unsheath said:
I would love for Ashenden to elaborate on these so called techniques.
Paragraph that caught my eye was this one:
"Because of the necessary secrecy around drug testing, the official spoke on condition of anonymity. He believes that lesser-paid riders can no longer afford doping programs that are sophisticated enough to evade the passport regime and so are spilling the beans on those they suspect still can."
Is this our hope to crush the Omerta? Riders finally spilling beans on their peers. Highly unlikely IMO.
For the moment, I doubt that assessment too. Cycling culture needs to change before people open up and 'betray' one another. At the moment, I still think it's caught up in a catch 22 situation.
Those who can afford it, are the ones with money, hence succesful. They are champions and winners, hence teams are vying for there services. They are the ones that will get the fattest contracts, the biggest share of the sponsor filled budget. The disparity in income will thus manintain their capacity to dope effectively.
Lesser riders will get the opposite end of the bargain, less money and hence less capacity to 'improve' their performances. On the other hand, since a team needs 1/2/3 succesful riders to generate sponsor income, they are IMO less likely to rat them out, because they make possible the conditions in which they, as a domestique, can perform the job of cycling, for a wage that is on a par/even better, than painting houses. The big stars, make the lesser stars shine and offer them an opportunity to do what they love to do. Ride bikes...