Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: Nicole Cooke campionessa autentica

riporto e condivido (e mi auguro con tutto il cuore che sia veramente 
così...ma di Nicole mi fido...) ciò che leggo nel forum del suo sito:
Not all your heroes are cheats. Nicole most certainly is not.
Nicole is absolutely 100% clean. She is very vehemently anti-doping and 
has been very proactive on the subject throughout her career, both 
publicly and in her private actions.
On the current subject she has been interviewed regarding the Landis 
situation, and whilst of course she couldn't comment on the specifics of 
that case ( and remember he hasn't even had his B test yet ) she is 
quite adamant that cheats must be caught and dealt with to the maximum. 
She made it plain that she considers cycling to be a great sport which 
needs to be seen to be clean for a thriving future, and welcomes 
positive tests because it shows that cheats are being caught.
She also pointed out in interviews regarding the latest scandals that 
women's cycling does not have the same problem as it appears is the case 
in men's cycling.
Nicole's main point is that she is 100% clean. She manages to win 
entirely on training and natural effort and therefore considers that 
proof that it is not necessary to dope to win ( an argument often 
expressed by those that condone cheating). In which case she is a 
fantastic role model for all cyclists proving that anybody who is 
prepared to put in the work can achieve great things without resorting 
to unnatural help.
She is a hero(ine) we can all beleive in.
-- 
http://modesta.biciticino.ch
Il sito dedicato alla giovane ciclista lituana Modesta Vzesniauskaite

 Not all your heroes are cheats. Nicole most certainly is not.
Big snip...
Maybe so, but then again she is a Brit, not a classic European, and I bet
she doesn't know the history of cycling in Europe well enough to understand
the culture of Europe in cycling and its rich tradtion and characters ever
since Coppi, Bartali and even before that, or otherwise I doubt she would
take such a rigid stance. I wonder if she could even tell me much about
Charly Gaul, one of the great climbers, or how much does she know about her
native Tommy Simpson to take such a stance? Would she consider Tommy to be a
hero, or a cheat?
B-

 Big snip...
Remember also, that there isn't much incentive to cheat in the women's ranks
like the men. When more money came into the sport, so did some drug use, but
not nearly as much as the men. There are only a few cases I know of. Both
Luperini and Neben tested positive for the same thing only once and the
result was that the substance was found in such an incredibly small amount
that this could only be found to be a natural occurrence, as the supplement
was later found to be natural substance found in the body. Amber was very
careful and removed herself from competition.
 I have a friend who is a chemistry pharmacy expert who wrote an article
about Neben positive test, and how the testing was flawed. Its not that all
the girls who are considered clean are so righteous and a few so called
cheats are the bad ones. Its the testing that is often bad, and destroys the
lives of riders who have worked hard all their lives to get to the pros.
Another case in point is Zinaida Stahurskaia. Would you ban her photos from
your website? Zinaida Stahurskaia is someone who was riding the Tour de
Feminin all he way back to the late 90's. She has been around a really long
time, paid her dues, and was suspended for supplements.
While I don't know just exactly how much or how precise her positives were
or if she is appealing it, but like they say in the army, we don't leave our
people behind. It doesn't erase all she has done,  but I know you are upset
about the victory denied Modesta at Marino. Nevertheless, there are only a
handful of cases and I haven't excluded Jeanson from my website either. She
is appealing the positive, and she maintains she is innocent.
The point here is I don't treat girls who have positive tests as lepers.
There is a tendency to rush to judgment and condemn riders without due
course. In the course of law, you are innocent until proven gulity! I will
write all the good things I can about Zinaida Stahurskaia, as well as
Jeanson, Neben and Luperini. They are not lepers, on the contrary, these are
some of the greatest riders that have ever lived. Also remember I believe
even Longo had some type of positive, can't remember, but correct me if I am
wrong.
B-