JoeMan

The question is who didn't cheat?

Zinger

Delgado tested positive for the known masking agent, probenecid, during the 1988 tour, was allowed to continue racing and was not charged with any doping offense.

That leaves the other two and (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think either Lemond or Hinault did the uncontrolled criteriums where much of the then-amphetamine juicing occurred in the '80s.

I know that Hinault lost time in crits he had to ride in the stateside Coors Classics and comfortably made it back up in the road races and time trials in the year he was out to win that race. So I'm thinking the uncontrolled European crits weren't something that Bernard would have done a lot of. They were also a showcase for local stars and Lemond wasn't local.

busygizmo

There was a fair suspicion that Hinault used steroids at a minimum. Fignon, who was a teammate (as was Lemond) admitted that he took whatever was available.

There were quite a few riders over the years that supposedly were clean; Hampsten & Bauer have that reputation.

There were also a number of riders that left the sport somewhat disillusioned, some saying something about it to usually be ignored by the press. Delion and Van Hooydonck both said they retired because they couldn’t compete against riders taking EPO. David Moncoutié supposedly was another clean rider and took crap from his teammates for not following along.

One thing those riders had in common was that that they all showed great promise and could be stellar on a given day but just could never “quite live up to their potential” and win consistently.

Leinster

Mottet is another who supposedly never took anything.

Indurain has never been linked to any investigation or positive tests, but looking back at how dominant he was, in the era he rode in, and his "freakish physiology" and high VO2/low resting HR, etc etc, you'd have to be suspicious. It was Bjarne "Mr 60%" Riis who eventually toppled him. Plus he rode on the same team as Delgado, who had his aforementioned problems in '88 (probenecid was on the IOC list of banned substances, but not the UCI... which was duly changed after the 88 Tour), which has since become the same Movistar team of that shining beacon, Alejandro Valverde.

Grumpy McTrumpy

he also had the good fortune of being Spanish in the pre-Operacion-Puerto years.

chasm54

I don't know a non-Spaniard who believes Indurain was clean. He was a disciple of the Godfather of all doping doctors, Francesco Conconi.

Cat4Lifer

I trust the generation of the current riders, notably the French.
-Jean-Jacques Lozach

At least we know we can trust that contemporary French pros are clean.
They have the trust of a French elected official.

Zinger

More fallout from the positives.

Belkin sacks sport director Blijlevens and Abraham Olano sacked from job at Vuelta

Cat4Lifer

Indurain worked with a Conconi = Indurain doped

Froome & Wiggins worked with Leinders = let's not jump to conclusions

And a lil national chauvinism for that extra touch of class

Cat4Lifer

I wonder if anyone here knows if Luc Leblanc is the son of Jean-Marie Leblanc?

FriendlyFred

#1

Of course the British riders are clean, it's all those 'other' riders who dope. Right.
One wonders if Froome were French, or Spanish, or any other nationality but British, if those who so avidly defend him would sing the same song. I just don't know how you could watch the Tour and NOT at least suspect Froome, and likely Porte, of doping.

Zinger

.
Erik Zabel resigns at UCI and as sport director at the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Germany

Zinger

.
Katusha suspends sprinter group coach Erik Zabel

Stuart O’Grady was poised to sign document saying he rode clean

That was a requirement to join an exclusive, 10-member Athletes’ Commission with the Australian Olympic Committee. He has now been suspended from that committee.

Excerpt from above article:

It is now for cycling's international governing body, the UCI, to determine whether O'Grady will be sanctioned for his doping in 1998. O'Grady won stage 14 of the 1998 Tour de France. It is also for the UCI to recommend to the IOC whether O'Grady's Olympic medals, won in 1992 (silver), 1996 (two bronze), 2004 (gold), should be reviewed.