Pro Wanker Interview

The title alone makes it an interesting read.

"In the mind of the public, doping is a dirty thing. We assign blame, claim righteous indignation and experience a visceral rejection to the cheating of our idols. So when our stars start to fall, we find pleasure in accelerating their descent.

Meanwhile, to the developing world―where conditions promote doping and ethical muddles―we show indifference. Viewing cycling, the sporting public sees doping as a test of morals rather than economic necessity.

And every year, another rider from a disadvantaged background emerges and shocks the world with his performance. For weeks, we are stunned by the talent. In the underdog, we have found a new idol..."

Click here for the complete, exclusive interview. 

Blazin' Saddles - Eurosport interview - Zen Machine Films Documentary

Thanks to Blazin' Saddles for the chance to speak to his legions of loyal and passionate cycling fans via Yahoo!/Eurosport today. Being interviewed by B.S. ranks right next to being referenced in As the Toto Turns on the personal cool factor, and I genuinely do feel honored to have been featured in the Yahoo!-Eurosport world.

If you're a Twittering-type, you can follow Saddles on www.twitter.com/saddleblaze  as well as me at www.twitter.com/joepabike.

And now is probably as good a time as any for me to let you know that Phil Anderson and I collaborated on a short documentary that can be viewed online through Vimeo. It's been described as "brutal, honest and thought provoking particularly in the wake of landis' admissions and allegations" - but I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it yet! I feel uncomfortable seeing myself on camera for more than a few minutes, but I'll crack some day and will screen it. No need for you to wait, though! Here it is:


Joe Papp Interview from Phil Anderson on Vimeo.

"Exclusive interview with former professional bike racer, Joe Papp who raced on the international circuit winning many races before testing positive for doping in 2006 and ultimately admitting his guilt. In this interview he talks about his upbringing, getting into racing, and doping, testifying at Floyd Landis hearing, and a stunning revelation about his personal life."

Jobst Brandt - Interview

By now you already realize that not every post at Pappillon is an original work or independent commentary on the cycling news of the day. Sometimes we just like to pass along links to the work of others that we've found to be fascinating, such as this multi-part interview with Jobst Brandt, conducted by Cozy Beehive. Read and enjoy!

 Image (c) / sourced here

Doping (is) for Dummies with Joe Papp - Asian Edition

From Asia comes this reinterpretation of my anti-doping BikePure message, penned by Lin Ruobai. I'm privileged to be able to share my story as a warning to other athletes and policy makers who might not realize the danger posed by doping in sports, and hope that others can avoid the terrible path I mistakenly followed.

I appreciate the support I've received from those who realize that I love cycling - even though I took decisions that harmed the sport and made it impossible for me to continue there as a rider.Heck, I even loved being in Asia to race my bike, regardless of having to eat pickled chicken's head (true story)!

Cycling Inquisition - Latin America

Recently published is this interview I gave to Cycling Inquisition, which primarily focuses on my experiences racing in Latin America. Thanks to Lucho for the opportunity to share some great memories with his readers. Excerpt below.

"Joe Papp is known by many for having been a key witness in the Floyd Landis USADA arbitration hearing. Papp was called on during that hearing because of his experience with taking testosterone as a cyclist. While that portion of Papp's career is of great interest to some, I think it's been well documented already (see here and here). As such, I felt that there were other things that I'd rather ask him about. Plus, as I've stated before, the subject of doping is not of great interest to me, particularly when more important topics like De Vlaeminck's hair plugs can be discussed. As a matter of fact, I can tell you that my mental list of things I'd rather not do reads like this:

1. I don't want to discuss doping, it's more boring than listening to Sean Kelly do race commentary

2. I don't want to split my scrotum in half while trying to hop over a parking meter, I suspect it would be more painful than listening to Sean Kelly do race commentary

3. I don't want to sniff Sean Kelly's freshly used chamois, because I fear that it will actually be more pleasant and exciting than listening to him do race commentary.

Even if we put my list aside for a second, I feel that the mere mention of doping seems to bring out the uninformed, as well as the (seemingly over-informed) conspiracy theorists. You see, my interest in Papp's career is based on his ample experience racing in Latin America, which I find to be highly unusual for an American cyclist. After all, how many American cyclists can say they've been to Cuba, let alone raced the Vuelta A Cuba five times? Although I'm Colombian, I know little about the inner workings of races in South America, and I imagine that few people in the English speaking world do. Joe is certainly unusual in that respect, and I thought others would enjoy his insights and observations. Some of you may think that interviewing Joe and not asking him lots of questions about doping would be like:

Interviewing Michael Jordan and not asking him about basketball, or

Interviewing the singer from the Crash Test Dummies and not asking him about their groundbreaking and inspirational hit "Mmm, Mmm, Mmm" , or

Interviewing Miguel Indurain and not asking him about his Muppet-like unibrow.

If that's your opinion, you're entitled to it...but you're also wrong. Because I said so.

Also of interest to me, I must admit, are Joe's efforts to be reunited with his Cuban wife (who is also a cyclist). It's a complicated subject, since politics, travel restrictions and general international craziness are a huge factor in any dealing with Cuba and Cuban citizens. Having lived in southern Florida around plenty of Cubans, I can tell you that prior to September 11, Cubans were perhaps the only people in the world who had a harder time traveling than us Colombians. For us, getting a visa in order to take a vacation in the US (or pretty much any other country) could take up to a year, and that's if you got approved. Few ever did. Cubans had it worse, and they never even stood a chance, and still don't.

So, in my attempt to continuously shed some light on the subject of Latin American cycling, I contacted Joe to ask him a few questions. I'd like to thank him for agreeing to do the interview."

Read the complete interview here.

Cycling Heroes - Interviews

Stumbled upon this site yesterday - some of the interviews make for good reading.






Just a few of them:

• Oscar Sevilla: "The Vuelta a Colombia was inspiring and a great morale booster for us."
  
  
• Clément L'hotellerie: "Next season I want to go to a bigger team."
  
  
• Robbie McEwen: "I like it when its a little more disorganised."
  
  
• Jonny Clarke about ToC: "Of course the young riders jersey is in the back of my mind."
  
  
• Rabobank's old school domestique Jan Boven with 'honorary job' in final year
  
  
• Mitsubishi's Stefan van Dijk: "I race to win."
  
  
• Ivan Dominguez: "I was so happy after I had won those races."
  
  
• Arjen de Baat: "Sometimes I am a difficult guy."
  
  
• Jan Ullrich: "I don't think justice has been done."
  
  
• Frank Vandenbroucke: "I just want to be a rider again."
  

Speaking of Vandenbroucke, here is a great clip of him wreaking havoc (on the bike, not in the club) in the '99 Vuelta. For those who don't understand Spanish, the title is "The Carnage of Vandenbroucke in Navalmoral".