by benmckune

I picked this up via Twitter from Marty Jemison (@MartyJemison), who is over in Europe running his cycling tours. It must be absolutely electric to be in Europe right now, with all the buzz about the upcoming Tour. Despite the usual Juice News which we like to comment on, there seems to be a lot of speculation about a possible duel between Lance and Contador. Marty forwarded this link to a blog post on Service Course speculating that Contador had one foot out the door and was headed to Garmin. Interesting speculation on what it would do to the dynamic of Vaughters’ outfit. Read for your self and decide. What do you think? Will there be an Armstrong vs. Contador internal battle, like the LeMond vs. Hinault feud? It could be the most exciting thing that has happened in a long time.

“…the blood transfusions were the only “safe” way to cheat during the race without risk of getting caught. Other doping products were used in the weeks and months before the Tour to avoid detection.

“Nothing else, there were too many random controls. Never a testosterone patch,” he said. “Apart from the caffeine, pseudo-ephedrine, painkillers, EPO, human growth hormones, insulin, I took all that before, not during (the Tour).”

Interesting that Kohl describes transfusions as “safe,” to hell with his health, the safety refers to getting caught. In cycling, riding clean to some riders means getting away clean, and nothing more. I guess as we are a few weeks away from the Tour, the distraction of whether or not Lance and Contador will have an inter-team clash will deflect some of the suspicions of which riders are putting extra juice in their morning smoothies. Kohl is an example of someone who went from hero to zero in less than a year, and he’s almost forgotten already. What a beautiful but dirty and cruel sport bike racing is.

At first, I had some very negative thoughts on this topic. You can read all the reasons why Tyler resorted to this homo-pathetic supplement rather than go back to a doctor to treat his illness. You can read all the expert’s opinions that conclude although DHEA is banned, it really can’t be considered a performance enhancer. You can read all about the reasons why Tyler has been fighting depression lately, like his ruined 1st career, a career which endeared him to the hearts of cycling fans who admired his gritty ride through the pain attitude (thinking back to riding the entire tour and winning a stage with a broken collarbone). Or his maligned 2nd career riding for the dubious Rock Racing outfit. Read the story and decide for yourself.

Apparently, it seems, the 2nd career has not lived up to the expectations of a fresh start everyone was hoping for, and this young man is troubled beyond the repair that could be given by racing a bike. I raced against Tyler back in the amateur days in New England, in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I have some fond memories of riding in breakaways at a little Tuesday night training race in Plaistow, New Hampshire, just putting the stick to everyone else. I admired him back then for his talent to spare, but later I hated him after getting popped for blood transfusions after his Athens Olympic gold medal. I hated him for his heroic exploits that taught us there was more to pro cycling than Lance Armstrong’s domination of the tour, only to find out the whole thing was a sham. I hated him a little bit for coming back last year and robbing Blake Caldwell of the U.S. Pro Road Racing title, even though deep down there was a tiny part of me that was happy he could still do it. It would have been nice to see the young Caldwell turn the page on the old guys, but Tyler nipped him at the line. I can’t hate the guy anymore. I can only wish him well in his battle against depression, but I am glad he is retiring and getting on with life. Hopefully he can have a life without cycling, and it brings a new beginning that could not be fulfilled by racing again. I think he is doing the right thing by admitting his guilt, retiring from cycling, and trying to get his life together. Good luck.

When Michael Jordan came back to play with the Wizards, it was sad. He was older, slower, but he was still Jordan. He could still toss in 45 points, but the Wizards still sucked. The tv commentators called him “Floor Jordan” instead of “Air Jordan” because he lost that skyward step. It was still entertainment, though, and probably the only reason anybody watched the Wizards play. If Lance just shows up, wins a time trial here and there, it will be looked upon as a failure. He has to come back and win. Lance didn’t just win the Tour de France. He dominated his rivals, broke their spirits, and crushed the hopes of a lot of pretenders. His main rivals at the time are all gone: Ullrich, Mayo, Vinokourov, Kasheckin, Basso. All out of the sport for positive doping tests or they are creeping back after serving suspensions (Basso), but won’t ever match up again. So what’s the endgame? 

I’m waiting for when he will start working on his next book: It Was All About The Bike After All. 

Good luck Dave. I’ll give you ten bucks if you race with a face mask on.