Procycling

2006 DNS

“SOMETHING I WOULDN’T WISH ON MY WORST ENEMY”

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You get to the Tour, and then you’re told you can’t take part because of a doping case [Operacion Puerto, which broke on the eve of the 2006 Tour], about which I had no idea at all. Initially I was included on a list [of suspects in Puerto] and then three days later I was taken off that list. But I had to go home anyway.

It was really tough, though. The build-up to the Tour was a constant series of ‘we’re starting,’ then ‘we’re not starting,’ ‘we’re starting,’ then ‘we’re not starting.’ A point came where I just said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not here to be taken for a fool, I’m packing my suitcase and I’m getting out of here.’

The whole situation didn’t make me want to quit the sport because I had had nothing to do with Puerto. If we quit every time we have a problem with life - not just in sport, life in general - then we’d never get anywhere.

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