This isn't really a post about doping per se, but since doping is the subtext, it belongs here.
I was quite surprised (and delighted) that there are no posts in The Clinic regarding Chris Horner's magnificent victory at Pais Vasco earlier this month. This is a career-defining win imo, as Pais Vasco is always a hotly contested pre-classics throw-down, and the list of past winners is hella impressive. Even sweeter is that Valverde wanted the win and Horner was able to deny him.
I suspect that part of the reason there is no doping innuendo, and little discussion in general, is Horner is a likable personality and no one wants to rain on his parade. Indeed I can't recall an American taking such a sweet victory since....well a certain Grand Tour in 2006.
Maybe since the events and fallout of 2006, cycling fans are reluctant to get on the band-wagon of any particular rider, with the perception that fandom invariably leads to disappointment down the road. I think this is one of the uglier consequences of cycling's doping culture...it's difficult to laud performances as genuinely heroic if at any time any major rider could be outed as a doper.
I find I can enjoy cycling from a detached perspective...enjoying the thrill of the race in the moment as well as the art of picking winners. But I do miss the pleasures of actually caring whether one rider or another won.
I'm curious how other cycling fans deal with these considerations and whether a great deal of compartmentalization is required.
I was quite surprised (and delighted) that there are no posts in The Clinic regarding Chris Horner's magnificent victory at Pais Vasco earlier this month. This is a career-defining win imo, as Pais Vasco is always a hotly contested pre-classics throw-down, and the list of past winners is hella impressive. Even sweeter is that Valverde wanted the win and Horner was able to deny him.
I suspect that part of the reason there is no doping innuendo, and little discussion in general, is Horner is a likable personality and no one wants to rain on his parade. Indeed I can't recall an American taking such a sweet victory since....well a certain Grand Tour in 2006.
Maybe since the events and fallout of 2006, cycling fans are reluctant to get on the band-wagon of any particular rider, with the perception that fandom invariably leads to disappointment down the road. I think this is one of the uglier consequences of cycling's doping culture...it's difficult to laud performances as genuinely heroic if at any time any major rider could be outed as a doper.
I find I can enjoy cycling from a detached perspective...enjoying the thrill of the race in the moment as well as the art of picking winners. But I do miss the pleasures of actually caring whether one rider or another won.
I'm curious how other cycling fans deal with these considerations and whether a great deal of compartmentalization is required.