Rick Crawford confesses to aiding doping riders

Submitted by David on

From VeloNews

Rick Crawford confesses to aiding doping riders

BOULDER, Colorado (VN) — Cycling coach Rick Crawford, an elite-level coach and collegiate cycling director, has admitted to doping two riders, one of which was Levi Leipheimer, between 1999 and 2001.

Former professional cyclist Scott Mercier is set to take the helm of the Colorado Mesa University cycling program after Crawford admitted his involvement in the doping activities to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Crawford will stay on as head coach at CMU.

“Rick came to us before he approached USADA. He was placed on temporary suspension while we conducted an internal investigation,” said university president Tim Foster. “No drug-related infractions were found. In fact, Rick has been educating our student-athletes on the importance of clean, drug-free competition.”

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9 Comments

Another fine day for Colorado

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Another fine day for Colorado Cycling. Durango's own Rick (Mr. central nervous system training)Crawford admits to doping two of his athletes.

Well gee whiz, isn't this the same Rick Crawford that convicted Colorado Dope Cheat Todd Robertson was trained by? You bet!

See this thread on 303. Too bad Ricky and Toddy removed the Q&A with Todd from the internet, but it talked about how Toddy trained with Crawford when he started making those huge improvements in this time trialing.

http://303cycling.com/2012-Todd-Robertson-15-Month-Suspension#comment-7290

Isn't this the same Rick Crawford that trained convicted Colorado dope cheat Tom Danielson while he was a collegiate mountain bike racer at Ft. Lewis College. Hell yeah. He also trained Durango and Boulder's own Tommy D. when he was a young neo-pro tearing up the circuit.

Let's not even get into the Lance Armstrong stuff with Crawford . . .

All I can say is that this idiot Crawford has a WHOLE LOT more confessing to do. He tries to come off as all honorable by saying that the time was right for him to confess. Bullcrap! He was fingered by Leipheimer and probably by Papp. See Leipheimer's testimony from the Armstrong reasoned decision:

http://d3epuodzu3wuis.cloudfront.net/Leipheimer%2c+Levi%2c+Affidavit.pdf

See statement number 24. Crawford is the (Other #7) person who Leipheimer testified sold him EPO in 1999, 2000 and 2001 while he was on the Saturn team. Now refresh my memory, was Danielson on that team and coached by Crawford too?

Sometimes I wonder where all these losers come from?

His connection to doping as

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

His connection to doping as been known for years. People connected the dots a long time ago. His confession is simply so he can sleep better. Funny to me how all these dopers and drug dealers all of a sudden want to help change the sport when they are forced to confess or because they just want to sleep better. Do us all a favor and just leave the sport.

I don't think that there is

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

I don't think that there is any doubt that Rick Crawford has been heavily involved in doping (both pros and amateurs) for quite some time. His "confession" is undoubtedly incomplete. Here is what long time racer Steve Tilford has to say about Crawford and his doping connections:

http://stevetilford.com/?p=23079?dougreport.com

It is strange that Colorado Mesa University keeps him around and gives him a vote of confidence.

As for the Colorado Amateur racer, Todd Robertson, who was a client of Crawford and was sanctioned for EPO in 2011, that sure seems to be some pretty strong circumstantial evidence that Crawford is still involved with helping his clients push their physiological limits to the max.