Are The UCI Doing enough to combat drugs?
- Thread starter Paolo
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well seeing that dope is the only way you can win the major races these days, it is an integral part of the freak showryan16 said:
i love the sport but NOT what it is becoming
if you like something you don't stand by and watch it kill itself for money and greed
Paolo said:
In a word - non.
I make no bones about it - Verbruggen is complict and has acquiesed in the fight against drugs in cycling.
Of course, the issue of personal responsibility comes down to the issue of drugs.
A person will cheat if they decide to do so.
But, the sport can make that decision, to cheat, harder.
I have long advocated that Cycling out to take it's lead from Rowing - anyone caught doping, and following due process, is banned from rowing for life.
Therefore when professional licences are issued - the federations must insert a clause stipulating that in the event of a doper being convicted within the sport - waives all rights to invoke civilian (non-cycling) legal remedies to earn a living within the sport of cycling.
(the UCI's refusal to adopt life bans is because it claims that it cannot deny a living to a person under the European Human Rights Act.
Fine, let them waive that right to invoke EHR's legisatation when signing for a pro licence).
The UCI can easily implement such a clause - and threatened with the removal of their livelihood cyclists may well be deterred from cheating.
But Verbruggen is interested in only commercial sponsorship and money.
Remember his works in the wake of the Festina affair "yes doping is bad. But look at our ratings (Paris-Roubaix was on TV at the time). More people watched P-R than watched the ATP Tennis tournament this weekend".
Right.
Finally any other sport that contained the number of deaths that this sport has, would have removed the UCI and it's management wholesale.
But hey, who cares about the cyclists after all, what would the UCI paraistes have to live off if they cyclists were looked after, for a change ?
i agree with every word you've saidlimerickman said:
i think the media have a part to play too.
it doesn't surprise me that phil ligget defends la, hes being payed a packet by oln and las backside has been kept nice and shiny by phils tongue over the years
one thing that stands out though is the cyclists who have died.
the problem with the uci is that it is a dictator ship
i applaud sylia schek for standing up for what she believes in
I agree wholeheartedly with lifetime bans. The justification is easy: nothing else has worked. Obviously the utter disaster that was 1998 did little to deter cyclists or their coaches / managers / teams.
Ultimately, turning a blind eye to doping in the professional peloton will do more to hurt sponsorship than protect it. How many ProTour sponsors will want to face Phonak's situation of last year. Obviously Phonak has had enough. Exsaperated fans will drift away; the deadly perception that cycling is a corrupt sport will persist.
Unfortunately, as many have pointed out, the dopers have largely been able to stay ahead of the dope tests. So I think A and B samples should be frozenand tested when new tests are developed. And there should be a process to retroactively strip awards from cyclists. Ideally, if we had a situtation like the one we have today with LA, there would be another control sample to test, and both samples would have been stored and tested under strict lock and key. Then if we got two positives, take away LA's victory and rewrite the history books. Harsh? The cyclists have brought it on themselves. Fans want clean racers, not doping cheaters.
Ultimately, turning a blind eye to doping in the professional peloton will do more to hurt sponsorship than protect it. How many ProTour sponsors will want to face Phonak's situation of last year. Obviously Phonak has had enough. Exsaperated fans will drift away; the deadly perception that cycling is a corrupt sport will persist.
Unfortunately, as many have pointed out, the dopers have largely been able to stay ahead of the dope tests. So I think A and B samples should be frozenand tested when new tests are developed. And there should be a process to retroactively strip awards from cyclists. Ideally, if we had a situtation like the one we have today with LA, there would be another control sample to test, and both samples would have been stored and tested under strict lock and key. Then if we got two positives, take away LA's victory and rewrite the history books. Harsh? The cyclists have brought it on themselves. Fans want clean racers, not doping cheaters.
Mapei, phonak,festina etc... have all left the sport because of dopingtcklyde said:
the sport is being destroyed by these cheats.
the solutions i have are:
life bans for first time offenders
Harsher punishments for teams
Banning of all doctors and medical support to be given by a central team provided by the race organisers payed for by joint funding by the teams
Negotiations to start with governments to ban the sale of performance enhancers without prescriptions(In suisse you can get epo over the counter)
Pharma companies to take responsibilty and make sure their substances are only going to Genuine cases. and report abnormal changes in sales patterns in regions to doping authorities
Coaches to have proper sport science qualifications and not just be some "Joe" off the street.(football has this , why not cycling)
Retroactive testing and banning obvious
More action from policing authorities i am sick of seeing the likes of millar getting away with cheating. he should be brought up in front of a court on fraud charges. a while ago 2 morgage guys were jailed for 10 yrs for fraud. This is the exact same. They are de frauding their competitors
tcklyde said:
Here here.
And as a sideline issue- I don't think that Pat McQuaid, if elected head honcho at the UCI, would be any better than Verbruggen as regards the doping culture in this sport of ours.
I think a good solution would if any one country had three positive tests in one calendar year then that country would be banned from world championships and Olympics for that year. This would force national administrations to take a tougher stance on drugs as they could have the entire barred from major championships.
Paolo said:
Why should we punish riders for the actions of some??? 1st of all , very few riders are riding for their country. Even at the world's I doubt if they really are giving up their trade team buddies.whiteboytrash said:
The dope issue in cycling is getting old. The same thing that attracted you to professional cycling in the first place is the same today as it was then. There may be a possibility that there is less today then back then...... I read somewhere in this forum once where a poster made a comment that he wished he was old enough to have watched Merckx in his prime. Why??? Did the poster think he was watching a great drug-free rider? The British have made a hero out of their man Tom Simpson. I think there is a monument on the side of the road where he died in France with 3 vials of amps in his pocket.
The reason people are fascinated with dope right now is because Lance is an American and is somewhat controversial.... Did they have a witch-hunt with Indurain? He won it 5 times in a row . And his method of winning was similar to Armstrong's .... Win the TT, wear people down , and never attack.
The situation in France at the lab is politically motivated. The head of the french cycling bodies are under attack by former riders and fans for not producing a rider capable of winning their own race. They do not have a rider even capable of contending for the leaders jersey. A few weeks back I think even Fignon attacked the French cycling authorities for having lazy riders.....
Dope , beating dope controls , and cheating have always been a main part of the TDF. And always will be. **** Pound and his band of jack booters will be driven back to the hole they came from if it is discovered that some of the testing is inaccurate and some riders gets screwed.
Some have implied that the TDF has looked the other way when it concerns their race. It's their race. Racing is a form of enertainment and they are putting a product together so the fans have something to enjoy in July.
The sport is as strong as it ever has been. The TDF reached a larger audience this year then ever before. Mapei, Phonak, and Festina were sponsors. The people involved with these sponsors are still active in cycling. Historicallly if doping would destroy cycling then we would not have it now.Paolo said:
Paolo ..... or Flyer..... I did not think you should have been banned back in August. I do not know the details of the banning but I do not think it is fair to ban someone for expressing their out look on a certain subject...... But, you do get old and boring. I think they have a thread to deal with dope in the forum. Everytime a subject is posted you start in with the doping ****....
This portion of the forum is devoted to the Grand Tours..... And I will give you some credit here that doping is part of them. But , there is a section devoted to equipment and there is a section devoted to doping ....... Your posts belong there.
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