TAINTED CYCLISTS GET ANOTHER CHANCE
Bicycle race organizers are now so paranoid about doping that even the merest hint of drug use by a rider instantly ends his career ('his' is a given. No women in famous stage races).
But three riders who have all but been banned from the sport for doping suspicions finally have a team, and will finally get to race.
American Tyler Hamilton was suspended from pro cycling for two years on a charge of blood doping. Champion riders Oscar Sevilla's and Santiago Botero's names turned up when Spanish police busted the Operation Puerto blood doping ring that snared 53 Tour de France riders, though neither was ever charged with doping..
The three riders were each fired by their respective teams. No other team would sign them. It looked like their racing days were done. Then Michael Ball, the A-list owner of fashionable jeans company Rock and Republic, formed the Rock Racing team and signed all three.
But that was only the beginning of the story. The Tour de France would not allow the team to race. ASO, the corporation that owns the Tour, also owns most of the other major races in Europe, such as the Tour of Italy and the Tour of Spain. ASO would not allow Rock Racing into any of its events. The team came to America to register for the growing number of major state stage races. But the Tour of California kicked them out. So did the Tour of Georgia. Then along came Terry McGinnis, executive director of the Tour of Utah.
His decision to allow the Rock team to compete in the 340-mile, five day race August 13-17, is being called 'controversial' by reporters and fans alike. But McGinnis says there is no controversy.
"I believe they were wrongly excluded (from the Tour of California). I've invited riders that I think are going to bring an extra dynamic to my race, and I feel strongly that they have either served their time or are not guilty. They will be tested, and in my opinion they are probably cleaner than anybody because of the scrutiny they are under," McGinnis says.
And Ball, who is considered a top showman of the fashion world, brings that 'extra dynamic' to the somewhat staid sport of road cycling. Models strut around the team riders, showing off Rock and Republic clothing. Hired photographers croon and scream, exciting the surrounding spectators. There is music and glitter.
McGinnis says, "Michael Ball is bringing his fashion marketing sense to cycling, and he's very bold and very wealthy. The reaction I've gotten for allowing Rock Racing in the Tour of Utah is, 'that's cool.' I think that's what road racing needs, is 'cool.'
He adds that Ball signed the three riders believes people deserve a second chance, and he does as well.
But McGinnis feels that ASO has had too many chances. "I do think that the Tour de France (organization) has become too powerful. ASO is almost creating a monopoly. I think they are using their position to influence other events and control professional road racing for their own benefit," he says.
There are a growing number of riders, managers and sponsors, in the United States and in Europe, who agree with him. Tour of Utah sponsors like Larry Miller, Sinclair Oil and Zion's Bank, did not pull out when McGinnis gave a slot to Rock Racing. In many ways, that says it all.