Picture this. A local amateur bike race on a sunny weekend. Suddenly, word spreads through the bunch that drug testers are waiting at the finish line and chaos ensues.
Over 180 riders started the race, but only 52 cross the finish line. Nearly 130 cyclists vanished midra rather than risk being tested. Shocking, absolutely.
But this isn't an isolated incident. This isn't a tour to France. These are amateur master athletes.
We're talking about guys and girls in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. We've come to expect doping scandals among pro cyclists who are chasing fame, fortune, and contracts. But mast's racers chasing plastic trophies and bragging rights.
This is real and does have real consequences. Today, we're exposing how performance-enhancing drugs have infiltrated amateur ranks. the very people you might line up next to at a local race or a grand fondo.
We'll look at the real cases from around the world to prove this isn't just urban legend. And we'll ask why, like why would a middle-aged cyclist risk their health, risk their professional reputation, and even in some cases jail time to win a race in front of honestly like a man and his dog. Stick around because by the end we'll also talk about how clean riders and clubs can fight back against this scourge.
Doping is that's where I decided man I can't even watch cycling anymore. Greg Leond had helped his team captain Bernard Eno win a fifth tour of France. You know somebody asked what what do you think of this victory?
I said it's unbelievable. I I couldn't watch it and I decided I couldn't go there because to understand the scope of this problem, let's examine a couple of realworld doping busts among master cyclists. Andy Hastings, a British Mast's national champion caught using steroids.
Hastings, 35 at the time, tested positive for two anabolic steroids at a UK time trial event. He just won the British Cycling Mastered Road Race title in the 35 to 39 age category. UK anti-doping handed him a 4-year ban.
The kicker, Hastings absurdly claimed that the steroids came from a borrowed needle he used at the gym when he was trying to inject B12. I'm not sure about that one. Four years of suspension later, his name was scrubbed from the results forever.
It's not always about failed tests. Sometimes the biggest red flag it's running from the test. In 2017, two American Masters riders did exactly that.
Dave Les, 56, outright refused to provide a sample after winning a Cyclacross race in New York and received a 2-year ban, reduced from the usual four-year ban after arbitration due to mitigating factors. But just weeks later, 57year-old Craig Webb won his age group at Michigan's Bell Iceman Comet Challenge, one of the largest mountain bike races in the US, and he too refused to provide dop control that was waiting for him at the finish line. Webb was hit with a full four-year ban, and both the men were stripped of the results.
And then there's Kale Leo Grande, perhaps the most notorious US case. Kale, a former domestic pro turned masters racer. Age 40, he won the prestigious Californian criterium Dana Point Grand Prix.
That was in 2017. And he tested positive for a vertible cocktail of seven band substances. We're talking an insane medley, an estrogen blocker, six different anabolic and experimental drugs, including multiple SARM, a growth hormone booster, and even an endurance drug called GW1516.
Fun fact, GW1516 was so dangerous it was pulled from development after causing cancer in lab rats. Yes, he did indeed put that into his body. Leo Grande was a repeat offender.
He'd already served bans years before. So this time, USADA, well, they threw the book at him. An 8-year ban, effectively ending his competitive days.
He was stripped of all his wins and any results he'd earned. This case showed just how far an amateur was willing to go. Essentially turning himself into a rolling science experiment just to beat his peers.
These are just a few examples. For every high-profile case like these, there are many quieter bands you might never hear about unless you dig deep into the anti-doping agency reports. The point is doping and amateur cycling.
It's very real across different countries, ages, and disciplines. Masters track racers, masters roadies, cyclcross, mountain bike, none are immune. So why do masters riders dope?
Pressure ego culture. Now this begs the milliondoll or should we say the plastic trophy dollar question? Why?
Why would a 40 or 50year-old amateur who isn't making a living off the sport risk everything to cheat? What drives a middle-aged man in Lyra to dope to win a club race in front of a handful of people? Well, there are a few key factors at play.
The competitive drive and ego is huge. Many master cyclists are highly competitive by nature. Often type A personalities, successful in their careers, or former athletes who hate losing.
For some, being the local hero or national age group champion, it's a huge source of pride. Even if the audience is just friends or a couple of board spectators, the glory of victory and personal accomplishment, it can become addictive. Think about the master racer archetype.
The lawyer or doctor or business owner who trains at 5:00 a.m., has the best bike that money can buy, and wants to get to the top step at a podium on weekends.
If that person's mindset is winning as a must, doping just to level the playing field, level the playing field, can't tempt them. Especially if they suspect that rivals are doing the same thing. In their mind, it's justified as everyone else is on something, so why shouldn't I be?
This is the same warp rationale that fueled the '9s and early 2000 doping year in professional cycling, just without any of the paycheck or the glory. Ego clouds judgment, folks. And as absurd as it sounds, a Mast's rider might covet an amateur title just as much as a pro cyclist wants to win an Olympic gold medal.
I also think age is important. Mast's athletes face the reality of aging. Our body slows down.
V2 max declines. Recovery takes a little bit longer. you can't hit the wattage targets you used to be able to hit when you're 25.
And that can be frustrating for someone who still has the hunger to improve or at the very least doesn't want to slow down. Performance-enhancing drugs, they promise the fountain of youth, faster recovery, increased muscle mass or endurance, weight loss, many banned substances like testosterone, human growth hormone, EPO, they have legitimate medical use cases for deficiencies. And some Masters riders convinced themselves they need these for health.
Case in point, the 42-year-old Masters national champion Kenny Williams tested a positive for DHA, a steroid precursor after winning his 2009 title and claimed that he juiced only to regain fitness after breaking his collarbone. Some athletes do work with anti-aging clinics, others with shady doctors obtaining prescriptions for testosterone or growth hormone in middle age. But unless you have an official therapeutic use exemption for this stuff, using them in competition is still doping.
The selfdeception is strong here, folks. Cuz I've heard it before like, I'm just following doctor's orders or I'm just fixing a deficiency. That becomes a cover story, but in the end, it's about gaining an edge.
And it is still doping. We're in an age now where access to these drugs is easier than ever. I've talked to Tyler Hamilton, Christian Vanderveld, Mike Barry on the podcast, and it was a shady, dirty thing back in the '9s.
Now they're easier to obtain. The internet is a wash with black market labs and peptide suppliers. Masters athletes also have a lot of disposable income a lot of the time to buy these fancy drugs.
Unlike younger proathletes who might be closely monitored, amateurs have very little out of competition testing. The perceived risk of getting caught is very low. In local races, testing it infrequent or in some cases totally non-existent.
Masters riders got away with it for years until they were finally tested at bigger events or because maybe someone turned states evidence and tipped off the authorities. USADA spokesman once pointed out that testing amateurs only happens when it's an effective use of resources. What do I mean by that?
It means it mostly happens at higher level amateur events or upon receiving a credible tip. So the age group rider could reason if I only dope at local races or I pick my spots, I'll never be tested. The Spanish race story we open with underscores this.
Those 130 riders quite clearly thought it was better to DNF that race than to pee in a cup and run the risk of being caught. They likely had been racing unchecked for a long time until surprise testing showed up one day. When you pair low testing probability with a high competitive drive, that's a dangerous dangerous combination.
Masters athletes dope for many of the same reasons of professional athletes dope. To win, to be the best, to defy their limits, but with the added twist of age and personal pride in the mix. But they are literally risking their health and reputation for prizes like socks, vouchers for the local bike shop, and coffee beans.
Like, what are they thinking? The rewards just do not justify the risks. There's no big contract or fame on the line.
Yet, for these individuals involved, the internal reward does feel worth it. It's their self-image as a winner, the legacy in the local cycling scene, or simply the satisfaction of going faster than the guy next to you. It's a midlife crisis that's playing out on two wheels.
This behavior isn't without consequences. The fallout and the fighting back. Healthwise, older athletes are putting themselves in harm's way.
Steroids can wreak havoc on your heart and your liver. EPO, we've seen it tragically in the past. It thickens blood levels, raising stroke risk.
Stimulants strain the heart, and combining multiple drugs is a recipe for disaster. And then there's the disgrace factor. Being outed as a cheater in your local community.
Imagine facing or shown up to your local club ride on a Saturday after getting a ban. How embarrassing would that be? And isolating.
Careers outside sport can even be affected, especially if the doping involves possession of illegal controlled substances. For the sport of cycling, seeing this happen at an amateur level, it's sobering. It challenges the integrity of competition at a grassroots.
If a newcomer shows up to a mast's race and secretly half the bunch is doping, that newcomer is essentially competing in an uneven, unsafe competition without even knowing it. It risks driving clean athletes away. Why bother training hard at all?
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com. I'm going to put that in the description down below. There's a smaller scale echo of what proycling went through in its darkest day is going on at the moment.
So, what can be done? What do we do to protect the integrity of amateur racing and keep it fun and fair to those who just love the sport? We need to start with cultural change.
I think masters and amateur clubs need to foster a culture where honor and health are valued over victory and performances at all costs. Talking openly about the issue does help. When a doping bust happens, don't sweep it under the rug.
Use it as a cautionary tale in the community. Many clean masters athletes say they race for camaraderie, for fitness, for personal challenge. That ethos should be celebrated.
I think targeted testing also helps. While we can't expect every weekend amateur race to have anti-doping control, resources are limited. That's just not going to be possible.
Smart targeted testing can make a big difference. The element of surprise is key, though. We've seen how effective this can be.
the Spanish Federation's unannounced test scared off 130 riders that day or the Italian NAS police showed up to a Grand Fondo last year on the start line. If a racer knows that an amateur event, there is a nonzero chance of them being tested. It may give them pause before doping.
Some high-profile amateur events have already started implemented testing. I know last week at Tracka Gravel Racer was testing at Grand Fondo, New York, for instance. They also began testing a number of years back, both winners and random participants, and that's led to several high-profile EPO busts in the results, and that sends a loud message to cheaters that it won't be tolerated.
Looking at the club level as well, there can be simple steps clubs can take. Clubs can require members when they sign up to the club to sign a pledge to race clean. If somebody in the club is caught doping, the club can take internal action like suspension of the membership.
This might sound a bit harsh, but it reinforces a no tolerance stance on this. Also, teammates and friends shouldn't enable that doping behavior. If you suspect your buddy is taking something elillicit, you can talk to them quietly or you can talk to someone in the club who can intervene.
Yes, it's a tough conversation and nobody wants to be called a snitch. But remember that doping often happens in secrecy and spreading some light on that early could stop a bad decision. This is supposed to be a hobby.
It's supposed to be for health, for enjoyment, not an arms race. Lastly, I think some perspective, some individual perspective, like individual contemplating cheating, for them to just to take a step back and find perspective. Master cycling, it's a competitive outlet, yes, but it's not worth destroying your health or your reputation.
Reframe what winning means. Winning could be beating your personal best, a new Strava record, or simply being healthy enough to race your bike at any age. For me, being a role model to the younger generations is really important.
Serious masters riders need to remember why they fell in love with cycling in the first place. It likely wasn't to hang IV bags from your closet and micro do EPO on the sly. It was probably the freedom of the ride, the thrill of the competition, the friendship, the bike packing, the travel, the fitness.
You don't need a striped jersey or a plastic trophy from a master's worlds to validate your cycling journey. If you really must chase that prestige, do it in the right way because a tainted victory is just hollow. Tyler Hamilton said to me, it was a prouder moment handing back his Olympic gold medal than it was winning the Olympic gold medal.
Ask any of the people who have been caught, and I guarantee you, they say it wasn't worth it in the end. Doping and master cycling, it's a sobering reality, one that strips away the notion of the harmless weekend warrior. It tells us that the win at all cost mentality can seep into any level of sport from tour to France podiums to your Tuesday night crits.
The state of amateur racing fortunately is not all doom and gloom. The vast majority of masters compete clean for the love of the game. They're outraged when a peer cheats and rightly so.
The silver lining is that each high-profile bust it sparked a conversation and reform. Anti-doping buddies are starting to pay attention to the amateur ranks. Gravel testing is now a thing.
Clean riders are speaking up. The credibility of masters racing can be preserved if we collectively insist on it. In the end, serious master racers and their communities have a choice.
Turn a blind eye or stand up with integrity. My call to all masters riders out there, race hard, train hard, but please race clean. If you're tempted to dope, ask yourself, what legacy do you want?
one of a disgraced cheat or one of somebody who pushed their limits with honor. And for the clubs and race organizers, please continue to educate, continue to test when feasible. Continue to create an environment where cheating just isn't worth it.
Cycling is the beautiful sport. It gives us a second youth in mast's competition. It lets us feel like pros for a day, pinning on numbers, traveling to races, wearing national champions jerseys, and maybe even a rainbow jersey in your age category.
But it should feel like you've earned it by dedication and by passion, not something that you've purchased through pharmarmacological intervention. Doping in amateur cycling is indeed a serious issue, but it's one we can fight by keeping our priorities straight. Health, camaraderie, and true sportsmanship over ego.
And remember, at the end of the day, we all started cycling because we love it. No needle or pill can replace that simple joy and freedom the two wheels can give us. We have three long form podcasts every week.
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