- Geneviève Jeanson
Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Geneviève Jeanson
image_caption = Jeanson at the 2002Women's Challenge
fullname = Geneviève Jeanson
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|8|29
country = NED
height =
weight =
currentteam =
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype =
amateuryears =
amateurteams =
proyears =
proteams =
majorwins =
medaltemplates =
updated = September 7, 2008Geneviève Jeanson (born on August 29, 1981 in
Lachine, Quebec ) is a former professional bicycle racer fromQuebec ,Canada . One of the more colourful, charismatic and controversial cyclists, she won the World Junior Road Race and Time Trial championships in 1999 before bursting onto the women's racing scene in 2000 with a win in the category 1 Tour de Snowy, followed later that Spring by a victory inLa Flèche Wallonne World Cup race. These results led to her qualifying for the Canadian Olympic team that same year. After years of denial, in an investigative documentary broadcast on Radio-Canada (the French-language CBC) onSeptember 20 ,2007 , Jeanson acknowledged having taken EPO more or less continuously since age 16. [cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2007/09/20/jeanson-doping.html |title=Canadian cyclist Jeanson admits to doping |accessdate=2007-09-20 |work=CBC ]She now resides in
Phoenix, Arizona .2000 Olympic selection
Controversy dogged Jeanson for her entire cycling career. Leading up to the Olympics in 2000, Jeanson was accused of seeking special treatment in the selection process by requesting an exception to the rules for Olympic selection which had been previously adopted by the
Canadian Cycling Association .For her part, Jeanson based her complaint on the fact that the selection procedure took into account cumulative results for the years 1999 and 2000 and, in her case, since she had been racing at the junior level in 1999, she was unable to achieve results from that year which would count towards Olympic selection.
In the end, an agreement was reached between Jeanson and the Canadian Cycling Federation whereby Jeanson would be enabled to qualify for the Olympic selection race based on her performance in certain pre-selected races. Specifically, she would be required to finish in the top eight of any two of the five pre-selected races. [cite web |url=http://www.canoe.ca/2000GamesJeanson/jeanson_99dec15.html |title=Jeanson gets shot at Olympic team |accessdate=2007-09-20 |work=Canoe]
This she did by winning the
Tour de Snowy stage race and La Flèche Wallonne World Cup. Then, in July 1999, she qualified for the 2000 Olympic team by finishing ahead of the other selection candidates in the Canadian Championships.2000 Olympics
Controversy followed Jeanson to the Olympics. In the latter stages of the road race, her Canadian teammate
Lyne Bessette was in a break which gapped the main peloton. Jeanson's detractors maintained that Jeanson, acting on instructions from her equally controversial coach,Andre Aubut , helped chase down the break and thus deny her own teammate an opportunity to win a medal.In response, Jeanson's defenders maintained that Jeanson had only ridden near the front, as would be expected of a teammate attempting to break up the chase, and only moved forward to close the final small gap when the break had already been effectively absorbed.
2001 racing
In 2001, Jeanson continued her eye-popping victories. At Redlands, she won four out of five stages, winning the overall GC by nearly 10 minutes, an unprecedented margin. Then, at the Tour of the Gila in early May, she again won four out of five stages in addition to the GC, this time by an unprecedented margin of nearly 15 minutes. On some stages in these events, she broke away early in the race and rode solo the rest of the way for the victory. Then, in early June, she won the
Montreal World Cup , lapping most of the field and winning with a margin of more than seven minutes over the second place finisher.Hematocrit (HC) level
In late 2003, while with the Canadian National Team preparing for the World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, it was announced that Jeanson had recorded a
hematocrit level (this is a measure of the number of red blood cells in the blood) in excess of the allowable limit and would therefore be required to withdraw from competition for two weeks. This meant that she would be unable to take part in the World Championships that year.Jeanson explained the finding by reference to an oxygen tent which she used as part of her conditioning and training program. Subsequent doping tests had come back negative (no banned substances detected).
2005 Tour de 'Toona
On
25 July ,2005 , at the Tour de 'Toona stage race in Pennsylvania, Jeanson stated she was subjected to an out of competition (OOC) doping test. According to Jeanson months later, she stated the sample had tested positive forerythropoietin (EPO), a banned substance.Jeanson denied ever having taken EPO or any banned substance, but nevertheless, in January 2006, she announced her retirement from cycling.
On
November 28 ,2006 , theUnited States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced that it had adjudicated the case of Jeanson and that she had accepted a 2-year suspension from professional cycling effectiveJuly 25 ,2005 (the date her positive sample was taken).In an exclusive interview on Cyclingnews.com by
Matthew Hansen onDecember 20 ,2006 , Jeanson revealed that although she would be permitted to return to racing mid-July 2007, she "won't race ever again." Jeanson added that she has "changed so much this past year that I have a hard time imagining who I was before."On
September 20 2007 Jeanson admitted to doping during her career since the age of 15. She claims to have been influenced by her long-time coach André Aubut to use doping from early on.Palmares
2006
* Under suspension (see above - "2005 Tour de 'Toona")2005
*UCI Points list - 29th place
*International Tour de Toona - 1st place GC
*flagicon|CAN Canadian Road Race Championships - 1st place
*Le Tour du Montreal (cat. 1) - 5th place GC
*Montreal (Can) World Cup - 1st place2004
*UCI Points list - 35th place
*International Tour de Toona - stage victory
*Montreal (Can) World Cup - 1st place
*Redlands Bicycle Classic (cat. 2) - 2nd place GC, 2 stage victories2003
*UCI Points list - 16th place
*International Tour de Toona - 2nd place GC, 2 stage victories
*World Time Trial Championships - 5th place
*Le Tour du Montreal (cat. 1) - 5th place GC, stage victory
*Montreal (Can) World Cup - 1st place
*Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb - 1st place (female); 3rd place (overall)2002
*UCI Points list - 27th place
*Canadian Time Trial Championships - 1st place
*Women's Challenge (cat. 1) - 2nd place GC, Points jersey, Mountains jersey, stage victory
*Le Tour du Montréal (cat. 2) - 7th place GC, stage victory
*Montréal (Can) World Cup - 3rd place
*Tour of the Gila - 1st place GC, 4 stage victories
*Sea Otter Classic - 6th place GC, stage victory
*Redlands Bicycle Classic - 2nd place GC, Mountains jersey, stage victory
*Valley of the Sun Stage Race - 1st place GC, stage victory
*Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb - 1st place (female); 3rd place (overall)2001
*UCI Points List - 24th place
*GP Féminin International du Canada (2.9.2)
**Stage 3 (Richford to Lac Brome) - 2nd place
*Tour de 'Toona
**Final General Classification - 1st place
**Stage 1 (Time Trial) - 1st place
**Stage 2 - 3rd place
**Stage 4 (Martinsburg Circuit Race) - 2nd place
**Stage 5 (Jaffa Mosque Road Race) - 1st place
**Stage 6 - 2nd place**Canadian Road Cycling Championships
**Time Trial - 2nd place
**Road Race - 3rd place*
Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic
**Final General Classification - 2nd place
**Stage 1 (Time Trial) - 2nd place
**Stage 2 (Circuit Race) - 1st place
**Stage 3 (Road Race) - 1st place
**Stage 4 (Criterium) - 3rd place*
Montréal (Can) World Cup - 1st place*
Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb - 1st place (female); 3rd place (overall)*Tour of the Gila
**Final general classification - 1st place
**Stage 1 (Tyrone Time Trial, 15.7 miles) - 1st place
**Stage 2 (Silver City to Mogollan Road Race) - 1st place
**Stage 3 (Inner Loop Road Race) - 1st place
**Stage 4 (Downtown Silver City Criterium) - 5th place
**Stage 5 (Gila Monster Road Race) - 1st place*Redlands Bicycle Classic (2.9.2)
**Final general classification - 1st place
**Mountains classification - 1st place
**Stage 1 (Mt. Rubidoux Time Trial - 5 km) - 1st place
**Stage 2 (Highland Road Race - 120 km) - 2nd place
**Stage 3 (Sun Time Trial - 17.3 km) - 1st place
**Stage 4 (Saturn Road Race - 130 km) - 1st place
**Stage 6 (Sunset Road Race - 99.5 km) - 1st place*Valley of the Sun Stage Race
**Final Overall GC - 1st place
**Stage 1 (Trek Time Trial, 12.4 miles) - 1st place
**Stage 2 (Landis Cyclery Road Race) - 1st place2000
*Olympic Games (Sydney, Aus)
**Road Race - 11th place
*Mt. Washington Hill Climb - 2nd place
*Canadian Road Cycling Championships
**Time Trial - 2nd place
*La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (Bel) World Cup - 1st place
*Tour de Snowy
**Final Overall GC - 1st place
**Won Mountain Jersey
**Stage 3 (Talbingo Time Trial) - 5th place
**Stage 4 (Khancoben to Cabramurra) - 1st place
**Stage 6 (Jindabyne to Thredbo) - 2nd place1999
*World Junior Cycling Championships
**Road Race - 1st place
**Time Trial - 1st place
*Killington Stage Race - 1st place GC, stage victory
*Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb - 1st place (female course record); 8th (overall)
*Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic - 2nd place GC
**flagicon|CAN Canadian Road Cycling Championships
**Junior Women Time Trial - 1st place
**Junior Women Road Race - 1st place1998
*World Junior Time Trial Championships - 3rd place
**flagicon|CAN Canadian Road Cycling Championships
**Junior Women Time Trial - 1st place
**Junior Women Road Race - 1st placePhoto Gallery
References
ee also
*
List of doping cases in cycling
*List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences External links
* [http://veloptimum.net/GenevieveJeanson.html A fan site in French.]
* [http://www.canoe.ca/2000GamesBiosA2M/jeanson.html Terse biography on Canoe]
* [http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2003/interviews/?id=genevieve_jeanson03 Interview on Cycling News]
* [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1137711019157&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064 Toronto Star article on Jeanson lifetime suspension]
* [http://www.lapresse.com/jeanson La Presse article on Jeanson's lifetime suspension] (in French)
* [http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2668 USADA announces 2-year suspension November 28, 2006]
* [http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/11252.0.html Velo News article on USADA action in re Jeanson]
* [http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2006/interviews/?id=genevieve_jeanson Cyclingnews article by Matthew Hansen where Jeanson announces she will never return to cycling]
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