I'm one of the relative newbies here, though was a lurker for a lot longer. I'm also one who called pro cycling a sham, not a freak show, but a sham. I've also followed bike racing since 1979 when I started riding, and over the course of time, I've learned increasingly more of the dirty little secrets of the pro world. I'm also one of the people that Alpe was talking about when said the following:
Alpe d'Huez said:
People are sick of doping, sick of cheating, sick of lies and sick of the corruption. They are expressing it more now perhaps because there appears to be more of it brought to their attention.
I was never completely naive about cycling. I knew about Eddie Merckx's doping positives, I knew about Tom Simpson's death on Mont Ventoux, and I knew about the tricks such as having squeeze bottles of someone else's urine in a rider's shorts. But until the last few years I didn't know about large financial "contributions" to the UCI by riders, riders and former UCI leaders trying to buy the Tour, or the utter hypocrisy spouted by just about everyone related to professional cycling about doping. Maybe I just glazed over it in the past, but now it just slams me in the face. All that, plus the strangle hold that the UCI holds over pro cycling makes me believe that I will never be able to assume that the "best man" actually won any pro cycling race.
That does not mean I don't enjoy the spectacle of bicycle racing. Duels on long climbs, mass field sprints after long races, unexpected breakaways that succeed (like my man Eros), and the utter pounding riders take on the cobbles are some of the most electrifying sights in sports. And I don't think cycling is really any worse than any other sport. But I'll never say it's a fair contest.
I can't say anything about why any others who participate in this forum hold their opinions about this sport. I certainly won't generalize about them. But don't you suggest I just go away because I'm a thinking, but now jaded observer. If no one pays attention to the sordid underbelly then it definitely won't ever change. I say keep up the criticism of the hypocracy and the corruption. Just go away if you don't want that to change.