Knowing firsthand the rigors of the tortuous endurance test that is the Tour de France, Ron Kiefel knows of the temptations to cheat. He makes no excuses for the offending riders and wasn’t making any Thursday upon hearing that Tour winner Floyd Landis tested positive for higher-than-normal testosterone levels.
“I was shocked, and then my next reaction was I was saddened,” said Kiefel, owner of Wheat Ridge Cyclery. “I’m glad to see them cracking down (on drugs) and making it more important. People are tired of it.”
Area cycling fans such as Kiefel were upset, stunned, disappointed, angry and also skeptical about the news that broke Thursday.
Landis’ team has asked for a backup or “B” urine sample to be tested to clear his name. It’s not clear when the results might be known for a second test.
“Floyd had a fantastic Tour de France,” said Kiefel, who competed in seven Tours from 1986-1992. “We have to wait for the B sample, and if it is positive also, then he has some explaining to do.”
Some cyclists surveyed in area shops felt that the testing process in recent years has been faulty, leading to results that weren’t clear-cut.
“It’s hard to determine what is true and what is not, and I don’t think all the testing processes are 100 percent,” said amateur cyclist Samer Khudor, who was shopping at Wheat Ridge Cyclery. “It’s hard to believe that all these people are really using these performance-enhancing substances with all the people that have been banned in the sport already.”
Even when a top cyclist such as Lance Armstrong never fails a test, questions and allegations remain. Several top riders were banned one day before the start of this year’s tour, leading some to believe all top cyclists push the limits.
“These guys are cheating. They are cutting the course and it’s bad sportsmanship,” cyclist John Frey of Denver said. “But they test for a huge spectrum of substances, and you have a limit. If you are over the limit, then you are positive. All of these cyclists, all of them are taking substances to get up to that level. So just because they don’t test positive does not mean that they are not taking substances.”
To the average fan, the Tour de France is an amazing athletic contest of endurance. But some cyclists see it as a race nearly impossible to win without the benefit of illegal substances, some undetectable.
“I have been racing for 20 years, and it is hard to believe that the pros do what they do in Europe without using something,” amateur cyclist Dan DePaemelaere of Denver said. “It is more than just, ‘Did he do it or did he not?’ To succeed at a very high level and to understand the type of pain and agony you have to go through to survive at that level, you have to put two and two together. And you come up with, ‘You have to do something to recover every day.”‘
Although their views on the Landis controversy varied, the cyclists expressed support for the Tour de France and believe it can survive nearly any scandal.
But they wish there were fewer allegations of doping surrounding their favorite sport.
“I love the sport, but I certainly get discouraged when I see the amount of professionals in the sport that are allegedly doping,” Khudor said. “You look up to these guys and you want to think that these guys are just training really hard and have natural abilities. You hope they are not going about it in an illegal way.”
Staff writer Brandon Meachum can be reached at 303-820-1720 or bmeachum@denverpost.com.
