Doping in Amateur competition

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I saw a study that estimated that drug use is rife in the Belgian amateur competition. Riders, (especially older ones who came of age in the pill popping free for all of the 80's), were totally frank on the issue, and one commented that if they introduced testing half the field wouldn't show up. Holland is suspected to not be much better....

One guy claiming to be clean said week in week out he was far stronger than his buddies in training rides, and then on race day those same guys would lap him. (I know the feeling) Another reported witnessing a competitor jabbing a syringe into his stomach half way through an amateur kermesse.

There was also film footage of an idnependent doping control bus that occasionally visits amateur races actually being obstructed from doing its work by race organizers, and riders refusing to take the tests.

Considering the average prize money for the winner of a top end amateur race in Belgium is about 50 Euro I find this really worrying.

It also worries me that at amateur races here (Netherlands) there are no controls, and at elite / semi pro criteriums there are also no tests. Amphetamine is cheap, widely available, great for a crit and out of the system in hours....caffeine (ab)use seems to be visibly rife.

I think if progress is to be made against doping it needs to be made impossible at elite amateur level too. That's where the pros come from, and it's important that they don't learn bad habits early on.

Do other Nations test the top category amateurs?

Karel Vannieuwekerke wrote a book (in Flemish/Dutch) in which he describes how amateur riders threw pills during several races in which Karel strted himself. He couldn't believe his eyes. It's actually well known that this is a big problem in Belgium (but not only in elgium..).

By the way i liked the book...

Considering the average prize money for the winner of a top end amateur race in Belgium is about 50 Euro I find this really worrying. Actually a win 'top end' amateur (elite zonder contract) will earn you about 200Euros for a kermesse, more if it is a 'big' race. Still not a whole lot though now is it!?!?!


I think if progress is to be made against doping it needs to be made impossible at elite amateur level too. That's where the pros come from, and it's important that they don't learn bad habits early on.

Do other Nations test the top category amateurs? Agreed... Certaily there IS dope testing in amatuer races in Belgium. And France. I thought the Netherlands also :confused: :confused: ? Surely?

FYI - http://www.dopinglijn.be/

Do other Nations test the top category amateurs?There's some here in the states, but only after national championships (they test the podium -- juniors, masters included) and UCI races. Conservative estimate, I'd say 98 percent of the races in the USA aren't tested. Prize money for an average elite race is 15,000 USD payed over 20 places. That's an average pay out. NRC races have quite a bit more prize money.

Where I live, Miami, there's a South American influence and doping isn't uncommon in my opinion. I've been around the sport since 1982 and in that time I've seen my share of what we used to call "chemical" looking athletes. We used to make fun of them. There's quite a few of those here. In fact, Miami has a reputation for drugged athletes. I think it's warranted.

I'm not completely against it, as odd as that may sound. There's several guys in their 40s with lengthy race palmares still in the mix. I credit this to race knowledge, genetics, ingrained strength from years of racing and training, and testosterone, steroid and HGH use.

I'm 41 and currently race clean. I find myself in winning moves less and less. The steroids (nandrolone and the like) don't interest me along with HGH. Just too much tampering. But testosterone... I'm considering this. I went to the doctor near my 40th birthday and had a blood work-up done. My RBCs were high, 48.9, which didn't surprise since I've measured above 50 before, but my testosterone was quite low, around 218 with scores between 200-to-800 being normal.

I haven't done anything about it yet, but I'm definitely thinking it over. From my research, testosterone can be run safely, gains retained and levels can be restored to pre-exogenous use rather quickly if done correctly.