jimoots
07-29-2015, 07:20 PM
In my usual morning trawls of the interweb, I came across an article on Juan Pablo Villegas retiring due to speaking out on doping in Columbia.
While I'm sure many of us (myself included) feel like doping is old news and totally overdone in cycling media, I feel like the articles I'm about to link are really much more than a doping story.
Yes, there's some interesting insight in them about doping culture (and some gobsmacking facts about Columbian cycling)... but moreso, I think it really gives an insight into a dude that is super talented, extremely humble and appreciative, even though he seems to have been dealt a sh-t sandwich. He's ditched cycling and is just going back to farming coffee in the Columbian mountains.
The first interview from February 2015 (http://www.alpsandes.com/posts/2015/2/17/juan-pablo-villegas?rq=villegas)
Interview from July 2015, reflecting on retirement (http://www.alpsandes.com/posts/2015/7/26/threats-and-the-end-of-a-dream-juan-pablo-villegas-speaks-out-about-being-forced-to-retire)
If you can't be bothered reading, this quote is probably the one that sunk my battleship with respect to doping in Columbia.
Interviewer: The team had trouble in Colombia, but did well abroad. You certainly did in the Vuelta a Mexico.
JPR: That's right, but let's think in a broader sense, so that I'm not telling you about me, and what I won. Think back to when I first joined 4-72. Nairo was there, Esteban Chaves, Pantano, it was just an amazing amount of talent, all with internal testing, with a huge focus on clean sport, and strong ethical component to team. A team of guys who, we can see now, are capable of winning big races among the best in the world. And yet, that year in the Vuelta a Colombia the best guy in the team was maybe 18th in the GC. So that data point should serve as your answer. We won nothing, not even top ten.
While I'm sure many of us (myself included) feel like doping is old news and totally overdone in cycling media, I feel like the articles I'm about to link are really much more than a doping story.
Yes, there's some interesting insight in them about doping culture (and some gobsmacking facts about Columbian cycling)... but moreso, I think it really gives an insight into a dude that is super talented, extremely humble and appreciative, even though he seems to have been dealt a sh-t sandwich. He's ditched cycling and is just going back to farming coffee in the Columbian mountains.
The first interview from February 2015 (http://www.alpsandes.com/posts/2015/2/17/juan-pablo-villegas?rq=villegas)
Interview from July 2015, reflecting on retirement (http://www.alpsandes.com/posts/2015/7/26/threats-and-the-end-of-a-dream-juan-pablo-villegas-speaks-out-about-being-forced-to-retire)
If you can't be bothered reading, this quote is probably the one that sunk my battleship with respect to doping in Columbia.
Interviewer: The team had trouble in Colombia, but did well abroad. You certainly did in the Vuelta a Mexico.
JPR: That's right, but let's think in a broader sense, so that I'm not telling you about me, and what I won. Think back to when I first joined 4-72. Nairo was there, Esteban Chaves, Pantano, it was just an amazing amount of talent, all with internal testing, with a huge focus on clean sport, and strong ethical component to team. A team of guys who, we can see now, are capable of winning big races among the best in the world. And yet, that year in the Vuelta a Colombia the best guy in the team was maybe 18th in the GC. So that data point should serve as your answer. We won nothing, not even top ten.