A sad day for cycling

da_deadman

greg-h wrote:

as david millar said its not going to make a mule in to a throughbread race horse.

this being the David Millar who claimed to have never taken drugs and that the 'Cofidis Affair' that erupted early last season was not a problem throughout the team but only concerned a few individuals...until police searched his home, found empty drug bottles, brought millar in for questioning where he confessed to taking drugs to help him win a stage of the Tour and the world time trial championships. (Millar is a good friend of Lance's and after he confessed to doping Lance came out in support of him)

I still love cycling and racing but, unfortunately, it's pretty hard to follow it sometimes. For instance the racing has been so fast all season this year (with the new ProTour) and the Tour was, I think at a new record speed this year. But why have the speeds continued increasing so much?

I would love to see cycling really attacking this problem and becoming a shining example for other sports like athletics, swimming, football, etc. I don't want to hear of record times for climbing l'Alpe d'Huez, I want to see the race speeds decreasing. I want to hear that a climb takes 5 or 10 minutes longer than it did a few years ago. I want to see the Code of Silence, which is worse than in the Mafia, being broken. I want to hear former pro's confessing and describing how they took drugs. This might be able to help the governing bodies to introduce new, better testing procedures. I want them to start testing riders before and after the stage, to try and combat the micro-doses of epo that last for only 24 hours.

-and about the French... Sure, they seem resentful of Armstrong and it does look to be a bit of a witch-hunt sometimes. But, perhaps there is a reason for it. Back in the 90's, or the EPO years as some refer to it, the French did win races; Virenque on the Tour podium, Jalabert world number 1 for years, Brochard a world champion, Moncassin one of the top sprinters... But since the Festina Scandal in '98, the French have become very strict on doping with a strong police involvement. This has led to the 2-speed cycling that they talk about. Look at Joseba Beloki in 2004. He joined a French team, but was very unhappy and left mid season. One of the reported reasons was that he couldn't use his preferred asthma medication because the French authorities had banned this. Perhaps if the rest of the countries governing bodies took a similarly strict stance it could help level the playing field.
But why just hunt after Lance like they have? Well there is a society thing between the French and Americans which comes to the surface from time to time. And Lance has won the Tour so many times, with such seeming ease. In 7 years he has had 2 bad days (1 in 2000 because of hunger knock and 1 in 2003 because of dehydration). 2 bad days in 7 years!!! To the French, who know this race better than anyone, that surely seems super human and worthy of investigation, especially with all the controversies (like the reports in david walsh's book, the connections with Dr Ferrari, the treatment of Simeoni, etc.).

da_deadman

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

remember Miguel in the rain when he failed a drugs test after winning, but luckily enough for him the substance wasn't banned for another four days (but was already banned by another authority so he should have been stripped IMHO)

was this the incident with Pedro Delgado in the 1988 Tour you're thinking of? when, during the Tour, he tested positive for a substance that wasn't banned in cycling at the time, but was later in the year. Then he continued to win the Tour that year.

Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong both gave tests that showed traces of banned substances during their respective Tour winning streaks, but both were ok because they had doctors prescriptions, for asthma and a saddle sore cream AFAICR.
(-which reminds me of an ex-pro describing how to fake saddle sore. they would rub salt into their testicles, making it look like a saddle sore affliction. the doctor would prescribe a cream to rectify the problem. this cream contains a steroid, cortisone or something, and then the rider could inject this steroid knowing a positive test could be waved away with their doctors prescription)

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Anyone reckon they should put extra samples on ice so new tests can be applied to them in the future in case anyone thinks they can get away because there isn't any current test for whatever.

yes yes yes. This should definitely be the procedure when testing athletes.