Soigneur soyg ner noun an assistants who is responsible for feeding, clothing, massaging, and escorting riders; from the French for the "one who provides care".
Soigneur WELCOME T0 THE FIRST EDITION OF Soigneur MAGAZINE. This is the first issue of a seasonal cycling magazine. This magazine can be picked up for FREE from cycling events around the country where our campaign team will be handing out goodie bags and offering rider education about doping and use of illegal substances. Soigneur is a completely new concept in the world of cycling. We aim to be that other teammate who you can talk to about more taboo issues in cycling such as doping. We offer impartial and private advice for professional and young riders about drug usage and illegal substance abuse and how to avoid it. Cycling has taken blow recently and many question its legitimacy. In partnership with UCI Union Cycliste Internationale and British Cycling we want to promote clean riding. So what can you expect in our first issue? You can learn all about what we do as an organisation on page 6. We have an interesting article from our own Soigneur ambassador Sir Bradley Wiggins on his winning Tour de France and we introduce you to this issues art bike. There are of course many more articles for you to read in between. Supporting clean riding is crucial for cycling so feel free to spread the Soigneur way!
SEBASTIAN JACQUES - founder -
- our partners -
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Ride clean
CONTENTS 04 Editors Welcome Qucik Welcome from our chief editor. 06 Who is Soigneur? Introduction to Soigneur organisation. 10 Secrets of a real tour. Interview with Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins and his guide on how to avoid the doping culture and run a successful tour. 16 A shocking statistic A graphic showing how the doping culture has tainted and ruined the Tour de France. 20 This issues art bike. Introduction to our art bike that has a different theme every edition of this magazine.
24 ABC’s of illegal substances. Your introduction to illegal substances that can get you in trouble and affect your health.
30 Indoor Cycling Alternative events for when the weather get cold.
34 Do’s & Don’ts Our Advice How to get hold of Soigneur when you need advice on doping issues.
38 Quiz Time How much do you really know about the world of cycling and how well do you know your per¬ formance enhancing drugs.
41 Sharing the knowledge Support communities.
44 How to get involved with Soigneur Feel as though you can make a difference or want to be an ambasador. Contact details and more 46 Acknowledgements
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Soign
soyg ner noun are assistants responsib massaging, and escortin the "one who provides ca
neur
ble for feeding, clothing, ng riders; from the French for are".
Soigneur is a cycling organisation who cam¬ paign and support clean riders in professional cycling. Soigneur is funded by the UCI Union Cycliste Internationale and British Cycling to promote clean riding. Soigneur’s message is clear. We aim to kick out the preconception that all professional cyclists and doping and show that cycling is a clean and fair sport. Cycling has taken many huge knock out blows recently in which fans ques¬ tion the legitimacy of the sport. Soigneur is here to show cycling is clean & riders ride fair. As an organisation Soigneur supports riders and provide drug education. We are not here to point blame and prosecute riders but instead share out knowledge and get drugs being talked about in the open in cycling instead of it being such a taboo subject. We are a riders other teammate who he/she can talk to if they need doping education and advice. We support young riders too. Its important that young riders get the proper education they need before entering into competitive cycling. Education like this has never been available
to young riders before and it is key that we kick out any ideas of doping for young riders. This is the most effective way of keeping cycling clean. If we can inspire a clean young generation of riders then we have succeeded. We support clean riders. Pro¬ fessional riders we deem to be good candidates to support clean riding will proudly wear our brand on their bikes and jerseys. We want to become a brand that cyclists want to wear and want to be associated with. If a rider is wearing our brand you can be confident they’re a clean ambassador. ¬¬
Soigneur
Speaks to Sir Bradley Wiggins "Secrets of a Real Tour"
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Throughout its 99 year history, the Tour de France has been plagued by doping scandals, from the early days of cocaine and strychnine to the modern day use of blood boosting EPO which, until re¬ cently, was undetectable in tests. While Lance Armstrong and a generation of roadracing cyclists have confounded the sporting world with their state of the art cheating, Britain’s finest ever road racer,Wiggins, makes a firm case for clean living. It says everything about the state of cycling that after the incredible year Bradley Wiggins has had, the story that continues to dominate the headlines is how Lance Armstrong turned the sport into a pharmaceutical free for all. The United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) report described Armstrong as a serial cheat and cast a shadow over the world of road racing. Yet Wiggins’ victory in the 2012 Tour de France stands as a beacon of hope: a symbol that the sport has turned a corner. As the voice of clean cycling, it is the 32 year old Wiggins who is now called upon to represent the new two wheeled order. This, in Wiggins’ own words, is how he won the Tour de France. STAGE ONE Never lose your hunger "It was always a goal of mine to be an Olympic
champion and when I won a gold medal in 2004, I wanted to win more. But road racing was some¬ thing that always appealed to me. I loved road racing as a kid. I didn’t know what I was capable of, and my first Tour in 2006 was just about surviving. It wasn’t until 2009, when I surprised myself by fin¬ ishing fourth, that I thought I might have a chance of winning it." STAGE TWO Do whatever it takes "In 2011, I sat down with my coaches Shane [Sutton] and Tim [Kerrison] and I told them I would do anything they said in training if it got me a shot at winning the Tour in 2012. Now, the prospect of doing all that again actually seems a bit easier. For me, winning the Tour feels liberating because I don’t have to live with the doubts. I know now that I am good enough, and if I never win it again, in a way it doesn’t matter. So I can go into it next year with all the self-belief but none of the pressure." STAGE THREE Quitting is not an option "After the Cofidis doping scandal [Wiggins’ team¬ mate Cristian Moreni tested positive and the team withdrew] at the 2007 Tour de France, I remember I dumped my cycle kit in a dustbin in Pau [near the
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Pyrenees]. I was devastated by that experience and it may have flashed through my head to jack it in, but I just couldn’t do it. I was earning a living from cycling and I knew I couldn’t really do anything other than cycling." STAGE FOUR Tear up the rule book "It would be easy when we start the new season to say, ‘Let’s do what we did last year.’ But those are the times when you have to look at what you can do better and go forward. In 2012, we didn’t do what cyclists were supposed to do. We raced less, trained more, and rather than peaking for the Tour de France, I was riding at 96-97 per cent of what I was capable of for the whole season. I was able to win the Paris-Nice in March, the Tour de Romandie in April, and the Critérium du Dauphiné in June and still be on form for the Tour and the Olympics." STAGE FIVE Training is easy Committing to the lifestyle is the hard part "I love the routine of training: being on my own, in control of what I am doing, working towards a goal. What’s tough is when you are off the bike. Finding time to rest, eating the right food, not playing with the kids, going to bed early. Because everything you do off the bike affects what you can do on the bike. I’m lucky in that my wife Cath and my kids are used to it now, and they know this won’t be the way things are in the future. I’ve got a few years of this and then they will have me forever." STAGE SIX Power-to-weight ratio is vital "When I was first racing on the Tour, I weighed 82kg. This year I weighed 71kg. You do that just because the power-to-weight ratio is more efficient.
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It is hard to get your weight down at the start of the season, but as the weeks go on, it actually be¬ comes easier. You get into such a routine of when and how much to eat, it actually becomes normal. It sounds extreme, but when I first lost the weight, I noticed straight away how much I improved on the mountain climbs and that was all I needed to know to convince me to stick with it." STAGE SEVEN Learn your physical limits "I have a theory that the human body is like a screw, in that you don’t know how much you can tighten it until it breaks. In 2011, I had won the Dauphiné and everyone said I had a great chance for the Tour de France, but I crashed out after a week [Wiggins broke his collarbone]. I was racing at 69kg and I felt I had lost power. If I had carried on in that race, I think I would have dwindled away because I was too light. That extra two kilograms made all the difference. The margins are incredible when you think about it, but that is the business we are in." STAGE EIGHT Become a leader "Being the team leader was never something that came naturally to me. It was a role I was reluctant to take on, but with success and victories comes greater confidence and self-belief. When I was first given that responsibility, I wasn’t riding well enough to justify it. It is all very well being vocal and being a leader on the team bus, but if you aren’t leading by example and performing on the bike, it ultimately counts for nothing. When I start¬ ed riding like I can, I grew into that role."
2,712: The total distance, in miles, cycled in the 2012 Tour de France
STAGE NINE Road racing is a team sport "One of the hardest moments in the Tour came when Chris Froome wanted to attack on one of the climbs, and as a team that was not what we’d planned for. At the time, I found it upsetting be¬ cause I was asked a lot of questions about whether or not he was the stronger rider and we were hold¬ ing him back. But that isn’t what racing as a team is about. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and it was the only hiccup we had in the race." STAGE TEN Race on your own terms "Before the season started, we devised a strategy that we would race according to my strengths. It was simply applying a time-trial technique - which is my speciality - in an actual race environment. The plan was for us to go from point A to point B on the crucial stages at our optimum speed. We wouldn’t worry what anyone else was doing, because STAGE ELEVEN Modern cycling is more scientific than romantic "I am a big fan of bike racing and the history of it, but cycling is a different sport now. When you look at years gone by and the incredible feats that cyclists like Lance Armstrong accomplished, those days are gone. We now know how those achievements came about [thanks to the Octo¬ ber-published USADA report], and riders simply aren’t capable of riding that way without drugs. We ride at such a high threshold that it is impossible for someone to ride much faster than that for a concerted amount of time." STAGE TWELVE Luck does play a part "I don’t know if it is fate or luck, or what it is, but there are always moments in a race where things happen that you can’t explain. I didn’t get one puncture in the Tour, I avoided all the big crashes, 14
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I didn’t get ill… it was the perfect race. The perfect season, really." STAGE THIRTEEN Don’t expect to enjoy yourself "The only part of the race I enjoyed was the last weekend… the time trial at Chartres and then riding into Paris as the winner. The rest of the time, I didn’t enjoy it. I was the favourite, so every day felt like I was walking a tightrope, knowing that at any second a little crash or a puncture could ruin everything. So you end up just ticking off the days. Then you have to deal with the media, the doping questions… that is a strain and you deal with it every day, but it’s in no way enjoyable." STAGE FOURTEEN The Olympics is more fun "I’m most comfortable riding by myself when I don’t have to lead a team and be responsible for anyone else. I enjoyed riding in the Olympics this summer. I didn’t have a team to lead, didn’t have press conferences every day, dope questions all the time… it was purely about cycling. You can just get out on the bike and enjoy riding. It is just purely about the sport. And to see all those smiling faces going home from Hampton Court after I had won the Olympic gold, that meant the world to me." STAGE FIFTEEN Accept success and learn to live with it "I still struggle with the fame side of things. By nature I am quite an introverted person, but I think I cope with it in my own way. When I was young¬ er, before my success on the road, I used to get frustrated that I wasn’t making any money from the sport I loved. That has all changed now, but I suppose [at 32] it has come a bit late in life for me. When I was 23, I wanted a bit of fame and recog¬ nition. Now I am older and have two young kids of my own, I want my privacy. It’s mad, really. Would I accept a knighthood if it was offered? I think I might have to."
"I have a theory that the human body is like a screw, in that you don’t know how much you can tighten it until it breaks" Spring 2013
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52% of Tour d France winne been doping
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de ers have g...
"for a time doping was a part of everyday life for me" Bjarne Riis
There have been allegations of doping in the Tour de France since the race began in 1903. Early Tour riders consumed alcohol and used ether, among other substances, as a means of dulling the pain of competing in endurance cycling. Riders began using substances as a means of increasing performance rather than dulling the senses, and organizing bodies such as the Tour and the International Cycling Union (UCI), as well as government bodies, enacted policies to combat the practice. Use of performance-enhancing drugs in cycling predates the Tour de France. Cycling hav¬ ing been from the start a sport of extremes, whether of speed by being paced by tandems, motorcycles and even cars, or of distance, the suffering involved encouraged the means to alleviate it. Not until after World War II were sporting or even particularly health issues raised. Those came shortly before the death
of Tom Simpson in the Tour de France of 1967. Max Novich referred to the Tour de France in a 1973 issue of New York State Journal of Medi¬ cine as "a cycling nightmare". In the eyes of a 1998 German observer: For as long as the Tour has existed, since 1903, its participants have been doping themselves. No dope, no hope. The Tour, in fact, is only pos¬ sible because - not despite the fact - there is doping. For 60 years this was allowed. For the past 30 years it has been officially prohibited. Yet the fact remains; great cyclists have been doping themselves, then as now.
* Riders in full colour won the Tour de France Legally. Those in black and white used performance enhancing drugs. Spring 2013
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Soigneur Presents
THE
E SPRING ART BIKE
Welcome to this spring issue’s art bike. The art bike will be¬ come a new feature in all magazines and will be used as a tool to display news and hot topics and ultimately for the viewer to learn something. The art bike encourages design in cycling and will represent some of Soigneur magazines opinions. Lance Armstrong’s demise from the 7 times Tour de France winning spot has been a hot topic the last few months and was topped off with his in depth and emotional interview on the Oprah Whinfrey show in January. Lance Armstrong just weeks before was still considered a world class rider and a true champion and today he has been branded a ‘cheat’ and a ‘lier’. There are allegations that many riders from the same era of cycling were also doping so does the blame fully lie on Lance. Its been well documented that over a half of the Tour de France winners have been disqualified for doping so can we fully blame Lance? (see article on p.16 for more information on Tour de France disqualified riders) It is suggested that there is a doping culture problem in cycling and this needs to be erased.
Soigneur believes that help is required to kick doping out of cycling. We encourage the education of riders in drugs so they understand the extreme risks and penalties in place for drug taking. This issues art bike is a selection of quotes from the Lance Armstrong and Oprah Whinfrey interview broadcast on NBC. The message behind the art bike is that riders need to talk about drug problems and open up in order for the sport to move on from the doping era. Sponsors are necessary in sport and riders should not be hiding behind them and doping. They should instead be wearing the truth. Our art bike does not display sponsor logos but instead displays the harsh truth from an individual rider. It is the perfect advertisement to encourage riders not to go down the road of doping. The art bike will be on display at our campaign stalls at various cycling events throughout the UK and at the major tours in Europe. Feel free to walk around the bike and learn your own lesson from it.
ART BIKE WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT OUR CAMPAINGN STALLS Spring 2013
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