As a parent of a very talented young (9) athlete and aspiring cyclist, the recent news out of Spain could not come at a worse time.
My boy does not really understand about doping, but he does know it's about drugs (bad) and cheating. This morning, he asked me if I thought he should forget all about bike racing, seeing as all the best riders in the world were cheats.
It is very hard to hear this kind of thing.
But perhaps he is right. When a boy's heros - Tyler Hamilton, Heras - go down for cheating, what inspiration does he have left?
Yes, there is the relatively clean world of local, amateur cycling. But kids look to the top for their idols. And when these fall because they are exposed as cheats . . .
My boy does not really understand about doping, but he does know it's about drugs (bad) and cheating. This morning, he asked me if I thought he should forget all about bike racing, seeing as all the best riders in the world were cheats.
It is very hard to hear this kind of thing.
But perhaps he is right. When a boy's heros - Tyler Hamilton, Heras - go down for cheating, what inspiration does he have left?
Yes, there is the relatively clean world of local, amateur cycling. But kids look to the top for their idols. And when these fall because they are exposed as cheats . . .
