Too late (at least in the US) - read Cutting Edge Muscle forums - even guys in CAT 5 are taking stuff, talking about how to monitor hematocrit to make sure it stays below dangerous levels, etc. Talk to any high school kid involved in team sports - football, wrestling, hockey, etc - lots of kids are taking PEDs.Crankyfeet said:If doping is allowed... It will be in the juniors...the Cat 4 races on the weekends...etc...etc... Soon there will be a dope that makes you unbeatable.... but may kill you. Do we reward the winner who is prepared to take the risk?
Lots of professions are dangerous. Coal mining, boxing, military, etc.
Look, I take your point about the dangers of PEDs (though I could argue that the dangers are greatest when the stuff is forced underground), but if the playing field is going to be so skewed, with some guys doped to the gills and others relatively clean, what's the point of pro sports? Let's say some of the GC contenders were only lightly doped (e.g., Evans, Valverde, Cunego); they show up and are ridden to exhaustion by Team Discovery errr . . . I mean CSC. The more things (supposedly) change in this sport, the more they stay the same. Maybe it's time to change the model.