Paul Kimmage has hit out at Sean Kelly over comments he made about his own positive dope tests during his career and his comments about the doping situation in the sport after Lance Armstrong's downfall.
By Jessica Lamb
Paul Kimmage has voiced his criticism at the manner in which Sean Kelly explained his positive doping tests during a radio interview last week.
Speaking to presenter Ray d'Arcy on RTE Radio 1, Kelly said that he took the codeine found in his system at the Tour of the Basque Country in 1988 'by mistake' and that 'you can take it as being a positive but as a performance enhancer, it’s not'.
Kelly also expressed confidence in dual Tour de France winner Chris Froome, saying he'd put 'my life on it' that the Team Sky rider is clean.
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He added: "I think with Lance Armstrong, when he started out there was . . . as time went on there was a bit of doubt and that gathered momentum until the end when he finally put up his hand.
"Now I think people are more experienced."
Paul Kimmage has been critical in the past of the way former friend Stephen Roche reacted to his seminal exposé 'Rough Ride'. But he says Sean Kelly, above centre, never reacted at all.
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Kimmage was angered by the finality in Kelly's tone and the suggestion in the Eurosport commentator's interview that doping is no longer a major issue within cycling.
"Conclusion?" Kimmage rhetorically asks in his Sunday Independent column, run under the headline 'In Sean Kelly's world, the real dirty stuff started and ended with Lance Armstrong'.
"His two positive tests weren't really that positive; the real dirty stuff started and ended with Lance. And that's been bugging me."
Kimmage went on to highlight Kelly's previous silence on the matter, even when compared with peers like Stephen Roche.
"Kelly didn't react at all... when [Kimmage's book] Rough Ride was published, not when he was questioned by a former soigneur, and not when Lance Armstrong was winning his seven Tours. But lately he has been more vocal.
"I listened to Kelly stick it to Lance and resolved not to react. And that was wrong. I was wrong.
"On Monday, a 27-year-old Irish amateur, Ciaran Kelly, was banned for four years after testing positive for Clenbuterol in April 2014.
"Was the source, as he insisted, contaminated meat? Or a habit he'd picked up during his time spent racing in Belgium as an aspiring pro?”
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