Posted on 07/24/2007 2:09:10 PM PDT by commish
PAU, France -- For just a moment Tuesday, David Millar, a former world champion, one of the most respected riders in the peloton not only for his skill pedaling a bike but his candor off it, was reduced to being a fan.
A devastated, disillusioned, stricken fan by the side of the road.
Millar, like everyone else gathered in the big ballroom serving as the Tour de France headquarters on the second rest day of the race, had been broadsided moments before by the news that Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive for a banned blood transfusion Saturday, the day he won the Stage 13 time trial.
Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after winning last weekend's time trial.
The 30-year-old Scot would have been well within his rights to decline comment, to say he wanted to wait for more information, to get up and walk out and keep his thoughts to himself. Instead, Millar answered questions on the topic for nearly half an hour, increasingly struggling with his emotions, until the knot of reporters finally broke up.
"Are you all right?" asked British journalist Jeremy Whittle, who has known the lanky rider since Millar was a teenager, about to sign his first professional contract.
"I'm gutted," Millar said, swaying a bit unsteadily on his feet. "I feel like crying."
And then he sat down and wept.
Before the story burst into the open, Millar had been sitting in the front of the room with a couple of teammates and staff from his Saunier-Duval squad. They were conducting a news conference that began with pleasantries about a tree-planting program the team is sponsoring in the African nation of Mali.
Inevitably, the questioning moved on to doping, and Millar picked up the microphone, knowing he would be expected to speak.
Millar has been a standard-bearer for clean sport since he confessed to using the blood-boosting agent EPO in 2004 after police raided his home in Biarritz, France, as part of an investigation into his then-team, Cofidis, and found paraphernalia from the medication.
He outed himself before authorities did and told a chilling and cautionary tale of doping, feeling guilty about it and keeping the evidence as a reminder that he had competed under false premises.
The time trial specialist served a two-year suspension and when he returned for last year's Tour de France, he became an instant novelty: The Honest Guy. Talking to Millar was like interviewing someone who'd been through a near-death experience. There aren't a lot of people who have seen the white light and returned to tell their story.
And he told it over and over and over. Being the go-to guy for the most thorny, depressing and repetitive subject in the sport isn't an easy or pleasant job, but Millar has done it tirelessly, humbly and gracefully.
"It's probably my permanent role," he said Tuesday before all hell broke loose.
Irish journalist Paul Kimmage, a former rider, asked Millar how he coped with the knowledge that he was competing against some teams that want to do things "the old way," and others who are aggressively trying to root out cheating.
Millar responded in his usual nuanced, thoughtful way: "When you're racing, even if you have doubts, you're never 100 percent sure. In order to carry on racing, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, there's no point in starting."
I asked him if he was disappointed that the rumors and allegations against Tour leader Michael Rasmussen had overshadowed the ongoing efforts to clean up the race.
"Let's face it, it's not a surprise," Millar said. "If we've learned anything from this, it shows how much work still needs to be done. We need a better out-of-competition testing system in place. Although what [Rasmussen] has done is very suspicious, he hasn't broken any rules.
"The questions are necessary. The fans, we the riders, you the journalists, we still don't know what's going on."
That point was underscored with theatrical swiftness a couple of minutes later, when a hubbub erupted in the back of the room. The journalists who hadn't been listening to Millar rushed up and a reporter blurted out the news about Vinokourov.
"Jesus Christ," Millar said, visibly paling. "What timing." His facial muscles worked with emotion.
"I really wanted to believe he was having a good day. This makes me very sad. Vino is one of my favorite riders, one of the most beautiful riders in the peloton. If a rider of his stature and class has done this in the current situation, we might as well pack up our bags and leave."
That, as race officials confirmed a little later, is not going to happen. Vinokourov's Astana team has withdrawn from the race and the show will go on.
The Saunier-Duval portion of the event abruptly ended, but Millar kept talking, in English and French, to anyone who had questions. He oscillated between anger, disbelief and a fierceness that made it easy to see how he might be a guy who could excel even against riders who have a chemical advantage.
"I have the impression that the riders will never understand it," Millar said. "There has to be a generational shift.
"I will stay loyal to my sport. I'm doing it all without any kind of shots, clean. I will win a stage in the Tour de France and show the younger generation it can be done."
Just a few minutes later, he was in tears.
Anyone who loves cycling knows exactly how he feels.
Bonnie DeSimone is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
I know the feeling, I felt the same way this morning when I saw the headline.
"I really wanted to believe he was having a good day. This makes me very sad. Vino is one of my favorite riders, one of the most beautiful riders in the peloton. If a rider of his stature and class has done this in the current situation, we might as well pack up our bags and leave."
Amen.
I really think this may be the death knell for cycling. You have the Tour Leader under a huge cloud of suspicion, and one of cyclings most favorite riders failing a test.
It is time for the UCI to just say "ENOUGH!" and suspend all competition for a year or two. Tell all the riders "come back clean or don't come back at all. You fail a test and you will be banned for life"
PING!
For Vinokourov yes. For cycling no. I don’t understand people who condemn everyone for the actions of a few. It just seems so unfair.
Last year it was 20+ riders, the year before an entire team. There have been raids of hotel rooms, labs discovered, etc etc etc ad naueseum.
YOu have EVERY SINGLE WINNER for the last 12 years either admitting use, suspected of use or failed drug tests.
It is not condemning everyone for the actions of a few - it is the entire damn sport and you know it!
So everyone competing in the tour is doping even though they are tested every day and Vino is the only one testing positive so far? Interesting version of reality you live in. So quit watching cycling. I doubt anyone will notice.
Commish is simply pointing out that virtually every TDF winner or podium finisher in the last ten years has either been proven of or suspected of cheating - Riis, Landis, Armstrong, Basso, Ullrich, Valverde, Rasmussen, Vino, Hamilton, Zabel, Millar, Mancebo and on and on. No, not everyone cheats, but the percentage of riders with a cloud over their head is very high.
I am absolutely convinced that latest from the times of Indurains domination every top tour rider was doped.
They didn’t even notice they were doing something wrong.
Their medical teams tried to keep them upright - massage was not all they did. They gave them infusions of saline solutions to keep them hydrated, indu had his nose channels drilled wider to keep breathing through his nose, they took aspirine to keep the blood flow high and to recover even faster- and they increased their numbers of erythrocytes against that short breath in the alps. That was just a logical step and so was the use of HGH and blood doping.
When the noose was getting tighter at a certain time (remember pantani ?) all they thought about was not - “what medical techniques can we still use and get away with”
but “what methods will others try to use and what chances do we let slip ?”
They are all objects of sports science and as such some pushed the borders even more then otheres - but pushing all borders to win that certainly is a mentality you just have to have as a tour cyclist it’s a contest in every dimension - that’s it’s beauty.
In logical consequence I don’t blame them because they fell for that trap. It was inevitable -somehow like leaving the cat alone with the tuna.
I just hate guys like the reporters from the german states broadcasting ARD and ZDF who all knew how things where going - knowingly exploitet these athlets and now certainly are leading the witchhunt.
Please put me back on the ping list. What a soap opera.
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