Is this the last Tour to be mired in a major drugs scandal?
So, are we optimistic that the riders have finally got the message, or will we be back here again next year in the same mess?
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I believe that the battle is being won but am not confident that it is over yet.
We have a Worlds and Olympics soon - what chance they will be clean? In ANY sport?0 -
I think that ASO will do their utmost to ensure no scandal next year, regardless or not of whether the peloton gets any cleaner!!!!!0
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skut wrote:I think that ASO will do their utmost to ensure no scandal next year, regardless or not of whether the peloton gets any cleaner!!!!!
What, and resort to the tried and tested formula used for the last forty years ??0 -
I voted A. It's the Tour de France, scandal is as much a part of the event as the bike racing is. Always has, always will be.0
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same here...its inevitable. Doesnt annoy me as much as some, so long as a clean guy wins..Oh check, I am seriously fed up this year...
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There will always be problems. What concerns me right now is that doping is still institutionalised with some teams, it is an accepted practice for many riders that is premeditated and predictable. Riders are ahead of the testing regime and it will take time until they are Discovered.0
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Kléber wrote:There will always be problems. What concerns me right now is that doping is still institutionalised with some teams, it is an accepted practice for many riders that is premeditated and predictable. Riders are ahead of the testing regime and it will take time until they are Discovered.
I'd personally be surprised at a tour without "non-negative" doping results in the next five years: you don't dismantle many years of institutionalized doping in just a couple of years.
On the plus side, my boss (who knows little about cycling & an awful lot about football) had been listening to the radio today (& my endless rants over the past few weeks) & was getting very upset that other sportspeople don't have the same out-of-competition testing regime as cycling since he doesn't "pay money to watch people cheat!" & wantsto know his heroes are clean. Cycling may be becoming the gold standard & in years to come we may smile at the tribulations of other sports0 -
I think "scandal" is too emphatic a word for this.
We've had 2 +ve tests in the race, 3/180, not exactly a scandalous level.
We've had another 1 where a team's found something nasty in the woodshed, pity it took them 2 weeks to get the result through.
We've had 1 where something suspicious had occured and a team's reacted to it quickly, too quickly?
Edit-corrected 2/180 to 3/180, I still voted for option 1!Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.0 -
When the pre-race favourite is found to have someone else's blood floating around his body, the yellow jersey is sacked by his team for lying about his movements, and 2 further (less notable) riders test positive during the event.............I think "scandal" is fair enough.OffTheBackAdam wrote:I think "scandal" is too emphatic a word for this.
We've got another few test results to come yet as well - Mayo's sample was from the 2nd rest day, so who knows what other news will come out in the next week............none bad I hope.0 -
I'm pessimistic - I can't see them getting rid of doping, so long as we have a situation where some dope and some don't the results are meaningless. I know that previously we were burying our heads in the sand but now we are taking it seriously it has ruined the sport. It seems that there is no winning option - either we go back to ignoring it - not an option - or the sport is mired in a never ending cycle of doping scandal.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0 -
Haven't you ever thought that if the TDF got some really good PR types, they would be able to turn things around and rebrand themselves as the cleanest sport around?
All they need to do is to convince Joe Public that every other sportsman is hepped up on goofballs (which we all know they are anyhoos ), while TDF cyclists undergo the strictest testing regime known to mankind in order to weed out the cheats.
Perhaps Alistair Campbell would be willing to do the job :evil: :?:0 -
Kléber wrote:There will always be problems. What concerns me right now is that doping is still institutionalised with some teams, it is an accepted practice for many riders that is premeditated and predictable. Riders are ahead of the testing regime and it will take time until they are Discovered.
You can't use a capital D like that or you'll make Iain cross.It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
Timoid. wrote:Kléber wrote:There will always be problems. What concerns me right now is that doping is still institutionalised with some teams, it is an accepted practice for many riders that is premeditated and predictable. Riders are ahead of the testing regime and it will take time until they are Discovered.
You can't use a capital D like that or you'll make Iain cross.
heh.
It doesn't make me cross but why doesn't anyone ever mention the Italian or Spanish teams? Could it be because they're not American, perhaps?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
It's more likely because they've just cheated their way to an 8th Tour win in the last 9 editions. Allegedly.iainf72 wrote:It doesn't make me cross but why doesn't anyone ever mention the Italian or Spanish teams? Could it be because they're not American, perhaps?
As for alleged dodgy Italian and Spanish teams here's a starter for ten;
Saunier Duval
Caisse d'Espargne
Euskaltel
Lampre
Liquigas
Acqua & Sapone0 -
andyp wrote:
It's more likely because they've just cheated their way to an 8th Tour win in the last 9 editions. Allegedly.iainf72 wrote:It doesn't make me cross but why doesn't anyone ever mention the Italian or Spanish teams? Could it be because they're not American, perhaps?
As for alleged dodgy Italian and Spanish teams here's a starter for ten;
Saunier Duval
Caisse d'Espargne
Euskaltel
Lampre
Liquigas
Acqua & Sapone
And of course Milram is squeaky clean.
Then there is the joke that is RelaxIt's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0 -
All of you who voted A to my little Poll last year.......................were right! :x0
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skut wrote:Haven't you ever thought that if the TDF got some really good PR types, they would be able to turn things around and rebrand themselves as the cleanest sport around?
All they need to do is to convince Joe Public that every other sportsman is hepped up on goofballs (which we all know they are anyhoos ), while TDF cyclists undergo the strictest testing regime known to mankind in order to weed out the cheats.
Perhaps Alistair Campbell would be willing to do the job :evil: :?:
Hi there.
They have got some really good PR types, it just that unless you're French you are not their target audience. After all, every dodgy foreigner that gets caught moves the clean French riders up one notch!
Cheers, Andy
ps For the purposes of this argument Moreau is Swiss.0 -
It does upset me that we always get this during the tour, and nowhere near as much during other major races. But i always feel quite uplifted that we've caught another. yes it can get tiresome and depressing the more it happens, but if ASO are catching them this easily now then with all of the teams backing ASO for next season, hopefully we can rid the peloton of even more scumbags.0
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for those over 21, otherwise, its just going to be an arms race. All the surprise by the versus announcers this year is simply silly. There is too much money involved. The lame idea that these doping cases are exceptions is ridiculous. Every major world class racer in the past 5 years has been implicated or actually caught using drugs, Basso, Ullrich, Vinokurov, Hamilton, Landis, and yes, I'm so sorry, Armstrong is a great rider, but to think that he was the only one not doping of this elite crew is fantasy, he has never, I mean never, condemned drug use, (I'm not saying he should, but he hasn't). And by the way, Armstrong is a world class human, he has raised 250 million dollars for cancer reserach, I really don't care if he doped or not.0
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I agree with the previous post. Even the most casual of observers would surely conclude that the use of performance-enhancing drugs in cycling is endemic, but then it is in most other sports too. Personally, i think it iwould be near impossible to reach elite level completely clean.
A lot of the hand ringing and piety is due to desperate attempts to get sponsors to continue funding the sport. I also find it incredible that given the monitoring of coaching,training, diet e.t.c that a team could really be unaware and their 'shock' when their riders are caught just doesn't ring true.
In an ideal world no one would dope, but thus said, I still believe the same people would win if there were no doping controls at all. You can't have it both ways. Without the systematic use of drugs in most sports performances would have scarcely improved since the 1950's. Watching some footage of track athletics from that period recently the differences in the physical appearance ( muscularity/ body fat levels etc) of the athletes compared to today is staggering.0 -
As long as there is money to made in sport - any sport, there will be cheaters. In the case of doping, the product is too readily available to athletes (of any sport).
There, unfortunately, will always be that guy/gal looking for that "edge" and thinking they can get away with it.
I simply watch my favorite sports and know that when it looks too good, there's probably a bit of enhancement going on.
If it were financially feasible, I'd say test all the riders, every day... after the international rules state emphatically that if you have any drug in your system, unless prescribed by a physician) you're out.No Regrets!0
