I enjoyed following this years Tour. Congratulations to Carlos Sastre. There is quite a good article here at the Guardian. ‘Mr Clean leads way in race to redemption‘
This is one of the worst articles I’ve ever seen on cycling “Bored by the Tour de France: No doping, no drama – No fun in watching cyclists rely on their natural talents”
When it comes to cycling, you expect to see low standards of journalism. One thinks of Matthew Paris’ tirade against cyclists. But, this article in the Houstan Chronicle has to rank as one of the feeblest articles ever written. I wonder whether newspaper editors actually tell their journalists to write purposefully rubbish articles in the hope they may get a bit of adverse publicity?
No Doping = No Drama
The journalist says he has been watching the 2008 Tour de France and finds it completely boring, but, maybe he has been watching an old edition on DVD by mistake. This year, 2008 has been an exciting race. Several riders have remained in contention throughout the 3 week long race, the lead has changed several times. Perhaps one or two longer time trial stages and the result would have been different.
“Just let them all Take Dope”
If all riders take dope, how will that make the race more attractive? Supposing all riders take dope, the average speed of the race may increase from 40 to say 42Kmph, but, a higher average speeds doesn’t change whether the race is exciting. Most spectators wouldn’t notice the difference. It will only give an unfair advantage to those athletes whose bodies respond better to doping.
Report on Cycling Not Doping
As a cycling enthusiast, I want to see the reports about the cycling, not about doping scandals. The real drama unfolds on the slopes of Alpe d’Huez not in the testing laboratories. If people think the best thing about sport is drug busts, they would be better off watching police dramas.
Inspiration From Real Cyclists
As a cyclist who sometimes rides 100 miles in a day and short races, I get alot of inspiration from knowing pro cyclists are able to ride the Tour. I appreciate the athletic effort of just finishing the race, let alone winning it. If riders take dope, I get no inspiration only frustration and disappointment. As cycling fans we want to be able to cheer honest efforts and not listen to a pack of lies.
Mental Health
Taking illegal dope tends to cause mental as well as physical problems. How can we as spectators want riders to damage their physical and mental health by encouraging a culture of doping? One only has to look through ex cyclists who have suffered the after effects of dope, to realise the real damage it can do. Marco Pantani is the most famous example of a life destroyed by dope. But, there are many other examples as well, such as José María Jiménez. The problem is that the media can easily ignore these broken lives after the race is over.
“You can’t ride the tour without dope”
One thing that really annoys me is when people say you can’t ride the tour without dope. This is absolutely false. You can ride the tour without dope, and I believe many procyclists are doing that. As a supporter, we can only say ‘chapeau’ to those clean cyclists who are providing an exciting race and are good role models for the next generation of cyclists.
Failed Tests Are Good
ASO and professional cycling are making sincere attempts to clean up the sport. They deserve credit for trying to change the whole culture of cycling. There was a time when most pro cyclists took EPO, but, they never failed drugs test. It is reassuring to see, at least some cyclists (often suspected) are now failing EPO tests.
BTW: (I dislike the stupid article I gave the link a nofollow attribute so the site doesn’t get any PR from Google.
List of Tour De France Winners
photo by stijnvogels
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