The following is an incomplete list of doping cases and recurring accusations of doping in professional cycling, where doping means "use of physiological substances or abnormal method to obtain an artificial increase of performance." It is neither a list of shame nor a list of illegality, as the first laws were not passed until 1965 and their implementation is an ongoing developing process. Thus the list contains doping incidents, those who have tested positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs, prohibited recreational drugs or have been suspended by a sports governing body for failure to submit to mandatory drug testing. It also contains and clarifies cases where subsequent evidence and explanation has shown the parties to be innocent of illegal practice. In 1963, the Council of Europe gave the following definition of doping:
"Doping is the administration to a normal subject in any possible way of a foreign agent or abnormal quantities of physiological substances with the sole purpose of increasing artificially and in an unfair manner the performance of the subject participating in a contest." The International Olympic Committee slightly modified this, and adopted this definition:
"The administration of or use by a competing athlete of any substance foreign to the body or any physiologic substance taken in abnormal quantity or taken by an abnormal route of entry into the body with the sole intention of increasing in an artificial and unfair manner his/her performance in competition. When necessity demands medical treatment with any substance which, because of its nature, dosage, or application is able to boost the athlete's performance in competition in an artificial and unfair manner, this too is regarded as doping."
1880s
1886 In 1886, a Welsh cyclist is popularly reputed to have died after drinking a blend of cocaine, caffeine and strychnine, supposedly in the Bordeaux–Paris race. This was included in the 1997 International Olympic Committee study on the Historical Evolution of Doping Phenomenon, and listed as the presumed first death due to doping during a competition. The report did allow that in this period it was common practice, and not illegal. This is alternatively reported as 'trimethyl" poisoning (a compound which does not actually exist). However, the main Bordeaux–Paris race did not start until 1891, and the cyclist who supposedly died in 1886, Arthur Linton, actually finished second in 1896 and died a few weeks later, reportedly from a combination of drug-induced exhaustion and typhoid fever. Linton was managed by the notorious Choppy Warburton - see 1896 below. The story may be apocryphal.
1890s
1896 Arthur Linton from Aberdare in Wales died aged 24 of 'exhaustion and typhoid fever' a few weeks after finishing second in the Bordeaux–Paris race and a race at Catford. Linton was managed by the notorious Choppy Warburton, whose success was questioned, with claims that he drugged his charges. Jimmy Michael is said to have accused Warburton of poisoning him, before he was taken to court for libel. Rudiger Rabenstein claims that Arthur Linton was "massively doped" for the 1896 Bordeaux–Paris. The British and French cycling union announced that Michael would be banned, even though there was no rule at that time against doping. In the end, Michael was not banned, but he left to ride in the United States. Nitroglycerine was used to stimulate the heart after cardiac attacks and was credited with improving riders' breathing. Riders suffered hallucinations from the exhaustion and perhaps the drugs. The American champion Major Taylor refused to continue a New York race, saying: "I cannot go on with safety, for there is a man chasing me around the ring with a knife in his hand."
1897 Choppy Warburton of Haslingden, England died aged 52. He was described by the Lancashire Family History Society: "Choppy has been firmly identified as the instigator of drug-taking in the sport [cycling] in the 19th century." Warburton was banned from the sport after unproven claims of massive doping in the 1896 Bordeaux–Paris. His activities may have contributed to the early deaths of Arthur Linton, Tom Linton and Jimmy Michael.
1900s
1904 Jimmy Michael of Wales, world cycling champion, died aged 27, en voyage to New York City. The cause of death was noted as delirium tremens, probably brought on by drinking. Michael was managed by Choppy Warburton. Michael was reported to have taken a potion and within a few laps collapsed on the track, picked himself up and then in a daze, set off in the wrong direction. Michael is said to have accused Warburton of "poisoning him", before he was taken to court for libel.
1910s
1911 Paul Duboc of France was doped or poisoned during the Tour de France. He was favourite but collapsed in a ditch in the Pyrenees after drinking from a spiked or poisoned bottle, allegedly given by a rival team manager. He finished in second place.
1920s
1924
Henri Pélissier, Francis Pélissier, and Charles Pélissier of France – In 1924, following their abandoning of the Tour de France, the first real drug scandal arose when the Pélissier brothers gave an extraordinary interview to journalist Albert Londres. They said that they used strychnine, cocaine, chloroform, aspirin, "horse ointment" and other drugs to keep going. The story was published in Le Petit Parisien under the title "Les Forçats de la Route" ('The Convicts of the Road'). Francis is reported as saying "In short, we run on dynamite." Henri is reported as saying "Do you know how we keep going? Look, this is cocaine, chloroform, too. And pills? You want to see pills? Here are three boxes - We run on dynamite." Francis Pélissier said much later: "Londres was a famous reporter but he didn't know about cycling. We kidded him a bit with our cocaine and our pills." Even so, the Tour de France in 1924 was no picnic. See Doping at the Tour de France - The Convicts of the Road.
1930s
1930 The acceptance of drug-taking in the Tour de France was so complete by 1930 that the rule book, distributed by Henri Desgrange, reminded riders that drugs would not be provided by the organisers.
1940s
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