i hope no anti-lance comments appear on this board...

I used to run for an atheletics club 30 odd years ago. We knew then that most of the steriods were usually horse medicine and that the side-effects would probably be cancer.

To say professionals aren't warned and don't know what would happen if they take drugs is stupid. They know the risks, they take the risks, they pay for it later.

I'm 50 years old, it would be interesting to hear from anyone who could confirm that 40/50 year ago they also knew the risks.

this ex-cyclist is ridiculous, he is willing to say anything to get ratings on his book.

Nowadays anybody says anything to appear on e-news, tv, or whatever...

Oh, let me see now his has found the his purpose in life and is going to teach "school" others about the effects of using steroids.

Man, now I got to buy the book to know if using illegal drugs is worth it or not... LOL!

What a stupid idiot!

psiturbo - I agree and they used to call him "the professor" too!

You hope no anti Lance comments appear on this board. Hope less and maybe realise a bit more because the greatest magician since the man pulled a habit out of a rat has recruited you as his helper.

True that don key. Abracadabra.

In response to Psiturbo:

Unlike Bradley Wiggins, or the Wayne Rooneys of this world Fignon...

A twice winner of the worlds biggest stage race being the highlights of this Professional’s Palmares, reduced to mere ex-cyclist status...

like as if the guy is a bitter amateur and just putting pen to paper In light of his cancer?

This was the guy that Greg Lemond only just beat by 8 seconds in the final time-trial of the 1989 Tour de France... Possibly one of the best tours I’ve ever seen, the Last Frenchman to even win Le Grande Boucle...

Just to publicise his book...? or to open minds, to people who flatly refuse to believe that their Heroes and the sport may be tainted: (chris281192)

Below is a small list taken from Wikipedia (yes not the most reliable source) but over the years I have seen all the names below turn up in cycling magazines and journals...with reference to doping...

To Buckled_Rims GP’s used to prescribe amphetamines to women in the UK as a slimming aid and militaries Around the world still use amphetamines...Illegal use???? In sport yes but for USAF, etc totally legal!!!

this is not a horse medicine....compared to epo usage?

(please also look at Wikipedia for a start... on amphetamine and cortisone)

Davide Rebbelin

Ivan Basso

Stefan Schumacher

Riccardo Ricco

Iban Mayo

Alexander Vinokourov

Tyler Hamilton

Floyd Landis

Marco Pantani

Alex Zulle

Christophe Moreau

Bjarne Riis

Abdoujaparov

Richard Virenque

@ Fausto74

Come on mate, the Greeks ate sheeps testicles 3000 years ago to gain the benefits of extra testosterone. Caffine is also a drug that gives benefits and is perfectly legal. High altitude training gives more advantage then possible any drug! What this article is about is drug use that causes cancer!

Fignon cries that he's got cancer because nobody told him whatever he was given had side effects. I knew as an amatuer in the 1980's steriod give cancer. He made a profit out of taking drugs then (by winning) and now whats to make a profit by selling his book about his drug taking.

Not sure how effective amphetamines would be in a long distance race like the TDF as it would burn out a rider very quickly. Army truckers slept for 18 + hours after taking many of them!

There seems to be a problem of translation here. If the article relates to the interview Figno gave to Europe1 a couple of days ago, he actually said (paraphrasing):

-Whether there is a link between my doping activities and this cancer I cannot say. But everyone was taking those drugs, so if they gave cancer, everyone should have it.

Hardly blaming the drugs for his disease.

Fignon was a top rider.

A.-

Dear Buckled_Rims

read any book on cycling stars of the past ie: Faust Coppi, Jaques Anquetil, and of course fatally Tom Sipmson these three alone all used amphetamines, whether these were on decisive stages before rest-days (if they existed back then?) I do not know but I'm sure any temporary measure would have been seized by the riders... no I don't think that it would have been used daily!

please read this brief account of doping history of the tour de france...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_at_the_Tour_de_France

or read "Rough Ride" by Paul Kimmage

and if immediate cancer were the direct result of steroid use, then an awful lot of famous names would be suffering from both its legal and illegal applications in both

sport and public life, doctors prescribe steroid creams for ailments regularly... what about asthma inhalers...???