海角大神

A US cycling team that debuted five years ago with the lofty goal of transforming cycling's doping culture is taking the 2011 Tour de France by storm.

Team Garmin-Cerv茅lo won its first-ever stage victory on Sunday, repeated the feat Monday, and is currently No. 1 in the team standings while squad member Thor Hushovd is the overall individual winner so far.

There is little doubt that its riders are clean: the squad has pioneered a rigorous system of drug testing that goes far beyond the mandatory tests imposed by cycling officials. Since the team went pro in 2007, not a single rider has tested positive.

鈥淚 am confident that clean riders can win big races,鈥� said team director Jonathan Vaughters after Garmin cyclist Tyler Farrar won Stage 3 on Monday. 鈥淭he proof is in the pudding. We鈥檝e showed [it's possible.]"

Indeed, in the post-Lance Armstrong era, Garmin-Cerv茅lo is emerging as a new sort of American champion 鈥� one that can win at cycling's marquee event without the cloud of doping doubts that has hovered over everyone from seven-time Tour victor Armstrong to this year's favorite, Spaniard Alberto Contador.

Garmin's rigorous drug-testing program

Garmin's success, particularly its unprecedented win on Sunday, is also a landmark moment for Vaughters, a former teammate of Armstrong and an outspoken opponent of doping.

His Garmin squad is one of the few teams in the professional peloton that鈥檚 openly committed to an 鈥渁nti-doping鈥� policy.

Throughout the season, Garmin riders are subjected to independent drug controls run by Dr. Don Catlin, a pioneer of anti-doping tests. (HTC-Highroad, a rival American squad, also uses Catlin鈥檚 lab.)

These tests are a supplement to the official controls administered by race officials and the UCI, professional cycling鈥檚 governing body.

In addition, the team has riders sign a contract that stipulates, among other things, that they won鈥檛 use needles or take infusions of any kind.

Originally, Vaughters鈥� team was focused on youth training. After retiring from a nine-year racing career in 2003, including a stint with Armstrong鈥檚 US Postal Squad, the Denver native took $50,000 of his own money and started Slipstream Sports, a venture aimed at cultivating young American riders.

Two years later, he was approached by Doug Ellis, a New York businessman who wanted to start an American ProTour team. By 2008, the squad had become Garmin-Chipotle, partnering with the GPS makers and the Mexican grill restaurant chain, and was racing in the Tour de France.

A Tour stage win proved to be elusive for the team, though it came close at times: Before Sunday鈥檚 win, the team had recorded 17 second or third place finishes in the Tour.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get that monkey off our backs,鈥� Vaughters said last week at the team鈥檚 pre-race press conference, referring to the lack of stage wins.

This year, the team includes US standouts Farrar, a Washington state native, 海角大神 Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, and Tom Danielson. After picking up some riders during the off-season from the now defunct Cerv茅lo Test Team, including Thor Hushovd, the wins have come in droves.

鈥淭hese things take time though, you can鈥檛 go around and win overnight,鈥� says veteran Julian Dean, a New Zealander who鈥檚 been with the team since its inception and rode with Vaughters on US Postal in the late 鈥�90s as a youngster. 鈥淲e鈥檝e built a team over the years and now it鈥檚 successful.鈥�

Brash doping talk ruffles feathers, particularly with Contador riding

Brash, outspoken, and often professorial (with tweedy blazers to match), Vaughters has always been eager to promote his team鈥檚 anti-doping efforts.

鈥淚 talk about [doping] because this team has taken a very public stance and we need to stand by that,鈥� he said after Monday鈥檚 race. 鈥淭o be quiet about it is not correct.鈥�

Vaughters鈥� frank talk continues to ruffle some feathers in the peloton, though he is not an outcast; this fall, he was re-elected president of pro cycling鈥檚 team association, the AIGCP.

鈥淭here are two distinct schools 鈥� the ones who say let's continue to discuss doping and the other is let鈥檚 race clean, but talk about bike racing,鈥� says Ben Delaney, editor-in-chief of VeloNews, an American cycling magazine. 鈥淚 think some of the latter group feel miffed that Vaughters has to point out that he鈥檚 won clean and think, 鈥業s that insinuating that everyone else isn鈥檛?' "

His typically sharp statements have become especially pointed this year with Spain鈥檚 Alberto Contador, the three-time Tour winner and defending champion, riding in the race despite testing positive for the banned drug clenbuterol during the 2010 edition.

Indeed, Contador鈥檚 travails 鈥� along with the US federal investigation of Lance Armstrong鈥檚 alleged doping 鈥� continue to cast a dark shadow over pro cycling, despite Garmin-Cerv茅lo鈥檚 success this week.

An article published Tuesday morning in the French newspaper Le Monde reminded fans that, in the last 15 years, just 12 of the 68 podium finishers in cycling鈥檚 three Grand Tours haven鈥檛 been involved in doping scandal.

'A constant war'

Doping and bike riding have been constant companions for almost a century.

In the 1920s, riders fueled up with pot belge, a nasty m茅lange of heroin, cocaine, and other drugs. In the 1950s and 60s, amphetamines ruled 鈥� Italy鈥檚 Fausto Coppi, twice a Tour de France champion, famously said that he only took amphetamines when necessary, which he said was all the time.

Even Vaughters told Le Figaro that he was 鈥減art of the doped generation鈥� of riders. When asked this week about whether he had ever doped, Vaughters mentioned "past mistakes" but declined to elaborate.

Instead, he preferred to look to the future 鈥� and his team鈥檚 continued fight against doping.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a constant war,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to keep on it.鈥�