Dopers post racing careers.

[Darryl Webster]

As the more informed forumites will know theres an awfull lot of convicted and self confessed dopers that are now DS`s comentaters, team owners, part of race organistion etc.
Often these are peeps who`s racing careers are 10 years + previous.
What I dont get is why so many racing fans think that this is OK?

" The past is the past, lets move on". Is a very commen responce.

If were going to heep plaudits , business and work oppertunities on peeps with prior careers tainted by doping and iether caught or confesed to there realy isnt much insentive to keep clean is there?
Why be even bothered by doping now?
The situation we have is like letting the Lunatics take over the assylum to look after the next generation of Lunatics.

 

[sartain]

As the more informed forumites will know theres an awfull lot of convicted and self confessed dopers that are now DS`s comentaters, team owners, part of race organistion etc.
Often these are peeps who`s racing careers are 10 years + previous.
What I dont get is why so many racing fans think that this is OK?

" The past is the past, lets move on". Is a very commen responce.

If were going to heep plaudits , business and work oppertunities on peeps with prior careers tainted by doping and iether caught or confesed to there realy isnt much insentive to keep clean is there?
Why be even bothered by doping now?
The situation we have is like letting the Lunatics take over the assylum to look after the next generation of Lunatics.

The sport, absent a few recent statistical outlier teams (and even they are looked at with raised eyebrows), is a cesspool of nefarious individuals, practices and activities; pretty much always has been and will likely remain this way, even after all of LA's crap is exposed for the world to see (and this is still not a given).

I have always found it odd that there is a monument to TS on the top of Mt. Ventoux . . . think about the logic of that; what does this statement say about the sport? How about denial!

It's still a beautiful sport to watch though . . . but one needs to watch it with rose-colored glasses on and realize that what it is you are watching is a supercharged version of American pro wrestling.

 

[Head wind into the valley]

The situation we have is like letting the Lunatics take over the assylum to look after the next generation of Lunatics.[/QUOTE]

I like that one, I guess it is a bit of the situation though.

 

[JPM London]

Sartain; I like your TS point... Weirdly enough I had never actually thought of that issue - probably because the TS story is always portrayed from the victim angle and that his misfortune helped create the doping debate in the first instance...

Darryl; I think there are many reasons and, if this threads gets going, plenty will be suggested.

One of the main causal things I imagine is that there is nor real choice to "vote with your feet" in this case.

Over the last decade or so all the casual followers who cannot stomach the doping issue will have moved on and cycling has suffered from a fall in (at least telly) spectators. What's left is all those of us who are really into the sport itself, not just any sport. Our choice is to follow or not - we can't just switch to something else. What we can do, however, is follow the team(s) of our choice - and I think that's what a lot of us do: Follow the teams and riders who we think/hope/believe are clean(er).

Then again, some are happy to follow the sport regardless...

What I also find interesting is the actual state of the sport - far from all agree to this. Within both riders and fans you'll find beliefs ranging from "all riders dope" to "most riders are clean today" - which also means a lot.

Well, maybe this was more rambling than actually getting to the point of your post...

 

[Cloxxki]

As we're learning that nearly every rider that performed, especially during the 90's, must have been severely doped, mostly EPO, there are only people who were caught or decided to confess, and those who maintain omerta. In that light, the ones that were caught, did their time, of fessed up, are sortof the good guys. People who lost hours in the mountains, or never quite made it into the final of a world cup classic, might have been clean. Only a few supertalents with supermorality remain, and how are we to ever expose those as our heroes of heroes?

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

As the more informed forumites will know theres an awfull lot of convicted and self confessed dopers that are now DS`s comentaters, team owners, part of race organistion etc.
Often these are peeps who`s racing careers are 10 years + previous.
What I dont get is why so many racing fans think that this is OK?

" The past is the past, lets move on". Is a very commen responce.

If were going to heep plaudits , business and work oppertunities on peeps with prior careers tainted by doping and iether caught or confesed to there realy isnt much insentive to keep clean is there?
Why be even bothered by doping now?
The situation we have is like letting the Lunatics take over the assylum to look after the next generation of Lunatics.

Couldn't agree more. That's the extended omerta, and everyone is looking to pull in money for their team. That's a big issue - although it looks really glamorous and sexy, it's a tough grind and a lot of work to track down the money to run a team. There's a world full of marketing opportunities out there, and pro cycling is only one. To my chagrin, it's never taken as seriously as it should be as a marketing vehicle - even in Europe. And it takes a LOT of money to do a team up right. Tack a known name to the team in management, and their name and contacts/connections will obviously help.

Perhaps even more questionable than the ex-rider as DS deal, is one of the transfering of team doctors from team to team (often following, or being led by, riders). Here's a post from the other day from another thread:

As to riders responding differently to EPO, yes. Just the same as riders will respond differently to different training. Hence the prevalence of high-zoot doctors working with teams. They tend not to be GPs looking after the general health of the riders, but experienced ex-phys drs with a lot of experience 'in the field'. If you look at the drs who have worked with teams over the last decade or two, you can see the pattern.

Riders can have the same exposure/availability to PEDs, but that's only half the equation. The guys shooting in the dark (pardon the pun) will not be able to reap the maximum benefit of the PEDs, and are WAY more likely to get nailed. Back to team drs... As to homologous doping, the same thing. Any knucklehead can take blood and drip it back it in, but it's really not safe in a non-clinical environment and the ex and in timing are important. Back to the drs...

Catching onto the theme yet? Dirty doctors need to be run out as well. You keep seeing the same soigneurs and prepatores show up on team lists after being casually implicated due to riders testing positive. Maybe it shouldn't be such a casual implication...

The big guns who are cranking are seriously monitored, and that's the difference. Anyone can get some T patches, HGH, or Cort and play with them and see obvious improvement; but at the top end it's done in a much more monitored fashion for obvious reasons - contracts and sponsor money. NOBODY wants them to test positive. Back to the drs...