rest day of what was at the time, the hardest stage race for the girls, and I have to go out and do a motorpace session on the coach’s orders? All the other girls get a day off, and I’m behind the motorcycle for I-don’t-know-how-long. I went and did it, but it absolutely fried me; I was just completely run down from it. I don’t know how I survived the rest of the race, but very soon after the Olympics I got really sick. I was in and out of the hospital for six months after that with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which was misdiagnosed due to a cerebral inflammation and some kind of infection. In fact, I really didn’t fully recover until 1985.

But the underlying message to me of this whole experience was, “if you aren’t going to be part of our core team, and do what we tell you to do, then we’re going to burn you out or run you off of the team.” Some of the upper-level athletes get blood doping and rest, but for everyone else, they tried to burn them out, to get them to quit. I felt I was basically at war with the program because I refused to participate and play into the doping part of it.

My impression now is that Eddie B. was the father of the American cycling doping culture. But it wasn’t all about Eddie B.; there were plenty of people already in place that wanted the doping to happen. These people had to go out and find Eddie, and even if it hadn’t been him, it would have been somebody like him. I don’t know if they thought, “This is what it takes to compete against the Europeans,” or if they were trying to take a shortcut to catch up with the Russians before the 1984 Olympics – I can’t say. But I was in the middle of it, and I think I paid for it, too.

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/news/perspectives-doping-pro-cycling-inga-thompson_333513#6FDVZPYCFepehVBf.99

So that's the same guy who gets praised left right and centre for his 'innovative' training techniques by the likes of Hampsten, Kiefel and Lemond.

 

[sniper]

There is an old thread on the 84 olympics scandal with some good posts.
The OP asks the relevant (almost rethorical) question:

What did Och know? Given how many 7-Eleven riders he had on the team, did he know about it before the scandal broke in Rolling Stone? Before USCF found out about it? Before the Games?

Here's one response to that:
viewtopic.php?p=728350#p728350

Everyone knew
...

And:

Assuming Eddie B didn't use other means would be naive and once USACycling got a big infu$ion after Olympic success; they never turned back.

Have to agree.
Eddie B., the "father of American cycling", as some call him.

 

[gillan1969]

Re:

There is an old thread on the 84 olympics scandal with some good posts.
The OP asks the relevant (almost rethorical) question:

What did Och know? Given how many 7-Eleven riders he had on the team, did he know about it before the scandal broke in Rolling Stone? Before USCF found out about it? Before the Games?

Here's one response to that:
viewtopic.php?p=728350#p728350

Everyone knew
...

And:

Assuming Eddie B didn't use other means would be naive and once USACycling got a big infu$ion after Olympic success; they never turned back.

Have to agree.
Eddie B., the "father of American cycling", as some call him.

the problem with the analysis...especially that of les earnest is that it is overlayed on a bunch of cyclists who have never blood doped...if Eddie B had been blood doping juniors since whenever and US juniors had been blood doping since the early 70s would it not be far more likely that when approached they said...."eh...here is some we prepared earlier"?