Pro Cycling is a Sham

[MR_Sarcastic]

Thing is though, someday you will get bored of racing. On that day and in the days after I'll bet you'd like to watch some good pro cycling in part to kind of rekindle some of the memories of really fun times you had in your own races. But the problem with that is pro cycling really sucks and is a shameful sham.

I'd rather watch women's tennis. I would MUCH rather watch that actually...

I'll never get bored with racing (started in 1985), but the day that I'm so wrecked up, that I can't race anymore, I'll just watch the 1-2's race. Professional racers are inhuman, so I feel no connect with them.

 

[rhubroma]

After finally reading all the way through Floyd’s interview with Paul Kimmage I’ve finally given up. While I’m certainly not taking Floyd’s words as literal truth, there is so much supporting information out there that I’m sure that he is generally describing the current state of professional cycling. His interview just concentrated all the various horror stories into a single vision in my mind, and that is professional cycling is truly a sham, little better than professional wrestling in the United Sates. The one difference may be that the specific winners in each race are not yet determined by UCI ahead of time, as the winners of each match are in wrestling, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that doesn’t happen in the not too different future.

The drugs; the utter corruption, favoritism, and lack of transparency of the UCI; the greed of the big race owners; and the hubris shown by all involved have all buried any real sporting value that bicycle racing once had. I’m not naïve enough to think that cycling was ever pure, but as the money has grown the corruption of cycling has grown apace. I don’t see any real hope for change either. The one body that can have any real oversight of UCI, the IOC, is just as corrupt and just as greedy.

It also seems to me that this recognition is growing. I see this in the calculation by the German public television networks that the cost of broadcasting the Tour is not worth any gains they would receive from showing such a tainted event. All this doesn’t mean that pro cycling won’t remain popular. You only have to look at the popularity of pro wrestling in the U.S. But at least the operators of wrestling recognize that they are not a sport, just entertainment. Watching the suffering and strength of will of top riders will always be entertaining, but without the confidence that their ability to suffer, their strength, and their will are what brings about the result of the race instead of who has the best program or who the UCI is protecting I can’t really consider pro bicycle racing much of a sport anymore.

Welcome to pro sports.

 

[Sanitiser]

I should of said the ProTour isn't wrestling (yet). I do know about kermises.

 

[BotanyBay]

I'll never get bored with racing (started in 1985), but the day that I'm so wrecked up, that I can't race anymore, I'll just watch the 1-2's race. Professional racers are inhuman, so I feel no connect with them.

I know look back and realize that I'm SO happy that my dream of being a pro was crushed. I'm one of the lucky ones.

As PK said, it's a rough ride.

 

[Autobus]

I am always amazed by cycling fans who cannot believe that riders do/have used drugs. Having been in cycling for 50 plus years, 19 as a pro, I have ridden with riders who have been doped, have been offered dope. It comes down to standards, the way you are brought up by your parents to what is right and wrong.
The fans at the side of the road do not care about drugs, just as people going to rock concerts dont, yes rock artists take drugs !!!!! Do these same fans who are appalled at cyclist taking drugs not buy CD's or go to concerts because they use drugs ??? you bet your axxx they do.
The problem now is that you have the biggest doping scandal in sport about to explode and the main protaganists Armstrong and the UCI/McQuaid/Verbrugan team are denying it all, which will make the end result front page news on every paper/tv channel in the world. Remember the Tiger Woods saga and he was only sxxxxxxg women, not winning the worlds most famous cycle race 7 times dopped up to the eyeballs, and useing US public funds to pay for it, it will make the Tiger Woods story seem like a Disney cartoon.
Watch the sponsors and the TV coverage dissappear !!!!!!!!!!!

There are a whole lot of things to respond to here. Let's start with the rock musician comparison. First, I listen to music because I like the way it sounds. If the musician has ingested enough to affect the sound, I probably won't like the music as much. Sometimes, if the musician is so obviously out of it because of his drug use, it might be funny, but I don't care at all whether band A performs stoned and band B doesn't. The thing that matters to me is the aesthetic pleasure I have listening to the music.

Second, I have long recognized that doping was endemic to the sport, but it has also been stated many times in many posts that EPO brought doping into a whole new level. That a nondoper had no chance of being competitive against other riders using EPO. Sure, Andy Hampsten may have been on something when he won the Gavia stage in the 88 Giro, but in that era climbers almost always won mountain stages and TT specialists won ITTs. Now all that is up for grabs.

Finally, I want the story to explode. When the extent of the corruption in the sport is common knowledge there hopefully be some real motivation to change. That might also come from the sponsors deserting. As seen by the German stations, TV coverage is already going away. When the amount of money available in the sport plummets there is a better chance that riders won't be protected by UCI, and maybe the UCI will be cleaned up. And hopefully, with less money at stake, there will be less motivation to dope. But, after hearing about cases of doping in current Masters races, where nothing but bragging rights are at stake, I'm not naive enough to believe that doping will go away. There may be a realization, however, that if the sport is ever to grow again that there needs to be a genuine effort to stop doping, not the joke that exists today.

Finally, none of this will affect the ability for the grass roots bike racer from taking part in the sport for their own enjoyment, which as posters to this thread point out, is the best part.

 

[Darryl Webster]

The saddest thing about the sham that is pro racing is that amongst those riders are without doupt, drug free, the best riders in the world.
The likes of Riis..a true donkey turned race horse by PEDS is not the "norm" but the advantages gained by "modern era" PEDS, that begain in earnest with Mosers 84 Hour Records and reached obscene levals in Armstrongs reign to present day means its very hard to spot the "con" , at whatever leval they are in the Pro Tour..even those well out the back in a GT.
It was somthing I found kinda amusing in a wry way that many "2nd rate" pro riders seemed to dope merely to hold that position and earn a 2nd rate living.
I never understood that.
Comparing the fans of varying sports..it seems most Fans of cycling are cyclists or X cyclists..if there neither they tend to be peeps with a strong sence of justice with good health a strong aspiration, who want to see a fair "fight".
Compare that with every football ( round ball!)fan I`ve ever asked and they all reply they could,nt care less.
Tribes till the last man drops are footy fans!

 

[BotanyBay]

but it has also been stated many times in many posts that EPO brought doping into a whole new level.

The combination of EPO and increased media interest (and money) brought the whole SPORT to a whole new level. Speeds went up, the leadout trains were literally like the TGV, and superstars were created. And people love heroes.

Remember when Coke became a major sponsor and all the riders used Coke-branded water bottles? That was a huge signal.

If EPO was a 70's thing, I don't think this conversation would be the same.

 

[BikeCentric]

Finally, none of this will affect the ability for the grass roots bike racer from taking part in the sport for their own enjoyment, which as posters to this thread point out, is the best part.

Indeed. The other fun thing about being an amateur is that you can actually stomp all over (some) dopers if you train a lot and train correctly. At that level people are primarily limited by time available to train, quality of training, and good old elusive natural talent. Natural talent - something that's very hard to distinguish at the pro level unless we are talking about talented haemotologists like Ferrari.

 

[uspostal]

Cycling isn't wrestling; the winners aren't chosen before the race.

Maybe not before a race, but I've read on here more than once about deals being made on the road for somebody to win, or pre-arranged the finish order

 

[BroDeal]

Cycling isn't wrestling; the winners aren't chosen before the race.

It sure does look like the ASO is setting Andy Schleck up for the win this year. The only other TdF winner still racing was excluded along with the rider who not only placed third last year but has more GT wins than any active racer. The ASO wants a big showdown between Contador and Schleck in 2012.

 

[MR_Sarcastic]

Being a Pro.....even a domestic Pro, on the bubble, is a rough ride. If you can't cut it, you're out, but if you're lucky, you hitch up with a sponsored local team the next year and try again.
The next time, you make the big time, you'll do just about anything to "cut it".
It's the same in any sport.

 

[Sanitiser]

It sure does look like the ASO is setting Andy Schleck up for the win this year. The only other TdF winner still racing was excluded along with the rider who not only placed third last year but has more GT wins than any active racer. The ASO wants a big showdown between Contador and Schleck in 2012.

I mean sure the powers that be have their favourites. But Contador won in 2009 ahead of Lance. Sastre won in 2008 and Lance came 30-something in 2010.

 

[Autobus]

Being a Pro.....even a domestic Pro, on the bubble, is a rough ride. If you can't cut it, you're out, but if you're lucky, you hitch up with a sponsored local team the next year and try again.
The next time, you make the big time, you'll do just about anything to "cut it".
It's the same in any sport.

All the more reason to hope that the big money leaves the sport. There won't be the motivation to do just about anything.

 

[AnythingButKestrel]

The problem isn't as much as pro cycling (as most pro sports are) is a sham, it's that it's a sham with a trail of dead and wounded for the sake of its corruption. The other sports should have their day of judgement too, but the discussion is cycling.

Why it matters to me is that I enjoy riding, but the money that I spend doing so goes to fund doping and who knows what else. The tentacles of the corruption spread so far and wide that it's nearly impossible to be involved in riding and not pump money into a wretchedly corrupt institution. It's one of the prime reasons I am reluctant to join USA Cycling: I would only send USAC and the UCI more money for their bulls****.

It needs to stop, and if stopping it means burning the UCI, USAC, and other federations to the ground, then let's just roll drums of kerosene their way and get on with it.

 

[Autobus]

It needs to stop, and if stopping it means burning the UCI, USAC, and other federations to the ground, then let's just roll drums of kerosene their way and get on with it.

I have no doubt that burning down the UCI and the federations is required, but how do we do that? I'm serious here. The IOC is the organization that recognizes the international sanctioning bodies for all Olympic sports and they are just as corrupt, if not more so, because of all the money involved.

There were hearings before the U.S. Congress on steroids in baseball. They caught the most egregious cases and made Major League Baseball put a bandaid of a testing program in place. You no longer see mediocre hitters go from 20 to 40 homeruns a season, but nothing has really changed. If Congress can't do it, I don't know what will.

 

[Maxiton]

<snipped for brevity>

I'd rather watch women's tennis. I would MUCH rather watch that actually...

Yeah, I dig it when Serena grabs that inhaler. That is just so hot.

I have no doubt that burning down the UCI and the federations is required, but how do we do that? I'm serious here. The IOC is the organization that recognizes the international sanctioning bodies for all Olympic sports and they are just as corrupt, if not more so, because of all the money involved.

There were hearings before the U.S. Congress on steroids in baseball. They caught the most egregious cases and made Major League Baseball put a bandaid of a testing program in place. You no longer see mediocre hitters go from 20 to 40 homeruns a season, but nothing has really changed. If Congress can't do it, I don't know what will.

I believe the E.U. has plenty of facility to clear this out. It just needs to become more of a public issue.

 

[MR_Sarcastic]

All the more reason to hope that the big money leaves the sport. There won't be the motivation to do just about anything.

There will always be motivation. If the money dries up and public interest wanes, the money for doping controls will also evaporate. Salaries will fall and riders will race to avoid the factory. It'll be like back in the 50's. A free for all.

 

[flicker]

There will always be motivation. If the money dries up and public interest wanes, the money for doping controls will also evaporate. Salaries will fall and riders will race to avoid the factory. It'll be like back in the 50's. A free for all.

That would be interesting, guys racing 180 days a year, custom builders, no more corporate sponsors.

 

[Boeing]

After finally reading all the way through Floyd’s interview with Paul Kimmage I’ve finally given up. While I’m certainly not taking Floyd’s words as literal truth, there is so much supporting information out there that I’m sure that he is generally describing the current state of professional cycling. His interview just concentrated all the various horror stories into a single vision in my mind, and that is professional cycling is truly a sham, little better than professional wrestling in the United Sates. The one difference may be that the specific winners in each race are not yet determined by UCI ahead of time, as the winners of each match are in wrestling, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that doesn’t happen in the not too different future.

The drugs; the utter corruption, favoritism, and lack of transparency of the UCI; the greed of the big race owners; and the hubris shown by all involved have all buried any real sporting value that bicycle racing once had. I’m not naïve enough to think that cycling was ever pure, but as the money has grown the corruption of cycling has grown apace. I don’t see any real hope for change either. The one body that can have any real oversight of UCI, the IOC, is just as corrupt and just as greedy.

It also seems to me that this recognition is growing. I see this in the calculation by the German public television networks that the cost of broadcasting the Tour is not worth any gains they would receive from showing such a tainted event. All this doesn’t mean that pro cycling won’t remain popular. You only have to look at the popularity of pro wrestling in the U.S. But at least the operators of wrestling recognize that they are not a sport, just entertainment. Watching the suffering and strength of will of top riders will always be entertaining, but without the confidence that their ability to suffer, their strength, and their will are what brings about the result of the race instead of who has the best program or who the UCI is protecting I can’t really consider pro bicycle racing much of a sport anymore.

post of the year

 

[Velo Dude]

Well now that it seems that everybody is cheating in one way or another

"Everybody cheats. I just didn't know."

-Dave Stoller, 1979

 

[ksmith]

I have no doubt that burning down the UCI and the federations is required, but how do we do that? I'm serious here. The IOC is the organization that recognizes the international sanctioning bodies for all Olympic sports and they are just as corrupt, if not more so, because of all the money involved.

There were hearings before the U.S. Congress on steroids in baseball. They caught the most egregious cases and made Major League Baseball put a bandaid of a testing program in place. You no longer see mediocre hitters go from 20 to 40 homeruns a season, but nothing has really changed. If Congress can't do it, I don't know what will.

Don't get bent out of shape over it. I will in summer go for a ride on my non carbon, probally non uci stickerd bike. I'll get where I'm going when I arrive.
Enjoy the racing, if they dope it doesn't effect me.The riders still do something I admire because I can't do it. Nothing will change because its a physically nasty sport, anything for an edge. The soap opera part keeps people like me, you and everyone else here involved. Its the best sport bar none

 

[BikeCentric]

Don't get bent out of shape over it. I will in summer go for a ride on my non carbon, probally non uci stickerd bike. I'll get where I'm going when I arrive.
Enjoy the racing, if they dope it doesn't effect me.The riders still do something I admire because I can't do it. Nothing will change because its a physically nasty sport, anything for an edge. The soap opera part keeps people like me, you and everyone else here involved. Its the best sport bar none

Nope. NFL football is way better. NHL hockey is way better. College football is way better. College lacrosse is way better. Tennis is even better.

Pro cycling full of drugs blows because you never know who shoulda/coulda won cause of drugs and then the winner gets stripped of his title anyway due to drugs and then police bust the race hotels and blah f'ing blah ad nauseum.

The sport has like 20 times the market size of the NHL but makes peanuts in revenue because it's a joke. Yeah I'm pretty much done with it, will spare you all my rants soon enough.

 

[ultimobici]

Nope. NFL football is way better. NHL hockey is way better. College football is way better. College lacrosse is way better. Tennis is even better.

Pro cycling full of drugs blows because you never know who shoulda/coulda won cause of drugs and then the winner gets stripped of his title anyway due to drugs and then police bust the race hotels and blah f'ing blah ad nauseum.

The sport has like 20 times the market size of the NHL but makes peanuts in revenue because it's a joke. Yeah I'm pretty much done with it, will spare you all my rants soon enough.

The three sports you cite as being "better" are far far worse in terms of drug usage & inactivity concerning reigning that abuse in.

The reason that hotels are raided in Europe is that countries like Italy & France have laws concerning sporting fraud, unlike the US. The NFL is nigh on immune from any investigation as is MLB. Cycling may be far from perfect but is miles closer than any of the sports you cite.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Just check out the sponsors, Molteni Sausage, Saxo Bank for instance.

The people who attack Lance are perfectly clueless to the true nature of the sport. To me the people who fawn upon Landis (blackmailer, revealer of personal secrets with LeMond, blackmailer once again vs. The Shack, RAT, liar and embezzler) shows how misconstrued some of our cycling fans are.

That's it! Onto the ignore list!

 

[ultimobici]

Just check out the sponsors, Molteni Sausage, Saxo Bank for instance.

The people who attack Lance are perfectly clueless to the true nature of the sport. To me the people who fawn upon Landis (blackmailer, revealer of personal secrets with LeMond, blackmailer once again vs. The Shack, RAT, liar and embezzler) shows how misconstrued some of our cycling fans are.

You really have plumbed new depths of idiocy! I would join auscyclefan94 in ignoring you if it weren't for the amazing comedy value of your posts.