By Alan Abrahamson
Universal Sports

Dick Pound, the former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has said many times that the real measure of progress in the campaign against performance-enhancing drugs will be revealed when we see a distinct change in the culture of sports.

That is, the notion of doping is seen not just by athletes but by coaches and support staff as so unacceptable that even those in that inner circle do the right thing.

They report outright misconduct. They report even suspicious conduct.

An arbitration ruling issued this week — full of details of what it can be like behind the scenes in professional cycling — offers reason to believe that perhaps, just perhaps, such a cultural shift need not be the stuff of fantasy.

Maybe it really can happen.

A three-member arbitration panel on Monday unanimously found American rider Kayle Leogrande liable of doping, ordering a two-year suspension.

The decision was little noticed outside of cycling circles. Make no mistake, however. The Leogrande case is a significant ruling indeed.

Those accused of doping typically adopt the same signature strategy: deny, deny, deny. It takes someone who knows the truth to speak the truth.

The case against Leogrande, now 31, was made through what in legal jargon is called a “non-analytical positive” result — the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency building the case through witnesses, documents, photos and other evidence.

Leogrande did not fail a doping test.

An August 2006 test suggested doping but for technical reasons was not ruled a positive. That test, however, helped put Leogrande on authorities’ radar.

Leogrande raced in Wisconsin in July 2007. A July 26, 2007, sample — not positive. A July 28 sample — not positive.

In cycling, a “soigneur” is an assistant who does all the sorts of stuff that, say, the manager on a college basketball team takes up, and more: food, laundry, massage, errands, whatever. For the Rock Racing team in Wisconsin in July 2007, the place to hang out when there was downtime was soigneur Suzanne Sonye’s room at a Milwaukee EconoLodge hotel, where “there was food and always an open door.”

In her hotel room during the week of July 15, according to arbitrators, Leogrande asked Sonye if she knew where to obtain testosterone patches. Testosterone is a banned substance.

He told her, according to the ruling, that he had used testosterone gel but wanted patches because he thought they would work better. I don’t know, she said. Maybe in Mexico.

The day after he had been selected for the July 26 doping test, Leogrande told Sonye, according to arbitrators, he hadn’t slept well. He was “nervous” because of the test.

She said, why?

He told her, according to the decision, he had taken “vicadin, ventalin and EPO” and “admitted to her that he had recently taken EPO.” He made a motion with his hand “as if holding a syringe and pretended to stick a needle into his arm.”

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