Franck Fife/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Michael Barry, left, with George Hincapie, calls for a complete restructuring of professional cycling.
A child's sporting dream is precious. My dream to become a professional cyclist fueled a childhood of thrilling excursions, a healthy adolescence and lifelong friendships. Many of my peers in the professional peloton shared the dream. But, as I realized my goals, I found reality was far from what I had imagined.
A decade ago, professional cycling was a ruthless place where cyclists were pressured to push their bodies to unhealthy limits and encouraged to take performance-enhancing drugs. Contracts were rarely longer than a year or two, many riders were paid wages below the poverty level, and the racing season was relentlessly long. There was little glamour to the job. But it was a job I chose and persisted at even after I made unethical, unacceptable decisions I deeply regret.
The sport has become more humane in recent years, but the evolution must continue. Most of the images in my dreams have now become reality. There are many teams committed to racing clean, respecting their riders and providing proper care. But more needs to be done if the sport is to shake its past.
Pro cycling needs to be restructured.
The environment remains precarious on every level. Cyclists are required to sacrifice most other aspects of their lives to reach the top. Virtually year-round, we lead ascetic lives, where each movement on and off our bikes is calculated so we will perform to the best of our abilities. The demands are high.
We leave home when we are young and quit school to enter the bubble of pro sports. Inside the bubble, we are sealed off from our families, our lifelong friends and foundation. We live in a world in which we are only as good as our last race, and the next race is the priority.
Pro teams, which are financed with sponsorship and do not share in television rights, are a liability. Their existence is dependent on victories and results points maintained by the International Cycling Union, or the U.C.I., as it is better known. Teams that do not continue to build points lose their position in the WorldTour, the elite group of teams allowed to race in the top events like the Tour de France. Sponsors' money swiftly disappears.
Cycling must follow the long-established pattern of most pro sports, developing a league in which teams are stable and sustainable and where all profits are shared. The continual pressure to perform and to survive results in poor judgment and bad advice. When teams and riders are always in survival mode, ethical lines are easily crossed.
Throughout much of my career, from my first races with the Canadian national team as a teenager, I was poorly advised. I often questioned the specialists. But ultimately, and stupidly, I set aside my doubts to start the next race. No athlete wants to be out of competition with an injury, and many will often risk damaging their bodies to compete.
Too many times I have climbed back on my bike with broken bones to finish a race. Others have raced with concussions, often encouraged by their sporting directors or managers to continue. Like racehorses, cyclists are often patched up and set off, to help the team or to get a result.
A decade ago, doping was tolerated and even encouraged. The risks and consequences fell to the riders. Although I accept full responsibility for my decision to follow that path, the problem was endemic and involved people on every level of the sport, most of whom profited far more than the riders. Many cyclists, who came from families living below the poverty line, saw doping as a way to survive and to make a living that exceeded what they could make on the farm or one that, at the very least, beat unemployment benefits.
Fortunately, because of improved testing and increasing intolerance of banned substances, riders can now win the toughest races without drugs. For six years, I have raced clean and performed. Many of my teammates, who I am confident were also clean, won at the highest level. But there is still work to be done.
Those of us who doped and lied and those who were accomplices and witnesses remained silent for a long time in a misguided attempt to protect our jobs, our reputations, our teams' sponsorships and the image of the sport. It was wrong. We followed a code of silence guarding an unhealthy culture. Riders, staff and officials must not fear speaking the truth. When they do, real reforms will follow.
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