Paul Kimmage takes on Allen Lim, one of the the physiologists behind Powertap and various methods of training with power. Like the borderline libelous piece by Neal Rogers implying Ricardo Ricco is a doper, this one implies that Lim supplied dope to Floyd Landis, and is probably doing so with Garmin. It's another smear job that raises false questions - e.g. "I'm not saying you are supplying dope to all the pro cyclists in the world, just that serious questions have been raised."
Y'know. Because riders who use a Powertap are doing it just to cover up for their doping, right?
That Kimmage is so quick to point the finger at Lim, when Phonak had a history of riders with synthetic testosterone busts, tells you that his piece is a poorly-researched or poorly thought out hit job. That drug was a problem on Phonak long before Floyd got there; it didn't show up with Lim.
I used to think Kimmage deserved some respect for writing "Rough Road." I'd thought it was a principled rejection of drug culture, and that he isn't the asshole a lot of people seem to think he is.
Oh well. I guess I was mistaken. It happens.
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This doesn't take away from the glory of today's stage, up and over Tourmalet, and later up Hautacam. Damn. That's more climbing in a day than most people do on a bicycle in their entire lives. The surprise of the day wasn't the great climber Piepoli winning it for Saunier Duval. The surprise was VandeVelde, hanging in with the G.C. contenders, keeping a grip on third place, and even initiating some accelerations on the final hill.
The Bethmale cheese was pretty nice, a subtle, tangy cheese, slightly soft, and very creamy on the palate. It was milder than a lot of goat cheeses, and tasted just a little salty. Accompanied by a robust red burgundy, it was just the ticket for watching the last hour or two of suffering.
Tomorrow is a rest day. The cheese for tomorrow is - Kraft American Slices, melted onto some nice grilled hamburgers. Mmmmmmm. The proper drink is an ice cold Miller High Life.
14 comments:
While reading that it sounded to me like Paul Kimmage is on a witch hunt.
Paul, Why don't you go ask some questions to the Phonak Team management? They were the ones that closed up shop and ran away as fast as they could.
This whole thing is getting tired.
I'm going to kick back on the rest day and bask in the glory of the boxing kangaroo clad in yellow.
John - yeah. Reminded me of that scene in Search for the Holy Grail, in its unhinged logic & witch hunt-y-ness.
Mike - the yellow-clad boxing kangaroo? You mean the Golden Crash Monkey? Yeah, he rode nicely.
Weird. It's like you folks read a different Kimmage article than the one I read. I don't see any accusation, explicit or implied, that the slipstream anti-doping program is less than sincere, or that Lim's facilitating doping on slipstream ... and his closeness to Landis while he was doping does warrant attention, even if it's quite likely that he's a victim of circumstance. The 'Kimmage is an asshole' reaction seems a wee bit excessive.
I remember looking at the proud American as he stood on the podium and thinking: “This is a doper.” And I remember frowning at his beaming coach: “And this is his sorcerer.”
Had “JV” lost the plot? Can a leopard change its spots?
I thought: ‘Landis is doping.’ And I looked at you and thought: ‘And this is the guy who is giving him the drugs.’”
“I thought, ‘This is the latest crooked doctor on the block and what the sport needs now is to run these guys out.’”
Floyd Landis rode 125 kilometres in an incredible breakaway on the 17th stage to Morzine in the 2006 Tour, where Allen Lim was his coach and mentor. The American was later found to have doped and was disqualified from the race
Oh yeah, Aschol. No insinuations, implications, or accusations in that.
For my next trick, I'll show you the emperor's new clothes...
Kimmage insinuates a lot of things. His notion of evidence is frustrating:
(1) we're supposed to rely on Kimmage as an expert, his "hunch" as he's watching the tour and smiling Lim,
(2) Lim's good in the kitchen (and presumably with the syringe?), and
(3) Lim's answers to questions about Floyd are evasive, not because of Lim's wishing to avoid turning the knife in Floyd's back, but because (Kimmage presumes) it was Lim who slapped the ol' T-patch on Floyd's scrotum.
See Joe Lindsey for an even stronger assertion about Jonathon Vaughters' doping past (http://boulderreport.bicycling.com/2008/07/not-so-triki-an.html).
Typical of the blogosphere; got us talking, didn't it?
to hell with kimmage and Lim, I'm just happy to see Kraft American Slices mentioned. Although I prefer a Yuengling Lager with my cheeseburger.
anyone else having withdrawals on this rest day?
I'll back ya up on that Yuengling Lager with the Cheeseburger MRussel.
As far as withdrawal. They really need to do some behind the scenes shows or something on the off days for those of us needing a tour fix. I bet Jens Voigt and Bernard Hinault are the only two at the tour that don't want a day off though.
Borderline libel insinuating Ricco is a doper? Looks like the last 24 hours have shown Rodger's insinuation is indeed fact.
I guess you got me there, AH.
Ricco getting busted for doping proves *beyond a shadow of a doubt* that Allen Lim provided synthetic testosterone to Floyd Landis and has cooked up some special cocktail for Garmin.
Shit, I hate it when I'm wrong. How could I not have seen it? I was so foolish. I take back everything I said about Paul Kimmage. Clearly, Allen Lim is a demon in human form. A "sorcerer" as Kimmage put it.
Hey, anybody else you'd like to accuse of doping? Just because it isn't true today, doesn't mean it won't be true tomorrow...
Wow. Talk about bizarrely stilted reading comprehension. Kimmage doesn't insinuate that Lim helped Landis dope -- he directly states that he suspected Lim may have helped Landis dope, which all facts considered, is a pretty fair suspicion. It doesn't mean it's true. It's not an accusation, and it's not an insinuation. HUGE difference.
And the Ricco velonews article only recounts suspicions that Ricco may not have been clean -- suspicions which would have been legitimate even in the counterfactual world where Ricco was clean.
I'm not saying that 'where there's smoke there's fire' -- I'm saying that where there's smoke, there's a greater than zero possibility of fire. And it's entirely legitimate to speculate about the possible fire, so long as you don't act as if it has been proven.
(I'll admit that the JV-leopard-spots statement was unfortunate & out of line, if only because it's easy to read it as a statement of fact. But given that every other similar, supposedly 'libelous' statement is clearly marked as speculation, it's only fair to assume that this one was meant to be read that way as well.)
What if I was to say:
"
Your response raises serious questions as to whether people like you are alcholics, drug abusers or insane. Now granted, there's been no proof that you're involved in any of that - yet. And I'm not saying you are involved. It's all speculation of course...
"
So my comments above are fair to you because I note they are just speculation, right? I think given your outlook on Kimmage's story, you would lack any basis to get upset no matter what I said, as long as I put a couple mild-mannered qualifiers in there. I don't buy your approach to it - rumor spreading is a cheap and easy way to destroy a person's reputation, and when you are talking about things that can have an impact on legal status, it can have very concrete effects. I know I'm being a little unfair to AH and sort of intentionally misreading but for some reason I'm in a bad mood today and not feeling kind towards people who spread rumors, whether or not they eventually turn out to be true.
No, that statement isn't fair. But your use of the word 'proof' is illuminating -- you don't need any sort of proof to make speculation legitimate; you need some sort of evidence. And not evidence in any sort of legal sense. If you knew that my father was an alcoholic, and I threw away an empty bottle of gin every morning, you'd have good reason to speculate on my alcoholism. Nothing like actual proof, but reason enough to wonder.
Landis likely got doping assistance from someplace, and his coach is a more likely source than his grandmother. This may not be fair to Lim, in the sense that assuming he's innocent (and I think that he probably is) and is under a cloud through no fault of his own ... but it's still fair in a broader sense. If someone murdered your wife, you'd be an immediate suspect, if only because murder victims are often killed by their spouses. Your relationship is sufficient evidence for speculation & investigation. The fact that you're entirely innocent and blameless doesn't make speculation on your guilt unfair.
If I thought that Klimmage's article could have any ramifications beyond prompting a bunch of bike dorks wondering whether Lim (who as I said, I believe is probably innocent) helped Landis dope, then I might adjust my take. But since I can't see any possible way an article of that sort could have 'concrete effects', particularly of a legal sort (maybe I'm misreading there -- not sure what you're implying,) I don't see any problem w/ it.
Cops read newspapers too, aschol. They don't need a literal smoking gun to open an investigation. A guy like Kimmage can get somebody like Lim hauled in front of Congress. It happens. I doubt it will here but I'm very sensitive about scandal and rumor when it comes to alleging or insinuating that somebody is involved in a crime.
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