(Because it's always so damn easy to be clever about things in the past!)
So... when did it start? Because it didn't start with Armstrong, did it? Or even with Festina... which was supposed to have been the end of this ****!)
No. It's older than that, much, much older! Just take a look at this quote from Wikipedia regarding doping in the 1930 Tour:
82 years ago, and thinks were already way out of control! So much out of control that it wasn't until 1965 doping was actually made illegal, and only the next year testing was actually conducted at the Tour. However, as this quote shows, the methods of testing were less than desirable:
If that's how testing was first conducted then it's no wonder they weren't much respected at first.
This is a clean-out of something that's more than 10 years old? Hah! It's more like a clean-out of something that's closer to 100 years old! Unfortunately we can't go all the way back to the beginning in this clean-out, because if that was to happen... then we'd have to pretend pro-cycling didn't even exist!
So... when did it start? Truth is]anybody[/I] could truly know. What I do know, however, is this:
I ****ING HOPE IT ENDS NOW!
Apologies if this post didn't make a whole lot of sense... I just needed to vent!
So... when did it start? Because it didn't start with Armstrong, did it? Or even with Festina... which was supposed to have been the end of this ****!)
No. It's older than that, much, much older! Just take a look at this quote from Wikipedia regarding doping in the 1930 Tour:
Wikipedia said:The acceptance of drug-taking in the Tour de France was so complete by 1930 that the rule book, distributed by Henri Desgrange, reminded riders that drugs would not be provided by the organisers
82 years ago, and thinks were already way out of control! So much out of control that it wasn't until 1965 doping was actually made illegal, and only the next year testing was actually conducted at the Tour. However, as this quote shows, the methods of testing were less than desirable:
Wikipedia said:On 29 July testing began at the Tour de France. Raymond Poulidor was the first rider to be tested in the Tour at the end of a stage to Bordeaux. He said "I was strolling down the corridor in ordinary clothes when I came across two guys who asked if I was a rider. They made me go into a room, I ****ed into some bottles and they closed them without sealing them. Then they took my name, my date of birth, without asking for anything to check my identity. I could have been anyone, and they could have done anything they liked with the bottles."[41] Next morning, on the way to the Pyrenees the riders climbed off, began walking and shouting protests
If that's how testing was first conducted then it's no wonder they weren't much respected at first.
This is a clean-out of something that's more than 10 years old? Hah! It's more like a clean-out of something that's closer to 100 years old! Unfortunately we can't go all the way back to the beginning in this clean-out, because if that was to happen... then we'd have to pretend pro-cycling didn't even exist!
So... when did it start? Truth is]anybody[/I] could truly know. What I do know, however, is this:
I ****ING HOPE IT ENDS NOW!
Apologies if this post didn't make a whole lot of sense... I just needed to vent!