le grimpeur

Défaillance, part 3: les hommes forts8
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on October 29th, 2009

The 1992 season for Greg LeMond was the beginning of his slow descent. But what we can now see with hindsight was not so evident at the time. “I can’t believe that a rider of his quality is finished at 31,” his director, Roger Legeay, had said.

Before looking in detail at LeMond’s disastrous seasons in 1993 and 1994, it is worth pausing to comment on the adversaries that he was up against in those years and the performance shift that was underway in professional cycling.

At the press conference after the 1991 Tour, where LeMond finished 7th, Miguel Indurain – the winner – sat down next to him. “L’homme fort,” LeMond said, according to Samuel Abt (Indurain did not speak French, nor did he understand it when LeMond repeated it in English, Abt noted).

But it was not just Indurain ‘the strong man’ that LeMond had to worry about. (more…)

Défaillance, part 2: the slow descent2
Guy WR posted in Classic Climbs, Doping on September 29th, 2009

From a quick glance at the results sheet, 1990 was a pinnacle season for Greg LeMond. He won the Tour de France for the third time, whilst in the jersey of the World Champion. In professional cycling, there can be no greater display of dominance.

Yet, as we saw in part 1 of this series, LeMond had expressed doubts about his condition going into the Tour. And commentators were also quick to note that his win in the Tour had hardly been a dominant performance. Those doubts were also there in the lead-up to the 1991 Tour, where LeMond would start in the number 1 jersey of the previous year’s winner.

“I don’t feel I’m at my very best right now,” he told Samuel Abt just before the Tour’s start. “I’ve done a lot of work this year and things haven’t come together as I’d hoped.” (more…)

The limits of performance5
Guy WR posted in Doping on August 20th, 2009

Cycling fans, and fans of climbing in particular, were able to enjoy an epic Tour de France this year. While the race may have whimpered through the Pyrenees for the overall contenders, there was plenty of action in the Alps before the final torture test of Mont Ventoux.

The transformation of Bradley Wiggins from track star to a grimpeur of the highest order was one story. The other stories, perhaps to be told here later, are of the breakaway victories on major climbs, most notably on Mont Ventoux itself. The major story, though, was the incredible climbing performance of Alberto Contador.

While the Tour overall certainly raised the bar from last year – and more on this below – it was the ride by Contador on the relatively short climb to Verbier that sent commentators and pundits into a frenzy of analysis and, ultimately, finger pointing with the thinly-veiled accusation that Contador was doping. (more…)

Reflections on doping2
Guy WR posted in Doping on October 29th, 2008

So, we are now able to re-write the results from this year’s Tour de France with some certainty, erasing stage wins, rejigging the overall, and congratulating Carlos Sastre and Frank Schleck for jointly winning the KOM title following Kohl’s disgrace.

The latter may have ridden himself into a near coma on Alpe d’Huez, with an above-average performance, but it certainly was not the ‘extraterrestrial’ climbing we have seen in the past. His performance may have defied expectations, but he did not make a mockery of the peloton like Sella (at the Giro), Ricco, Piepoli, and Schumacher. (Not the mention the infringement of Dmitri Fofonov, who may have doped simply to survive all the way to Paris, rather than to actually win a major prize.)

Astute watchers of the Tour may have had their suspicions, but Kohl’s case confounded the now regularly-practised technique of outing dopers simply by scrutinizing their race-winning performances. Kohl’s watts on Alpe d’Huez were less than impressive compared to other riders, but may have been well above what he has produced before, but this would require an extensive crunching of the numbers.

Overall, though, it is very hard to claim that the doping situation is getting any better, with this slew of positive tests. The overall cleanliness of the peloton may indeed be improving, and more and more riders are speaking out against doping, but dopers are still stealing victories and ruining races with alarming regularity. (more…)

Alpe d’Huez revisited4
Guy WR posted in Classic Climbs, Climbers, Doping on October 2nd, 2008

The iconic climb of Alpe d’Huez featured again at the Tour de France this year and proved to be decisive in the outcome of the race. Le grimpeur has already discussed this climb on several occasions (see here, for example), but the publication of a new book on l’Alpe, as well as questions arising from this year’s stage suggests that further discussion is of interest.

In his excellent new book, ‘The Tour is Won on the Alpe’, French journalist Jean-Paul Vespini lays to rest the long debate over the fastest ascent of the Alpe d’Huez climb at the Tour de France. Controversy has surrounded this question given that times have been recorded for different distances. For example, for the 14.5 kilometre distance, which was used for official timings since 1990, Marco Pantani holds the record of 37′35″, set in 1997, which is typically cited as the fastest ascent of the climb in numerous sources and articles. (more…)

Un cycliste est mort: Mont Ventoux and the death of cycling1
Guy WR posted in Classic Climbs, Classic Stages, Doping on May 28th, 2008

“…le Ventoux, lui, a la plénitude du mont, c’est un dieu du Mal, auquel il faut sacrifier.” — Roland Barthes

It is an iconic image in cycling’s lore. Jacques Goddet is ascending the rocky slope of Mont Ventoux, clutching a wreath for the memorial to Tom Simpson. In the background, surely not by coincidence in the timing, is Eddy Merckx, on his way to the stage finish at the summit and overall victory in the 1970 Tour de France, and he has turned to watch Goddet. (more…)

Souffrance: Contador’s revenge?2
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on May 10th, 2008

After a last-minute change of heart, prompted by a spirited Kazakh intervention, reports suggested, the organizers of this year’s Giro invited the Astana team to join the field.

As is well known, the season was looking a little sparse for the team, having been very roundly and decisively snubbed by the ASO, owners of the Tour de France. The team will now have the chance to show its colours in Italy, and perhaps last year’s Tour winner will be able to show his capabilities at the highest level.

This year’s Tour will, though, be the second in a row where the defending champion has been excluded. For the ASO, it seems like Alberto Contador ran afoul of an informal ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule. First, he was linked to the Operacion Puerto Spanish doping scandal and had been part of the Liberty Seguros team under Manolo Saiz, who was central to the doping network; second, his new team for 2008 was Astana, disgraced by Alexandre Vinokourov’s positive doping tests (with other teammates also implicated); thirdly, the manager of the team for the season would be Johan Bruyneel, who presided over – it the eyes of the ASO, it must be assumed – Le Mensonge Armstrong. (more…)

Coeur de grimpeur – part 3 – ‘Allez Richard’0
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on January 23rd, 2008

So far, le grimpeur has looked at the early career of Richard Virenque, and his two seasons with Polti before the Festina trial in Lille – with Virenque’s doping confession and suspension.

On hand at the trial was cycling’s perhaps most famous soigneur, Willy Voet, who had personally attended to Virenque throughout his career.

An easy going Belgian living in France, Voet had dedicated himself to his craft and was close to his riders. His habit of using the informal ‘tu’ conjugations when speaking French, no matter the occasion, raised the ire of Virenque’s lawyer, who dressed him down for such impertinence.

Voet shot to fame of the worst kind when he was arrested on the Belgian-French border in a Festina team car with a load full of doping products in 1998, on his way to meet the team in the opening days of the Tour de France.

His arrest tore the scab of doping off cycling and set in train a fundamental re-evaluation of sports doping in France, which can be seen today with its tough, criminal laws against doping. (more…)

Coeur de grimpeur – part 2 – the Polti years2
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on December 10th, 2007

Following the Festina trial in Lille in 2000, Richard Virenque was suspended until 15 August 2001 and his future was uncertain.

He had already been rescued once, by Franco Polti, owner of the team for which he rode the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

“He’s a great rider,” Polti reportedly said of Virenque. “He’s got character. That’s why I said let’s sign Virenque. I like riders like Virenque.”

The two years leading up to the Festina trial in 2000 were already mentioned in part 1. With the confessions from the majority of the other riders on the Festina team, Virenque remained isolated with his denials during this time.

His popularity, at least with his fans, seemed not to diminish. He also rode with some success in the Tour de France and, unusually for Virenque – who targeted key races – the Giro d’Italia. A brief pause, therefore, to look at these years in more detail. (more…)

Coeur de grimpeur – part 11
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on November 24th, 2007

Until the recent series of doping scandals have made it passé to dope in cycling, then lie about it, then stage a dramatic public confession seeking redemption, Richard Virenque was the poster boy. The history books, though, continue to list his seven KOM titles in the Tour de France – a record. To the extent that these titles represent the pinnacle of climbing achievement, Virenque ranks as one of the best grimpeurs in history. (more…)

Floyd Landis and the Tour de France as epic5
Guy WR posted in Classic Stages, Doping on October 18th, 2007

The Tour [is an] epic [which] expresses that fragile moment of history in which man, however clumsy and deceived, nonetheless contemplates through his impure fables a perfect adequation between himself, the community, and the universe. — Roland Barthes.

The excitement was palpable as the group tumbled out onto the narrow street. There was a visceral buzz in the air and incredulous conversations were continuing, in English, French, Dutch, and German.

The group, a few minutes ago packed into the tiny cafe under the lodge in the village of Huez, had just witnessed an incredible riding feat. Clutching glasses of cold beer (whose prices had fallen dramatically from two days previous) close to their chests, everyone had jostled and strained to see the small TV set perched on the bar as Floyd Landis ripped apart the pro peloton and rode his remarkable solo ride up the Col de Joux-Plane and down into the finish at Morzine.

It was a incredible comeback and the entire cafe felt a curious camaraderie as if sharing in a momentous, historical occasion.

Out in the street, in the warm summer late-afternoon air, no-one wanted to stray too far from the scene – as if wanting to bathe in the moment for as long as possible. One American fan, not normally lost for words, could barely speak. “Goddam Floyd,” he kept mumbling. “Wow…” (more…)

The good old days2
Guy WR posted in Classic Stages, Doping on September 25th, 2007

In these troubled times for cycling, there’s always the temptation to feel nostalgia for the good old days.

Somewhere around the late 70s and early 80s might be a popular choice. Pro cycling might currently be grappling with widespread (but declining) blood boosting and doping, but the drugs of that era were more out-of-sight and less pivotal. We might never know the exact effect, but the increasing speeds of the peloton in the 90s give some indication.

“In my day as a rider we had dope, sure; but it was nothing like today. Nothing like EPO. For the riders EPO is like kerosene,” said then Tour de France director Jean-Marie Le Blanc in 1999. (more…)

The return of the Colombians2
Guy WR posted in Classic Stages, Climbers, Doping on August 29th, 2007

It was back in the 2002 Tour de France that a Colombian last set the race on fire in the mountains. Santiago Botero showed tremendous form that year and claimed a stage win at Les Deux-Alpes. An unconventional climber, in style and build, Botero used his time-trialling prowess (he won the first long ITT that year) to dominate the stage.

Botero also won a stage at Briançon in 2000 and placed second when the race finished there in 2005. It seemed fitting, therefore, that the next Colombian to claim a mountains stage in the Tour would do so in the town. (more…)

Doping and climbing – conclusions – Jan Ullrich2
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on April 9th, 2007

There is much more that can be written on doping and climbing. Of particular interest is the apparent disappearance of the ‘pure climber’ in the peloton, the gifted grimpeur that can blow a major race apart with specialized climbing skills. This disappearance is probably overstated, and many grimpeurs have shone in races other than the Tour de France in recent years.

The broader point is made, however, that faster average speeds on flatter stages such as in the Tour have made it difficult for pure climbers to hold on to the peloton and conserve their energy for the mountains. Whether this is a Tour phenomena, or due to doping or better training for all riders, is another issue.

In a series of posts, I’ve covered some of the implications on climbing of doping in professional cycling, including a two-part discussion of Marco Pantani (part 1 and part 2). It seems timely to take a break from this particular series and focus more on some of the positive aspects of great climbers and climbs. Still, it seems impossible to move on without making some comment on recent revelations on doping by Jan Ullrich, a constant presence in the mountains over the last decade, particularly in the Tour de France. (more…)

Doping and climbing: Marco Pantani – part 23
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Doping on April 2nd, 2007

…continued from part 1

Although it was never proven, observers often speculated that the first race to be won by EPO was the 1994 edition of the Ardennes classic Fleche Wallonne. Both Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon have dated the appearance of EPO to the early 1990s, with Lemond pointing to 1991 as the year where the peloton’s speed started to noticeably increase, but 1994 was something else. (more…)