Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Weller ... I was in the best form of my life in '84 because I was hell-bent that there was no way I was going to use drugs.

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

HIS THUMB AND forefinger are a hair's breadth apart as Jamaica's most famous cyclist, David Weller, reveals how close he was to turning to performance-enhancing drugs.

"I was in Brisbane (Commonwealth Games) in 1982 and finished fourth in both my events (1,000m time trial and 1,000m match sprint)," Weller, the only Jamaican to win an Olympic medal outside of track and field, said.

"I finished behind guys I regularly used to beat. I said if these guys are doing 'something' and 1984 (LA Olympics) is going to be my last hurrah, I've got to do 'something', too," he said of his rivals' improved performances none of the riders who finished ahead of him tested positive for any banned substances.

"I felt I had to get on a level playing field with these guys - I came this close, this close," he emphasised with the hand gesture.

"In the (cycling) fraternity there's lots of discussion about that kind of stuff and the whole idea crossed my mind because it seemed like everyone was doing it. I knew people who could have helped me. Nobody was getting caught in those days but thank goodness for a good upbringing and moral fibre. I just trained as hard as ever between 1982 and '84.

Broke wrist

"I was in the best form of my life in '84 because I was hell-bent that there was no way I was going to use drugs and I just trained so hard. I was seeded No. 1 in the world, but I broke my wrist in Colombia a few weeks before the Olympics and ended up finishing sixth," the 1980 bronze medallist in the 1,000m time trial said as he uncoiled his six-plus foot frame during an interview at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston.

His frank statement is timely as the sport's premier event, the Tour de France, pushes off in London on Saturday with the prologue.

Over the past couple of years cycling has been gripped by one drug scandal after another as riders and entire teams have been raided, busted and even suspended from the sport and by extension, arguably, the world's greatest endurance race.

In recent times, 1996 champion Bjarne Riis of Belgium admitted he was "cheating" when he won that Tour - and has subsequently been stripped of the title.

The 1997 champ, German giant Jan Ullrich, has retired after suffering the ignominy - along with several other leading riders, of being scratched from last year's race just before its start due to doping allegations. His teammate, Italian Ivan Basso, is still under investigation, while Ullrich's sprint star compatriot, Erik Zabel, who's still in the saddle, has also admitted putting synthetic substances in his body during the "96 race.

Then, of course, there's the on-going saga of last year's Tour champion, Floyd Landis, who tested positive after his miraculous Stage 17 victory in which he absolutely routed the field a day after looking a beaten man and on the verge of retiring from the race.

Landis is fighting to clear his namebut was told in no uncertain manner by Tour organisers not to even bother turning up in London on Saturday. That marks the first time a rider has ever been banned from defending his crown.

This catalogue of corruption has pushed cycling to the forefront of the world's 'dirty' sports and that's not something that sits well with the 50-year-old Weller, who devoted a more than substantial part of his life to the pursuit.

Accused of drug use

"It (doping) became institutionalised in the mid-'70s in eastern European countries like East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland," Weller said. "You cannot always speculate though; I was accused of using drugs.

"The truth of the matter is only the man himself knows for sure in all of these things. Their conscience is starting to get to some of them now. I sit here 23 years later and am proud of what I achieved and how I did it," says the vice-president of maintenance and engineering at Air Jamaica who still finds time to pedal his light-speed bike along Port Royal road several times a week with a group of fellow enthusiasts.

"What all of this has done is taint the sport - all of sport, really. I'm a little bit turned off by it because you just don't know who is clean. Last year was an embarrassment with some of the major contenders being pulled before the race started," he said.

"How can you get a young man interested in the sport when there are such bad examples?" he asked.

"All this is going to have a trickle-down effect here in Jamaica because what sponsors are going to want to back a sport which is continually having its wrist slapped for cheating?

"Before things can get better, they've got to get worse, but I think we are near 'worse' now.

"I still think the vast majority of riders are clean and I believe this year's Tour will be one of the cleanest in years because no one can afford to get caught now.

"So perhaps all of this scandal is good in the long run. The whole push to clean up the sport is a good thing."

Advice for Landis

However, Weller has some words of advice for Landis, who continues to fight to clear his name and has even produced a book expousing his innocence.

"Floyd wanted to join the team (UPS) I was coaching in the U.S. in the late '90s. He was a recent cross-over from mountain-biking at that time and there were rumours about the team that he had been training with.

"In that era there was a lot of speculation, of course. He was trying to sell himself to me. Floyd was a good person. I can't say I suspected him, but I just didn't think he had the right credentials at that time ... I didn't think he was the right fit.

"Now, after all this, the best thing for him to do is drop it, just go away and be quiet."

Of course, there is also the matter of the 800-pound gorilla in cycling's livingroom - the iconic seven-time Tour champion, Lance Armstrong.

Speculation continues to swirl around the retired American's incredible feats and he has been openly accused in books and newspapers and by former team insiders of cheating.

Armstrong steadfastly maintains his innocence and claims he is the most tested athlete in history and yet has never tested positive.

What would happen if the legendary Armstrong was found to have cheated?

"That could kill the sport," Weller said bluntly.

Feedback: tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com