Wiggins had struggled in the 2010 Tour whenever the race hit high altitude. With the 2011 race including some of Europe’s highest passes, with more kilometres than usual at over 2,500m above sea level, Kerrison decided to begin by focusing on that area of weakness. In January 2011 he visited Tenerife to assess the roads for training. An experimental two-week training camp was followed by the biggest victory of Wiggins’s road racing career, the Dauphiné Libéré stage race.
Tenerife, Kerrison explains, provides everything lacking for a Tour contender in Wiggins’s home in Lancashire: heat, altitude, 20-mile mountain climbs, and peace and quiet. There is a benefit for athletes merely from being at altitude, which enhances the body’s ability to utilise oxygen, but there are other pluses here. “Unlike some high-altitude venues, it’s possible to train at sea level, which is less damaging at high intensity; unlike Alpine locations the weather is relatively stable in April and May.”
“I said I wanted to train for the Tour without any compromise,” Wiggins says. “I’m getting to a point in my career where I want to look back with no regrets.” That meant beginning training earlier than usual, training harder from the off and interspersing long training camps with races which have to be tackled flat out, to win. The traditional cycling concept of training through competing has been jettisoned. The new philosophy has given Wiggins two major stage race victories this year – Paris-Nice and the Tour of Romandie – out of the four he has started.
The training schedule Kerrison and Sutton devised began on 1 November 2011. It used data gathered by Kerrison in the 2010 and 2011 Tours, which he believes demonstrates the power outputs an athlete needs to win the race. A graph shows the power output levels against the time they need to be sustained, with a second line showing what Wiggins, or other Sky Tour riders, can achieve relative to what they need to do. The goal is to get the two lines as closely matched as possible. The training programme builds into the latest three-week spell of training through mid-late May, the point where Wiggins takes his form to a level which he hopes will win him the Tour. We visit on a rest day, when he spins his stick-thin legs for 30 minutes to the nearest coffee bar while gossiping on the bike with Rogers, and returns, at a modest pace.
But the previous three days have been six-hour stints, with some 4,000m of vertical climbing per day: he is aiming for a total of 100,000m climbing leading into the Tour. The menu is repeated in subsequent days. Whereas on his previous visit in April the workloads were “mid-range”, the levels of intensity, pain and lactate have been increased this time. “Yesterday was 25-minute efforts in 35C heat, three of them. It’s hard to tell a layman what it feels like: it’s hard in a very sweet way, all mixed up with the endorphins.”
The work is at the near maximal intensity he might adopt in a prologue time-trial, followed immediately by what amounts to weight training on the bike, a big-gear effort at low-pedal revolutions, at close to breaking point, all at an oxygen-deprived altitude between 1500m and 2,200m. After a rest he repeats it. All this, Kerrison believes, will prepare Wiggins’s legs for the steepest climbs on this year’s Tour. “When I came in, people believed Brad was only good up to about a 7 per cent gradient; now he can cope with up to 13 per cent.”
“Three of the lads were wasted by the end but you realise that, if you can do that effort now, it’s the Tour winner,” says Wiggins. “You can hardly breathe but it’s the kind of effort that wins the Tour.” Such a workload, he emphasises, is possible only after six months’ continuous building, to ensure that, when he does the work, his body can cope.
Back at the hotel another attraction is clear: isolation. “When you are training as hard as we are it’s nice to have no distractions. You don’t end up sitting at a computer while you rest, you do basic things like reading a book or watching a DVD. It’s very peaceful.” The phrase “living like a monk” is often used to describe an athlete’s total focus; here there is truly something monastic about Wiggins’s reclusiveness where, as Rogers puts it, “anything could happen in Europe and you’d never know”.
Wiggins feels it will be worth it. “After 2009 I didn’t really believe I could win the Tour. I thought, “That’s for someone else, kids from Kilburn don’t win the Tour.” But I really believe I can win it now.” If he does, or merely comes closer than any Briton has done hitherto, the groundwork has been done here, next to an extinct volcano with only the blue sky and Saharan breeze to distract him.
FIVE STEPS TO A STELLAR SEASON ON THE ROAD
1: A large amount of low-intensity, high-volume work in December and January to act as a foundation for the major training efforts to come
2: Two-to-three week training camps in Mallorca and Tenerife to enable training on long climbs in intense heat, with no distractions
3: Specific power work to improve climbing, and work on other areas such as ability to recover from an effort while racing, and producing high power while already fatigued
4: Cut back on racing: fewer races but tackled flat out. Stage races in the programme which minimise travelling and fatigue
5: Within those races, aim to hold the race lead for as many days as possible so that being race leader is not a source of additional stress, for leader or team riders
Wiggins was the favourite for the Tour, in the middle of a golden spell of form which lasted from September 2011 to August 2012. Hopefully, this piece helped to explain how he got there. On the other hand, the drama that had lasted since 2001, the Armstrong story, was entering its final act.
Armstrong attacks saga’s final stage
17 June 2012
Few of those who were present in Paris in July 2005, when Lance Armstrong retired from professional cycling for the first time, will forget the speech he made as he stood victorious on the podium, resplendent in the yellow jersey, with seven successive Tour de France victories behind him. He attacked “the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics, the sceptics; [I feel] sorry for you. You need to believe in these riders. I’m sorry you can’t dream big and I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles”.
The episode summed up Armstrong’s Tour de France career: glory and dominance going hand in hand with controversy and virulent rebuttal. At the time he quit in 2005, it was estimated he had 11 lawyers working on eight legal cases in three countries, ranging from libel suits to a disputed bonus and alleged unfair dismissal.
On Thursday afternoon, the controversy that may conclude the saga – and could end with Armstrong losing some or all of his record seven Tour titles – began, inevitably, with a bevy of vitriolic clauses, this time a pre-emptive strike against the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Before the news emerged that USADA was to place formal charges against Armstrong and five long-time associates, he got his denial in first: the allegations were “discredited”, “baseless” and “motivated by spite.”
Armstrong went on the offensive again yesterday morning, challenging USADA through his Twitter account. The Texan tweeted: “Dear usantidoping – we have now sent you THREE letters requesting all the relevant info in order for me to respond to your ‘review board’. Until now there has been no response, not even an acknowledgement of receipt. The knife cuts both ways – it’s time to play by the rules.”
The charges brought by USADA are extremely serious. Its 15-page letter to Armstrong, his team manager Johan Bruyneel, his trainer Michele Ferrari and three doctors who worked with the US Postal Service (USPS) team and its subsequent incarnations, is potentially as devastating as the brief release that caused the Festina team to be thrown off the 1998 Tour de France. The Festina statement cited a systematic doping programme that had been financed by the riders and devised by the team managers at the French team.
The USADA case against Armstrong and company is described within the letter as a “consolidated action” against the six named individuals because it alleges they are part of “the USPS conspiracy”, which was, the letter claims, “to engage in the use of doping substances and techniques which were
either undetectable or difficult to detect in routine drug testing in order to advance the athletic and sporting achievements, financial wellbeing and status of the teams and their riders … as well as to prevent the truth regarding doping on the teams … from being revealed”.
The letter, leaked to the Wall Street Journal, includes the claims that drugs used by the US Postal team included the blood-booster erythropoietin – nicknamed Edgar Allan Poe – testosterone, allegedly taken in a cocktail with olive oil, growth hormone and cortisone. It is also alleged that the use of drugs was covered up over the years.
Armstrong is the only rider named, says the letter, because – of the riders summoned to give evidence to the agency – he was the only one who did not respond. Bruyneel issued a statement on Friday asserting his innocence. “I have never participated in any doping activity and I am innocent of all charges,” read a statement on his personal website, adding that he would co-operate fully with any inquiry. Ferrari, for his part, has always denied administering drugs and was acquitted of the charge in an Italian court in 2004.
Armstrong’s career since his comeback from cancer in early 1998 to win the 1999 Tour de France has had two parallel paths. He has become a major US celebrity, dating rock star Sheryl Crow after his divorce, before starting a second family with girlfriend Anna Hansen. He is a man with whom presidents Clinton and Bush wanted to be photographed, whose cancer charity made yellow Livestrong wristbands into a national symbol, and who has become a hero for the cancer community.
Simultaneously, his career has been wracked with controversy, allegations and investigations. He has persistently, vigorously denied doping, beginning with a press conference at the 1999 Tour de France after a positive test for traces of a corticosteroid. At the time, the governing body accepted his explanation that it emanated from a skin cream.
The event that appears to have tipped the balance came two years ago. Armstrong was preparing for his final Tour, having returned to the sport from retirement. His goal was to ride and win to prove he was clean (“I can come with really a completely comprehensive programme and there will be no way to cheat,” he said in a Vanity Fair interview at the time). That spring, Armstrong’s former team-mate Floyd Landis went public on his years of doping while riding for US Postal and presented a lengthy document to USA Cycling, the American governing body, which was forwarded to USADA. Landis had tested positive – he was the first rider to be disqualified from victory in the Tour de France, in 2006, after a legal battle that lasted almost a year. With nothing to lose, he produced detailed, if rambling, allegations against Armstrong and US Postal.
He was followed, a year later, by a second former team member, Tyler Hamilton, who had tested positive and been banned for blood doping in 2004. Hamilton, it was claimed, had told the grand jury hearing in the federal criminal inquiry that was launched after Landis’s allegations, that he and Armstrong had doped together. Armstrong’s denials were vigorous.
The FDA inquiry was dropped, abruptly, in February, but that was not as surprising as it seemed. The only case that could have been brought against Armstrong involved allegations of fraud, but no government agency has managed to make such a charge stick against athletes accused of doping, which is not a criminal offence in America. But after the criminal investigation closed down, USADA resolved to continue the process. Whether they have used evidence gathered by the FDA is unclear, but the document states 10 cyclists – who remain anonymous for the present, but can be assumed to include Landis and Hamilton – have given information.
Armstrong appears to be weighing his options. Robert Luskin, one of his attorneys, said: “He certainly would like to fight it; that’s Lance’s nature. The question is whether or not the process is going to be sufficiently fair and credible, and give him an opportunity to prove his innocence.” It seems likely that, if he fights, a key line of defence will be that witnesses were coerced into saying Armstrong doped. “We’re focused on what we understand to be a corrupt bargain USADA made with other riders and said, essentially: ‘Here’s the script and, if you co-operate, you get a complete pass. And if you refuse, we’ll use Landis and Hamilton against you and you’ll never ride again.’”
Recent history of major doping cases suggests the “USPS conspiracy” will not be resolved soon, and may well conclude with an appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport. In one sense, the outcome should be the same whether Armstrong emerges with his reputation as intact as it is now or whether he and his associates are found guilty. It is hard to imagine the years of controversy continuing beyond the final verdict in the USADA case. Cycling, finally, should achieve the closure it has long wanted and needed.
TEXAN DOGGED BY CONTROVERSY
July 1999: After coming back from cancer, wins Tour de France, but tests positive for traces of a banned corticosteroid. His explanation that it was in a cream being used to treat a saddle sore is accepted.
Aug 2000: A French judge opens inquiry into his US Postal Service team after the discovery of a bin bag with bloodstained compresses and containers for the calf’s-blood extract Actovegin, not then on banned list. Case goes nowhere.
Jun 2001: It is revealed that Armstrong works with Michele Ferrari, who is being investigated by Italian authorities. Armstrong says he will work with Ferrari until the case is resolved.
Jun 2004: Promotions company SCA refuses to pay Armstrong’s win bonus on the grounds he may have won the Tour using banned drugs. Case is settled out of court two years later.
Apr 2005: Armstrong questioned by Italian police over alleged intimidation of rider Filippo Simeoni, a witness in the drugs trial of Ferrari. The case peters out.
Jul 2005: Retires from the sport after seventh Tour de France win.
Aug 2005: L’Equipe claims EPO was found in six urine samples taken from Armstrong during the 1999 Tour, an allegation the Texan rejects. A report by anti-doping expert Emile Vrijman says he has no case to answer. WADA dismiss the report as “so lacking in professionalism and objectivity it borders on the farcical”.
Sept 2008: On Armstrong’s return to the sport, the ICU waive their rule that athletes must be in the random-testing system for six months before competing so he can race in January 2009.
May 2010: Former team-mate Floyd Landis accuses him of blood doping. Armstrong strongly denies the claim. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) opens an inquiry into his US Postal team.
Feb 2011: Armstrong retires again.
May 2011: Former team-mate Tyler Hamilton alleges he and Armstrong took EPO in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The CBS programme 60 Minutes claims two other team-mates, Frankie Andreu and George Hincapie, told federal investigators Armstrong took drugs. Hincapie states he has never spoken to 60 Minutes. Armstrong denies the claim.
Feb 2012: FDA inquiry is closed. USADA say they will continue their inquiry into Armstrong and his team, hoping to use evidence given to Federal investigators.
June 2012: USADA bring doping charges against Armstrong and five associates.
While the conclusion didn’t come for Armstrong, Ferrari and company until October 2012, this was the beginning of the endgame. It was hard to doubt that USADA would find him guilty, given what Landis and Hamilton had already made public, given the positives from 1999 and the circumstantial evidence put out there by David Walsh. What surprised when the verdict came was not the bare facts of doping, but the depth and complexity of what had been going on at US Postal Service between 1999 and 2005.
The next story, on the other hand, was a mood-lightener; it was also hard to grasp, given that here was a rider I had known since the Observer’s then sports editor Brian Oliver had got me to begin ghostwriting his columns for the paper back in 2004. It was also a chance to call on contacts who in some cases went back 20 years.
The rise and rise of the golden boy in the yellow jersey
28 July 2012
Few of those who had dealings with Bradley Wiggins in his formative years thought he was a potential Tour de France winner, but
as his first coach Sean Bannister says, that is precisely the point. “I didn’t think for a second he would be a Grand Tour contender, but no one knows at that stage in a rider’s development. He was strong, and cool-headed in a race situation, but it’s a mistake for any youngster to be told he could be a Tour winner.”
Bannister may not have envisaged it, but 16 years later it is about to happen. With the usual condition – barring an act of God – Bradley Wiggins will race up the Champs-Elysées in the yellow jersey tomorrow as Britain’s first Tour de France winner. Asked about that possibility this week, Sir Chris Hoy said it would be “the greatest sporting achievement by any British athlete ever”.
Wiggins set his sights on winning the Tour late in his career, but the signs that he was out of the ordinary as an athlete have long been there. Bannister began coaching Wiggins when he was 16. It was Wiggins who asked for his services, not the other way around. Bannister would ask all his potential charges to give an answer to one question: what do you want from cycling? Here, the young Wiggins surprised. “He gave very, very mature, genuine answers, not just what he thought I wanted to hear. He wanted to be national champion by this age, ride the Tour by 25, win a one-day classic.”
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