Millar Speaks on Doping - Armstrong

[Ted B]

David Millar might have taken a huge swan dive in terms of ethics, future possibilities, etc etc, but at least he has decided to come clean and at least try to make amends for mistakes. In an interview with ProCycling, Millar makes a number of intriguing comments, maybe not revelations, but he emphasizes some facts that sometimes need underlining.

"There aren't drugs that do what Lance is doing. Lance could be on all the drugs in the world, but they don't do that. I know they don't do that. He's a force of nature."

"I know who does and doesn't and I know what doping does and doesn't do, and there are no miracle products. It doesn't make a donkey into a thoroughbred."

To curb some fears, it seems like Millar is pretty confident that the entire pro peloton is not on drugs. That's a relief, but the fact is, we will never know the extent of the problem of doping. Millar is surely not going to sit down and write a list out of all of the people he knows that are doped, he might be coming clean, but calling out names might be a bit too much to expect. There will be sporadic outbreaks of revelations and findings, but doping will forever remain cycling's dirty little secret.


From: www.pezcyclingnews.com

 

[birdman23]

David Millar might have taken a huge swan dive in terms of ethics, future possibilities, etc etc, but at least he has decided to come clean and at least try to make amends for mistakes. In an interview with ProCycling, Millar makes a number of intriguing comments, maybe not revelations, but he emphasizes some facts that sometimes need underlining.

"There aren't drugs that do what Lance is doing. Lance could be on all the drugs in the world, but they don't do that. I know they don't do that. He's a force of nature."

"I know who does and doesn't and I know what doping does and doesn't do, and there are no miracle products. It doesn't make a donkey into a thoroughbred."

To curb some fears, it seems like Millar is pretty confident that the entire pro peloton is not on drugs. That's a relief, but the fact is, we will never know the extent of the problem of doping. Millar is surely not going to sit down and write a list out of all of the people he knows that are doped, he might be coming clean, but calling out names might be a bit too much to expect. There will be sporadic outbreaks of revelations and findings, but doping will forever remain cycling's dirty little secret.


From: www.pezcyclingnews.com

I read that article today and I thought it was really interesting. Thanks for pointing it out here.

 

[tommasini]

David Millar might have taken a huge swan dive in terms of ethics, future possibilities, etc etc, but at least he has decided to come clean and at least try to make amends for mistakes. In an interview with ProCycling, Millar makes a number of intriguing comments, maybe not revelations, but he emphasizes some facts that sometimes need underlining.

"There aren't drugs that do what Lance is doing. Lance could be on all the drugs in the world, but they don't do that. I know they don't do that. He's a force of nature."

"I know who does and doesn't and I know what doping does and doesn't do, and there are no miracle products. It doesn't make a donkey into a thoroughbred."

To curb some fears, it seems like Millar is pretty confident that the entire pro peloton is not on drugs. That's a relief, but the fact is, we will never know the extent of the problem of doping. Millar is surely not going to sit down and write a list out of all of the people he knows that are doped, he might be coming clean, but calling out names might be a bit too much to expect. There will be sporadic outbreaks of revelations and findings, but doping will forever remain cycling's dirty little secret.


From: www.pezcyclingnews.com

i agree. thanks for pointing out this article. maybe i'm stupid...well, I am stupid.... but i still like David Miller.

Being a little bit older these days, i just can't see crucifying someone who screws up in their 20's. I'm very glad to see him come clean, would have been better had he done this without the police thing, but hopefully cycling is learning. Now he should pay the punishment, learn from it, and grow as a person. No matter the outcome on his career.

 

[paris_boy]

David Millar might have taken a huge swan dive in terms of ethics, future possibilities, etc etc, but at least he has decided to come clean and at least try to make amends for mistakes. In an interview with ProCycling, Millar makes a number of intriguing comments, maybe not revelations, but he emphasizes some facts that sometimes need underlining.

"There aren't drugs that do what Lance is doing. Lance could be on all the drugs in the world, but they don't do that. I know they don't do that. He's a force of nature."

"I know who does and doesn't and I know what doping does and doesn't do, and there are no miracle products. It doesn't make a donkey into a thoroughbred."

To curb some fears, it seems like Millar is pretty confident that the entire pro peloton is not on drugs. That's a relief, but the fact is, we will never know the extent of the problem of doping. Millar is surely not going to sit down and write a list out of all of the people he knows that are doped, he might be coming clean, but calling out names might be a bit too much to expect. There will be sporadic outbreaks of revelations and findings, but doping will forever remain cycling's dirty little secret.


From: www.pezcyclingnews.com

I think we need to take whatever Millar says with a grain of salt. He seems to be doing damage control and is saying lots of different things. He also said this:

People in the sport, he [Millar] says, genuinely don't know whether their fellow competitors are using the drug [EPO]. "I only know about me. I didn't ask questions of other guys. Everyone is so paranoid now."

from http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cycling/story/0,10482,1269733,00.html

 

[mojomarc]

I think we need to take whatever Millar says with a grain of salt. He seems to be doing damage control and is saying lots of different things. He also said this:

People in the sport, he [Millar] says, genuinely don't know whether their fellow competitors are using the drug [EPO]. "I only know about me. I didn't ask questions of other guys. Everyone is so paranoid now."

from http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cycling/story/0,10482,1269733,00.html

That's not really a different thing. What he said about Armstrong was, quite simply, saying that doping isn't responsible for the quality of Armstrong's performance. His performance, doped or not, comes from him, because there aren't drugs powerful enough to explain his dominance in the peloton. That's pretty clear. He's not making a statement in either case about individual guilt or innocence, but rather commenting that Armstrong is winning by such margins because he has the talent to win by those kind of margins, and even if he were to dope (assuming he's not now) it wouldn't change the gulf between him and the field enough to make a difference.

 

[zapper]

I read that article today and I thought it was really interesting. Thanks for pointing it out here.

Send it to our old friend limerick man....

 

[paris_boy]

That's not really a different thing. What he said about Armstrong was, quite simply, saying that doping isn't responsible for the quality of Armstrong's performance. His performance, doped or not, comes from him, because there aren't drugs powerful enough to explain his dominance in the peloton. That's pretty clear. He's not making a statement in either case about individual guilt or innocence, but rather commenting that Armstrong is winning by such margins because he has the talent to win by those kind of margins, and even if he were to dope (assuming he's not now) it wouldn't change the gulf between him and the field enough to make a difference.

my point was (maybe my bad English is confusing to understand) that he said one time 'don't know whether fellow competitors are using the drug' and another time 'I know who does and doesn't' -- so when to believe him? I think he will say whatever will help his case, not necessarily is the truth.

 

[mojomarc]

my point was (maybe my bad English is confusing to understand) that he said one time 'don't know whether fellow competitors are using the drug' and another time 'I know who does and doesn't' -- so when to believe him? I think he will say whatever will help his case, not necessarily is the truth.

Ah, I think you're right. He did seem to backtrack, didn't he?

As far as his statement about Armstrong, I think he's right to the extent that you can't explain Armstrong's dominance by drugs. His point seemed to be the edge they provide isn't nearly enough to explain him, which I agree with. But for definitive evidence coming out of him, I'd agree with you--the guy is definitely waffling some.

 

[davidbod]

my point was (maybe my bad English is confusing to understand) that he said one time 'don't know whether fellow competitors are using the drug' and another time 'I know who does and doesn't' -- so when to believe him? I think he will say whatever will help his case, not necessarily is the truth.

Your grasping. Fellow competition is other riders outside of his team which he probably doesn't know about. What he knows about who does and doesn't is certainly within his team and maybe some what beyond that by association.

 

[paris_boy]

Your grasping. Fellow competition is other riders outside of his team which he probably doesn't know about. What he knows about who does and doesn't is certainly within his team and maybe some what beyond that by association.

read the rest of the quote:

"I only know about me. I didn't ask questions of other guys. Everyone is so paranoid now."

 

[paris_boy]

Ah, I think you're right. He did seem to backtrack, didn't he?

As far as his statement about Armstrong, I think he's right to the extent that you can't explain Armstrong's dominance by drugs. His point seemed to be the edge they provide isn't nearly enough to explain him, which I agree with. But for definitive evidence coming out of him, I'd agree with you--the guy is definitely waffling some.

I think everyone wants to be on the good side of the godfather, I mean Lance. remember what happened to a little guy named Simeoni that crossed the godfather, sorry I mean Lance again. if your career is crumbling it might be a good idea to make nice with him.

 

[Brunswick_kate]

I think we need to take whatever Millar says with a grain of salt. He seems to be doing damage control and is saying lots of different things. He also said this:

People in the sport, he [Millar] says, genuinely don't know whether their fellow competitors are using the drug [EPO]. "I only know about me. I didn't ask questions of other guys. Everyone is so paranoid now."

from http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cycling/story/0,10482,1269733,00.html

Just curious...why is it when someone speaks against Armstrong, you act like the words are divinely inspired, Holy Writ, etched on stone tablets etc etc etc and when someone speaks in favour of Lance, they're suspect?

 

[ItalianStallion]

It might not make the diffference between a donkey and a thoroughbred, but it might make the difference between first and second.

Anyway, innocent until proven guilty, right? Everyone in the peloton is clean.

 

[paris_boy]

Just curious...why is it when someone speaks against Armstrong, you act like the words are divinely inspired, Holy Writ, etched on stone tablets etc etc etc

who is the 'someone' you refer to?

 

[Ted B]

Just curious...why is it when someone speaks against Armstrong, you act like the words are divinely inspired, Holy Writ, etched on stone tablets etc etc etc and when someone speaks in favour of Lance, they're suspect?

You will find that those who practice this principle are in fact oblivious to it (or at least pretend to be).

I'm of the opinion that Millar has gotten over the shock of his situation and has submitted to his fate (perhaps feeling the worst is over). Realizing that he won't be interrogated for information, he probably finds himself more relaxed and less defensive then he was in his initial comments. I believe we will hear more from Millar.

 

[wheresullrich?]

I support armstrong but since lance himself says millar is his friend in his book i doubt millar would ditch lance in it. you dont normally do that to your mates do you?

 

[zaskar]

IMO i don't care who is doping and who isn't, it doesn't hurt me or my family. Does it hurt or bother any of you, and why?

 

[JohnO]

We can also look to the case of another reformed (I hope) doper, Richard Virenque.

Assuming he's clean now, and he'd be a fool to try that twice, the absence of doping does not seem to have measurably affected his performance. So Millar's assertion that doping does not have that great an effect does seem to ring true.

 

[gntlmn]

We can also look to the case of another reformed (I hope) doper, Richard Virenque.

Assuming he's clean now, and he'd be a fool to try that twice, the absence of doping does not seem to have measurably affected his performance. So Millar's assertion that doping does not have that great an effect does seem to ring true.

Maybe they were so afraid to ask anyone instructions on how to dope properly for fear of discovery that they just didn't know quite what they were doing.

 

[HellonWheels]

Ah, I think you're right. He did seem to backtrack, didn't he?

As far as his statement about Armstrong, I think he's right to the extent that you can't explain Armstrong's dominance by drugs. >>>>


I agree. What drives Lance is his determinatin to prove that cancer survivors CAN win a race like the TdF not once, but six times. I KNOW and UNDERSTAND how he feels because I went thru a very similar thing in my own life....ppl telling me "you can't" do this or that, when all that does is drive me to prove I CAN. In 1995 to 1997 I went thru a medical catastrophe that everyone warned me to quit trying. I didnt listen and I "won"...I had a healthy baby after four late term losses that doctors couldnt explain. Why did I keep trying? Ask Lance why he kept trying to win the TdF and you have the same answer for me. To PROVE it CAN be done.

To accuse Lance of doping is ********....I am currently arguing with a stupid-ass woman on another forum (diet related) who claims Lance is doping even though he tests clean. I saw thru her, and said, No, what REALLY galls you is that he won the most strenuous athletic event in the world not once but six times, using a diet YOU regard as dangerous and unhealthy (high carb) (this woman is an Atkins nut.)

Its REALLY insulting to someone like Lance, who (unlike other racers) trains YEARROUND for the TdF, sleeps in an altitude tent to naturally improve his oxygenation, who has a freakishly huge lung capacity (as tested by the Cooper Aerobics Ctr in TX), to have all his HARD WORK dismissed as "doping". I can relate because I lost a lot of weight over the last few years through HARD WORK (eating right and exercising), and to have some ppl ask me, "Gee, how did you do it, did you get that stomach surgery?" Thats is SO insulting! As if they are saying (as the false accusers do to Lance), all the hard work you did means zilch, you probably did it the easy way!


Sorry just needed to vent, both due to the charges against Lance and my own situation.