Very amusing reply from Krispy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/21/SPG6O-
5ONH21.DTL
Gwen Knapp on March 2 authored a piece that I believe was
unfair in its treatment of me, my fellow athletes who
believe in drug testing, and my long-time trainer, Chris
Carmichael. In my opinion I was portrayed as a drug cheat
aligned with a drug-pushing trainer.
Ms. Knapp stated: "His trainer (mine) just happens to be
charged with distributing performance-enhancing drugs."
My trainer for the past 15 years has been Chris
Carmichael. He discovered me as a young athlete, convinced
me to focus on cycling, stood by me during my cancer
treatments, orchestrated my comeback, and has been by my
side every winter in between my five Tour (de France)
wins. Chris has never been under any sort of investigation
for distributing drugs.
In her column, Ms. Knapp states that Dr. Michele Ferrari is
my trainer, and she relies on that statement to build her
case. The truth is that Chris has been my coach, my trainer
and my primary source of daily training schedules for many,
many years. I believe it was irresponsible of Ms. Knapp to
ignore that fact. I would like to thank The Chronicle for
printing a clarification.
The fact is that Dr. Ferrari is among a number of people who
consult with Chris and me on issues like diet, hypoxic work
and recovery. To say that Michele Ferrari is my trainer is
like saying that your nurse is your "doctor" just because he
or she may provide support to your doctor.
It is true that Dr. Ferrari has been on trial in Italy for a
number of years for allegedly providing drugs to athletes. I
have been clear about this issue. First, I have never seen
anything that would lead me to believe that
Mt. Ferrari would do such a thing and, second, I continue to
believe that he deserves the benefit of a simple
presumption: innocent until proven guilty. Finally, I
have said that if Dr. Ferrari is found guilty I will
immediately re- evaluate his role as a consultant to
Chris and me.
Furthermore, Ms. Knapp states that my association with Dr.
Ferrari was "revealed" in a 2001 article in the Sunday Times
of London. The truth is that my association with Dr. Ferrari
has never been a secret. I have never denied my association
with him or intentionally attempted to hide it. Beyond that,
dating back to 1996, there have been a number of respected
journalists aware of our association. It is my belief that
they chose not to write about it because they did not find
it sensational or particularly newsworthy.
Last year I was drug tested more than 24 times. That's twice
a month. Ms. Knapp claims that "savvy fans know that the
tests are unreliable." Really? If that's the case, then I
know a lot of professional cyclists who are not very
"savvy." The truth is that we believe the current tests do
work and we are proud that our sport has led the way to
create cutting-edge testing and forced that testing on
ourselves. I would ask Ms. Knapp if she called someone like
Dr. Don Catlin head of the IOC-accredited UCLA testing lab,
to ask him if he thought that drug testing was "unreliable"
or if, specifically, the test for EPO does not work.
I would challenge her to do a little homework on the EPO
test and reconsider her view.
I believe in the importance of organizations like the U.S.
and World Anti- Doping Agencies. I sincerely hope they are
enforcing "reliable" drug testing. And I've put my money
where my mouth is. I have donated my own money to speed
research into improved drug testing.
Beyond the obvious clarification of who my trainer is, I
would also like to clarify a few other statements:
1. She stated that my sport has been spared of
investigations into drug taking. Are you kidding? There
have been any number of government investigations into
our sport. In fact, my own team suffered through a two-
year investigation by the French government that, in the
end, concluded that we had taken no drugs or done
anything wrong. Yes, we have had our problems. But we
have joined together in the fight against doping and our
sport should be proud of that. I challenge anyone to find
a sporting event that has more doping control than the
Tour de France.
2. She called my performances, post-cancer, a "stunning
improvement." She makes it sound as if I came out of
nowhere and won the Tour de France (with the hidden
implication being that I did that with the aid of drugs).
The facts are that I was winning professional triathlons
at age 17, that I am still the youngest-ever world road
cycling champion, and that I was the youngest ever Tour
de France stage winner at age 21.
When I found out I had cancer at age 25, I was on my way
to maturing as a professional and was just beginning to
have the sort of experience that could have allowed me to
make an overall win at the Tour a goal. When I did win
the Tour, there were a number of journalists, mainly
French, who questioned my accomplishment. They even
insinuated that the chemotherapy I was administered may
have enhanced me physically and permanently, thus
explaining my Tour win in 1999.
I suppose I could just sit back and say nothing when I'm
attacked like this. Life is short, and I know that from my
own personal experience. I have said it before and I will
say it again: I believe that I am the most tested athlete on
this planet, I have never had a single positive doping test,
and I do not take performance-enhancing drugs.
