Hematopoulet
Posted July 24th, 2007 in Dope, TdF 2007
Journalist David Walsh has an interesting piece in the Times Online that while not adding anything new to what we’ve learned about the past actions of Michael Rasmussen, does strip bare the ethics involved.
Lars Werge, cycling correspondent for the Copenhagen-based daily Extra Bladet, recounted for Rasmussen the sport’s recent doping controversies, especially the confession of doping by his fellow Dane Bjarne Riis, and asked why the public should believe that he, Rasmussen, was clean. “Yes, you can trust me,” said the Tour leader. It was an impressive moment as Rasmussen looked Werge in the eye as he delivered the answer. And that was when Whitney Richards decided that he’d had enough – a secret he had lived with for almost five and a half years was about to be revealed.
This also.
He recalled the moment when he confronted Rasmussen about the cartons of Hemopure and the rider reminding him that, unlike Richards, he was not educated and cycling was his chance to make something of himself. “When he said that, I did think that the authorities and the teams are preying on these people at an early age and exploiting them. I know Michael is not some beast, he’s not like that. He’s smart, he’s focused, he’s intelligent.
“But he made a choice to involve me and that was totally wrong. Everybody has temptation in their life, but you’ve got to make the right decisions when faced by that temptation. You can stand up to the system and say, ‘No, I’m not doing that’.
There is unquestioned believability in the story precisely because there is a secondary source of confirmation. Rasmussen has a lot of questions to answer.
technorati tags: cycling, tourdefrance, rasmussen, doping
What others have to say…
Meaning of course that all the riders have jumped the shark, no one believes anything they say anymore….unfortunately the clean guys are now tarred with the same brush.
And now Vino? Is it ok to cry now- I mean, officially?
I am speechless, and just when I was starting to give him and them the benefit of the doubt.
The sad thing about Vino is that it’s not a big shock. Similarly, it won’t be a big shock if Rasmussen falls by the way either. I feel bad for Kloden, but then he did leave the old T-Mobile system for the Astana system, so you have to wonder… And that is the real problem; as Philip says, even the clean guys are seen as untrustworthy and the fans can’t help but wonder and be suspicious of everyone. And susupicion is tanatamount to guilt (rightly or wrongly) in this environment. So much for the rule of law.
miracles don’t happen in cycling anymore
Obviously not Alex, it’s strange I’m cynical most of the time but I still feel like someone killed Santa.
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did i hear someone in the bunch say “miller is a sanctimonious, hermaphrodite, haematocrit hypocrit”? perhaps not?