Lemond questions Armstrong approach

Eurosport - Mon, 13 Oct 14:09:00 2008

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond has played down the anti-doping efficiency of self-policing by cycling teams - and says Lance Armstrong must do more if he is to prove he is 100 per cent clean.

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Lemond, the first American to win the Tour de France, in 1986, was a strong critic of Armstrong throughout the 37-year-old Texan's seven-year Tour de France reign.

It started over seven years ago when Lemond criticised Armstrong for admitting to working with Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari, who famously declared that the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) was not dangerous.

Now, Lemond has criticised his fellow champion for trying to be too transparent.

When he makes his comeback at the Tour Down Under in January, 2009, Armstrong will do so alongside anti-doping expert, Don Catlin, whom he has employed in a bid to prove that his performances will be beyond reproach.

Following in the footsteps of such teams as CSC and Garmin-Chipotle, who have similar anti-doping experts working with them, Catlin will put the results of Armstrong's blood values and testosterone/epitestosterone ratio online.

But LeMond believes it is a mixed blessing.

"What they're doing is good, but really that testing has got to be done by an independent group, and not policed from inside," Lemond told Cycling News.

"What good is self-policing? It's like a wolf guarding a hen house. You've got to have a group with no self-interest. It should be up to a group like WADA."

Lemond says the authorities would get a better idea of who the cheats are if they started analysing such parameters as VO2max and the power output via the hi-tech SRM systems used on bikes, and not just blood and urine samples.

"If anybody read half of what's out there about physiology and how you produce power in aerobic sports... It's very simple."

He added: "There are certain physiologists who could blow the sport apart. But they all earn their living by the sport, too, so they have something to lose, so there's this omerta (code of silence)."

Cycling's doping scandals this past decade can be blamed mainly on the popularity of banned blood booster EPO.

EPO enhances performance by raising the volume of red blood cells in the blood, otherwise known as the haematorcit, thus allowing more oxygen to be pumped to the muscles which in turn can work harder and longer.

Despite efficient anti-EPO tests, Lemond believes athletes can still easily escape being caught using either EPO or (autologous) transfusions of their own blood.

"It's all very well checking blood values. But if you're a smart doctor, you just always keep your rider's blood values high," he added. "EPO is only detectable within a few days, and that's why it's hard to detect it.

"Autologous blood transfusions, however, are not detectable at all - except through a carbon monoxide test, which is something Michael Ashenden (project co-ordinator of the Science and Industry Against Blood Doping) has proposed.

"It tests the volume of haemoglobin (which transports oxygen to the muscles) in the body, and can prove a positive for autologous blood transfusions. That's the kind of testing we must do, along with profiling athletes' natural oxygen intake and watts."

Lemond said another key to checking who is cheating is to analyse the power output, in watts, of cyclists on some of the big climbs.

"Cycling is so black and white when it comes to watts and we can have that data now - it's not a mystery. Last year there were climbers doing 450 watts but weighing 58-60kg - that's nearly 8 watts per kilo," he added.

"That's impossible - unless we've all had some kind of genetic mutation over the past 15 years."

AFP

Comment 4 - 23 of 23

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  1. all you haters could use a little history. lemond has been talking about how doping was evident since 91. that was long before he had lance to be jealous of, so please stop playing that card, yes?

    i actually am glad lemond is speaking up and has been.
    it's not as though the guy is off base with his charges. what he's been saying is that cycling is full of dope, our tests to find the dope are crummy, and we haven't been working hard enough to sort this all out.
    i think the last few years have proven him to be correct.

    sure he's been kind of a downer, but really, nobody else has been willing to speak up about this until the last few years when it's been far too late. our sport is in shambles here. don't hate lemond for saying so. hate the riders who made it that way.....

    From the FISH, on Mon 13 Oct 5:29PM

  2. Poor Greg he can not say one good thing about cycling. Can someone anyone tell me one positive thing Greg has said or done for cycling in the last 10 years besides stir up controversy.

    From the FISH, on Mon 13 Oct 4:00AM

  3. greg lemond is a very sour former tour legend,i wonder did the gunhot wounds he allegedly recieved not improve his performance?.

    From Freddybee, on Mon 13 Oct 12:44AM

  4. I agree with most of the statements made. However, I must say that if that is how the sport of cycling is run then there is no hope of it being a clean sport. Lance maybe clean, which also maybe true, but at least he is bringing the sport to the world and he is trying to be a good ambassador for the sport. I don't care about inuendos but IF he are any other cyclist is checked and found to be clean DO NOT hang a notice about that person posssibly being on drugs.

    From john, on Sun 12 Oct 3:30PM

  5. Armstrong believers are just that, believers. No facts or reasoning will convince believers. Landis and Hamilton have believers as well and no facts in the world will convince them that these guys are cheats. So then we have faded twin theory, whiskey binge theory, screwed up French lab theory, etc. Armstrong for that matter even contraindicates himself. He says he will allow retesting his samples in the future but he will not allow retesting his samples from the past. He says he wants to follow the new rules and at the same time will not wait six months to start racing. Some twisted logic. And this is just the beginning of his return. He already started his usual tactics as well: threats, arrogance, ignorance, etc. It is not like he is the only famous Texan to do that…………..

    From adiolusto, on Sun 12 Oct 3:37AM

  6. Read at VN that Lemond said he is done with professional cycling. It's a shame that Greg has brought his legend to the low level that exists today. I, plus most of America, learned about the TdF through Lemond. Many of the 55+ Master racers in Northern California can remember Greg racing while he was a junior. A junior that was beating the top ameture racers in our country. Archive our regional newsletters and they are full of Greg winning races. Ever since the day Greg climbed off his back at the Tour he hasn't been the same. Greg, at one time, was an icon for me. Now I wish he would stay out of the limelight and let me remeber his glory days. Maybe Greg needs to come back to Northern CA/NV were his career began and give back to the sport on an ameture level.

    From adiolusto, on Sun 12 Oct 12:00AM

  7. Go away Greg LeMond you are like a dark cloud over the sport of cycling. Mr negative never has anything positive to say about the sport. He should ask Lance if he can watch him pee in the cup and watch him draw blood then watch him take a carbon monoxide test and measure his weight to wattage output. I still don't think that would be enough to satisfy him. Then he would say Lance is a magician and hiding something. This is the only way Le Mond can keep his face in cycling so he is going to take every opportunity to try and profit of this.

    From the FISH, on Sat 11 Oct 10:19PM

  8. I feel that there needs to be a independent agency to test the athletes but the fact that pro teams are willing to have in house testing is a step in the tight direction. The UCI should make every team have in house testing, when a rider gets caught doping not only the rider should get in trouble but the team should be very heavliy fined. In this instance Mr. Lemond should be happy Armstrong is being tested and is forth coming.

    From Daniel N, on Sat 11 Oct 5:45PM

  9. During the eighties and early nineties I would follow Greg’s racing passionately and was excited every time he had a good result. I truly respected him for his grit and determination. So it has become a real downer for me to see how he has turned out to be ever since Armstrong took center stage. Yes, I am sure that Greg is correct that a majority of the peleton started using EPO during the early nineties. But that was then and this is now. Since we can’t change the past there comes a point to let go and let it lay. The sport is now doing everything it can to stay clean. So instead of nagging about the past I had hoped that Greg would be a supporter of Armstrong and his results. Unfortunately for our sport, Greg has shown nothing but envy and jealousy. Imagine how our sport would have benefited in a positive way if Greg would have been an Armstrong supporter instead of an Armstrong critic? I would think that there are more effective ways for Greg to get publicity for promoting his products then constantly nagging and beating up on that same old dead horse. So Greg, don’t you think that it is high time to start behaving like the champion you once was, so you could again have a real positive impact on our sport instead of tearing it apart? It wouldn’t take much for me to again give you the respect that I once had for you during the eighties and early nineties.

    From hrryhilgers, on Sat 11 Oct 5:11PM

  10. Mr.Lemond 7 is higher than 3.

    From Alex, on Sat 11 Oct 5:04PM

  11. Mr.Lemond 7 is higher than 3.

    From Alex, on Sat 11 Oct 5:03PM

  12. The sad thing is I think LeMond is right. There probaby are better ways to test! I just wish, however, it was the sports physiologists that spoke up! He seems bitter, anatagonistic and confrontational when he speaks! He should set up his own conferences, speak directly and only to the cycling authorities! And stop what seems to be a one-man anti-Lance crusade!

    From Enid, on Sat 11 Oct 4:36PM

  13. LeMond please just belt that elongated stupid gob!

    From treva.floyd@..., on Sat 11 Oct 2:10PM

  14. Sorry but I don't listen to a bunch of inbred morons who cannot see the wood for the trees, as the forest is still burning - @#$%

    From H C, on Sat 11 Oct 1:50PM

  15. could he be any more bitter??

    From thomas, on Sat 11 Oct 12:26PM

  16. Lets be honest about this, Lance is going to employ a guy that he's selected, to prove that he's going to race clean, great we can all sleep easy!!

    From justin.hodges@..., on Sat 11 Oct 10:20AM

  17. Again I see H.C wades in with the personal attacks, not worried about the truth getting in the way of a good slander. if you feel so strong about your comments and allegations then stand up and launch a legal action against and I quote "Trouble is Lance is such a drug cheating git that Lemond is right and you lot are wrong"
    H.C put up or shut up

    From maurice1958@..., on Sat 11 Oct 8:54AM

  18. I always respected and admired Greg LeMond but now days I seem to think that he is senile f*kwit

    From rory p, on Sat 11 Oct 8:24AM

  19. Hey H C, when are you going to promote HC/GT/Pro Tour races like TdU, AToC and the Giro. All three promoters have stated that they look forward and welcome Armstrong to race their events. You could be the counter weight to those three. Disallow Armstrong on the basis of your vast knowledge of Lances doping history. LeMond could be your events spokesman. What a wonderful platform that would be to express your disdain. Give it some thought! I'm sure you are smart enough to put together an event of that level. An armchair investigator always make a good businessmen.

    From adiolusto, on Sat 11 Oct 3:47AM

  20. ARE you kidding me .... Greg Lamond has no credibility. what and why does lemond have to comment every time Lance does something good .... WHY ... he's Jealous .. that all ... Lance is the best cyclist to ever ride the tour .... Lemond isn't even in the top 100 ...

    From nordicxventures, on Sat 11 Oct 1:50AM
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