Erik Zabel - Resigns from the pro cycling council.

FocusZing

"Erik Zabel has resigned from the Professional Cycling Council after admitting to "many years" of doping, the International Cycling Union has confirmed. The 43-year-old German told the Suddeutsche Zeitung how he had used illegal methods and banned substances between 1996 and 2003 before retiring in 2008.



Zabel, who won 12 stages of the Tour de France and eight stages of the Vuelta a España, confessed to using EPO and the steroid hormone cortisone. He contacted the UCI president Pat McQuaid on Monday to offer his resignation from the PCC.



"He contacted the UCI President earlier today to offer his resignation and to further express his "deep regret for having lied for so long about taking performance enhancing substances. Erik Zabel said that cycling is now in a cleaner era, however he is no longer the right person to be a part of the Professional Cycling Council."

Quoted by BBC Sport, Zabel told the Suddeutsche Zeitung: "It was doping for many years. I never had a structured doping plan, never had any experts around me. I never saw myself as a super doper."

Zabel was also among the cyclists named on a list of doping tests published by the French Senate on 24 July. The tests were collected during the 1998 Tour de France and found positive for EPO when re-tested in 2004.

"When you take everything together - EPO, cortisone and even blood doping, then it's quite a lot," Zabel said.

Zabel's admission follows last year's stripping of seven Tour de France titles from Lance Armstrong after the American received a life ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency for his involvement in "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".

Armstrong subsequently admitted his guilt in a television interview with Oprah Winfrey in January."



http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jul/29/cycling-erik-zabel-doping-resigns

ravey1981

This saddens me, not particularly for Zabel, but for the period of cycling history which now seems to be lost. I don't know what to make of it all anymore...

ddraver

Yeah, a truth and reconciliation council would definitely stop all this.... :roll: :roll:

Another name on the list of lying cheating scumbags (well, ok, a name written in dotted lines that'd been filled in but still...)

crescent

ravey1981 wrote:

This saddens me, not particularly for Zabel, but for the period of cycling history which now seems to be lost. I don't know what to make of it all anymore...

My sentiments exactly. I admit to not following cycle racing quite as closely then as I do now but it is a whole period of time where the sport is just lost. It seems like 'stars' from this era are just queuing up to come clean once they retire. It's riders like Bassons I feel sorry for, trying to compete cleanly and speak out against doping and pretty much shunned by his fellow pros because of it.

Le Commentateur

I find it fascinating. It's a nice example of a group dynamic where people exist in a corrupt system and sustain it under the premise that it is what one has to do in order to get on and succeed. A bit like surviving in Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany, plenty of otherwise decent people played the system to get what they wanted – their excuse being they knew it was wrong, but that's what had to be done.

LeicesterLad

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

secretsqirrel

Le Commentateur wrote:

I find it fascinating. It's a nice example of a group dynamic where people exist in a corrupt system and sustain it under the premise that it is what one has to do in order to get on and succeed. A bit like surviving in Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany, plenty of otherwise decent people played the system to get what they wanted – their excuse being they knew it was wrong, but that's what had to be done.

It brings to mind the Stanley Milgram experiments on obedience.
Also it appears that the deviant behaviour of the epo era, was that of the objector (Bassons), where the doper was the norm.

We can all get on the moral high ground, but how many of us would have done any differently in the same situation.

I probably would have been a doper :oops:

moray_gub

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

iainf72

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

With Gub on this one

LeicesterLad

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

Not 'rots' as in dies a slow and nasty death. 'Rots' in a cycling sense - got caught, continued to lie in public with crocodile tears to hide the real truth when he could have opened up and told it how it was. Zero respect for him, who clearly has Zero respect for the sport and fans. He has no place in cycling.

oneof1982

Cycling is better off without the ex-dopers and continual liars.

joelsim

oneof1982 wrote:

Cycling is better off without the ex-dopers and continual liars.

Without them you'd be able to count the rest on one hand.

To be honest if everyone is cheating, you have to do it. It's not the riders' fault, it's the UCI for allowing it to happen.

oneof1982

Joelsim wrote:

oneof1982 wrote:

Cycling is better off without the ex-dopers and continual liars.

Without them you'd be able to count the rest on one hand.

To be honest if everyone is cheating, you have to do it. It's not the riders' fault, it's the UCI for allowing it to happen.

All day debate on this one.

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12929018

I've had enough of the bleedin hearts for the cheats. Getting them out is part of the change the sport needs.

joelsim

oneof1982 wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

oneof1982 wrote:

Cycling is better off without the ex-dopers and continual liars.

Without them you'd be able to count the rest on one hand.

To be honest if everyone is cheating, you have to do it. It's not the riders' fault, it's the UCI for allowing it to happen.

All day debate on this one.

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12929018

I've had enough of the bleedin hearts for the cheats. Getting them out is part of the change the sport needs.

Like I said there will be hardly any left. Amnesty is the only way forward when 99% have been dopers at some time

TONY.M

iainf72 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

With Gub on this one

Me too I'm also with Gub. Zabel is probably a pretty decent guy in real life and probably cares for cycling and its future a great deal.

LeicesterLad wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

Not 'rots' as in dies a slow and nasty death. 'Rots' in a cycling sense - got caught, continued to lie in public with crocodile tears to hide the real truth when he could have opened up and told it how it was. Zero respect for him, who clearly has Zero respect for the sport and fans. He has no place in cycling.

The thing is though that he probably has a great deal of respect for the sport and the fans and I don't for a minute believe that he wanted to "cheat" just to beat a very small minority of clean riders but rather he did what was normal to compete with the best as well as he could just like most others did.

mrushton

Does he lose the Green Jerseies he won? Armstrong lost his titles and I don't see the difference. Fantastic rider tho' but these guys should have took the hit when they had chance. Ekimov over at Katusha must think they are nuts confessing the way they are doing

moray_gub

LeicesterLad wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

Not 'rots' as in dies a slow and nasty death. 'Rots' in a cycling sense - got caught, continued to lie in public with crocodile tears to hide the real truth when he could have opened up and told it how it was. Zero respect for him, who clearly has Zero respect for the sport and fans. He has no place in cycling.

Neat backtrack ...... so how do you feel about one of your favourite riders Alberto Contador not fessing up and and continuing to lie in public to hide the real truth when he could have opened up and tell us how it is ? .......should he have no place in cycling and rot as well ?....or does your imo OTT indignation only apply in certain cases ?

moray_gub

oneof1982 wrote:

Cycling is better off without the ex-dopers and continual liars.

Surely its how he views things now and what he does now that is relevant not what was going down 15 years ago . I find it incredible the calls for heads of dopers from that era.....its all getting extremely silly.

oneof1982

Moray Gub wrote:

........its a nonsense.

This nonsense is starting to become a reality. And that is a good thing.

moray_gub

Moray Gub wrote:

oneof1982 wrote:

Cycling is better off without the ex-dopers and continual liars.

.

moray_gub

oneof1982 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

........its a nonsense.

This nonsense is starting to become a reality. And that is a good thing.

Surely its how he views things now and what he does now that is relevant not what was going down 15 years ago . I find it incredible the calls for heads of dopers from that era.....its all getting extremely silly.
For what its worth i was not a big fan of Zabel and still dont care for him much in a cycling sense thought he was dull as

oneof1982

Moray Gub wrote:

its all getting extremely silly.
For what its worth i was not a big fan of Zabel and still dont care for him much in a cycling sense thought he was dull as

No. It's not silly. It is actually getting better.

galatzo

Is anyone actually surprised by this ?
Six green jerseys (and two 2nds and four 3rds) in that era had bells ringing so loud with me that I thought Quasi Modo was ringing them

LeicesterLad

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

LeicesterLad wrote:

Scumbag in tears as he admits to using EPO 'once, and never again' whilst talking about his 9 year old son (Rick, now 19 and signed for BMC) in 2007. How low can one get. Hope he rots.

Completely and utterly OTT ......he cheated at cycling ffs he is not some jimmy savile like character.
Honestly some folk.......

Not 'rots' as in dies a slow and nasty death. 'Rots' in a cycling sense - got caught, continued to lie in public with crocodile tears to hide the real truth when he could have opened up and told it how it was. Zero respect for him, who clearly has Zero respect for the sport and fans. He has no place in cycling.

Neat backtrack ...... so how do you feel about one of your favourite riders Alberto Contador not fessing up and and continuing to lie in public to hide the real truth when he could have opened up and tell us how it is ? .......should he have no place in cycling and rot as well ?....or does your imo OTT indignation only apply in certain cases ?

A. I believe Contador has *probably* doped in the past. I've made it clear If it does come to light he's done some serious stuff, that will be the end of him. When he got caught I made it clear I wasn't happy, i've also stopped idolising him - his riding makes a race exciting, it's entertainment value, but as far as the man and his performances go I have little faith. It's less of a love of Contador and more of a love of anyone who can challenge Sky. Hence my Quintana avatar.

B. So far he's been caught out on a single occasion for a minute trace of something barely on the banned substance list. Anything else you say is PURE speculation. YOU don't know the truth, you are merely guessing. It's possible correct speculation, but until proven it's still only Speculation.

C. Contador has been punished, had titles removed, served his time. These are the UCI rules. Zabel boosted, won green jerseys, won races, never got punished, had the chance to fess in 2007, cried like a baby, forgot to tell the truth. I'm not blinded by faith in a rider, not like many on here - If anybody gets caught, red handed, for EPO/Blood Doping then they are off my Christmas card list. That includes Alberto Contador - I have paid little attention to him this year, he's clearly riding like sh*t and past his best (or just not as good *if* post doping). I only want him in a race because it means it might not be a Sky steamroll - even that failed this year. Look at my posting over the last two years, definite decline in my Contador fanboi'ism and some home truths told. BUT like I said, he's done his time, served a ban, lost some titles - abit like David Millar, although he was advised by his PR people to play the anti-doping jesus role, after of course being backed into a corner in a prison cell.

D. The whole Zabel V Contador thing is impossible to contrast. One has been caught using EPO twice, has admitted to bloodbag use and pretty much everything else. I feel for Zabel, lying in front of thousands of people pretending to cry about his son.

E. I said the same about Sean Yates who appears to be everybodies Idol on here, and who'm I quite liked before he did the whole 'didn't know anything. PS I'm off now to spend some time with family' bullsh*t.

F. If having a clean sport means banishing the likes of Contador, Millar etc etc. I'm all for it. That includes historical figures like Zabel who think they can lie through their teeth but maintain a job on the current scene. Not healthy for the sport. Never will be. Zabels case goes to show truth and reconciliation doesn't work.

G. Notice I havn't commented on Zabel before the latest news, I don't usually like to speculate. If we were allowed to condemn riders on speculation then Luigi wouldn't be winning classics. Notice I got into a habbit speculating about Froome - come the end of the Tour I decided that was unfair, congratulated him and blamed everyone else for riding like newbies.


Sure you will probably pick this all apart, We all have opinions, some of them contradict eachother because of personal feelings/blindedness. Nobody on here is completely impartial, incluidng you Moray. Just look at all the people who Love David Millar now and then condemn everyone else for doping. I try not to be so onesided.

LeicesterLad

Moray Gub wrote:

oneof1982 wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

........its a nonsense.

This nonsense is starting to become a reality. And that is a good thing.

Surely its how he views things now and what he does now that is relevant not what was going down 15 years ago . I find it incredible the calls for heads of dopers from that era.....its all getting extremely silly.
For what its worth i was not a big fan of Zabel and still dont care for him much in a cycling sense thought he was dull as

The thing I find insulting from Zabel is that he had that chance in 2007, what he could have done in 2007 would have been far more relevant.

Richmond Racer

Leicester Lad: '.....abit like David Millar, although he was advised by his PR people to play the anti-doping jesus role, after of course being backed into a corner in a prison cell. '

I'm kind of interested, who were these PR people? You see, as far as I know from everything I read at the time and subsequently, Millar was left pretty penniless. He left everything behind in France, his salary was cut as soon as he was fired by Cofidis in 04, his money had been p^&ed away by combo of himself and his agent, and in fact he ended up with a massive tax bill to pay the French. Terry Dolan gave him a bike so that he could get back training in 2005, and Brailsford gave him spare cycling kit.

So quite intrigued by who these Max Clifford sorts were?

LeicesterLad

Richmond Racer wrote:

Leicester Lad: '.....abit like David Millar, although he was advised by his PR people to play the anti-doping jesus role, after of course being backed into a corner in a prison cell. '

I'm kind of interested, who were these PR people? You see, as far as I know from everything I read at the time and subsequently, Millar was left pretty penniless. He left everything behind in France, his salary was cut as soon as he was fired by Cofidis in 04, his money had been p^&ed away by combo of himself and his agent, and in fact he ended up with a massive tax bill to pay the French. Terry Dolan gave him a bike so that he could get back training in 2005, and Brailsford gave him spare cycling kit.

So quite intrigued by who these Max Clifford sorts were?

That's what I mean about being backed into a corner - anyone thinking Millar became the voice of anti-doping by personal choice is deluded. There was no choice. If he had never been caught he'd still be on the long list of riders to have doped and kept it quiet. Thats the way it is.

I imagine when Millar was going through his problems, Sister and PR queen Fran would hardly have been sitting back and relaxing. She most certainly would have been advising him on how to act.

Richmond Racer

Of course, LL, thanks for clearing that up. You've removed all doubt from my mind.

LeicesterLad

Richmond Racer wrote:

Of course, LL, thanks for clearing that up. You've removed all doubt from my mind.

LOL.

British lady gets het up about British people but condemns everyone else shock. Please don't tell me you are one of the Millar deluded?

So if Millars flat had never been raided he would have come clean anyway, written a book, made a million and become the face of anti-doping.

OK.

Richmond Racer

Calm down dear, its only the internet

LeicesterLad

Richmond Racer wrote:

Calm down dear, its only the internet

Ive got one on me today. New bike purchase decisions not going well.