GMC Hearing, Freeman and Sutton.

dublin49

[

Anyway, I'm happy that cycling does what it does to try to address issues, and cycling fans raise far more eyebrows than most other sports. But I personally won't take lectures or accept cycling as an outlier.[/QUOTE]

Agree cycling is not the exception but look how cycling was pushed into getting its house in order,A support car full to gills with drugs stopped and caught on the way to Ireland in 1998.Merckx was failing drug tests in the late 60's.I wonder where we would be currently if that car had got through.The only way we will see improvement is if technology allows us to preserve blood /Dna samples into the future and retired athletes face financial and reputational ruin for the rest of their lives ,rather than the current clean slate you get when you retire.

nsnoefc1878

Macy0161 wrote: »

Football has become far more aerobically based than it used to be. The high press, tippy tappy etc. Just because they're skilful doesn't mean there aren't benefits of the same drugs. Additionally, much of the doping in the past in cycling has been to aid recovery - two games a week over an entire season? And rotation of teams is less now than it was in the 90's.

Rugby dominated by the collision now.

And all with far more potential financial gains than cycling.

Anyway, I'm happy that cycling does what it does to try to address issues, and cycling fans raise far more eyebrows than most other sports. But I personally won't take lectures or accept cycling as an outlier.

I don't doubt for a second that it is rife in soccer, but rotation is not less now than it was in the 90s, in the 90s only 2 subs were allowed as opposed to 3 now, the club's at the top and competing in Europe had smaller squads then, not the 22 first team players they all have now. They also took the domestic cups more seriously than they do now, and played their top players in those to a greater degree.

Macy0161

dublin49 wrote: »

Agree cycling is not the exception but look how cycling was pushed into getting its house in order,A support car full to gills with drugs stopped and caught on the way to Ireland in 1998.Merckx was failing drug tests in the late 60's.I wonder where we would be currently if that car had got through.The only way we will see improvement is if technology allows us to preserve blood /Dna samples into the future and retired athletes face financial and reputational ruin for the rest of their lives ,rather than the current clean slate you get when you retire.

No need for the raids when it's in plain sight. Football managers can still say, unquestioned, at a press conference about players having injections to get over injuries. Players talking about getting "special juices" to take before training. The 90's Juve team. Tennis players such as Andy Murray, have openly said (without question) having cortisone shots to get through matches. Brian O'Driscoll saying on off the ball how many pain killers he was taking to get through matches (and yet the controversy in cycling over the also legal tramadol).

I think it was Robert Millar/ Pippa York who once said (to paraphrase) a cyclist who takes a cortisone injection is a cheat, but a footballer who takes one to play a match is a hero.

It's good that cycling is held to a higher standard, but again, I just won't take that cycling is somehow special or an outlier. It still comes down to don't look, don't find.

CramCycle

I've given the story before about a sports science talk years ago, and they had the team doctors from Chelsea there and they talked about taking blood from Didier Drogba, and then reinfusing it at a later date to aid recovery. Basically what we call doping but because it was soccer, and don't forget, room full of sports scientists at this talk. Colleague of mine asked the question and was looked at as if he hadn't a notion. Brian O'Driscoll admitted on radio that he took painkillers to get through matches (and he also admitted it was wrong and effectively cheating). Don't get me wrong, due to the nature of cycling and athletics, it is more likely to be a lone wolf at the lower levels than a team outfit but in other sports, they are team sports. My Daughters boyfriend went to a fairly decent rugby school in Dublin and they were being trained up on supplements etc. from 1st year secondary school, by 4th year there was a cohort who were heavy gym goers and lets just say, the transformations were unrealistic in the time frames given for many of them.

Anyway, that's all I will say on it, its across all sports and it is no worse in cycling than any other sport, we are just more proactive about going after it, although that does seem to be the preserve of certain countries, other places I have visited, the fans see it as part of the sport and it doesn't offend them at all. Does it happen, yes. Will I be disgusted by athletes doing it when caught, yes. Am I going to get worked up about it at that level, nope, I gave up on that, life is too short and until they start blanket testing for anyone getting paid as a matter of course, then it simply isn't worth the headache. At an amateur level I will hate them but above that, until they do more, I have gotten over giving much space to it in my head. You see alot of people won twotter where

On the same note, when I finish competitive cycling and hit retirement age form work, I am giving all the drugs a go, just to see what they are like.

harringtonp

CramCycle wrote: »

On the same note, when I finish competitive cycling and hit retirement age form work, I am giving all the drugs a go, just to see what they are like.

I know you're only joking but my mother was on a heavy gradually reducing course of steroids for an auto immune condition and after seeing the effect they had an her I wouldn't be going anywhere near them.

dastardly00

So Doctor Freeman has been struck off the medical register permanently

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/56459664

I wonder if there is any chance now that he will come clean and tell the whole story

velo.2010

dastardly00 wrote: »

I wonder if there is any chance now that he will come clean and tell the whole story

Well, he has plenty of time to write a book about it.

Macy0161

Journalist putting out on twitter yesterday, that Harry Maguire's injury yesterday must be "proper", as he played two months last season due to pain killing injections to get through matches. Not an eyelid batted or eyebrow raised...