Kevindale

Because pro cycling is such a niche sport, it's much harder to get to know who the riders are. Usually all we see are the usual post race-winning brief interview, and sometimes not even that. Here's a nice, probing interview with Dan Martin. What a solid guy, and what a frank look at the the state of the sport over his career. His riding style is easy to respect, but his nature and ethics are just as great.

Caretaker

Good interview and I like Martin's straight answers but didn't like the way Kimmage was contrasting his answers to those of his cousin's from two years ago.
Kimmage has history with Roche senior and it shows. This goes back to when Kimmage wrote 'Rough ride' after being a team mate of Stephen Roche and a lot of bad feeling over the way he (Kimmage) was treated then.

Kimmage has the attitude that if you aren't a crusader against drugs you're part of the problem and fair game.

Kevindale

I've now done a bit of reading of who Kimmage is, and his past. He's been vilified by the system (and literally sued by UCI officials) for telling the truth, and it's about much more than his book. Here's a 2010 article where he expresses frustration that even the clean riders perpetuate the system by not speaking out, and you can sense his frustration I think that Dan Martin is being robbed by competing against riders/teams still playing the doping game, and Martins quiet on the subject. I didn't read it that he thought Dan Martin was "fair game" though, quite the contrary. He seems to have a staggering respect for Martin.

EDIT: It's interesting rereading articles from 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011 - you read again and again that top cycling officials are saying each time "now we've fixed it, problem over, nothing to see here, time to move on..." And then LA finally goes public in 2012, and reveals the utter corruption of the whole game. I really think that the system is better than it was, and there are enough Dan Martins to keep me engaged with the sport. But it's taken people like Kimmage to shine a light on this stuff, and I hope he continues to.

Caretaker

To clarify I wasn't suggesting that Paul Kimmage (PK) sees Dan Martin as fair game, he obviously holds him in high regard as do I.
I was referring to his attitude to other riders and former riders.

quoting from your linked piece

Sure Paul Kimmage, a self-confessed doper BTW, deserves respect for 'Rough Ride' and his dogged pursuit of doping in cycling but that doesn't mean he's above criticism.

Kevindale

Yeah, Kimmage is both journalist and advocate. However, the fact that he's "a self-confessed doper" means he actually knows what he's talking about. It's only the former dopers who can speak to what was really happening, and have insights into what's happening now. Sort of the way the best drug counselors are former addicts, and the key to the success of AA programs is other alcoholics being honest with each other.

Caretaker

So if Nicolas Roche hasn't doped and there's no suggestion he has, why is Kimmage 'giving Nicolas a hard time'?

I mean if Nicolas Roche 'doesn't know what he's talking about' why is he getting a 'hard time' from some one who has doped and does know?

Kevindale

I'm not going to speak for Kimmage. Here's an article where he answers your questions. It's up to you to decide if that's good enough. Given the denials, the dancing, the skirting of the rules that has gone on forever in cycling, I understand where Kimmage is coming from.

Caretaker

I don't think he does 'answer my question'. Why is he picking on a guy who writes a puff piece for a newspaper, same as Dan Martin did for the Irish Times this July with equally inane commentary on his experience of the TdF?

Why?

Could it be it's a way of getting back at Nicolas' father Stephen for the way he treated him when wrote 'Rough Ride' all those years ago?