"When I raced with PDM, I realized that was the first true organized doping team": Greg LeMond reflects on the start of the EPO era

Greg Lemond, the only American to officially win the Tour de France, has opened up about the immense pressure and confusion that defined the peloton during the early 1990s. In a recent interview with Anthony Walsh, the three-time Tour champion described how the arrival of EPO transformed average riders into superstars and forced clean athletes into impossible negotiations just to keep their salaries.

Lemond’s career spanned the transition from the old-school era of the 80s to the hyper-charged EPO era of the 90s. He recalled the sudden shift in performance levels, particularly highlighting the transformation of Italian rider Claudio Chiappucci.

For Lemond, the 1992 Tour de France was a turning point. He recalled watching Chiappucci, a rider he had known as a domestique in the mid-80s, pull off a legendary breakaway to Sestriere that left the American stunned and far behind.

"I raced with Chiappucci since 1986. He was a domestique. I'm sorry, he was not [a] good of a rider," LeMond stated bluntly. "And then I remember in 1992, he broke away to Sestriere. I'd won the Tour three times. I was the last rider in that stage. I was an hour behind him."

The disparity in performance was not only demoralizing, but it also had financial consequences. LeMond revealed a tense negotiation with his team, where the management threatened to cut salaries by 50% due to lack of results.

"[My team said]: 'We're going to have to reduce your salary. This is just really happening in the teams, they're taking EPO, they're taking testosterone,'" LeMond recalled.

He described how he fought back against the pay cut, arguing that he shouldn't be penalized for staying clean in a dirty sport. "Either you lay off and let us race and no changes [to the] salary, or you deliver the same doctor," he told them, clarifying that he wasn't asking to dope, but pointing out the hypocrisy of demanding wins without providing the "medical support" other teams were using.

LeMond also reflected on his time with the Dutch team PDM in the late 80s, which he identified as the beginning of systematic team doping. "When I raced with PDM, I realized that was the first true organized doping team. And I left that team for that reason," he said.

The consequences of this experimentation were sometimes fatal. LeMond shared a heartbreaking memory of Johannes Draaijer, a young Dutch teammate at PDM who died in his sleep in 1990 at the age of 27. The cause of death was officially heart failure, but rumors of EPO use - which thickens the blood and can cause cardiac arrest during rest - have long surrounded the tragedy. "His wife called my wife in the middle of the night because her husband had passed away. So sad," LeMond said.

LeMond believes that many riders in that era were involuntary test subjects. He pointed to Professor Francesco Conconi, a mentor to the infamous Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was officially working on developing tests to detect EPO for the Olympic Committee.

"I do believe some riders there had no clue if they were giving [them] something because Conconi at the time was working for the Olympic Committee trying to do tests on 'how do you detect EPO'. But he was using pro riders as guinea pigs."