438:(FFC) for having missed an antidoping test during the 2012 French national mountain bike championships. He had quit the race partway through, and by the time he heard he was one of the riders chosen for testing, it was too late to get back to the race site for the test. His suspension was reduced to one month on appeal. Bassons took the FFC to court and they found in his favour ruling that the governing body owed him compensation. The FFC appealed but the court did not find in their favour and they had to pay Bassons âŹ31,691 (ÂŁ28,440/$ 36,270) in compensation.
338:" . . . and then Lance Armstrong reached me. He grabbed my by the shoulder, because he knew that everyone would be watching, and he knew that at that moment, he could show everyone that he was the boss. He stopped me, and he said what I was saying wasn't true, what I was saying was bad for cycling, that I mustn't say it, that I had no right to be a professional cyclist, that I should quit cycling, that I should quit the tour, and finished by saying you. . . . I was depressed for 6 months. I was crying all of the time. I was in a really bad way." -
252:, a French monthly, that riders who spoke out against quarterly medical checks imposed by the sports ministry after the Festina trial were hypocrites. He said: "That makes me laugh when I hear they're asking for changes to the tests. The truth, however, is that they are obliged to change their behaviour. They talk about 'two-speed cycling' But me, for three years, I've been the second speed. They have ruined three years of my life as a racer and I never said anything."
1052:
1035:
1018:
1001:
379:. But more often, others pointed at him , looked elsewhere, if they didn't just insult him. He has a few friends and a heap of enemies. His solitude was the living proof that nothing fundamental has changed in the morals of the milieu. Christophe Bassons died at the stake , burned by his passion. On official communiqués, he left two words:
363:
At 5.30am I had my breakfast and I packed my case. I crossed with Marc and he said I was letting down the team. He said a rider could leave the race if he cracked physically but he couldn't accept that one can crack mentally. I said goodbye to everyone but one rider didn't look at me and refused to shake my hand. That hurt.
399:
to do with his comments about doping, he said. Thierry
Bourguignon, part of another team but earlier a member with Bassons of Force Sud, confirmed: "I was the only one to talk to Bassons... He doesn't listen to anyone. Bassons is an individualist. Even in a race he doesn't easily lend a hand. He rides for himself."
398:
team refused to share their prizes with him. Normally teams pool their winnings and share them out by the number of days a rider has survived the race. One rider, Xavier Jan, said: "Christophe
Bassons rode only for himself and didn't at any time work for the overall good of the team." It had nothing
362:
The comforted me. We often talk together about the problem of doping and we share the same ideas. I confided in him and I whined . I got to sleep but a bit after midnight I could no longer sleep because of my worries. I went into the corridor, I phoned my coach, Antoine Vayer, and
Pascale, my wife.
407:
Bassons raced again, riding in
Germany and Belgium. He said: "I felt a lot of tension. Some didn't talk to me. Others pretended nothing had happened, which is worse. Some say it's just youthful folly, but I feel more adult than them. I'm not the only clean rider but there aren't many who can say 'I
357:
chastised
Bassons for speaking as if "he is the only rider who is beyond reproach." Officials with his own team joined in on the condemnation, calling him a coward who only spoke to burnish his own image. Riders shunned him or at best nodded. He cracked, saying he had not wanted to leave the race
285:, a newspaper in the same corporate group as the Tour de France itself. Bassons wanted to write about the "suspicious" speeds he was seeing; the average speed at the 1999 Tour was 25.2 mph (40.6 km/h); no Tour had ever been run faster than 24.9 mph (40.1 km/h). As he later told
345:
Bassons said
Armstrong also asked him why he was speaking out; "I told him that I'm thinking of the next generation of riders. Then he said 'Why don't you leave, then?'" Armstrong confirmed the story. On the main evening news on TF1, a French national television station, Armstrong said: "His
469:
in 2012 that he considered his career to be as a sports professor, not his six years of cycling. He also said that he was "not bitter" against
Armstrong, and was content with his situation, comparing it to what Armstrong was going through in the wake of the 2012 USADA report.
330:. Nobody had been talking to him. The entire peloton planned to ride slow for the first 100 km without telling him. Bassons only heard about this because a mechanic from his team told him. Bassons decided he was "fed up" and decided to ride ahead of the others (
314:, which passed at record average speed, Bassons warned readers: 'Don't get any ideas about the record speed. With a wind like we had, it's normal to ride this fast.' But two columns stuck out. After Lance Armstrong showed that not only had he recovered from
189:. He began cycle-racing in 1991 in mountain biking. He started racing on the road in 1992 and won the Tour du Tarn et Garonne in 1995. That same year he won the world military time-trial championship and became national
449:
publicly apologized for being part of the peloton that shunned him, saying that he (Tyler) was "100% wrong" not to talk to
Bassons. Bassons said "that's life, it's nothing. I don't begrudge Hamilton. I understand."
423:, "several guys tried to ride me into the ditch . . . it got dangerous, and I realized that it wasn't worth continuing". He ended his professional road racing career. In her book about the Armstrong doping scandal,
289:, "The 1999 Tour was supposed to be the "Tour of Renewal," but I was certain that doping had not disappeared." He was not the only rider concerned about how fast the 1999 Tour was going; fellow Frenchman
353:(after Stage 11), he said, a passing rider in his own team said: "Watch what you say!" Bassons said: "I started feeling isolated. In the middle of 170 riders, that's a tough way to live." Race director
391:, said: "What a strange role reversal. Rather than fighting against doping, they're fighting its opponent." She wrote to him to sympathise, saying that it was time someone spoke out.
669:
240:
It's true he's not one of them and he hasn't come out of the same mould. It's true that he refused to 'load the cannon' (the pretty expression used by those who take
964:
1110:
346:
accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home."
945:
1100:
462:
and in 2001 he qualified as a sports teacher and began teaching. He now works for the ministry of youth and sport at
Bordeaux, in charge of drug tests.
1105:
521:
673:
536:
512:
608:
731:, 54:00, Mark Chapman, including interviews with Tyler Hamilton, Bassons, and others. BBC Radio 5 live, 2012 10 15, retr 2012 10 16
493:
666:
435:
372:
334:). As they came to a flat spot, "all of the teams rode together to close me down". As the teams rode by him, they stared at him.
977:
643:
A belief that medical checks on only French riders would stop their taking drugs but leave those of other nations to continue.
248:
Moreau's and Meier's court statement brought attention to a rider who had never acquired it through his racing. He wrote in
920:
845:
Marc Madiot, manager of
Bassons' team, La Française des Jeux, who Bassons said had warned him against talking of doping
293:
who rode for US Postal in 1997-98, told Bassons at one point, "This has got to stop! We can't go on racing like this!"
708:
1095:
741:
445:
report on Armstrong's US Postal Service team, some media re-told Bassons' story. In one interview for the BBC,
431:
wrote that Bassons' mistreatment was a sign of the power Armstrong had over international cycling at the time.
244:) these past years, it's true that Christophe Bassons doesn't belong to the family of cheats and the corrupted.
1085:
1090:
931:
275:
The interest that the Festina trial brought to him led to an invitation to write a column during the
259:-per-month raise (more than 10 times what he was earning at the time) offered to him if he would use
318:, he'd risen to the top of the pack, Bassons wrote that his performances had 'shocked' the peloton.
993:
980:, Kim Willsher, The Guardian (UK), The Observer section, Saturday 13 October 2012, retr 2012 10 20
800:
775:
1075:
484:
310:. If anything, he sometimes went out of his way to dispel doping rumours. After the stage into
126:
527:
331:
1027:
1080:
500:
416:
193:
champion. He turned professional in 1996 for Force Sud and then, when the team failed, for
8:
388:
276:
267:, to harass him for breaking the longstanding code of silence about doping in the sport.
213:
led to evidence that doping was widespread in the team. In September 1998, the newspaper
1060:
570:
354:
162:
704:
545:
306:
On the whole his columns were largely innocuous if entertaining looks at life in the
224:
186:
182:
146:
441:
In 2011/2012, after investigations into past doping in cycling, especially the 2012
371:
Sometimes he was congratulated on his courage, as Daniel Baal, the president of the
209:, when the discovery of a carload of drugs being driven to the team's riders in the
965:"Court orders French Cycling Federation to compensate Bassons over 2012 suspension"
395:
290:
136:
1044:
693:
408:
don't take drugs'. For most riders, their health is the last of their concerns."
264:
1010:
506:
446:
327:
260:
241:
210:
206:
166:
232:
1069:
700:
412:
728:
350:
428:
742:"www.humanite.fr/1999-07-17_Sports_Le-coup-de-blues-de-Christophe-Bassons"
281:
220:
215:
376:
323:
298:
190:
349:
Bassons was shunned by other riders. Giving a television interview at
227:, said that Bassons was the only rider on the team not taking drugs.
824:(L'Equipe 17 July 1999, cited Sport & Vie n°6 de Sept/Oct 1999)
593:
591:
307:
263:(EPO). His stance against doping led other riders, most notably
194:
178:
57:
978:
Mr Clean Christophe Bassons 'not bitter' towards Lance Armstrong
315:
219:
published statements made to the police. Two convicted riders,
946:"Cyclisme : Christophe Bassons suspendu un mois en appel"
832:
830:
588:
854:
Fédération Française de Cyclisme, the national governing body
442:
311:
256:
630:
628:
626:
624:
622:
1049:
827:
1032:
1015:
998:
619:
434:
On 20 October 2012, he was suspended for one year by the
571:"cyclisme-dopage.com - Portrait de Christophe Bassons"
383:. The peloton had already forgotten rider number 152.
358:
but his nerves could not stand it anymore. He said:
161:(born 10 June 1974) is a French former professional
692:
565:
563:
561:
1067:
943:
1111:Cyclists from Occitania (administrative region)
606:
558:
676:, James Startt, Bicycling.com, 15 October 2012
453:
415:, but the mistreatment continued. In 2001 at
793:
322:Stage 10 took place on 14 July and was from
768:
165:. His career ended when he spoke out about
724:
722:
720:
695:Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong
674:National and University Library of Iceland
1051:
1034:
1017:
1000:
734:
667:Bassons: âPeople Now See I Wasnât Lyingâ
662:
660:
658:
185:department. He studied and qualified in
1101:Knights of the Ordre national du MĂ©rite
717:
686:
684:
682:
458:In 2000 he published his autobiography
1068:
962:
537:Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
513:Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
367:The reporter Jean-Michel Rouet wrote:
944:Stéphane Mandard (21 December 2012).
690:
655:
609:"Lance Armstrong: the Whistleblowers"
402:
340:Bassons, from BBC Radio 5, 2012 10 15
679:
1106:Sportspeople from Tarn (department)
200:
13:
963:Pavitt, Michael (7 January 2019).
932:Bassons handed one-year suspension
607:Urquhart, Conal (12 August 2012).
14:
1122:
986:
255:In 1998 he turned down a 270,000
68:1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
1050:
1033:
1016:
999:
881:Libération, France, 26 July 1999
729:Peddlers - Cycling's Dirty Truth
473:
205:Bassons became known during the
971:
956:
937:
934:, Cycling News, 20 October 2012
925:
911:
902:
893:
884:
875:
866:
857:
848:
839:
818:
759:
597:Procycling, UK, undated cutting
177:Christophe Bassons was born in
646:
637:
600:
1:
765:Cited, L'Ăquipe, 17 July 1999
552:
496:, National Road Championships
522:Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
411:He moved to a smaller team,
270:
7:
921:Christophe Bassons suspendu
908:Procycling, UK, August 1999
836:Procycling, undated cutting
394:Bassons' colleagues in the
230:Jean-Luc Gatellier said in
207:1998 Festina doping scandal
197:, a watch and clock maker.
10:
1127:
801:"results/1999/jul99/jul18"
776:"results/1999/jul99/jul20"
454:After professional cycling
172:
436:French Cycling Federation
332:"attacked from the start"
152:
142:
132:
122:
114:
109:
101:
93:
85:
80:
72:
64:
41:
33:
28:
76:74 kg (163 lb)
1096:Doping cases in cycling
805:autobus.cyclingnews.com
780:autobus.cyclingnews.com
672:4 November 2013 at the
652:VĂ©lo, France, June 1999
169:in the Tour de France.
899:L'Ăquipe, 19 July 1999
872:L'Ăquipe, 17 July 2009
691:Macur, Juliet (2014).
634:L'Ăquipe, 17 July 1999
485:Grand Prix des Nations
343:
465:He told Willisher of
387:The sports minister,
336:
1086:French male cyclists
890:Procycling, UK, 2000
417:Four Days of Dunkirk
296:Ian Austen wrote in
29:Personal information
1091:People from Mazamet
1030:at Cycling Quotient
996:at Cycling Archives
967:. inside the games.
575:cyclisme-dopage.com
389:Marie-George Buffet
277:1999 Tour de France
163:road racing cyclist
25:
1045:Christophe Bassons
1028:Christophe Bassons
1013:at ProCyclingStats
1011:Christophe Bassons
994:Christophe Bassons
403:Cycling after 1999
396:Française des Jeux
355:Jean-Marie Leblanc
159:Christophe Bassons
137:Française des Jeux
110:Professional teams
37:Christophe Bassons
23:Christophe Bassons
21:
1061:a page on Bassons
546:Circuit des Mines
225:Christophe Moreau
187:civil engineering
181:, France, in the
156:
155:
86:Current team
1118:
1057:
1056:
1054:
1053:
1040:
1039:
1037:
1036:
1023:
1022:
1020:
1019:
1006:
1005:
1003:
1002:
981:
975:
969:
968:
960:
954:
953:
941:
935:
929:
923:
919:
915:
909:
906:
900:
897:
891:
888:
882:
879:
873:
870:
864:
861:
855:
852:
846:
843:
837:
834:
825:
822:
816:
815:
813:
811:
797:
791:
790:
788:
786:
772:
766:
763:
757:
756:
754:
752:
738:
732:
726:
715:
714:
698:
688:
677:
664:
653:
650:
644:
641:
635:
632:
617:
616:
604:
598:
595:
586:
585:
583:
581:
567:
528:Tour du Haut Var
419:, he later told
375:at the start at
291:Jean-Cyril Robin
201:1998 and Festina
81:Team information
55:
51:
49:
26:
24:
20:
1126:
1125:
1121:
1120:
1119:
1117:
1116:
1115:
1066:
1065:
1048:
1043:
1031:
1026:
1014:
1009:
997:
992:
989:
984:
976:
972:
961:
957:
942:
938:
930:
926:
917:
916:
912:
907:
903:
898:
894:
889:
885:
880:
876:
871:
867:
862:
858:
853:
849:
844:
840:
835:
828:
823:
819:
809:
807:
799:
798:
794:
784:
782:
774:
773:
769:
764:
760:
750:
748:
740:
739:
735:
727:
718:
711:
689:
680:
665:
656:
651:
647:
642:
638:
633:
620:
613:the Guardian UK
605:
601:
596:
589:
579:
577:
569:
568:
559:
555:
550:
501:Tour de Pologne
476:
456:
405:
273:
265:Lance Armstrong
203:
175:
56:
53:
47:
45:
22:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1124:
1114:
1113:
1108:
1103:
1098:
1093:
1088:
1083:
1078:
1064:
1063:
1058:
1041:
1024:
1007:
988:
987:External links
985:
983:
982:
970:
955:
936:
924:
910:
901:
892:
883:
874:
865:
863:Did not start.
856:
847:
838:
826:
817:
792:
767:
758:
733:
716:
709:
678:
654:
645:
636:
618:
599:
587:
556:
554:
551:
549:
548:
542:
539:
533:
530:
524:
518:
515:
509:
507:GP Eddy Merckx
503:
497:
490:
487:
481:
477:
475:
472:
455:
452:
447:Tyler Hamilton
404:
401:
385:
384:
365:
364:
320:
319:
272:
269:
261:Erythropoietin
246:
245:
211:Tour de France
202:
199:
174:
171:
154:
153:
150:
149:
144:
140:
139:
134:
130:
129:
124:
120:
119:
116:
112:
111:
107:
106:
103:
99:
98:
95:
91:
90:
87:
83:
82:
78:
77:
74:
70:
69:
66:
62:
61:
43:
39:
38:
35:
34:Full name
31:
30:
16:French cyclist
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1123:
1112:
1109:
1107:
1104:
1102:
1099:
1097:
1094:
1092:
1089:
1087:
1084:
1082:
1079:
1077:
1076:Living people
1074:
1073:
1071:
1062:
1059:
1055:
1046:
1042:
1038:
1029:
1025:
1021:
1012:
1008:
1004:
995:
991:
990:
979:
974:
966:
959:
951:
947:
940:
933:
928:
922:
914:
905:
896:
887:
878:
869:
860:
851:
842:
833:
831:
821:
806:
802:
796:
781:
777:
771:
762:
747:
743:
737:
730:
725:
723:
721:
712:
710:9780062277220
706:
702:
701:HarperCollins
697:
696:
687:
685:
683:
675:
671:
668:
663:
661:
659:
649:
640:
631:
629:
627:
625:
623:
614:
610:
603:
594:
592:
576:
572:
566:
564:
562:
557:
547:
543:
540:
538:
534:
531:
529:
525:
523:
519:
516:
514:
510:
508:
504:
502:
498:
495:
491:
488:
486:
482:
479:
478:
474:Major results
471:
468:
463:
461:
451:
448:
444:
439:
437:
432:
430:
426:
425:Cycle of Lies
422:
418:
414:
413:Jean Delatour
409:
400:
397:
392:
390:
382:
378:
374:
370:
369:
368:
361:
360:
359:
356:
352:
347:
342:
341:
335:
333:
329:
325:
317:
313:
309:
305:
304:
303:
301:
300:
294:
292:
288:
284:
283:
278:
268:
266:
262:
258:
253:
251:
243:
239:
238:
237:
235:
234:
228:
226:
222:
218:
217:
212:
208:
198:
196:
192:
188:
184:
180:
170:
168:
164:
160:
151:
148:
147:Jean Delatour
145:
141:
138:
135:
131:
128:
127:FestinaâLotus
125:
121:
117:
113:
108:
104:
100:
96:
92:
88:
84:
79:
75:
71:
67:
63:
59:
54:(age 50)
44:
40:
36:
32:
27:
19:
973:
958:
952:(in French).
949:
939:
927:
913:
904:
895:
886:
877:
868:
859:
850:
841:
820:
808:. Retrieved
804:
795:
783:. Retrieved
779:
770:
761:
749:. Retrieved
745:
736:
694:
648:
639:
612:
602:
578:. Retrieved
574:
544:9th Overall
520:1st Stage 7
499:4th Overall
466:
464:
459:
457:
440:
433:
429:Juliet Macur
424:
420:
410:
406:
393:
386:
380:
366:
348:
344:
339:
337:
321:
297:
295:
286:
280:
274:
254:
249:
247:
231:
229:
214:
204:
176:
158:
157:
52:10 June 1974
18:
1081:1974 births
1047:at MTB Data
918:(in French)
746:humanite.fr
381:non partant
328:Alpe d'Huez
282:Le Parisien
221:Armin Meier
216:France Soir
1070:Categories
950:lemonde.fr
553:References
494:Time trial
377:Sestrieres
351:St-Ătienne
324:Sestrieres
299:Procycling
191:time-trial
94:Discipline
48:1974-06-10
421:Bicycling
287:Bicycling
271:1999 Tour
143:2000â2001
123:1996â1998
118:Force Sud
670:Archived
467:Guardian
233:L'Ăquipe
60:, France
460:Positif
308:peloton
195:Festina
179:Mazamet
173:Origins
89:Retired
58:Mazamet
810:18 May
785:18 May
751:18 May
707:
580:18 May
316:cancer
167:doping
73:Weight
65:Height
511:10th
443:USADA
312:Blois
257:franc
105:Rider
812:2018
787:2018
753:2018
705:ISBN
582:2018
541:2001
535:3rd
532:2000
526:3rd
517:1999
505:5th
492:3rd
489:1998
483:7th
480:1996
279:for
250:VĂ©lo
223:and
183:Tarn
133:1999
115:1996
102:Role
97:Road
42:Born
373:FFC
326:to
242:EPO
1072::
948:.
829:^
803:.
778:.
744:.
719:^
703:.
699:.
681:^
657:^
621:^
611:.
590:^
573:.
560:^
427:,
302::
236::
50:)
814:.
789:.
755:.
713:.
615:.
584:.
46:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.