Should there be an amnesty?

[Crankyfeet]

Ok, then. We have allowed ourselves to become sidetracked. New readers - Go directly to post #36. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

 

[Cobblestones]

The only reason an amnesty works is if the rewards of cleaning your slate outweigh the downsides of coming out. In the case of cycling, I don't think there is enough risk that a person's past will come back to haunt them, unless the UCI's new intelligence efforts start bearing OP-like fruit.

Precisely. But it gets even worse. There's nothing in it for the UCI, ASO, etc. either. If truly 'everyone' is juiced and they all come out, the sport will be completely and utterly destroyed because sponsor money will evaporate, TV coverage will mostly go away and the general interest will disappear. Sponsors are fine with the smoke-and-mirror tactic which makes the stars appear to be clean (as long as the general public buys it). If this appearance goes away (see Rasmussen) things can get ugly really fast. If the whole sport is perceived to be too dirty (and cycling is somewhere near or over this threshold) or proven dirty (as no doubt would happen in the case of an amnesty), it will be the end of it for a long time.

So, maybe I didn't address your question 'Should there be an amnesty', but I can answer a different question 'Will there be an amnesty' with a resounding no!

 

[Crankyfeet]

Tend to agree.

Precisely. But it gets even worse. There's nothing in it for the UCI, ASO, etc. either. If truly 'everyone' is juiced and they all come out, the sport will be completely and utterly destroyed because sponsor money will evaporate, TV coverage will mostly go away and the general interest will disappear. Sponsors are fine with the smoke-and-mirror tactic which makes the stars appear to be clean (as long as the general public buys it). If this appearance goes away (see Rasmussen) things can get ugly really fast. If the whole sport is perceived to be too dirty (and cycling is somewhere near or over this threshold) or proven dirty (as no doubt would happen in the case of an amnesty), it will be the end of it for a long time.

So, maybe I didn't address your question 'Should there be an amnesty', but I can answer a different question 'Will there be an amnesty' with a resounding no!

 

[Tor]

Tend to agree.

No amnesty! Thought it might be a good idea at first but thinks it actually creates more problems than it solves.
What happens to the results of races previously attributed to known dopers? Will there be any clean riders left to claim victory 30 or 40 years after the event?!