Geneviève Jeanson
Encyclopedia
Geneviève Jeanson is a former professional bicycle racer
from Quebec
, Canada
. She won the world junior road and time trial championships in 1999 and the Tour de Snowy in 2000. Later that year she won La Flèche Wallonne
World Cup race. She joined the Canadian Olympic team that year. She acknowledged in a documentary on Radio-Canada
(the French-language CBC
) on September 20, 2007, that she had taken EPO
more or less continuously since 16.
She now resides in Phoenix, Arizona
.
in 2000, she was accused of seeking special treatment by wanting an exemption from Olympic selection rules adopted by the Canadian Cycling Association
. She said the procedure considered cumulative results for 1999 and 2000 but that she had raced as a junior in 1999 and could not achieve the results needed for selection. She and the Canadian Cycling Federation agreed that she would qualify for the Olympic selection race if she could finish in the top eight of two of five selected races. This she did by winning the Tour de Snowy
and La Flèche Wallonne. Then, in July 2000, she qualified by finishing ahead of the other candidates in the Canadian Road Cycling Championship.
was in a break. Jeanson's detractors maintain that, on instructions from her coach, André Aubut, Jeanson helped chase the break and denied her teammate an opportunity to win a medal. Jeanson's defenders said she had ridden near the front as expected of a teammate trying to break the chase, and moved forward only to close a small gap when the break was almost caught.
level (a measure of red cells in the blood) above the limit and was not allowed to race for two weeks. She missed the championships.
Jeanson blamed the finding on an oxygen tent used as part of her training. Subsequent doping tests were negative.
, a banned substance. She denied taking a banned substance but in January 2006 she announced her retirement. On November 28, 2006, the United States Anti-Doping Agency
said she had accepted a two-year suspension from 25 July 2005, the day her sample was taken.
In an interview on Cyclingnews.com on 20 December 2006, Jeanson said that although she could race again from mid-July 2007, she "won't race ever again." She said she had "changed so much this past year that I have a hard time imagining who I was before.". She finally admitted to doping to a French CBC journalist. She is currently residing in Phoenix, Arizona
and is not planning on a return to professional cycling.
} Canadian Road Cycling Championships
1999
} Canadian Road Cycling Championships
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Bicycle racing
Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...
from Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. She won the world junior road and time trial championships in 1999 and the Tour de Snowy in 2000. Later that year she won La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne is a major men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Belgium.The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège...
World Cup race. She joined the Canadian Olympic team that year. She acknowledged in a documentary on Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...
(the French-language CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
) on September 20, 2007, that she had taken EPO
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
more or less continuously since 16.
She now resides in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.
2000 Olympic selection
Controversy dogged Jeanson throughout her career. Before the OlympicsOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in 2000, she was accused of seeking special treatment by wanting an exemption from Olympic selection rules adopted by the Canadian Cycling Association
Canadian Cycling Association
The Canadian Cycling Association or CCA is the national governing body of cycle racing in Canada....
. She said the procedure considered cumulative results for 1999 and 2000 but that she had raced as a junior in 1999 and could not achieve the results needed for selection. She and the Canadian Cycling Federation agreed that she would qualify for the Olympic selection race if she could finish in the top eight of two of five selected races. This she did by winning the Tour de Snowy
Tour de Snowy
The Tour de Snowy was an international women's road bicycle race held in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia from 1998 to 2002...
and La Flèche Wallonne. Then, in July 2000, she qualified by finishing ahead of the other candidates in the Canadian Road Cycling Championship.
2000 Olympics
Controversy followed her to the Olympics. Towards the end of the road race, her teammate Lyne BessetteLyne Bessette
Lyne Bessette is a professional bicycle racer from Quebec, Canada. She was a member of the Canadian Olympic team in 2000 and 2004. She won the Tour de l'Aude Feminin in 1999 and 2001 and the Women's Challenge in 2001...
was in a break. Jeanson's detractors maintain that, on instructions from her coach, André Aubut, Jeanson helped chase the break and denied her teammate an opportunity to win a medal. Jeanson's defenders said she had ridden near the front as expected of a teammate trying to break the chase, and moved forward only to close a small gap when the break was almost caught.
2001 racing
In 2001, she won four of five stages at Redlands, winning overall by nearly 10 minutes, an unprecedented margin. Then, at the Tour of the Gila in early May, she won four of five stages and the overall victory, this time by an unprecedented 15 minutes. On some stages she broke away early and rode alone the rest of the way. In early June, she won the Montreal World Cup, lapping most of the field and winning by more than seven minutes.Hematocrit (HC) level
In late 2003, while with the national team preparing for the world championships in Hamilton, Ontario, Jeanson had a hematocritHematocrit
The hematocrit or packed cell volume or erythrocyte volume fraction is the percentage of the concentration of red blood cells in blood. It is normally about 45% for men and 40% for women...
level (a measure of red cells in the blood) above the limit and was not allowed to race for two weeks. She missed the championships.
Jeanson blamed the finding on an oxygen tent used as part of her training. Subsequent doping tests were negative.
2005 Tour de 'Toona
On 25 July 2005, at the Tour de 'Toona stage race in Pennsylvania, Jeanson had an out-of-competition test. Jeanson said months later that she tested positive for EPOErythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
, a banned substance. She denied taking a banned substance but in January 2006 she announced her retirement. On November 28, 2006, the United States Anti-Doping Agency
United States Anti-Doping Agency
The United States Anti-Doping Agency , is a non-profit organization and the national anti-doping organization for the United States. The organization is charged with managing the anti-doping program for the U.S...
said she had accepted a two-year suspension from 25 July 2005, the day her sample was taken.
In an interview on Cyclingnews.com on 20 December 2006, Jeanson said that although she could race again from mid-July 2007, she "won't race ever again." She said she had "changed so much this past year that I have a hard time imagining who I was before.". She finally admitted to doping to a French CBC journalist. She is currently residing in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
and is not planning on a return to professional cycling.
Palmares
1998- World Junior Time Trial Championships - 3rd place
} Canadian Road Cycling Championships
-
- Junior Women Time Trial - 1st place
- Junior Women Road Race - 1st place
1999
- World Junior Cycling Championships
- Road Race - 1st place
- Time Trial - 1st place
- Green Mountain Stage Stage Race - 1st place GC, stage victory
- Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American racing event designed to raise money for Albany, New Hampshire's Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.-Background:...
- 1st place; 8th (overall) - Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic - 2nd place GC
} Canadian Road Cycling Championships
-
- Junior Women Time Trial - 1st place
- Junior Women Road Race - 1st place
2000
- Olympic Games2000 Summer OlympicsThe Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
(Sydney, Aus)- Road Race - 11th place
- Mt. Washington Hill Climb - 2nd place
- Canadian Road Cycling Championships
- Time Trial - 2nd place
- La Flèche Wallonne FéminineLa Flèche Wallonne FéminineLa Flèche Wallonne Féminine began in 1998 as a women's road race was held in conjunction with the men's race. From the following year onwards, the women's La Flèche Wallonne was a UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup event. The women raced the same course, but did one less circuit.-Past...
(Bel) World Cup - 1st place - Tour de SnowyTour de SnowyThe Tour de Snowy was an international women's road bicycle race held in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia from 1998 to 2002...
- 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 place
2001
- UCI Points List - 24th place
- GP Féminin International du Canada (2.9.2)
- Stage 3 (Richford to Lac Brome) - 2nd place
- Tour de 'ToonaInternational Tour de ToonaThe International Tour de Toona is a stage bicycle race held in Central Pennsylvania each July. The International Tour de Toona bicycle race started as a one day race and was initially called the Tour de Toona because it was based in Altoona, Pennsylvania...
- 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 HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American racing event designed to raise money for Albany, New Hampshire's Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.-Background:...
- 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 place
2002
- UCI Points list - 27th place
- Canadian Time Trial Championships - 1st place
- Women's ChallengeWomen's ChallengeThe Women's Challenge bicycle race was held annually in and around southern Idaho beginning in 1984 until its demise in 2002. During much of its 19 year history, it was the most prestigious women's cycle race in North America...
(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 HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American racing event designed to raise money for Albany, New Hampshire's Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.-Background:...
- 1st place (female); 3rd place (overall)
2003
- 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 HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle HillclimbMount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is an annual American racing event designed to raise money for Albany, New Hampshire's Tin Mountain Conservation Center, which promotes appreciation of the environment.-Background:...
- 1st place (female); 3rd place (overall)
2004
- 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 victories
2005
- UCI Points list - 29th place
- International Tour de ToonaInternational Tour de ToonaThe International Tour de Toona is a stage bicycle race held in Central Pennsylvania each July. The International Tour de Toona bicycle race started as a one day race and was initially called the Tour de Toona because it was based in Altoona, Pennsylvania...
- 1st place GC Canadian Road Race Championships - 1st place - Le Tour du Montreal (cat. 1) - 5th place GC
- Montreal (Can) World Cup - 1st place
2006
- Under suspension (see above - 2005 Tour de 'Toona)
See also
- List of doping cases in cycling
- List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
External links
- A fan site in French.
- Terse biography on Canoe
- Interview on Cycling News
- Toronto Star article on Jeanson lifetime suspension
- La Presse article on Jeanson's lifetime suspension (in French)
- USADA announces 2-year suspension November 28, 2006
- Velo News article on USADA action in re Jeanson
- Cyclingnews article by Matthew Hansen where Jeanson announces she will never return to cycling