The cyclist, her drugs, her boss, her underwear and her coach

davidof
davidof Posts: 3,032
French cyclist Marion Sicot is suing her old manager Marc Bracke claiming that he demanded regular photos of her in "underwear" to "control her weight", something her team has admitted occurred. Sicot claims the psychological pressure led her to take EPO before the French championships last summer where she was controlled positive. She has been suspended from racing and her old team Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport. the UCI is investigating the team after other information about doping.



28 year old Sicot initially denied taking EPO but owned up on TV in March this year. She faces a 4 year ban which will effectively end her cycling career but may also get her suspended from her other job as a high school teacher. "on my birthday, the 24th June i got the box of EPO through the post, after turning in circles I decided to inject one of the bottles in my stomach, the psychiatrists that I spoke to later said it was like a suicide of my career, a hari-kiri sportive"

A month later she was checking out a race route "I stopped, someone had written my name, someone had thought of me, a nobody in cycling, it made my day after all the problems with Bracke". When she returned to the hotel he received a call. The French anti doping agency. She had controlled positive for EPO, she had to return straight home, not speak to anyone, they didn't want a scandal during the Tour de France especially as her trainer was Franck Alaphilippe.



Contacted in September by the press Sicot blamed her "period" but the excuse was "ridiculous" as the EPO was man made. She received threats via social media. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, never sympathetic to drug use, said her excuse of the photos "makes all women seem like victims, I don't identify with that. As in the Richard Virinque case we have to assume responsibility for our own actions" Later in the day she back pedaled and hoped she would "get back on the bike in a calmer environment". Philippa York was more sympathetic saying "if what she said is true, that she doped just to get Bracke off her back, well that merits our sympathy not condemnation".

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/12885414/drugs-in-other-sports-and-the-media/p181
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«13

Comments

  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,592
    I'm under pressure for my weight, what should I do? I know, take EPO.
    Sorry, but that doesn't wash.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
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  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,215
    Yep, feels like using a genuine issue that should never have occurred (and that will hopefully be investigated and dealt with in a suitable manner) to justify her own wrongdoing.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    Well if she felt she had no choice about the photos I doubt she was really making a free choice about the EPO.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • sherer
    sherer Posts: 2,460
    does this mean the testing is getting better ? I thought EPO only stayed in the system for 12 hours, even if it was man made. You only need to be available for 1 hour a day, and you can also work out what time a post race test is likely to be.

    Hoping her coach \ trainer gets a lifetime ban from the sport for putting this pressure on her through
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    She lied when initially caught, so I don't
    pblakeney said:

    I'm under pressure for my weight, what should I do? I know, take EPO.
    Sorry, but that doesn't wash.

    If at first you don't succeed and all that.
    Seems as if he second story is getting a better reception her first, thanks mainly to those underwear photos.

    Anyhow, I'm off to score some Edgar as I have put on a load of weight during lockdown.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • david37
    david37 Posts: 1,313
    i want to see the pictures before making up my mind :)
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,091
    david37 said:

    i want to see the pictures before making up my mind :)

    Not a great look, this post.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200

    david37 said:

    i want to see the pictures before making up my mind :)

    Not a great look, this post.
    It really isn't.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • pangolin
    pangolin Posts: 6,279

    david37 said:

    i want to see the pictures before making up my mind :)

    Not a great look, this post.
    Isn't he talking to Blazing above, not about Marion?
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  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    edited September 2021
    Ride of redemption

    Marion Sicot decided to "Everest" l'Alpe d'Huez last weekend. She covered 15,399 vertical meters over a 24 hour period and 187km in conditions that were described as "Dantesque" - a mixture of rain and thunderstorms during the night. "Like the last two years of her life", Marion commented at the end. "I broke my derailleur hanger and had to change to an old bike, I had punctures and at 4am I had to stop there was so much water on the road I couldn't ride"



    Marion is under a 2 year suspension for doping and the French anti doping agency want to increase that to 4 years. They have warned her that any rides or records she makes under the suspension will be null and void.

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  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644

    She lied when initially caught, so I don't

    pblakeney said:

    I'm under pressure for my weight, what should I do? I know, take EPO.
    Sorry, but that doesn't wash.

    If at first you don't succeed and all that.
    Seems as if he second story is getting a better reception her first, thanks mainly to those underwear photos.

    Anyhow, I'm off to score some Edgar as I have put on a load of weight during lockdown.
    Dopey Millar also lied when first caught but people seem to have forgiven him for some strange, weird, sligthly hypocritical reason....
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • larkim
    larkim Posts: 2,474
    I don't think it is weird at all to recognise when someone has reflected on their misdemeanors and ultimately made genuine apology and some reparation. No cheat wants to get caught, and few cheats will have the ability to publicly own up to their cheating immediately on being caught.
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  • MattFalle said:

    She lied when initially caught, so I don't

    pblakeney said:

    I'm under pressure for my weight, what should I do? I know, take EPO.
    Sorry, but that doesn't wash.

    If at first you don't succeed and all that.
    Seems as if he second story is getting a better reception her first, thanks mainly to those underwear photos.

    Anyhow, I'm off to score some Edgar as I have put on a load of weight during lockdown.
    Dopey Millar also lied when first caught but people seem to have forgiven him for some strange, weird, sligthly hypocritical reason....
    Have you forgotten how British he is?
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,581
    davidof said:

    Ride of redemption

    Marion Sicot decided to "Everest" l'Alpe d'Huez last weekend. She covered 15,399 vertical meters over a 24 hour period and 187km in conditions that were described as "Dantesque" - a mixture of rain and thunderstorms during the night. "Like the last two years of her life", Marion commented at the end. "I broke my derailleur hanger and had to change to an old bike, I had punctures and at 4am I had to stop there was so much water on the road I couldn't ride"



    Marion is under a 2 year suspension for doping and the French anti doping agency want to increase that to 4 years. They have warned her that any rides or records she makes under the suspension will be null and void.

    https://youtu.be/zFYd_d-Jfq8

    I'm a little confused by the stats quoted here.

    The Alpe D'Huez climb is 13.8km and 1135m of ascent.

    It states she did 187km. If she was riding up and down as you're meant to do, she'd only have got 7 ascents done and would be well under the total ascent figure quoted (and indeed less than a full Everest).

    So is she counting vertical metres both in ascent and descent? Or not riding the descents or omitting those kilometres from the stated total?
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644

    MattFalle said:

    She lied when initially caught, so I don't

    pblakeney said:

    I'm under pressure for my weight, what should I do? I know, take EPO.
    Sorry, but that doesn't wash.

    If at first you don't succeed and all that.
    Seems as if he second story is getting a better reception her first, thanks mainly to those underwear photos.

    Anyhow, I'm off to score some Edgar as I have put on a load of weight during lockdown.
    Dopey Millar also lied when first caught but people seem to have forgiven him for some strange, weird, sligthly hypocritical reason....
    Have you forgotten how British he is?
    very good point very well presented.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    larkim said:

    I don't think it is weird at all to recognise when someone has reflected on their misdemeanors and ultimately made genuine apology and some reparation. No cheat wants to get caught, and few cheats will have the ability to publicly own up to their cheating immediately on being caught.

    genuine apoligy?

    reparation?

    utter bollox.

    no difference between dopey millar and all the other drug fuelled lying cheats.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • mrb123 said:

    davidof said:

    Ride of redemption

    Marion Sicot decided to "Everest" l'Alpe d'Huez last weekend. She covered 15,399 vertical meters over a 24 hour period and 187km in conditions that were described as "Dantesque" - a mixture of rain and thunderstorms during the night. "Like the last two years of her life", Marion commented at the end. "I broke my derailleur hanger and had to change to an old bike, I had punctures and at 4am I had to stop there was so much water on the road I couldn't ride"



    Marion is under a 2 year suspension for doping and the French anti doping agency want to increase that to 4 years. They have warned her that any rides or records she makes under the suspension will be null and void.

    https://youtu.be/zFYd_d-Jfq8

    I'm a little confused by the stats quoted here.

    The Alpe D'Huez climb is 13.8km and 1135m of ascent.

    It states she did 187km. If she was riding up and down as you're meant to do, she'd only have got 7 ascents done and would be well under the total ascent figure quoted (and indeed less than a full Everest).

    So is she counting vertical metres both in ascent and descent? Or not riding the descents or omitting those kilometres from the stated total?
    Just cheating, like milemuncher/brundonBianchi used to by combining two GPS units.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,645
    The whole thing is a toxic mess. I wouldn't say the two issues are unconnected or connected .
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    mrb123 said:



    I'm a little confused by the stats quoted here.

    The Alpe D'Huez climb is 13.8km and 1135m of ascent.

    It states she did 187km. If she was riding up and down as you're meant to do, she'd only have got 7 ascents done and would be well under the total ascent figure quoted (and indeed less than a full Everest).

    So is she counting vertical metres both in ascent and descent? Or not riding the descents or omitting those kilometres from the stated total?

    yes, something is wrong. All I can say is she claims 15,399 meters of climbing. I maybe copied something wrong or the reports are wrong.

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  • davidof said:

    mrb123 said:



    I'm a little confused by the stats quoted here.

    The Alpe D'Huez climb is 13.8km and 1135m of ascent.

    It states she did 187km. If she was riding up and down as you're meant to do, she'd only have got 7 ascents done and would be well under the total ascent figure quoted (and indeed less than a full Everest).

    So is she counting vertical metres both in ascent and descent? Or not riding the descents or omitting those kilometres from the stated total?

    yes, something is wrong. All I can say is she claims 15,399 meters of climbing. I maybe copied something wrong or the reports are wrong.

    When, about 3 weeks ago, I read of her proposed ride, I think it stated that at night she wouldn't ride the whole ascent, in order to avoid the big difference in temperature which there would be at night between the Alpe and the valley (maybe also there was a safety aspect - to avoid a long descent in the dark). Instead, at night she would only ride the 2.5 kms between the valley and bend no. 16 at La Garde. Therefore there were controls at La Garde as well as in the valley and up top.

    So, in order to verify her figures, one would have to know how many times she did the complete ascent and descent and how many times she just went up and down to La Garde. I think the 24 hours ran from 10 am to 10 am, so she probably did the La Garde up-and-down between maybe 8 pm and 7 am.

    The report I saw also said the aim was to cover 16,000 metres of climbing, so she failed in that respect.
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,581
    It's the 187km that doesn't make sense. Only half of her distance should have been uphill wherever she was turning round.

    To do 15,000m plus in approx 94km you'd need a much steeper hill.
  • It's not hard to decipher.
    She climbed 15400m. To climb that far she rode 187km uphill.

    These figures match the gradient of the Alpe.

    It's not Everesting. I'm sure the Alpe has already been done. I'm more surprised that no-one did a bit of maths to comment that its equivalent to 13 and a half ascents. (Of course if she didn't go to the top each climb, the simple maths is not possible. NB Not going to the top is also not Everesting)

    What it is, is that she rode up 15.4km in 24hrs.

    It's an awesome amount of climbing even if she "failed" to reach her target of 16000m ascent (but shows her target was realistic and could potentially have been achieved with better weather)

    Sometimes you have to take off your tinfoil cycling cap and work out what's simply a bit of shit reportage.
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  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    cygnet said:

    It's not hard to decipher.
    She climbed 15400m. To climb that far she rode 187km uphill.

    These figures match the gradient of the Alpe.

    It's not Everesting. I'm sure the Alpe has already been done. I'm more surprised that no-one did a bit of maths to comment that its equivalent to 13 and a half ascents. (Of course if she didn't go to the top each climb, the simple maths is not possible. NB Not going to the top is also not Everesting)

    What it is, is that she rode up 15.4km in 24hrs.

    It's an awesome amount of climbing even if she "failed" to reach her target of 16000m ascent (but shows her target was realistic and could potentially have been achieved with better weather)

    Sometimes you have to take off your tinfoil cycling cap and work out what's simply a bit of censored reportage.

    this, exactly, but it would have meant they couldn't have posted all their negative comments.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,581



  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,592
    69W?????
    I really, really need to lose weight.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,231
    edited September 2021
    mrb123 said:




    Thought all those numbers looked weird and then I realised it was in imperial haha.

    Weird mix, surely the power should be measured in foot-pound force per whatever, no?

  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,817
    MattFalle said:

    larkim said:

    I don't think it is weird at all to recognise when someone has reflected on their misdemeanors and ultimately made genuine apology and some reparation. No cheat wants to get caught, and few cheats will have the ability to publicly own up to their cheating immediately on being caught.

    genuine apoligy?

    reparation?

    utter bollox.

    no difference between dopey millar and all the other drug fuelled lying cheats.
    Care to explain with reasoned argument ?
    Millar lied when 1st brought in the the French police - just as many would when they see their livelihood about to come crashing down. He then splurged the whole sordid tale it seems including saying that the choices were his own whilst the environment at the time encouraged such behaviour - essentially the people around him made him think that not taking PEDs meant not applying yourself 100% to your job.
  • andyrr said:

    MattFalle said:

    larkim said:

    I don't think it is weird at all to recognise when someone has reflected on their misdemeanors and ultimately made genuine apology and some reparation. No cheat wants to get caught, and few cheats will have the ability to publicly own up to their cheating immediately on being caught.

    genuine apoligy?

    reparation?

    utter bollox.

    no difference between dopey millar and all the other drug fuelled lying cheats.
    Care to explain with reasoned argument ?
    Millar lied when 1st brought in the the French police - just as many would when they see their livelihood about to come crashing down. He then splurged the whole sordid tale it seems including saying that the choices were his own whilst the environment at the time encouraged such behaviour - essentially the people around him made him think that not taking PEDs meant not applying yourself 100% to your job.
    I read his book. Apparently all his best performances were when he wasn't on anything, and he named no other names.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,509
    Landis is the only one who seems to have told the whole truth.
  • mrb123 said:




    Thought all those numbers looked weird and then I realised it was in imperial haha.

    Weird mix, surely the power should be measured in foot-pound force per whatever, no?

    It shows you other people's activities in the measures (metric or imperial) that you choose to use.
    i.e. my mate has stava set in imperial. His profile view (as he sees it) shows he rode 62 miles. If I view his activity it shows me he rode 100km (my strava is set in metric).