I grew up in TVC. Left a long time ago but, still visit the folks every year. Craig’s Dad and my Dad worked together years ago. I’m familiar with all of it except his new team. WTH? Do you know which club?
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M22
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I have been racing for a while now but in the grand scheme not that long, 5 years. I question some of the people I ride / race with but just try to use it as motivation and try not to think about it. I put my time in on the trainer in the winter and spring and I am getting better tactically. As an aging male I am sure I could find a doctor and get TRT as well but I just don’t want the hassle and would be nervous when I race and I think it would take the fun out of it. In regards to would I tell someone if I knew for a fact someone was doping and racing? Maybe, I would like to think I would but I if I wasn’t 100% sure it would be a tough decision.
Thanks. I’ve always wondered what he was on? Curious if you have any info on that? T is my guess but, no idea.
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Thanks for posting that article, I hadn’t heard that and it hits close to home.
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Any chance you could C&P that article? Its geoblocked for us Europeans
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TRAVERSE CITY — The top first-wave finishers had barely crossed the finish line — their breath still heavy — when the agents began to hover.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) officers couldn’t be outnumbered and allow their quarry to escape the throng of media personnel, volunteers and the rest of the ever-closing pack of cyclists at the Nov. 4, 2017 Iceman Cometh Challenge.
Lucky for them, Craig Webb and Ryan Kennedy left the field better than four minutes behind, en route to a bang-bang finish that capped off the 30-mile race from Kalkaska to Timber Ridge Resort in Traverse City.
The pair broke off from the rest of its competitors early in the race. Eight miles in, it was just Webb and Kennedy. They took turns pushing one another before Webb ultimately won the sprint to the line by a fraction of a second.
After more than 102 minutes of being virtually inseparable, Webb and Kennedy couldn’t have been more worlds apart.
“It was weird what happened after that,” Kennedy said.
USADA officers approached Webb and Kennedy. The racers were informed they could complete their media responsibilities, but must immediately accompany the officers for a drug test thereafter. One USADA representative was assigned to each racer, and like talons to flesh, the officers attached themselves to Webb and Kennedy.
Kennedy was surprised but had no issue with the request. His counterpart was less willing.
“Craig said, ‘No, I’m not doing it,’ and walked away,” Kennedy recalled.
Webb, the former Hagerty Racing Team president and Cherry-Roubaix board member, finished the race atop the first wave and his 56-57 men’s age bracket. On Jan. 26, he accepted a four-year suspension handed out by USADA for an anti-doping rule violation that came as a direct result from refusing to provide a sample at the Iceman. Kennedy’s test was clean.
Webb responded with no comment when contacted for this story.
—
Iceman race director Steve Brown said he doesn’t know if on-site testing will take place again on Saturday for the 29th annual event.
USADA is a lead authority in the anti-doping world, conducting nearly 10,000 tests in 2017 alone on athletes participating in sports ranging from football to field hockey, speed skating to table tennis and paralympic archery to, of course, cycling.
They, do not however, tip their hand to when and where they’ll be.
Last year, Brown was informed of USADA’s visit two weeks before the event and that the plan was to test six athletes — the first male and female across the line for amateur races, the first male and female professional racer and two additional competitors.
Webb fell into the first category, Kennedy the third.
“USADA recognized Iceman is a major cycling event in the U.S.” Brown said. “With 5,000 athletes, there is the potential for people to cheat.”
The nonprofit, not-governmental and Colorado-based organization handles all domestic elite and amateur testing for USA Cycling and its RaceClean anti-doping initiative.
Webb was subject to testing because of his membership in USA Cycling.
The Iceman had never been a site for drug testing in its previous 27 events, but a push by USA Cycling and RaceClean to increase frequency of testing at amateur events put the Traverse City event on the map.
USA Cycling aimed to triple the number of amateur tests from 2015 to 2016. It administered that and then some — 185 in all. The goal was to reach 200 tests in 2017, and again, the RaceClean program exceeded expectations with 211.
Still, positive tests aren’t all that commonplace. Of the nearly 10,000 tests conducted last year USADA-wide (including sports outside cycling), only 70 sanctions were announced. Webb’s infraction was one of 35 cases still pending at the end of 2017.
Brown said the majority of people around the event were “shocked and surprised” by Webb’s refusal and the subsequent result. He added that many people were happy to have USADA present.
“In light of what’s happened, I think they should test (again), test the top finishers and maybe some random sampling,” Kennedy said. “I’m a believer that people should be playing by the rules. That is an event sanctioned by USA Cycling. They’re very clear on anti-doping.”
Webb apologized in January after the announcement of his suspension, saying: “I’m sincerely sorry for the negative shadow this has cast on the wonderful cycling community.”
Brown, for one, doesn’t think that shadow will hang over Saturday’s races.
“It’s Iceman as usual,” Brown said. “(The testing) sent a warning shot across everybody’s bow that they should be following the RaceClean protocols.”
—
Most everyone may have been pleased after the fact, but back in the USADA trailer — some 200 yards from the finish line and minutes after being tapped for a drug test — Kennedy’s mind was picking up the race where his bicycle’s wheels left off.
He knew he was clean, but he couldn’t help but continue to run over his daily multi-vitamin, the B-12 supplement he takes because of his plant-based diet or the Emergen-C he’d been taking to boost his immune system to fight off cold season.
When his mind wasn’t reviewing supplements, Kennedy couldn’t help but wonder why he was the only one in the trailer.
I was more thinking, 'Why did one person decide they weren’t gonna test and why I’m in here testing?" Kennedy said. “It didn’t dawn on me that someone would be putting something in their body at a local amateur bike race and have to avoid USADA.”
Through it all, Kennedy was under continuous observation.
As he filled out paperwork, USADA personnel was there. As he urinated into two separate cups, USADA personnel was there.
And not just in the room. The officer was required to watch Kennedy pee into the cups. By rule, the officer or chaperone must have a clear view of the sample being provided.
The samples are labeled A and B. Kennedy signed off on the intricate locking and labeling of the cups. And after 45 minutes or so, the test was complete.
“It’s an important thing to do,” Kennedy said. “It’s not the most fun thing. It was 39 degrees and raining. I didn’t put other clothes on and I was in that trailer shivering and frozen.”
The odds of either athlete being tested were slim altogether.
The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA), which oversees more than 1,000 professional cyclists, spends millions of dollars each year policing the riders.
Comparatively, the testing budget for roughly 50,000 American amateur racers through RaceClean and USADA is in the six-figure range. None of the amateurs has a biological passport — an electronic record for professional athletes that profiles biological markers of doping and results of doping tests over time — and USADA will approach fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent of them.
“After the fact, I was happy to get tested last year,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t realize it in the moment, but once it happened and someone was found not following the rules, eyes start looking around. Who else isn’t? I got tested and cleared right away. It was good if anyone is questioning it.”
—
When Jorden Wakeley, 28, first jumped to the pro cycling ranks, Craig Webb was always there to deliver tips and hit the trails for training rides.
Learning of Webb’s positive test was a shock to the Grayling resident, “especially in the amateur class,” but Wakeley was supportive of the fallen master.
Wakeley figured at least half of the community turned its back on Webb after the incident and that his former mentor all but disappeared for a while. He didn’t hear from Webb until USADA announced the suspension Jan. 28, after which Webb reached out via social media to apologize.
“Some of the racers have (shunned him),” Wakeley said. “But others realize we’re all human.”
Webb’s subsequent suspension created an online firestorm, particularly within the local cycling community. Kennedy — who said he considers Webb a friend, while admitting that “it’s a little bit different now” — said he encouraged others to use Webb’s mistake as a learning opportunity, not a chance to crucify someone in the court of public opinion.
Kennedy condemned Webb’s actions, but called for understanding.
“I focused on moving on,” Kennedy said. "A lot of people publicly piled on the situation. I was encouraging people to use it as a learning experience. It was wrong, and I told (Webb) that, and I’m a supporter of testing. It’s a good lesson for anybody out there bending the rules that they straighten up.
“Craig reached out to me, and I was absolutely more than willing to talk. We talked a few times about it. I told him, what’s done is done. Let’s move on. He felt very bad about it and apologized a lot. He made a mistake and had regrets about it.”
Webb has begun to reinsert himself into the community. Wakeley has seen Webb at Dirt Church, a single-track ride in Traverse City every Sunday, and Matt Myers has brought Webb on board with the M22 Team — a group of roughly a dozen riders that does mountain on the VASA Trail and road biking in Leelanau Country and on Old Mission Peninsula, as well as other places across northern Michigan.
Myers has known Webb about five years, but the latter just began cycling with the group about six months ago.
“We always told him there would be a spot for him if it ever worked out,” Myers said. "It happened very slowly and naturally. For us, from my perspective, Craig is a wealth of knowledge. He is very experienced. He can bring a lot to our team.
“With our group, we welcomed him openly. The cycling community is a tight group of people. Anybody that knows Craig knows he’s a good person. As far as (Iceman) goes, he made a mistake, but we’re all about forgiveness. I think there is a second chance. He’s still a good guy.”
Webb hasn’t directly addressed the failed test with the M22 Team yet, but Myers believes he will. Myers knew Webb declined to comment for this story, but felt the need to back his friend.
“It’s hard for him to talk about it, and he’s trying to move on,” Myers said. "The man is my friend, and I’m hoping I can help him move on. That’s why he’s on our team. I’ve noticed nothing other than pure enjoyment (from Webb). He’s the same guy. He’s a great coach. He has a great approach.
“With anything, time heals. That’s what he needs right now. He needs support of the community. From my personal experience, people make mistakes. It’s part of life, and he’s paid for his mistake.”
—
So what now? While Iceman director Steve Brown contends Saturday will be conducted as usual, there no doubt will be changes.
For one, if USADA does show up, it won’t be a surprise this time.
Two, the first-wave finish can’t compete with its last two renditions. It wasn’t just a Webb-Kennedy sprint to end 2017. The two also pressed each other to the wire in 2016.
Webb won that race as well. That’s really the only think Kennedy can’t help but wonder about. Was the playing field tilted in that race as well?
“I have to question in my head, was that a legitimate finish in 2016,” Kennedy said. “I’m not taking anything away from Craig, he’s a very strong cyclist, but if he was under the influence … I don’t have any hard feelings about it or ill will. In my head, I technically won Wave 1 in 2017. Only thing I question is, did I win it in 2016?”
In any event, Saturday’s Iceman won’t have that same exciting photo finish of the last two years — at least not with the same two riders. Webb’s suspension is just in its first year of four, and Kennedy wasn’t sure yet if he would compete Saturday as he is still recovering from the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii that took place Oct. 13.
“It would be different out there,” Kennedy said. “I have enjoyed racing with him and riding with him in training. I would miss not getting to compete with him, but if I race, there will be plenty of other fast guys to compete.”
Once Webb’s suspension is up, however, Kennedy is all for it.
“I’d love to see him out there again and hopefully race against each other again,” he said.
A Professional Hassle
A Professional Hassle
Larry Warbasse, 28, used to compete in the Iceman Cometh Challenge when he was a teenager.
Now the Traverse City native is the first American to join AG2R La Mondiale, a prestigious French road racing team. He’s been a professional cyclist for years, and with that privilege comes an almost overwhelming responsibility to prove to the world he’s not cheating.
“There’s a lot of people that just assume that (we all do it),” Warbasse said. “After the whole Lance (Armstrong) thing, it’s just assumed that everybody is (doping). I think that’s the way it used to be. It’s kind of funny because now I imagine cycling is one of the cleanest sports out there.”
There is one reason for that, and it involves invading Warbasse’s and other racers’ privacy.
Warbasse is required to provide his location to the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) every day, including where he’ll be staying. He must include a one-hour window between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. that he will be available to submit a random sample for drug testing each day. He must be available during that window, and if a representative arrives outside the one-hour window provided, he has one hour to return.
Those 365 daily whereabouts reports each year lead to roughly six to eight actual drug tests, Warbasse said.
Warbasse was surprised, like many, to learn about the positive-by-refusal-to-submit test of Traverse City’s Craig Webb, who won the first wave of the 2017 Iceman, and didn’t provide a sample for testing when United States Anti-Doping Agency officers showed up at the finish line.
“I don’t think we really suspected it at all when were were younger or amateurs,” Warbasse said. “I wouldn’t expect it at the Iceman, either.”
— Record-Eagle reporter James Cook contributed to this report.
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So true!
Probably not a bad guess but I’ve heard nothing definitive.
Thanks @MI-XC
Im always saddened when a non co-operative doper gets forgiven by his peers.
@batwood14 I went from being inspired by him to pissed when the Iceman news came out. It really changed my view of racing.
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Regarding TRT- These are some interesting articles and podcasts:
One point that Drs Baraki and Feigenbaum make is that using PEDS makes a “permanent” change (in another podcast not the TRT one above), In other words if you build greater strength or endurance while you are on PEDS that permanently shifts your baseline up and you reap the rewards even when stop.
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Coach Chad mentioned that at the end of the YouTube version of the podcast. I had no idea that was the case.
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@pwandoff - Here’s a hypothetical. Let’s say that for your base training you could tolerate a 2-3 hr long ride on the weekend. Now on PEDS you can do all your sweet spot work during the week and still do back to back 4-5 hour rides on the week-end. You will be increasing the mitochondrial density far beyond your previous base training rate. Now so you don’t get popped by a drug test you stop the PEDS. You still have all those lovely aerobic mitochondria engines.
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That’s what I’d do if I had no integrity.
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I get what you’re saying. Since that athlete is ‘clean’ then all’s well. I have a hard time with this premise as the gains weren’t legitimate, imo. Even as a recreational rider (which I am) this would piss me off (although, admittedly, I ride alone pretty much all the time).
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I think this really gets to the heart of it. There are drugs and treatments that are healthy and beneficial to you as you age, and you have to choose between racing and your long term health (well, near term because you’re old in this hypothetical…).
I know I was shocked to see hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic) on the banned list. A drug I actually used to take for hypertension, and an extremely commonly prescribed one at that.
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There are substances on the list because they are PEDs but there are also substances on the list because they mask the use and/or detection of said PEDs. So, a certain diuretic might be on the list simply because it aids the body in flushing out certain PEDs in a biologically accelerated timeline.
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Yes, I know. I read why it’s on there. And it’s stupid. It bans people for hypertension. Or, you know, go against current standard of care, first line treatment, for a very common condition. What if insulin gets banned? Oh, the irony of T1/T2 diabetic fund raiser rides. This isn’t a right or wrong thing. We should all recognize it’s an arbitrary line, drawn with professionals in mind and some of these lines hurt amateurs just looking to participate. We would do better to focus on health than universal rules. There are drugs that are clearly not indicated for young, professional athletes. And there are drugs that are clearly indicated for masters amateurs. And sometimes it depends. The only question is in which situations we consider it “doping”. I think it’s a sliding scale, but clearly WADA doesn’t see things that way right now. It is what it is.
I don’ think this is hypothetical. I think this is exactly how doping in general is done. I have no clue because I don’t do it and why I responded “if I had no integrity”. Athletes who know how to dope refer to glow time which is basically the time after ingesting the PED they have higher than legal limit of it in them. My life is stressful enough. Can’t imagine playing that game.
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