I am quite new to this forum and up until now I've managed to avoid coming here to The Clinic. I am, what many frequent posters in The Clinic would call, a very naïve cycling fan who thinks (or at least hopes) that cycling nowadays is relatively clean. I thought that the fact that many highly talented youngsters immediately make their mark and get impressive results is actually a sign that cycling is cleaner now but the rather absurd time trial by Pogacar has brought even me down here to The Clinic to read your thoughts/assumptions regarding his performance.
The fact that I've always believed, and still believe, that cycling nowadays is relatively clean doesn't mean ofcourse that I know there will always be cheaters and therefore there will be riders in the peloton who dope. However I think these are individual cases who work either alone or are connected to an outside doctor/network not directly connected with any team (like Operation Aderlass).
In reading through some of the threads and posts in The Clinic I've realized that many of you believe that doping nowadays is not limited to individual riders or outside networks but that the top teams still organize their own doping programs. I just can't seem to wrap my head around that thought.
To me the risks of a team still involved in doping programs just seem too high and there are too many questions/incertainties involved:
- Many riders in the past few years have taken quite strong positions regarding doping. Do the teams still involved not approach/contract these riders? Do they contract them but keep them out of the doping program? But how do they know they aren't interested? If they simply ask then they risk that the rider will eventually talk about it, especially if he does not want to participate.
- Is everybody in the team involved or at least in the loop about it? I can't imagine a small part of the team can keep this safely secluded from the rest of the team. And if everybody is in the loop I just can't imagine that everybody goes along with it and not a word gets out to a third party and so on.
- The risks when they are caught eventually just seem so high. The riders involved will obviously face a ban but the organisers/doctors/team managers may very well face effective jail time as well as hefty lawsuits from their sponsors. Are they really willing to risk that much?
- History has shown us that even 'undetectable' doping after a few years might get detectable and they still might get caught later on. I think the general public will also be less 'forgiving and forgetting' with riders/teams that get caught now (as it is supposed to be a lot cleaner) then a few years ago when 'everybody did it'.
All in all I have a hard time believing the top teams are still running their own doping programs nowadays but I'm curious to here your views/opinions on it.
The fact that I've always believed, and still believe, that cycling nowadays is relatively clean doesn't mean ofcourse that I know there will always be cheaters and therefore there will be riders in the peloton who dope. However I think these are individual cases who work either alone or are connected to an outside doctor/network not directly connected with any team (like Operation Aderlass).
In reading through some of the threads and posts in The Clinic I've realized that many of you believe that doping nowadays is not limited to individual riders or outside networks but that the top teams still organize their own doping programs. I just can't seem to wrap my head around that thought.
To me the risks of a team still involved in doping programs just seem too high and there are too many questions/incertainties involved:
- Many riders in the past few years have taken quite strong positions regarding doping. Do the teams still involved not approach/contract these riders? Do they contract them but keep them out of the doping program? But how do they know they aren't interested? If they simply ask then they risk that the rider will eventually talk about it, especially if he does not want to participate.
- Is everybody in the team involved or at least in the loop about it? I can't imagine a small part of the team can keep this safely secluded from the rest of the team. And if everybody is in the loop I just can't imagine that everybody goes along with it and not a word gets out to a third party and so on.
- The risks when they are caught eventually just seem so high. The riders involved will obviously face a ban but the organisers/doctors/team managers may very well face effective jail time as well as hefty lawsuits from their sponsors. Are they really willing to risk that much?
- History has shown us that even 'undetectable' doping after a few years might get detectable and they still might get caught later on. I think the general public will also be less 'forgiving and forgetting' with riders/teams that get caught now (as it is supposed to be a lot cleaner) then a few years ago when 'everybody did it'.
All in all I have a hard time believing the top teams are still running their own doping programs nowadays but I'm curious to here your views/opinions on it.