It really gets to me when people label cycling as this "corrupt" sport which is "full of cheats". Well NO, no it's not! I for one do not cheat, and everyone I know on a personal level who is involved is the same. I am not going to mention any names but in the past I have been told by people who I thought were "friends" of mine, that the sport I do, is "corrupt" and "all cyclist are doped". This really does upset me and I have lost respect for such people - respect they will find very hard to gain again (you know who you are). The reason it gets to me so much is because I do have a great love for the sport and continuously try to protect it and looking more importantly to protect my dream - but it's very hard. The good guys suffer from the bad guys actions. I don't want to be painted with the same brush...
I am here in Belgium (arguably the hardest place to race your bike on the planet) trying my best, working extremely hard, training and suffering in the gutter for maybe 10 euros prize money at the end of a 3 hour kermesse race and most importantly I am doing it all CLEAN. Yet these "uneducated" individuals make rude insulting comments and label something which they have no idea about.. When push comes to shove - If I ever got approached to start taking performance enhancing drugs, that is the day I will give up, I'll walk away from the sport. Fact!
 |
| Spent plenty of time suffering this year... |
I can't say I know for fact, but as far as my common knowledge goes regardless of everything that has happened, I believe that cycling - right now - is one of the cleanest if not the cleanest sport there is. WHY? Because we are the only sport really doing something about it. You got to open your mind to the fact that we as a unity are not afraid to tarnish the sports name by introducing all the doping test's and giving ban's. This shows that we are constantly trying to have a clean fair sport. By making an example of these people is doing something a lot of sports could learn from. It's because of what happened in the past - cycling doesn't want that to happen again.
The UCI are actively trying to catch the cheats by introducing systems such as "whereabouts". This is a scheme which allows them to know where every athlete on the system is once every week. E.g. I'll be at home from 7.30am-10am Tuesday. Do the public hear this? Do RTE ever have a piece on the news where this is mentioned? No!
I believe that every cyclist should give some bit of blame to the media for tarnishing the name of our sport. Notice that all they do is talk about the bad news and never the good? I don't think these people believe that some of the stuff we can do and pro's can do is possible without the use of performance enhancing drugs!? That's bullsh*t, of course it is!
That's the way the world is unfortunately, and people will always try and tell you that you can't do something if they can't do it themselves...
To all the cynics and people who dont believe in cycling, I feel sorry for you because it's a beautiful sport which requires sacrifice, dedication, commitment and a lot of hard work. To think that the top pro's can ride their bikes in a 3 week stage races, riding 5-6hours a day for 21 days is mind blowing. It exceeds physical capabilities of a "normal" human being. We are not "normal"! Then for people who know very little about how hard cycling actually is, on the body and mind, to make such comments is just sickening.
How about all the other sports? No doping in other sports? Of course there is, I am 100% sure of it. Other sports just don't get this same treatment through such mediums. Perhaps other athlete's around the globe are cheating? Perhaps they are getting away with it too? And why? Because their sport isn't doing anything to get them caught, or they certainly aren't doing enough. They are more worried about the franchise of the sport. Money.
Mark Cavendish, the fastest sprinter (possibly) of all time - was tested over 60 times every year in the past 4 years. In 2011 he was tested 3 times in one day at the Tour de France and in 2009-2010 he was the most tested athlete on the planet, ATHLETE on the planet! If that doesn't show a now-cleaner sport I don't know what will...
 |
| Cavendish |
I am not standing up for Lance and I certainly do not look at him in the same light as I used to, and I do not believe what him and his team did was right at all, but all in all, this coming out is a good step forward for the sport.
At that time, unfortunately, doping was in the culture of the sport. It was the thing they had to do to be competitive so I don't believe it's right to leave Lance take 100% of the abuse and to be seen as the scapegoat. That generation are to blame as a unit! The rest of his team, competitors, management and staff were all involved too. Lance is now being made out to be the big villain, but what we really have to ask ourselves is - Was Lance just the best at doing it? If you think about it, at that time was it a level playing field? Were they all taking EPO? Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso (Lance's acquaintances on the podium in 2005) were also banned for doping!?
What people are forgetting is that Lance still rode and won them "7" Tour de France's - he didn't just sit on his couch at home drinking coffee and push a button and the results came. There was still a lot of work involved. Are you telling me if everyone in that generation was clean that Lance wouldn't have still won? I think he would have. He's an incredible athlete. A pro triathlete at the age of 15? You cant tell me he doped then. At 15? With his charity - LIVESTRONG, he inspired millions and saved lives. Drugs or no drugs, the work he has and continues to do for cancer is more important than any bike race.
This is going to change cycling... Onwards and upwards as one might say! I am however going to keep battling on, keep suffering in the gutter and keep riding my bike CLEAN - because I truly love cycling.
Thanks for reading! I hope I've made some sense. I've certainly voiced my opinion.
Regards,
Eoin.
Nice article Eoin, and I totally understand the point your trying to get across, but in regards to your Armstrong portion at the end, I feel that you may be misinformed.
ReplyDeleteLance wasn't a scapegoat. For one he was the ring leader on US Postal, he also got teammates to start doping while riding for Motorola. Secondly, in 1998 after the Festina affair, many thought cycling would clean up and in the first half of 1999 it seems it did, but during the first Tour after the affair, riders and teams realized it had not after witnessing Lance transform himself into a climber. Thirdly, the USADA investigation was aimed at more than just Armstrong, everyone has just heard the most of him because of his status. Many people think that USADA were out to get Lance, but in reality, they were handed evidence involving Lance. As an anti doping agency what else are you supposed to do other than investigate these claims?
I can't argue that Armstrong would have still won if everything was clean because it is impossible to know, but just because everyone is cheating does not make the playing field level, it just means everyone in cheating.
Say you have 2 riders who both have identical VO2Max while riding at threshold, but they have different he hematocrit levels. With a limit of 50 hematocrit, the rider with the lower level has much more they can gain from doping by trying to push their hematocrit to the 50%.
Lance, as a GC contender, had exclusive access to Farrari, who is regarded as the best doctor for doping. He also had inside knowledge as to when doping controls were, and allegedly has been able to bribe the UCI.
So as you can see, as long as there is doping, it is impossible to have a level playing field.
Again great article. Hopefully your generation doesn't have to pay to much for the wrong doings of the past, but I fear you will have to go out of your way to prove you are clean with the Padova Investigation due to be released soon.
Enjoy your offseason!