Brian Ellison loves cycling. The 19-year-old reads Cycling News online "all day long." He wants to ride professionally, though he's not yet sure whether he can make it to the top levels of his sport.
When it comes to the issue of performance-enhancing drug use, however, his opinion on what role it plays is very clear.
"No sports are clean. Let's be real," the Chicago native said recently as he warmed up on his bike atop stationary rollers before a race at the Ed Rudolph Velodrome in Northbrook, Ill. "I don't condone it. But you can't pretend it's not there when it is."Ellison is one of USA Cycling's emerging young riders, having reeled off four consecutive victories in May and June - three in category 5 before moving up for the last of those wins in category 4. He also has three second-place finishes on the season, and a viewpoint on doping that is hardly unique among some of his fellow youth cyclists.
Ellison reads about the drug scandals that have brought the dark side of cycling back into focus of late - none bigger than the allegations surrounding seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who faces a federal investigation into alleged systematic doping by him and his former U.S. Postal Service team. Armstrong has been directly accused of drug use by former teammates Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis - both of whom tested positive for PEDs themselves. Last year, two-time defending Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol during the race. Like Armstrong - who has never failed a drug test - Contador has denied any wrongdoing.
With the 2011 Tour now underway, Ellison, who rides for the team Chicago Cuttin' Crew, understands the urge and motivation an elite rider would feel to entertain the idea of doping. "I'm sure they're under a lot of pressure to do it," he said. "Some guys take EPO and the blood boosters, I'm sure just to keep their jobs."This sobering view is shared by a number of his peers.
"It kind of shows that to compete in the Tour de France, you need a lot of stamina, so it shows you may need to dope," said 16-year-old Harrison Milne of Chicago, a member of the Triple XXX-AthletiCo team. " ... Some people are, and those are the guys who are winning, so it just becomes part of the sport."
But that doesn't mean the next generation of competitive riders accepts it, says Steve Thordarson, a USA Cycling Level 1 coach and the upgrade coordinator for the Illinois Cycling Association.
"One of the things I've had to do with athletes is say, 'OK, you want to be in a sport. Who do you want to look up to?'," said Thordarson, who has kicked several riders off his teams for cheating. "When Lance came along, everyone thought he was going to die of cancer, then he turns around and wins the Tour de France. Lots of kids gravitated to following Lance because everyone looked up to Lance."When the allegations surrounding Armstrong began to grow, Thordarson saw the effects. "That shadow of doubt falls over these kids," he said. "They were wearing those Livestrong bracelets; they're not wearing them anymore."
Armstrong can count 14-year-old rider Nikos Hessert of Evanston, Ill., among his fans. "I think he's awesome and I hope he's acquitted," said Hessert, who has three wins on the season. "Doping is a terrible thing, but I don't think it gives anyone a huge advantage if everyone's doing it.
"It has become a part of sport."
Thordarson, though, says many elite American riders now simply aren't interested in the issue, instead focusing on their individual performances rather than the black cloud over cycling in general. That was certainly the case for top Chicago-area cyclist Emilia Field. The 11-year-old from Lake Forest, Ill., placed third in criterium and seventh in road race in the women's 10-12 age group at the USA Cycling Juniors national championships in June.
"I just think cheating is wrong and I don't understand why you do it," she said just before a recent race. "You're a professional athlete. Act like one."Field's attitude toward doping, argues USA Cycling, is consistent with that of many of today's up-and-coming riders.
"This is really a new generation of cycling," said Andrea Smith, the organization's director of communications. "(Young riders) look at those guys from a generation ago and what they are going through, and they say, 'That will never be me.' This generation is pretty adamant (against the use of PEDs)."
Smith said that competitive cycling in the United States is very healthy, with ridership and events both on the upswing. A recent night of racing at the velodrome in Northbrook seemed to illustrate that, with dozens of male and female riders of all ages waiting to race amid a festive atmosphere around the track.
That said, the doping scandals do concern her, and she added that USA Cycling incorporates education from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which is tasked with keeping American cycling clean as part of its standard training.
"We have phenomenal talents that have been successful, and they are looking up to the current stars and not at what happened a generation ago," Smith said. Still, it could easily be argued the current generation of cyclists are wrestling with the issue of performance-enhancing drugs in their sport just as much as their predecessors. "It's nothing new in cycling and it isn't going anywhere," Ellison said. "It is what it is. You choose to do it."He added that "if there were more repercussions, more effective deterrents that would keep riders who tested positive from racing in the (world championships) or the Olympics, I think that would cut (cheating) down."
Asked if he would rule out doping completely, though, even if he was unable to achieve a higher level of competition, the outspoken Ellison was forced to hesitate and more deeply ponder the question.
It was a reflective pause that spoke volumes about a moral issue that the sport may be forced to deal with for a long time.