Gaumont hoping for drug-free sport
PARIS, France (Reuters) -- French rider Philippe Gaumont, sacked by his team Cofidis after being involved in a doping scandal, said he still hopes cycling can clean up its act.
"I believe that there is still doping and too much of it," he told sports daily l'Equipe in an interview.
"But some of the riders who emerged after 1998 have been spared. I honestly believe there are clean riders, but they must be very strong mentally."
The Festina scandal in 1998 was a turning point in cycling, revealing the widespread use of erythropoietin (EPO) and other performance-enhancing drugs.
Gaumont and team-mate Cedric Vasseur were held for questioning last month in another doping case involving Cofidis, suggesting that the problem still plagues the sport.
"In my time, when I turned pro, I think it would have given me a bad name if I had not taken dope," Gaumont added.
"The young riders who arrived after 1998 joined with a different frame of mind. I want to believe there is still hope."
Gaumont, who had earlier suggested that up to 90 percent of riders could be using drugs, added he had "tears in his eyes" when he heard of the death of 1998 Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, aged 34, earlier this month.
"I can understand what he went through. He was treated like a god and then like a nobody. He was harassed because people want to believe the riders are the only ones to blame."
Tranquilisers were found in Pantani's room. The Italian'scareer was blighted after he was thrown out of the 1999 Giro for failing a test for haematocrit, which suggested drug use.
