Lance Armstrong: The Loss of a Hero

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As a kid growing up in Brighton all my heroes were sportsmen.  Perhaps the biggest hero for me was someone who was possibly the biggest for many a Brightonian athlete of the time; Steve Ovett.  And as I grew so my heroes grew with me......after Steve there was Crammy (actually in the same school year as me - I remember seeing him as a gangly kid stroll to victory in the 1500m at the English Schools - anyone else remember that?), then Carl Lewis, Miguel Indurain and so on and so forth, until we get to the noughties where the name of one Lance Armstrong appears in bold print on my list of sporting heroes alongside, and more recently, Alberto Contador.

Lance Armstrong who today resigned as head of his cancer charity, Livestrong, and was also dropped by sponsor Nike who are fending of allegations of corruption themselves (see below)

Sadly though those last two names have now been expunged, in more ways than one!  And it is a distressing thing when someone you've looked up to, admired and respected turns out to be nothing more than a cheat.  Since the days of Ovett, Coe and Cram there seems to have been something of a tsunami of fallen sporting idols.  Ben Johnson leaps to mind, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Floyd Landis, the (tragic?) 'Pirate' Marco Pantani, Dwaine Chambers, Ivan Basso, Jessica Hardy (who medaled at this years Games), Ricky Hatton, Martina Hingis, Roy Jones Jr, Diego Maradona,  Eddy  Merckx, David Millar, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shawn Ray, Bjarne Riis, Frank Shleck, Jan Ullrich, Richard Virenque, Alexander Vinokourov (who won this years Olympic road race), Mats Wilander, Shane Warne, Alex Zulle, Djamolidone Abdoujaparov, Lee Bowyer .....and the list goes on and on (List of doping cases in sport).

Are the rewards just so great that cheating is the only way to get to the top in any sport these days?

Sport plays such a huge part in my life that I have to believe that's not true.  I have no choice!

A quick glance down the wikipedia list (see link above) tells me that not everyone caught doping is a world-beater or that one particular sport is more prone (shall we say?) than another to dope cheats, although it would be true to say that some sports do get more than their fair share of bad press because of its' dope cheats.

For example, cycling and athletics have both been badly tarnished by a seemingly endless stream of top rate performers who have been caught doping.  Although I did spot a name, which I've forgotten.....and is not really relevant anyway.... on the wikipedia list of a guy who was banned from ten-pin bowling for doping!  The mind boggles!  I digress.......

I remember very well when Ben Johnson was exposed.  The furore that followed!  The reaction of much of the media and many armchair fans was perfectly understandable, if not a bit illogical.  'If the world record holder and Olympic gold medalist is on drugs then everyone else must be too!' 

Every gold medalist was eyed suspiciously.  The questions came.

'How come he/she got away with it?'  'What's he/she on?'  'Can a clean athlete even compete today?'

They were endless.  They are endless.  Those questions and many, many more are still asked today of this years sporting stars.  But is it right?  Should they be subjected to analysis by the press where very often a guilty verdict is thrust upon someone merely by association?

I think the answer is yes!

Our sports stars and heroes should stand up to be counted.  Testing and monitoring athletes ensures a clear playing field for those who are in fact clean.  If that means that those around and associated with drug cheats are subjected to more than a normal sized grilling then so be it.

If you were guilty of a crime that cannot have been committed by one person alone, then it is only right and proper that your colleagues and associates be asked to answer for their part in the proceedings.  Don't you think?

Yes, there will still those who will somehow manage to slip through the net and I have no reason to believe that anything will change there.  Some will still be tempted to cheat.  They always have been, they always will be.  I guess it's a flaw in human nature that allows people to employ a 'win at all costs' attitude that is literally that - Win at all costs, when perhaps it shouldn't be about winning at all.  But then try telling that to a kid who has just been inspired by Usain Bolt's latest dash down the track or Paula Radcliffe's anguished face as she crosses the line.  Without winners in sport there is no sport.  But where do we draw the line in what is acceptable in a winner and what is not?

The answer to that is easy to answer of course.  If the winner cheated then he's not a winner.  He's a loser.  And should rightly suffer the punishment, whatever that might be, of their respective governing bodies.  But for those guys, those cheats, those men and women who have crossed the line (from hero to zero?), did no-one tell them about the line or what?  Are they really that driven that to win at all costs becomes more than just a totem and twists itself into a lifestyle whereby the inflicted cements over the cracks and chasms of their own hypocrisy to be able to smile and beguile us mere mortals with their heroic performances and not bat an eyelid!

Next year sees the centenary of the Tour de France.  Tour director Christian Prudhomme was, by all accounts, hoping to have a parade of past champions as one of the highlights of the celebrations.  But with all the recent revelations his plans are now said to be in tatters.  No less than 20 of the last 21 winners of the Tour have now been caught doping with Armstrong's seven titles not being reallocated winners and will therefore have 'no winner', said Prudhomme this week.  It is as he said, 'a lost decade' of the Tour.

Prudhomme continued, saying that despite everything he believed that cycling was on the right road and must continue to work to catch the cheats, saying that the UCI (cycling's governing body) was becoming 'more efficient' and was catching 'cheats faster' than ever before.  'There's no other possible way,' he said.

And whilst I applaud his oratory, the emerging facts this week, cast more than shadow over cycling as a whole.

It now seems that in 2002 the UCI accepted a donation of more than $100,000 from Armstrong (UCI criticised for accepting cash payment).  Whilst the UCI have denied that it was nothing more than a donation, and was not in fact payment for the cover-up of a positive Armstrong test, they have put themselves (if they weren't enough before!), their methods and their officials well and truly under the microscope. 

Then today it emerged that former UCI chief Hein Verbruggen may have accepted a $500,000 bribe/payment from Sportswear giant Nike to hush up yet another positive Armstrong test (Nike deny cover-up).

It's been hard to read the almost daily revelations about Lance Armstrong.  I didn't want to believe it.  But the evidence is damning and growing every day.

So who left in cycling can we trust?  Is there a way forward that might maintain the (race) drama, but involve just a little less scandal?

I leave it to my big hero of 2012, our Brad, to show us the way (Our Brad looks forward...).

A world without Lance Armstrong did at first seem to be world that was lacking something for me.  I think even up until the point that I started to write this blog I felt aggrieved, pissed off even at the crap being thrown by Armstrong's former team-mates, colleagues and managers, almost as if it was I that was on the receiving end along with Lance!

But now I think that I was merely in mourning.  I've got all Lance's books on my shelves.  I can probably even quote you a few lines from each if asked.

What do I do with those now?  They won't even sell at a car boot sale!

And what about my motivation?  When I jump on my bike and I'm at the bottom of a mountain that I know is gonna hurt like stink, who do I turn to now?  I used to conjure up images of Lance thundering up mountains in all weathers, getting to the top and not being satisfied with his time, so turning straight back round and doing it all again.  And I'd be there, the lactic already burning like hot coals in my thighs, on a mountain a fraction of the size of anything in the Alps, and I'd be saying to myself 'if Lance can do it twice in bad weather on the big mountains, I can certainly do this bloody pimple!'

Even though he is my big hero of the year, by his own admission Brad isn't a natural climber, so who do I go to for motivation now on my big mountains?  Contador's been shown up to be a cheat.  So was Alejandro Valverde, both of whom I had previously 'admired'!  So, any bright ideas?  Suggestions on a postcard please!

In the end though, the sun still came up this morning.  Lance's demise didn't change the world, except perhaps for the better.  And those mountains won't be any higher or harder as a result of his misdemeanours.  And once I've fully recovered from the shock of losing yet another idol I'm sure I'll scale those bastards even faster than I did before.

See you soon.

Follow @peterwinnbrown

Spain and Spanish cycling

Since this is my first post I guess I should tell you something about myself and why my blog is called 'Spain and beyond'.  I am English, have been living in Spain for the past year and I am just getting to grips with Spanish life, the people and customs.  This blog is going to be about my experiences, my life and my views of what I see locally, nationally and internationally from my tiny perch outside Valencia.  I hope that anyone interested in Spain or possibly living in Spain will take an interest but, just to make things clear, I will not be limiting myself to comments on the Iberian peninsula for the simple reason that my own interests range far beyond these shores so I will be discussing whatever or whoever takes my fancy.  That said, in this first entry I shall be concentrating on Spanish goings on, just to set the tone really.  So here we go!

I live about 45km north-west of Valencia in the 'campo,' more commonly called the countryside.  The nearest pueblo, or village, is Casinos and I'm lucky enough to have stunning views.  On a clear day (which is most days) we can see clear down the valley all the way to the coast and the Med.  We sit in the curve of a horseshoe with mountains ranging either side of us that offers protection from some of the vagueries of the Spanish weather.  We often note that the Valencia region has different weather from the rest of Spain as a result of the mountains.  The climate can be extreme here though.  When it's hot, boy! is it hot!  When it rains, it's a veritable torrent.  And in the short, sharp winters (of which we have had only one, thus far) it is bloody freezing, not just because of the lack of central heating in Spanish houses, but also by virtue of living at an altitude of 488m.  Anyone who lives in a rural area spends an inordinate amount of time pawing over the weather forecast and we are no different.  It really can make or break your plans, but in a different way to the unreliable UK weather.  We can plan a BBQ and know the weather will be good.  We can say, a week ahead of time, 'let's go the beach' and know it will be sunny.  The question often is, 'just how sunny will it be?'  If it's 45C in the shade then a day at the beach can turn into a BBQ of a different sort!  So, making plans with some advance warning of the weather is a must!

All in all we love it here.  The people are friendly and have opened the doors of their community and their houses to us in a way that I could never imagine possible in the UK.  It is safe, very low crime levels and stunningly beautiful everywhere, from the cities to the pueblos to the mountains.  As time passes and blog entry follows blog entry I hope that some of you begin to develop a feel for life here and how two foreigners have been made welcome.  I will try to avoid anything too personal because I am a private person and I have no wish to live my life in a fishbowl (assuming anyone reads this of course), so be patient and so will restrict my comments to the more impersonal rather than relating what I had for dinner and what colour my underwear is.  Comments are of course most welcome, as are questions.  And so, onto my first mini-blog and what for me is a sad time for Spanish sport.

Spain is a country rich in sporting pedigree.  In the last year alone Spanish sports stars have won the football World Cup, have dominated world tennis, won two of the three Grand Tours of world cycling to mention but a few.  I, myself, am a cyclist, so one of the things I was looking forward to most on moving here was to get to grips with some tough, rugged cycling routes, both on and off road, and so I have.  Spain is cycling mad.  The campo is jam-packed with cyclists every weekend of the year and this weekend was no different, but this weekend there was only one topic on the minds of most as they pounded out the kilometres.  Alberto Contador, Spanish hero, 3 time winner of the Tour de France, arguably the best cyclist in the world, had failed a drugs test.  When I heard I was just shocked.  I heard on CNN initially, then an hour later Contador held a press conference where, inevitably, he expressed his sorrow, his own shock and his innocence. 

The facts are these.  On July 21st, on a rest day at the Tour de France, Contador, as yellow jersey wearer was tested, as he was the day before and the day after.  This is standard procedure.  What was not standard were the findings of the tests.  As is normal in these cases, both the A and B samples have to be tested and provide the same result before any further action can be taken.  At the UCI (cycling's international body) testing centre in Cologne, Germany, minute traces of clenbuterol, a banned substance and a steroid to boot, were found in the samples provided by Contador.  He was informed himself on August 24th, but in line with UCI recommendations, he kept silent until September 29th when the official announcement was made.  In the press conference Contador said how, even if he is eventually cleared, that his reputation and credibility would be 'seriously damaged' and he told how he had even considered retiring from the sport in the wake of the accusations, first published in L'Equipe, the highly respected French newspaper.  Ina subsequent article in L'Equipe it was suggested that the substance had found it's way into Contador's system by way of a blood transfusion, although Contador himself strongly denied this, blaming some contaminated meat for the aberrant results.

Clenbuterol is a a constituent part of many asthma medications and acts not just as steroid agent, but also as a stimulant, and as such has been on the international banned list for some years.  It is now being phased out worldwide in favour of safer medicines but is still used in some veterinary products as a way to stimulate the growth of lean muscle tissue.  Professional athletes are deemed responsible for what enters their own system but the levels of the substance found in Contador's system do give rise to a level of doubt and may give some weight to his contaminated meat explanation. 

"Knowing the history of Clenbuterol intoxications in Spain and knowing the fact that nowadays Clenbuterol can be detected in extremely low amounts, it is obvious that in this particular case the scenario of an accidental intake of Clenbuterol by consumption of meat is extremely likely," says Contador's cheif scientific advisor Dr Douwe de Boer.

On the day's before the 21st Contador showed no sign of the drug, and on the 22nd the level was so low as to be almost undetectable.  The levels detected, say Dr de Boer, were 50 picograms/ml, a value that is 40 times lower than should be detectable in the testing labs and is a level 180 times below the level needed to induce any sort of physical effect (or advantage, in this case).  But this is still early stages in this affair and the story will run and run, thus while further investigations are made Contador has been suspended from competition and, if found guilty, will face a probable 2 year ban.

Those are the basic facts of the case.  However, what you don't hear or even see is the damage done to a sport struggling for credibility after years of drug-related trauma.  I was just a kid when Tommy Simpson, a 29 year old British cyclist, dropped dead of exhaustion on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux in the 1967 Tour de France, his body bloated with amphetamines and diuretics.  Since then professional cycling has reeled from one drug disaster to the next, with many of the legendary names of the sport falling victim to the lure of victory at all costs.  Names such as Marco Pantani (the Pirate), a climber par excellence and winner of both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 1998, who was found guilty of blood doping in 1999 and died tragically in 2004 of a cocaine overdose; Floyd Landis, 2006 Tour winner subsequently banned and stripped of his title;  Djamolidin Abdoujaparov, Leonardo Piepoli, Stephan Schumacher, Alexander Vinokourov, Ivan Basso, Jan Ulrich and Britain's David Millar amongst many, many others, have all faced bans and have added to the cloud of suspicion that hangs over the sport.  Millar (see pic) of course, has gone onto become one of the sports most outspoken critics and is now a highly respected anti-drugs campaigner and one of the first people journalists turn to in the wake of any new allegations.  Millar has, incidentally, publicly stated that he stands '100% behind' Contador and does not put any credence in the allegations against the Spanish rider, in the same way as he supported Lance Armstrong throughout his post-cancer, Tour winning career despite a seemingly never-ending list of accusations that still linger to this day.

My wife with David Millar at the 2009 Tour of Britain

More than any other sport in living memory, cycling has seen it's star wane and wane again under the weight of endless drug-related traumas.  Tour cyclists are rare breed of man.  It is hard man's sport, perhaps the hardest of any sport, anywhere.  They place incredible strain on their bodies, day in, day out, and perform physical miracles the like of which us mere mortals can only dream about.  In the face of such adversity and such immense physical exertion it is perhaps understandable that some may resort to questionable methods to gain the upper hand, but this is no excuse.  I love cycling.  I marvel at their courage, determination, their physical prowess, their ability to hammer their bodies into submission hour after hour, day after day, and so, for me, these latest allegations cause great sorrow and I cannot help but wonder when it will all end.

Sadly, as if to add fuel to the flames, within hours of Contador's press conference, came the news that 2 more Spanish cyclists, Ezequiel Mosquera and David Garcia de Pena, have both tested postive during this years Vuelta a Espana which only finished last month.  Mosquera finished second overall and was involved in some the Vuelta's most exciting days including the epic mountain top finish against eventual overall winner Vincenzo Nibali (of Italy) on the Bola del Mundo.  Some amazing performances from a cyclist who had shown great promise throughout his career but only at the age of 34, and in his twilight year(s) has fulfilled that promise.  Perhaps now we understand why!

Pat McQuaid, UCI President, has forcefully expressed his views on the Spanish cycling authorities saying that they 'don't want to battle against doping' and in the wake of Operación Puerto, the doping investigation that started in May 2006 and centred round Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, they are not doing enough to get to the bottom of the problem and that, as a consequence, Spanish cycling is suffering more doping scandals than it should be.

Yesterday, while out riding some horribly tough and steep farm tracks, I asked some of the guys what they thought about it all.  Most just shrugged their shoulders and had nothing to say, almost as if they had been expecting this somehow.  Only one offered an opinion and that opinion was undefined.  He said 'he would just wait and see what happens in the end,' the same as Millar (despite his support), Frank Schleck (2nd in the Tour this year) and others had said.  I wasn't sure what I was expecting as a response, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn't this.  I guess I was looking for his fellow countrymen to offer words of support, to show a little sympathy for the man perhaps, but maybe it's gone beyond that.  Maybe everyone is just tired of all the crap, all the cheating, all the lying.  I know I am, but I'm not sure I would ever get tired enough to be quite so ambivalent in the face of the loss of a national hero.  Maybe the Spanish ran out of sympathy when Alejandro Valverde was caught and banned two years ago?  I don't know.  What I do know is, that whatever comes to pass in this latest sordid affair I will still be watching and marvelling next year.

Peter

NB.  Biggest congratulations to Thor Hushovd for his fantastic win yesterday in Geelong, Australia!  All Hail Thor!  World Road Race Champion 2010