Kohl: “It’s Impossible”

Bernhard Kohl says that it is “impossible” to win the Tour de France without doping. Kohl, guest of honor at a United States Anti-Doping Agency conference in Leesburg, Virginia, refused to speculate on the possible guilt of Alberto Contador, but added that from his point of view, it was difficult to imagine that Contador did not dope.

Kohl, who won the polka dot jersey in the 2008 Tour de France before testing positive for third generation EPO , said that it is simply impossible today to wear the yellow jersey in Paris without cheating. “It’s absolutely impossible to win the Tour without doping,” said Kohl. “Just look at the average speed of the race to understand. Every year, the average has been over 40 km/h. This was the case when Landis won in 2006, it was still the case this year, four years after this case. To me, this shows that riders continue to dope.”

Bernhard Kohl also questions the recurring arguments used by riders to assert that they are “clean”. “They tell you they were tested dozens and dozens of times and have not tested positive. But it proves nothing,” says the former Gerolsteiner rider. I was tested about 200 times in my career. Of these 200 controls, I had 100 while doped. I was caught once, but the other 99, I went through. Racers dope because that they feel they will not be caught, and in the vast majority of cases they have reason to believe it. I’m not even sure that a new test for blood doping is enough to scare them. The problem is deeper than that.”

Kohl came to Leesburg with the intent of helping to change matters. Kohl described his doping program in detail, the frequency with which he was taking growth hormone and EPO, as well as how and especially when he doped to have the best chance of escaping a positive control. “His testimony gives us a lot,” says Richard Budgett, chief medical officer of the organizing committee of the 2012 London Olympics. “This gives us the details we did not understand and what degree of sophistication we have achieved for protect athletes who do not want to cheat and confuse those who dope.”

Though just 28 years old, Kohl says that he will not return to the sport. “I will never return,” he said. “I realized it was not possible to be competitive by being honest and telling the truth. And I do not want to hide,” he concluded.

(based on a report in Eurosport)