Anton Berlin
May 23rd 10, 11:39 PM
Even better that the race was now clean and "illegal drugs such as
the
performance-enhancing EPO have ``all but disappeared'' from the race".
Oh yes - history will judge.
1999
Anti-Drug Cyclist Quits Tour
SAINT-FLOUR, France (AP) - As the Tour de France wound through the
French countryside Friday, tensions from last year's doping scandal
resurfaced after a rider who has consistently spoken out against drugs
quit the race.
France's Christophe Bassons left claiming he felt ``psychologically
isolated'' after he had been told by other riders to keep quiet.
Bassons, who wrote in a newspaper column that he only drinks ``plain
water,'' has drawn attention by speaking out against drug taking in a
daily column in the Le Parisien newspaper. On Thursday, he wrote that
leader Lance Armstrong
approached him and suggested that he leave the race.
``Armstrong told me: Why don't you just go away?'' Basson wrote.
Last year's race was overshadowed by a doping controversy in which
the
Festina team was thrown out of the race and six other teams withdraw.
The scandal brought the race to a temporary halt and has plagued the
sport since.
Armstrong has been forced to respond to a campaign of innuendo in
parts of the French press about what might be fueling his success.
Armstrong, who has made an astonishing recovery from testicular
cancer, has categorically denied taking banned drugs, crediting his
success to hard work, preparation and good luck.
Jean-Marie Leblanc, president of the company that runs the Tour, said
Friday that the results from a third set of blood tests - which
included race-leader Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team
- turned out negative.
And he voiced confidence in this year's competitors, saying on French
radio he is convinced that illegal drugs such as the
performance-enhancing EPO have ``all but disappeared'' from the race.
``I am not going to sign a piece of paper guaranteeing that Armstrong
or another is completely pure, but experienced Tour watchers can tell
by observing the riders and their performances,'' Leblanc added.
( I wouldn't sign one either )
the
performance-enhancing EPO have ``all but disappeared'' from the race".
Oh yes - history will judge.
1999
Anti-Drug Cyclist Quits Tour
SAINT-FLOUR, France (AP) - As the Tour de France wound through the
French countryside Friday, tensions from last year's doping scandal
resurfaced after a rider who has consistently spoken out against drugs
quit the race.
France's Christophe Bassons left claiming he felt ``psychologically
isolated'' after he had been told by other riders to keep quiet.
Bassons, who wrote in a newspaper column that he only drinks ``plain
water,'' has drawn attention by speaking out against drug taking in a
daily column in the Le Parisien newspaper. On Thursday, he wrote that
leader Lance Armstrong
approached him and suggested that he leave the race.
``Armstrong told me: Why don't you just go away?'' Basson wrote.
Last year's race was overshadowed by a doping controversy in which
the
Festina team was thrown out of the race and six other teams withdraw.
The scandal brought the race to a temporary halt and has plagued the
sport since.
Armstrong has been forced to respond to a campaign of innuendo in
parts of the French press about what might be fueling his success.
Armstrong, who has made an astonishing recovery from testicular
cancer, has categorically denied taking banned drugs, crediting his
success to hard work, preparation and good luck.
Jean-Marie Leblanc, president of the company that runs the Tour, said
Friday that the results from a third set of blood tests - which
included race-leader Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team
- turned out negative.
And he voiced confidence in this year's competitors, saying on French
radio he is convinced that illegal drugs such as the
performance-enhancing EPO have ``all but disappeared'' from the race.
``I am not going to sign a piece of paper guaranteeing that Armstrong
or another is completely pure, but experienced Tour watchers can tell
by observing the riders and their performances,'' Leblanc added.
( I wouldn't sign one either )