it's funny to read assumptions/accusations/bashing/whining from spectators who are only involved in professional cycling from the couch of our living room when those who are directly involved inside the sports don't even care that much about doping - keep reading and you'll see why i say they don't care
firstly, i think doping inprofessional cycling is not as complicated as we think (but media and we - fans always tend to complicate it), i guess either one of the below would have been the scenario in current proffesional cycling scene, let's go thru them 1 by 1 -
1) ALL TEAMS ARE CLEAN but some riders are doping without the teams' knowledge.
--with my not so smart brain, it tells me if this is the situation, then the Festina case would not have happened, and the same goes for the ongoing T-Mobile investigation. So this is a very unlikely situation in the peloton, not all teams are clean.
which means maybe
2) SOME TEAMS & RIDERS are clean, some are organized dopers. which will eventually lead those clean cyclists to join the clean teams and dopers to the doping teams. a doping cyclist won't survive in a clean team and vice versa.
-- so, if you are a clean team(rider) and you are losing to a doping team(rider), WILL YOU KEEP QUIET? we are talking about pro cycling, about sponsorship & prize money, about one's rice bowl.
if it was any of us here, we would have gone all the way to do all we can to expose and nail those who are putting sand in our rice bowl so that we can eliminate these doping riders/teams. less competition and clean competition means more money. BUT I can't think of a single reason why a clean rider/team (if they do exist) would not do this. Don't tell me they are afraid to do it.
so, this leads to my third and final assumption
3) you have ALL TEAMS & RIDERS INVOLVED IN ORGANIZED DOPING but riders are supposed to keep quiet to keep their rice bowl and they do all they can to avoid getting caught by the anti-doping authorities. of course as a rider you can choose to either ride clean or dope, but whatever choice you made, you have to play by the rules - no complaints.
if you choose to ride clean even tho you know dopers exist, you can't complaint even if you can't beat the dopers. if you do, you're OUT, no team will hire you because pro cycling is a big ring of dopers competing.
and if you choose to dope, once you are caught, you're out of the game and will be a labeled and convicted doper and you have to play by the rules - serve your time, and try your luck 2 years later finding a new team to ride for.
-- i believe this is the most likely scenario and in fact THE scenario now in pro cycling. they are not only competing in races but also competing in doping methods/technology. if that's the case and ALL the pro cyclists know the rule of this game and they agree to play by it, why are we spectators whining like Greg LeMond did? Let them dope and race, and we just watch the races. if anyone get caught, serve the ban. If you don't get caught like lance armstrong, then you are "CLEAN" the champ.
but i know many of you heremay not agree with me
or maybe any of you have a better assumption?
firstly, i think doping inprofessional cycling is not as complicated as we think (but media and we - fans always tend to complicate it), i guess either one of the below would have been the scenario in current proffesional cycling scene, let's go thru them 1 by 1 -
1) ALL TEAMS ARE CLEAN but some riders are doping without the teams' knowledge.
--with my not so smart brain, it tells me if this is the situation, then the Festina case would not have happened, and the same goes for the ongoing T-Mobile investigation. So this is a very unlikely situation in the peloton, not all teams are clean.
which means maybe
2) SOME TEAMS & RIDERS are clean, some are organized dopers. which will eventually lead those clean cyclists to join the clean teams and dopers to the doping teams. a doping cyclist won't survive in a clean team and vice versa.
-- so, if you are a clean team(rider) and you are losing to a doping team(rider), WILL YOU KEEP QUIET? we are talking about pro cycling, about sponsorship & prize money, about one's rice bowl.
if it was any of us here, we would have gone all the way to do all we can to expose and nail those who are putting sand in our rice bowl so that we can eliminate these doping riders/teams. less competition and clean competition means more money. BUT I can't think of a single reason why a clean rider/team (if they do exist) would not do this. Don't tell me they are afraid to do it.
so, this leads to my third and final assumption
3) you have ALL TEAMS & RIDERS INVOLVED IN ORGANIZED DOPING but riders are supposed to keep quiet to keep their rice bowl and they do all they can to avoid getting caught by the anti-doping authorities. of course as a rider you can choose to either ride clean or dope, but whatever choice you made, you have to play by the rules - no complaints.
if you choose to ride clean even tho you know dopers exist, you can't complaint even if you can't beat the dopers. if you do, you're OUT, no team will hire you because pro cycling is a big ring of dopers competing.
and if you choose to dope, once you are caught, you're out of the game and will be a labeled and convicted doper and you have to play by the rules - serve your time, and try your luck 2 years later finding a new team to ride for.
-- i believe this is the most likely scenario and in fact THE scenario now in pro cycling. they are not only competing in races but also competing in doping methods/technology. if that's the case and ALL the pro cyclists know the rule of this game and they agree to play by it, why are we spectators whining like Greg LeMond did? Let them dope and race, and we just watch the races. if anyone get caught, serve the ban. If you don't get caught like lance armstrong, then you are "CLEAN" the champ.
but i know many of you heremay not agree with me
or maybe any of you have a better assumption?
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