Kenosha, Wisconsin is home to the country’s oldest operational velodrome, which attracts people from around the country–and the world–to track cycling races. Mitch Teich explores the competitive culture of the Washington Park Velodrome.
Tyler Hamilton’s new book details his life in the world of professional cycling and the pressures to use performance-enhancing drugs in order to win on the global stage. Bill Littlefield spoke with Hamilton and his co-author Daniel Coyne about ‘The Secret Race.’
The London Olympics will take a dirty turn when the BMX competition kicks off with bikes, speed, jumps and plenty of dirt. Susan Valot reports on how BMX has changed since it debuted as an Olympic sport in Beijing in 2008.
For most people on this side of the Atlantic, Tour de France news is limited to two themes: who’s winning and who’s suspected of cheating. As he tells Bill Littlefield, writer/historian Hampton Sides got a lot more out of his experience at last year’s race.
Six amateur women are currently riding the entire route of the 2012 Tour de France and will reach the Champs-Elysees one day ahead of the official racers. Bill Littlefield speaks with Kate Powlison about why she’s tackling nearly 2173 long and hilly miles.
As the Tour De France winds its way through that country, anti-doping officials in the U.S. are focusing their spotlight on seven-time champion Lance Armstrong. Bill Littlefield comments.
In recent years, the sport of cycling has become more about who has or has not cheated than who wins the big races. Bill Littlefield speaks with the authors of “Road To Valor,” a book about an Italian cyclist whose life on and off the bike was much more interesting and heroic.
Athletes have long found themselves in legal trouble for what they do on their own time. But, as the recently abandoned case against Lance Armstrong shows, prosecuting athletes for transgressions that occur during competition is a tricky affair. Bill Littlefield has the story.
The Tour de France begins on Saturday, and defending champion Alberto Contador is looking to repeat. However, his victory might be taken away from the courts, as he is defending himself against a positive doping test from last year’s tour. Charlie Pierce talks to Bill Littlefield about Contador’s predicament, along with another drug related issue involving golfer Robert Garrigus. In addition, Charlie gives his input on the two sport lockouts, and rails against the MLB’s plans to seize the Dodgers.
In the largest ruling of its kind, a federal judge has awarded St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora $5.4 million in his suit against a supplement manufacturer whose product was tainted with steroids. Vobora was suspended by the NFL for four games in 2009 after a positive test. He says the court case has restored his reputation, but Only A Game’s Karen Given explores whether that’s possible for Vobora and other athletes who’ve inadvertently run afoul of anti-doping measures.
