“I was one of the best British time trialists and I was beaten by 14 minutes over 50km by the European pros. I had to ask myself what was going on. I got dropped in the world championship road race and this Dutchman came up and offered me a handful of pills. He said, 'Make you go fast!'” Dennis Talbot, about racing in Europe in 1955 on the Hercules professional team.

tcs