Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Adam Bergman the Jelly Belly riders who was caught for using EPO in 2004 has finally admitted he used the drug. Velonews received an open letter from Bergman where he admits that he did take EPO in a moment of desparation and tries to send a message to others to stop taking performance enhancing drugs. His admission was frank and honest and it could be a subtle message to other riders currently fighting suspensions.

It is time to tell the truth. I did it. I experimented with the drug EPO when I was preparing for the Tour de Georgia. This admission has been a long time in coming, and I should have done it a lot sooner. It seemed easier to say the test is bad or blame it on someone else’s error than to admit the truth. I made a big mistake when I tried EPO, and I made matters even worse by not having the courage to admit that mistake. My family raised me to be a better person than that.

I applaud Bergman’s candor in finally admitting the use of EPO. With riders like David Millar and Adam Bergman coming out and talking openly about EPO and other performance enhancing drugs, it will help younger riders who may face similar pressures. These riders who get busted and then come back racing clean may be more help than any doping tests or crackdown. These riders can speak frankly about the reasons for using EPO and other drugs and can be used as a lesson to be learned. It does not help when a big name rider is caught using drug but denies it to no end (cough cough Heras and Hamilton).
I can’t say for sure if they did use the drugs or not and the validity of the tests is another issue, but remember that old saying? “The coverup is sometimes worse than the crime.”

Incidentally, it looks like the “Believe Tyler” website is no longer functioning http://www.believetyler.org/

BTW, you can get an EPO T-Shirt at the Velochimp store:

EPOWhite T-Shirt
$15.99