L_I_R said:Hi guys, I am 6th form student currently conducting research for my extended project and I was wondering if you guys could give me your views on cycling and how you see it as a sport after all the latest doping scandals in recent years.
Cheers L_I_R
shawnrohrbach said:I left behind all of my research on doping techniques and got inside the head of the main character in the book and the book is now more a reflection on what I saw in the eyes of those who were cheating; I saw bitterness, anger and hostility in spite of some fairly successful racing careers. When I watch professional cycling now, I assume many if not most of the peleton are doing something other than nutrition and training to enhance their performance. In many ways it has become like "professional" wrestling. I was warned early on before the interviews by a collegiate cyclist who I believe remains clean that what I was going to see was not pretty and he was right.
Felt_Rider said:Lim, thanks for sharing and it is a good story to share because there are many unwilling to cross the line. It comes in varying degrees as well. In the same spirit, but not quite as deep as someone who actually does use PED's, are seen on multitudes of forums asking, "are there any supplements that will make me better?"
Perhaps those people will draw the line at just being curious and go no further, but as you say the pressure to use and to win goes really deep into the bad side of human nature. Those who would not be willing to use themselves, like in your example, are very willing to push or are in the position to put extreme pressure on someone else to take the risk. If one is not willing than there are plenty of other genetically gifted individuals who have a darker nature and are very willing to take the step. Some are more reluctant but the fame and fortune beckons their name and they cross the line. Later down the road shame and humiliation can be the possible payoff to that once reluctant person, but they went despite the reluctance. It is later when they are caught they think what happened to me, why am I here. The person that pressured them rarely faces the same shame.
It is talk like this that helps an athlete decide if that 12 dollar trophy is worth the price. Perhaps that 6 figure contract and not sitting in front of a computer like the rest of us was worth it for a while. Many do it and do not face the public shame, but many still face hardships by their own works even if they do not get caught.
shawnrohrbach said:Felt and Limerick; thanks for the insightful if painful personal accounts. The truthfulness of your accounts is apparant and they both ring true to the interviews I had with more than 50 cyclists as part of my research. My hope is young cyclists will read your posts and perhaps even contact your through the forum and ask real questions before they decide to participate in any kind of performance enhancing program.
Felt_Rider said:Here is my testimony in an e-magazine earlier this year. The only problem was there were some editing liberties performed (to be expected). While 98% of the posted article is true some of it was tweaked a little from what I orginally wrote. My article begins on page 18 through page 20.
limerickman said:I think you have got to take in to account the very nature of the sport and what it entails.
The sport is probably the toughest endurance sport there is – and in many cases bodies are pushed to the absolute physical limit in pursuit of success at the very highest levels.
For example, one could ride Tour de France distance 3,000 miles in the 3 weeks, going at 15mph.
It may take you 200 hours to do so – but it can be done in three weeks without overtaxing the body too much.
Ramp up the speed to 25mph, for every single mile, the body then comes under enormous physical stress.
I have read quite a lot of books about the sport and the riders who have ridden in the game.
Robert Millar the great Scottish rider of the 1980/90’s said that some Tours de France were so tough that, in one year, it wasn’t until November that he had recovered from that years Tour de France (held in July).
If a guy like Millar – who was a superb cyclist – is saying this, you can take it that the sport at that stage was at the limit of endurance, drugs or not.
Funny, I recall Millar writing in Cycle Sport magazine in the mid-1990’s saying that he found it inexplicable how certain riders were able to climb without any discernible sign of stress. He put it this way,
“there is definitely something going on. I had three guys climbing beside me (Jalabert/Zulle/Rincon) on the Tourmalet. They didn’t even look like they were breathing. Can someone tell me how, climbing at 28kph up one of Europes steepest climbs, one can do so without opening their mouth to breath?”
Stephen Roche, himself 1987 TDF, commentating on Europsort in 1997, was gobsmacked at how easy the climbing appeared to be on the highest steeps.
If you've ever been to Alp D'Huez, you would see that the left hand side of each corner had a more gradual incline, compared to the right hand side of each corner.
Virenque/Pantani/Ullrich, were all using the right hand corner approach to each turn without any discernible effort.
Roche stated "Dave (Duffield), I don't know how these guys are doing that. We always cornered the Alppine climbs on the easier incline (on the left). Look at what these boys are doing, they're cornering on the steep side of each turn. Far harder, Dave. Far, far harder. And using massive amounts of energy in the process. I wouldn't be able to do - not with 2 weeks of riding in my legs".
L_I_R said:This is brilliant stuff guys thank you
If I'm trying to some it up then,
From the early times say 1950-1998, doping was rife amongst cyclists of all levels, wether it was from amateurs trying to get themselves a cycling contract with a professional team or the greats trying to push themselves just that little bit further.
Then came operation puerto which seemed to spell the end for cycling as i saw it, how could the sport recover when so many big names were implicated.
L_I_R
swampy1970 said:I recall Herrera retiring because he got fed up of being dropped by big heavy guys on the climbs...
limerickman said:and wasn't it Herrera who almost detsroyed Hinault in the mountains in '84?
The reputation of cycling today and for the future shows promise, but it has a longlimerickman said:The sports reputation is in the toilet right now and has been in the total for the past decade since Festina 1998 (Tour de France 1998).
Rumours of abuse of drugs was widely reported for decades and some notable cases were brought to light.
However for me 1998 TDF - the showcase event of the sport - was the time to take really affirmative action to stamp out doping once and for all.
It is hard to convey the actual sense of just how much the sport was in trouble during July/August 1998.
It seemed that the Festina scandal was going to be the catalyst for real change in the game.
Unfortunately the authorities refused to bite the bullet despite the high profile nature of the Festina riders caught doping (Alex Zulle, laurent Brochard, Richard Virenque, Pascal Herve etc).
We hard a lot of talk about Festina being the "line in the sand" by the UCI, the riders union, team managers etc.
However since Festina, the sport has lurched from one doping scandal to another (US Postal/Discovery, Cofidis, Liberty Seguoros, Phonak........).
The traffic in terms of sponsors joining/leaving the sport has increased as each controversy has been reported.
The sport is reduced to sourcing sponsors which few other sports would consider to be honest.
Websites following the sport have reported less traffic from advertisers and from contributors.
The cycling auhtorities claim that the exposure of the doping scandals proves that detection/prevention are working.
However it is more probably the case, that because no real draconisn action at Festina, teams/riders are still prepared to run the risk of doping.
Just my view.
shawnrohrbach said:When i was racing at the amateur level n the 80's, there was some pretty prevalent use of amphetamines. I quit racing because I was trying to do it the old fashioned way, clean. I gave up racing and since have ridden for the enjoyment of it. When I was researching my newest novel about a doping scandal in the Tour de France, I interviewed over 50 active racers from all levels, from the junior level to collegiate to semi pro to professional. I began to see a pattern. Where winning was extremely important for the fame and the money, there was doping. Where racing was a chance to get some serious exercise with good friends, there was limited or no doping. Few outright admitted to doping, but when asked the others shrugged and gave the standard BS line; "Everyone does it". I agreed to never identify the names of my interviewees, and I will also not identify the locations where these guys live and race. These interviews changed the nature of the novel and I took a lot longer writing it because my whole impression of bike racing changed. I left behind all of my research on doping techniques and got inside the head of the main character in the book and the book is now more a reflection on what I saw in the eyes of those who were cheating; I saw bitterness, anger and hostility in spite of some fairly successful racing careers. When I watch professional cycling now, I assume many if not most of the peleton are doing something other than nutrition and training to enhance their performance. In many ways it has become like "professional" wrestling. I was warned early on before the interviews by a collegiate cyclist who I believe remains clean that what I was going to see was not pretty and he was right.
L_I_R said:Hi guys, I was wondering if you guys could give me your views on cycling and how you see it as a sport after all the latest doping
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