A decade ago, doping was tolerated and even encouraged. The risks and consequences fell to the riders. Although I accept full responsibility for my decision to follow that path, the problem was endemic and involved people on every level of the sport, most of whom profited far more than the riders. Many cyclists, who came from families living below the poverty line, saw doping as a way to survive and to make a living that exceeded what they could make on the farm or one that, at the very least, beat unemployment benefits.

Fortunately, because of improved testing and increasing intolerance of banned substances, riders can now win the toughest races without drugs. For six years, I have raced clean and performed. Many of my teammates, who I am confident were also clean, won at the highest level. But there is still work to be done.

Those of us who doped and lied and those who were accomplices and witnesses remained silent for a long time in a misguided attempt to protect our jobs, our reputations, our teams’ sponsorships and the image of the sport. It was wrong. We followed a code of silence guarding an unhealthy culture. Riders, staff and officials must not fear speaking the truth. When they do, real reforms will follow.

The cyclists’ health and futures are still not always a priority. The demands on the athlete have increased as the sport has become more international. The peloton follows the sun, making the season virtually year-round. Most of us are away from home for roughly 200 days a year and race 90 days.

At home, we continue training, resting one or maybe two days a week. The off-season, when we can let our bodies rest and recover, is vanishing. Our time off the bike is limited to two weeks to a month, at the end of October and into November. When we are not at the races, we are often in training camps to maintain our fitness. To tolerate the races and the lifestyle, far too many riders rely on addictive sleeping pills and painkillers that are permitted but extremely strong. Team doctors hand them out without considering the long-term effects.

The U.C.I. has been reactive instead of proactive in its approach to many of the sport’s greatest problems. Doping was seriously addressed only after the 1998 Festina Affair, a police raid that uncovered the systematic doping at the Tour de France, made the problem public and official denial impossible. Testing was improved, but it was not enough. The riders’ health often remained secondary to performance and profits, and the environment remained toxic.

Races have become increasingly dangerous in the last 10 years, and serious injuries more common. Yet, as it once did with doping, the U.C.I. denies there is a problem or blames the riders. Its role is to ensure we race on safe courses and to protect the athletes. After Wouter Weylandt died while racing in the 2011 Giro d’Italia, there was little investigation. A death on a mountainside is “part of the sport.” Sadly, the cycling world accepts the excuse. As a parent of two young boys, and a fan, I don’t.