Sad...

[ny biker]

I just don't understand these guys. Don't they know that they are watched like hawks and everything they do gets in the news. They can't even take Baby Aspirin without being accused of dopping!!

+1

Really stupid behavior.

[Ciao]

Bugger - trying to keep a high even when not on the bike...

Very sad and very stupid. It's such a tough and short career to begin with... Haven't they learned from the crash-n-burn over the past few years? Blow it and blow your longer term sponsorship/ career options.

[redrhodie]

Call me old fashioned, but it's kind of refreshing to see a recreational drug scandal (rather than the other kind) for a change. Hope it doesn't get him in too much trouble.

[Grog]

Sad indeed.

I wouldn't label cocaine as "recreational" though. It's been used in cycling (and other high-stress professions, you name 'em) for years and years along with caffeine, amphetamines, and other stimulants, some explosive cocktails are made with it, to increase tolerance to intense exercise and pain. My understanding is that the "cocktails" are mixed with little doses of lots of stuff so that individually they are not detectable but together they still have lots of effect. That stuff probably causes the athletes to become addicted after a while...

[redrhodie]

Sad indeed.

I wouldn't label cocaine as "recreational" though. It's been used in cycling (and other high-stress professions, you name 'em) for years and years along with caffeine, amphetamines, and other stimulants, some explosive cocktails are made with it, to increase tolerance to intense exercise and pain. My understanding is that the "cocktails" are mixed with little doses of lots of stuff so that individually they are not detectable but together they still have lots of effect. That stuff probably causes the athletes to become addicted after a while...

Oh, I was figuring him for a disco dancing party animal.

[gnat23]

Oh, I was figuring him for a disco dancing party animal.

I thought it was him maybe trying to keep up with his young girlfriend.

-- gnat! (oh, kids these days...)

[VeloVT]

I thought it was him maybe trying to keep up with his young girlfriend.

-- gnat! (oh, kids these days...)

ahem...

ok, so according to an interview with Boonen in Cycle Sport a few months ago, that 16 year old is **not** his girlfririend, just the daughter of the person (sponsor, or someone otherwise affiliated with the team) who organized the vacation for him, and the press "twisted" those photos around. Boonen also says in this article that a year earlier, the press caught a photo of him and his girlfriend having lunch on his balcony with a good friend and HIS girlfriend, and they cropped the photo to make it look like he (Boonen) had a new girlfriend...

OK, I don't know who to believe !!!

But I want to like him because he has a sweet, innocent smile...