David Millar articles in the Guardian

[jobob]

The Guardian (UK) has a fascinating series of articles on David Millar.

The Wrong Gear

Plus other links near the bottom of this article.

Such a waste of talent!

[pedalfaster]

Fascinating indeed , thanks for the link.

I dunno about wasted talent. I guess I'm an optimist. The guy made a mistake. He seems heartfelt in his regret. I hope he can move on and still have some sort of career in cycling. It's possible, think about Virenque .

When I think "wasted talent" I think about Pantani. Still makes me sad.

[bounceswoosh]

It sucks that he was doping at all, but 48 hours of detention/interrogation over a couple of needles?

This whole war on drugs thing is just stupid, stupid, stupid. This should be a matter for the governing bodies of cycling, not the law.

[jobob]

"I made mistakes and am ready to learn. I'd like to explain the dangers to young riders," he told the Manchester Guardian. "I am someone who can give reasons why cyclists should not take drugs."

Uh, because you might get caught?

Sorry for the cynicism, but here's a guy who continuously, adamantly denied he was doping until the very last minute. Oh he felt very badly about it, but it looked as though he never would have come forward on his own.

I have to admit Millar's case really rattled me. Makes me wonder where this is all going to go.

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by jobob
Makes me wonder where this is all going to go.

Go read the latest headlines on Cycling News. Two more riders bike the dust (Adam Bergman-domestic pro, and Filip Meirhaeghe- mtb world champ). I'm starting to wonder if anyone is racing at the pro level completely clean.

[jobob]

The frustrating part is that recombinant human (rh) EPO is very difficult to detect - it's extremely close in structure to the EPO that we all produce naturally. That means that, when administered carefully, rhEPO it won't ilicit much if any immune response so there are few antibodies to detect. Plus, EPO itself is a fairly short-lived molecule in the bloodstream; biotech companies (including my fine employer) nowadays actually try to make derivatives of these kinds of molecules in order to prolong their lifetimes in the bloodstream (and hence increase their efficacy) - obviously such products won't be of any interest to the cheaters in the sporting community!

But lacking any sensitive, reliable, reproducible test, it's going to come down to one man's word over another ...

[snapdragen]

I was pretty upset when I first heard about our boy Dave. It does give me a little comfort to read in the article that he felt guily for using. Is he to be believed? I don't know, but I hope so. (OK - I hear you now, "And what color is the sky in your world Snapdragen?")

I think I'll keep my rose colored glasses on for now.......

[jobob]

Well, a girl's got to believe something, and I choose to believe this:

The claim that I, along with another teammate, approached a team doctor and asked him questions about doping products back in 1996 is absolutely false. I swear on my wife's life and the grave of my dog that I never asked that man about anything of the sort. If you know anything about me, you know this is as emphatic as I can be. I'm truly saddened to have to respond publicly to such an accusation.

( <-- you and me both luv )

http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/dia...es/6685.0.html