BVC-CHAT Once, the Tour was about bicycle racing -article in Bicycling.com

[Laura Kennedy]

I think this guy has a selective memory - does anybody remember what  
happened to Tom Simpson?  He's the British rider who died on Mt.  
Ventoux in 1967 - he was on amphetamines.  In 1984, the US men's track  
cycling squad at the Olympics was know to have used blood doping, but  
it wasn't against the regulations at the current time.  After being  
suspended for EPO use two years ago, David Millar made a remark  
suggesting that less of the riders would need to dope if the fans of  
the sport didn't demand mountain-top finish after mountain-top finish.   
Granted, that has more to do with promotion and money, but he has a  
point.  I think there is some irony in the fact that David Millar will  
be riding the tour this year, while Basso and Ullrich will not.  Doping  
permeates every sport - and I mean EVERY sport.  The perception of  
doping is what is different between sports.  The sports that test less  
and suspend less have less attention directed at them.  The sports that  
test and suspend get attention - cycling and soccer come to mind.  If  
there is an advantage to be had, people will go for it.  And, if a  
certain percentage of people are willing to cheat to get ahead, then  
those who would not cheat are left behind - hard to get far in your  
career when trying to chase down those who cheat.  So then, people who  
would be less inclined to cheat follow suit, essentially for survival  
and to remain competitive.  Believe me, the cheaters will always be  
ahead of the tests.  And if they can't get ahead of the test, they'll  
get around it.  Blood doping is an age-old techique - EPO was the new  
and more sophisticated method up until a test was developed.  After the  
EPO test was developed and used in competition, it was easy enough to  
go back to the old stand-by of blood doping.  Once again, science  
caught up and testing was developed for blood doping.  Not to say that  
testing for other individuals blood cells is going to work all of the  
time - it's a long tradition in many sports - including horse racing -  
to draw blood from individuals in the off season and the re-transfuse  
them during the peak of the athletic season.
Everyone talks about money and power and fame corrupting the pureness  
of sport - but just take a look around Gold's Gym or pay careful  
attention to some of the "top" athletes in certain amateur events -  
doping is everywhere.

LK
On Jun 30, 2006, at 2:46 PM, Shawn Hokanson wrote:

> Remembering When
> Once, the Tour was about bicycle racing
> By James Startt
> http://bicycling.com /tourdefrance/article/1,6802,s1-3-10-14786 
> -1,00.html
>  
> Interesting article, but when complaining about the scandals and how  
> geat it was prior to the Festina scandal, he forgets that doping regs  
> were either non-existent or not enforced before then.  Now, they are  
> enforced, although I think the process has been hijacked by  
> journalists a vendetta or are trying to boost readership through  
> sensationalism.  I think the current policy of excluding riders under  
> investigation is idiotic, but what else could be expected from the  
> French.  I say let 'em ride then strip the title from them if you find  
> proof. 
>  
> Shawn Hokanson
> shawnhokanson at msn.com
>  
>  
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Dr. Laura Kennedy
Resident, Anatomic Pathology
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
lkennedy at cvm.tamu.edu

If you are not fast, then you must be audacious
	- Jacky Durand
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