Anti-doping campaigner and former professional Christophe Bassons sees the use of medication in cycling as a major problem.
Although the 48-year-old emphasised that the anti-doping campaign had become much more effective, he called for more transparency in an interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper in order to make the sport more credible. "Everyone is still living in a big lie. Nowadays, medical support is much more extensive, so you can almost ride at the same level as doped athletes. But this medical support scares me almost more than doping," said Bassons.
If you have the choice "between a small therapeutic dose of Epo or 20 to 30 tablets a day to ride a Tour de France, then you can think for a moment about which is more dangerous. Cycling would gain enormously in credibility if the riders were to say exactly what they are putting into their bodies every day and at what time". Bassons also criticised the increased mental challenge. He hardly ever sees today's professionals smiling on the bike: "The psychological pressure is monstrous."
Bassons was a professional cyclist from 1996 to 2001 at the height of Epo doping and refused to take banned substances. The current teacher rode for Team Festina in 1998, when this triggered one of the biggest doping scandals in history. Bassons was ostracised in the peloton because of his stance, and even his own team once pursued him during an escape attempt at the Tour de France.
According to Bassons, he was once presented with two contracts during a contract negotiation. One if he stayed clean and another if he doped. In the latter case, his salary was ten times higher.
Copyright 2022, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
