How clean is cycling of drugs now?

[catmiles]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports...efends-cucling-s-drugs-record-91466-28259812/

Further to me reading the above article on Mark Cavendish's opinion of drugs in cycling it left me wondering how clean do you all think the sport is now of drugs?

In my opinion drug stories seem to be occurring more and more in recent seasons compared to 15 years ago.

Maybe as we have become more aware of drugs in all sports now and the tests have become more advanced and critical that we are finding more of these culprits then ever before...

Maybe its because the first sign of a truly great cyclist is suspected of drug enhancements over his true ability or jealousy from other cyclists create accusations....

Do you think cycling has cleaned up its act or is this just accusations and stories making cycling look like a medicine cabinet?

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

i think that peds for the GC contenders are still very high, but for the "average man" i think it mybe have stopped a little, just look at the tour this year, all the helpers where dead at the end of the race (Galibier stage as an example) so mybe a little bit cleaner but not much

 

[ElChingon]

Believing the riders on that cycling is cleaner is like the mods believing us if we tell them there are no off-topic comments, flame wars, cuss words, naughty pictures, offensive posts.

Anyone saying different well, believe us on our views of how the forum is going.

 

[hrotha]

Compared to 1996 of course things are much better. Compared to 2010, I think they're worse.

 

[The Hitch]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports...efends-cucling-s-drugs-record-91466-28259812/

Further to me reading the above article on Mark Cavendish's opinion of drugs in cycling it left me wondering how clean do you all think the sport is now of drugs?

In my opinion drug stories seem to be occurring more and more in recent seasons compared to 15 years ago.

There was no EPO test for example 15 years ago.

Now there is.

So its understandable that there are more doping stories now.

But that doesn't mean its dirtier.

Other sports choose to not test at all and have no doping stories at all. Does that mean they are clean?

 

[Anonymous]

this question has been asked a thousand times before and my answer remains the same. There is still massive amounts of doping, but it is to a lesser extent and in some areas it is much less.

I look at riders like Downing who were able to step up to pro tour and get a few wins, but at the same time he was dropped like a bag of poo when the peloton wanted to.

Doping amongst domestiques is less, maybe much less, doping amongst gc contenders is less, but not much less, doping amongst riders looking for new contracts is as much as ever, and there are the occasional too good to beleive performances that are almost certainly doping enhanced.

 

[Andynonomous]

Similar poll here, from this summer.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=14768

My opinion was that there was a temporary improvement because of the improvement in testing (Contador getting caught with the plasticizer test, and clenbuterol test). Of course the CHEATS will find a new way to CHEAT.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm an optimist on the matter.
Yes! I do think the sport is getting cleaner. Maybe this makes me naïve or something, but I want to believe the best in people. I believe that the majority within the sport wants a clean sport.

Sure there is very likely still idiots out there who ruin it for others, and themselves, but I honestly think they're just a minority. I honestly think that, eventually, this way of thinking, the "everybody is doping therefore I have to dope as well" mentality, will die out.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Pro cycling is like a kid's diaper. You have to check it all the time because you know it's only a matter of time before the next crap comes.

 

[DirtyWorks]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports...efends-cucling-s-drugs-record-91466-28259812/

Maybe as we have become more aware of drugs in all sports now and the tests have become more advanced and critical that we are finding more of these culprits then ever before...

I see this kind of comment too frequently and the assumption is how/why doping flourishes despite testing technology. The actual tests are a tiny part of the solution to the problem.

Whomever is paying for testing for a race specifies tests that no one fails. For example, lets say the Giro d' Italia didn't test for CERA. (an EPO-like drug) And let's say it's known in the peloton that there's no CERA testing. No doping positives at the Giro! That really happened.

Another imaginary example, let's say WADA has a new test for another CERA/EPO like drug. There are four possible results of the test, false negative, false positive, actual negative, actual positive. A federation like the UCI will lobby very, very hard for specifying an actual positive such that the rider's blood is so thick the rider has to legitimately worry about dying of a heart attack, but never has to worry about a positive. They control for false results by setting the threshold for the positive so high it could kill the rider. That didn't really happen, but extremely high (IMHO) positive thresholds are very common for PED's. The smart cheats work this to their advantage.

Testing technology is a tiny part of the solution to the problem. Instead, one must examine the promoters, sports federations and the IOC.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I see this kind of comment too frequently and the assumption is how/why doping flourishes despite testing technology. The actual tests are a tiny part of the solution to the problem.

Whomever is paying for testing for a race specifies tests that no one fails. For example, lets say the Giro d' Italia didn't test for CERA. (an EPO-like drug) And let's say it's known in the peloton that there's no CERA testing. No doping positives at the Giro! That really happened.

Another imaginary example, let's say WADA has a new test for another CERA/EPO like drug. There are four possible results of the test, false negative, false positive, actual negative, actual positive. A federation like the UCI will lobby very, very hard for specifying an actual positive such that the rider's blood is so thick the rider has to legitimately worry about dying of a heart attack, but never has to worry about a positive. They control for false results by setting the threshold for the positive so high it could kill the rider. That didn't really happen, but extremely high (IMHO) positive thresholds are very common for PED's. The smart cheats work this to their advantage.

Testing technology is a tiny part of the solution to the problem. Instead, one must examine the promoters, sports federations and the IOC.

Great post.

Part of the problem is that those who should be policing the sport have a vested interest in continuing the status quo. The organizations themselves are corrupt.

 

[catmiles]

Pro cycling is like a kid's diaper. You have to check it all the time because you know it's only a matter of time before the next crap comes.

Nice metaphor here