The Danish cycling federation (DCU) has appointed me to be part of an upcoming core of Anti-Doping ambassadors.

I find it a vital point that the federation does not levy any positions on to the ambassadors - other than general anti-doping attitudes.

The federation wishes to broaden the struggle against doping to also include the athletes and the grass roots of the sport.

I would like to point out that the phenomenon of doping has a cross cutting nature, that touches upon the very base of all sports. Doping does not only affect the athlete and his closest competitors, but raises the question if we are actually practicing our sports under the same sets of rules. The notion of fairness and shared values and norms shatters and will in turn damage the sport as a space for social gathering bearing a quality in it self and for society.

I look forward to continue my involvement in the public doping debate - together with my future collegues.

As one could have feared, the Danish Federation has only summoned the Ambassadors once - and there has been no further follow up since June 2009.

The appointment was broadcasted on national Danish TV

July 31st 2008.
Danish National Newspaper - JyllandsPosten. 1/2 Page
Title: Parbo races on his own (Parbo kører sit eget løb)

With this article I wanted to elevate the public debate. I feel there is a need to rise above the simplified and naive assumptions about the factors that lead to the use of doping.

The public's idea about the "temptation" to dope is contra productive in the search for the truth. "Temptation" serves as a tool for unexposed cheaters to point the fingers at those who get caught. They always claim that those caught are tempted and take the easy way! It is also a convenient tool for self explanation for those who do get caught. Doping will then remain a personal choice, totally independent of the setting and environment that the riders stem from - which in turn saves others from investigation and potential exposure.

I do not belive that the simple idea of "temptation" can hold the complexity of the factors that lead to doping. In my understanding, there has to be both a certain knowledge about the proces of doping and a questionable moral towards doping in the environment close to the athlete. In other words the institutional factor should always be considered as a nessesary component.

The final quote in the article was somewhat diminished by the journalist, but it should have read:

Those who dope make us other riders look like complete fools
- because we are not riding as fast.

Giancarlo Caroli holds my medical dossier that can be scrutinized by The Italian Federation (FCI), The Italian Anti Doping Ageny (CONI) and the Danish Anti Doping Agency (ADD).

Transparency offered to the legitimate control organizations holds the future for cycling...

TV
In November 2007, a Danish Journaist famous for exposing Bjarne Riis during his heyday and for exposing Michael Rasmussens presence in Italy made this interview.

Main points: When there is nothing to hide - things can see the light of day... Forget about rights. If you claim you want protection for your rights, you are propably hiding something. If you have nothing to hide, then show it !!!

In 2007 following the revalations of Jef D'Hont, Bjarne Riis was forced to admit his use of doping.

The Doping Scare that followed Riis' conditional open heartedness left me with a feeling that especially the Danish press needed to differentiate between the doping problems of the Top International Level of Cycling and the clean and moral approaches of the internal Danish cycling community - hence the article...

Among my points of argumentation is that the Teams' private anti doping initiatives lack legitimacy - the national anti doping authorities should be the only instruments of control !!!

Hence the former riders and now present team managers, who have admitted to doping, should tell the full story to the anti doping authorities instead of conducting the team's anti doping research beond the reach of the legitimate national anti doping authorities.

The newspaper "Politiken" covers cycling more than any national Danish newspaper.

Read the article in Danish

Simple English Google Translate version