Tour De France Not Winnable Without Doping, Former Rider Bernard Kohl Says

FanHouse:

LEESBURG, Va. -- Alberto Contador (right) didn't have to be flagged for a doping violation to remind retired rider Bernard Kohl about cycling's drug troubles.

"People know in cycling that's it's not possible to win the Tour de France without it," Kohl told FanHouse at the conclusion of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's annual science symposium on Monday.

Read the whole story: FanHouse

Comments

[Nicole Dixson]

11:34 AM on 10/08/2010

As the list of names who have won this tournament and have been found to have doped, it appears he is right.

[chiodo08]

08:44 AM on 10/08/2010

"People know in cycling that's it's not possible to win the Tour de France without it. It's three weeks, 3,000 km and you climb (the equivalent of) Mount Everest four times. That's just not possible."....just own it Lance. For ONCE be MAN and own it....

[KIVPossum]

03:26 PM on 10/08/2010

Lance never claims he doesn't use steriods. His statement is 'I have never tested positive'

[addisonsteele]

01:05 PM on 10/06/2010

Long distance bicycle races were developed to test performance-enhancing drugs (such as cocaine) in the late 19th century (the drugs were being tested to determine whether they could increase the stamina of manual laborers). Bicycle racing has always been the dirtiest sport when it comes to drugs. Then all of a sudden, a miracle, a clean cyclist, from the USA, who could win once, twice, more times, absolutely clean!!! What utter nonsense.

[CLSayles]

06:38 AM on 10/06/2010

I'm still hoping Lance is clean. If he's not, I understand...

[XPat100]

02:40 AM on 10/06/2010

I'm sorry, but your headline is a bit misleading. A "shocking claim" would concern something completely unexpected or beyond anyone's wildest expectation. Bernard Kohl is merely stating what everyone already knows about the Tour de Dope. Bike racing is, was and remains the most-doped sport on the planet.

[frisbeeredcat]

01:41 AM on 10/06/2010

My guess is that over the years the cyclists in the Tour de France that have been found to be clean were in the back of the pack. There is no possible way with all the winning cyclists doping that Armstrong can claim to be clean, he is not super-human. We all want so badly to defend him because he's an American and we want a winner. He wants to vigorously defend himself because he's afraid all he's built by his reputation becomes tainted. Not so. He needs to come clean, tell the truth and he will be forgiven. It's best not to lie as history has shown with all the other athletes that have been through the same thing. Face it, we live in a society of cheaters. Look at Wall St. and the stuff they pulled on investors, elections where we can't have a recount, products that are tainted, an oil rig that blows up due to cutting corners, the wealthy taking money offshore to hide from the tax man to name a few. We crave super-human times, and distances but it is still a bike, the road and the man. We've engineered the bike to make it the fastest possible, the clothes, analyzed the road and then altered the body to make it the most efficient possible. Maybe have 2 races, one w/enhanced bodies the other not.

[BlueZoo]

10:47 PM on 10/05/2010

Okay... I might give this guy some credence if he can explain how the Tour de France was won before the advent of performance enhancing drugs. The Tour is 103 years old and these drugs haven't been around that long!

[shanghaislim]

12:29 AM on 10/06/2010

He explained further............... "at those speeds". He is suggested it is not possible to achieve that high of an average speed without doping.

Just look at the average speed of earlier and early TDF's? Equipment has influenced the rise of course and training methods.

[BlueZoo]

09:29 AM on 10/06/2010

Yes, equipment has certainly changed over the years and it does mean lighter, faster and more maneuverable bikes. I also feel the very fact that humans are bigger and stronger now that we were years ago has a lot to do with the speeds too. These bikers may look like they could be broken in half with a single blow but they are incredible athletes who have trained through exhausting hours and they are very, very strong. Strength and endurance today are vastly different than they were years ago.

[Myshkin57]

11:23 AM on 10/08/2010

The equipment has definitely improved speeds over those of, say 30 years ago, but the gains from the equipment have not been nearly as great in the last 20 years or so. Every time I read about some amazing advantage a new, lighter, or more aerodynamic, piece of equipment is supposed to provide and actually look into the science, it turns out that the advantage is minimal (and sometimes non-existent).

Training methods have probably had a bigger influence of late, but it's still basically the same. If you look at old training schedules (10-20 years old) and compare them to newer ones, they're about the same. In spite of the marketing of sports science, there have been remarkably few breakthroughs of late.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

09:43 PM on 10/05/2010

Still waiting for the shocker...

[frank day]

09:02 PM on 10/05/2010

Same old story, a rider who didn't have the talent to compete alleges it must have been because he didn't 'dope'.
This is a total non-story.

[caught-in-the-middle]

07:28 PM on 10/05/2010

"People know in cycling that's it's not possible to win the Tour de France without it," Kohl told FanHouse..."

Thanks for clearing that up Mr. O.B. Vious.

[YYYASS]

06:27 PM on 10/05/2010

The only way Contador gets that tainted result from eating bad meat is if he cannibalized Floyd Landis.

[babyjupiter24]

08:20 PM on 10/05/2010

or Lance Armstrong for that matter.

[frank day]

09:04 PM on 10/05/2010

Lance is the most tested athlete in the history of sports.
Tons of allegations and inuendo but "no proof".
Post back if they ever find PROOF.
Otherwise, go back under your rock.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

09:42 PM on 10/05/2010

Heh.

[jrmitche]

05:16 PM on 10/05/2010

I like the associated hp picture of a man who is most certainly not Bernard Kohl.

[Bogey907]

05:04 PM on 10/05/2010

"I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me."

Hunter S. Thompson

[Stewpendous]

04:33 PM on 10/05/2010

All this bad press in cycling should hopefully clean up the sport. It sucks now but things sometimes have to get worse before they get better.

[verycold]

05:19 PM on 10/05/2010

The thing is the participants like it the way it is now.  Everybody knows they are doping.  They don't care that everybody knows that.

[Paul The Octopus]

04:20 PM on 10/05/2010

Here's another shocking claim: psychic octopus cannot make any prediction without doping! That's right. Now you know what those mussels really were!

[frank day]

09:05 PM on 10/05/2010

Hey, Lay off of the octopus.