Gaumont dishing drug details

Procycling.com | Gaumont reveals how dope controls are cheated

In an interview with Le Monde (in French) published this morning, Philippe Gaumont detailed how he and other riders subverted drug controls while racing.

The 31-year-old Frenchman says that certain products he claims are used in the pro peloton, such as human growth hormone and testosterone, are not detectable in doping controls and that "riders use them as and when they want to." According to Gaumont, blood transfusions are also undetectable, "but blood transfusions are limited to the top riders because you have to pay for the services of a doctor to carry them out."

Gaumont also claims many riders use Nasacort, an allergy-fighting nasal spray, because it can mask the use of cortisone. Gaumont played down random testing, as well: "[T]hey are not that random...it is easy to prepare yourself and be sure of not being positive."

The former Cofidis pro says he hopes his comments will allow the French Cycling Federation to "try to understand how doping takes place."