Audio presentation of recent drug use in professional cycling, serving as a lead-in to a class discussion. By Brian Sather,  History, Philosophy, & Ethics of Sport Class at Eastern Oregon University on 2009-09-29.

Related written presentation from a few years earlier:

Cyclist Tyler Hamilton Fails Drug Test

Sources

Fox Sports News. (July 21, 2004). I’m a drug cheat: Millar. Retrieved September 23, 2004, from http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,10200955-23209,00.html

Heil, N. & Bradley, J. (June 2004). Spinning in their graves. Outside Magazine. Retrieved September 23, 2004, from http://outside.away.com/outside/news/200406/cycling_epo_1.html

Hood, Andrew. (September 2004). VeloNews Interview: Tyler Hamilton. Velonews. Retrieved September 27, 2004. from http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/7012.0.html

Michaelis, V., & Ruibal, S. (September 23, 2004). Tyler Hamilton keeps gold after IOC drops case. USA Today. Retrieved September 27, 2004, from http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/2004-09-23-hamilton-results_x.htm

Velonews. (September 2004). Friday’s mailbag: Tyler, Tyler, Tyler. Retrieved September 27, 2004, from http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/7006.0.html

Story

Professional cycling has been plagued with performance enhancing drug scandals since the use of endurance boosting drugs became popular in the 80s. With the advent of drug tests and unannounced police raids, the United Cycling Federation (UCF) began cracking down on drug use in the 90s.

In 1998, the Festina team was kicked out of the Tour de France after a late night raid found Erythropoietin (EPO) in their hotel. One rider involved was previous Tour de France winner Marco Pantani. A few years later he competed in professional cycling but never returned to the same form. In February of 2004 he died of a drug overdose. Another involved was Frenchman Richard Virenque. After serving his ban, he later came back to win more “King of the Mountain” competitions in the Tour de France. Virenque remains a French cycling star and retired in September, 2004 after winning the polka dot jersey a record 7 times. Ironically, the same French press that lauds Virenque, vilifies American Lance Armstrong consistently suggesting he is a doper.

Tyler Hamilton is an American cyclist with a very successful career that has been overshadowed by his compatriot Armstrong. That is, until recently. Hamilton won the gold medal in the time trial competition of the Athens 2004 Games. Then he went on to win a time trial stage of the Vuelta de Espana, on of the 3 major racing tours of the year. Shortly afterward, it was announced he had failed a drug test. The test showed he had antigens of another person’s blood. Basically, he was accused of inserting another person’s blood into his body to boost his red blood cell count, giving him a distinct endurance advantage. Until recently, there was no test to detect the illegal act of “blood packing.” Blood packing has similar affects to use of the drug EPO, which boosts red blood cell formation. David Millar, a successful British cyclist recently confessed to use of EPO and its use appears to be widespread. The drug has also been suspected of causing a number of hear failures in cyclists, especially young cyclists. Hamilton is the first to fail a test for blood packing although it was announced that the entire US cycling team used this method during the 1984 Los Angeles games, before is was illegal.

Despite the positive test, Hamilton’s “B” sample blood test from the Olympics was ruined because it was not stored properly. Thus, the Olympic Committee announced he would retain his medal. However, blood samples were taken after his victory at the Vuelta and the UCI is expected to ban Hamilton from cycling for 2 years. Hamilton from the start has insisted on his innocence.

Questions

1. What would you do if you tested positive but you know the test is incorrect?
2. How can professional cycling clean up their image?