Unless you have been living under a rock the past couple of years, doping has been at the center of the sport of cycling. From from the Floyd Landis drama with his own problems in 2006 Tour de France to his allegations and random press releases today…and fast forwarding to recent news of Alberto Contador getting stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory with suspension from the sport for a year…has doping news taken over the sport of cycling and how does that affect us all?
Is Doping Killing The Sport Of Cycling?
Doping in professional sports is nothing new. With the pressure to perform at a level that is almost not human, today’s athletes are expected to put up bigger stats and faster times each and every year. You do not have to be a Harvard grad doctor to figure out that there has to be a limit to what the human body can accomplish without some kind of artificial enhancement. As the general public, owners, sponsors, etc. demands more and agencies crack down on illegal substances, teams and athletes just find better and smarter ways to hide the fact that their athlete is artificially enhanced.
I personally believe this is wrong, but it is the system we have setup over time and it is going to be a hard thing to break. As we clean up sports, stats and performances will fall and the fallout from that will not sit well with the stat hungry even if it is better in the long run for the sports and the athletes.
Let’s take a look at the three most high profile cases going on currently…
Floyd Landis – The Washed Up Has Been
Floyd Landis made history by getting his 2006 Tour de France victory stripped away from him for positive blood tests for an abnormally high T/E ratio. With his fans contributing millions to help in his court defense, Floyd kept to the story that he never doped…until recently. Now, in an attempt to keep the lime light for a little bit longer as a washed up cyclist, Floyd Landis is now admitting that he doped in an attempt to take down Lance Armstrong in the process.
In my opinion, Floyd Landis just needs to go away as he is doing more harm to the sport and the process of the cleanup than good. Floyd Landis is a douche-bag thief. He purposely stole money from his fans to aid in his defense that was a compete lie. Every time that guy gets up to talk about doping in the sport, his motives are not as pure as he claims. He is looking to be in front of a camera and take out a vendetta against Armstrong in the process.
No one is arguing that professional cycling needs to be cleaned up, but Floyd Landis is the last one that should be leading the charge. With zero credibility and his constant need to be in the news, Floyd Landis is the worst thing that has ever happened to the sport of professional cycling.
Lance Armstrong – The People’s Hero
With allegations flying from Landis and other areas of the world, Lance Armstrong and his 7 Tour victories are under fire. Lance Armstrong is the people’s hero as a cancer survivor and has brought more positive press to the sport of professional cycling than any other rider. You either love him or hate him but you can not deny what he has done for the sport.
Did Lance Armstrong dope during his Tour victories? We don’t really know. We do know that in his recent comeback he was the most tested rider in the Tour and all of those tests came up clean. Of course, he didn’t win those Tours but that could also be because of his age, so there isn’t any real, clean cut answer.
As a cyclist, I want the dream to be true. With one of the greatest comeback stories of all time (cancer to Tour winnings), Lance Armstrong has done more positive things for the sport of cycling than any other single rider. In the cycling world, he is Michael Jordan. If the allegations are true, it will put a huge stain on the sport for years to come, and that will be a difficult thing to come back from.
If he did…he does need to be caught. If he didn’t…this is a phishing expedition that is hurting the sport because of a few riders/coaches that just can’t let things go. Lance Armstrong continues to defend his victories and clean blood…I personally hope he is telling the truth as the fallout could be catastrophic for the sport of cycling.
Alberto Contador – The Natural Talent
Alberto Contador is not the most loved champion of the Tour de France or rider in professional cycling. Arguably the best natural talent that has ever hit the sport, Contador was recently suspended for one year and stripped of his 2010 Tour victory due to an increased amount of clenbuterol in his blood stream from a test done on July 21st during the Tour. Contador is claiming that the increased level was due to a piece of beef that was flown in from Spain and that was the source of the increased levels.
Do I think Contador was heavily doping during the 2010 Tour? Probably not…but he most likely looked for an edge over Andy Schleck and got caught. With modern techniques, teams are finding ways to get an edge over the competition that are getting even harder to trace. Alberto Contador is probably the best rider in professional cycling currently and that extra edge guaranteed his ability to ride away on the steep climbs of the Tour. There was a marked difference in performance ability between stages, so unless that was purely an act and a mind game…something had to be introduced that caused that big of a positive swing.
Since UCI can’t prove how the substance enter his system and since it was a low amount, they only suspended him for one year.
How Does This Affect Our Sport?
No good comes out of this for anyone involved. Young racers see doping as the only way to get the edge as pro’s continue to use banned substances to win and the outward appearance of professional cycling continues to get pulled through the mud much like the scandals that plagued baseball in the US for years.
The doping scandal in cycling that has been the dark cloud over the sport for years needs to go away for the health of the sport. Unfortunately, I believe there will not be clear skies for the foreseeable future. Instead of looking for ways to clean up the sport, everyone is focused on the blame game and teams are looking for ways to beat the system.
Are there good, fast and clean riders on the circuit? Absolutely…but tell me how much press they have gotten over the past couple of years. Are the Andy Schleck’s of the world getting all of the interviews and face time on the camera to put forth a better looking sport? No…the public’s need for increased drama is fueling a story that has no happy ending. Professional cycling needs to be cleaned up and there needs to be even competition between riders, but lately…there has been more money in the negative than the positive.
Professional cycling needs to get back to its core…it needs to get back to the ride.