13 August 2008
Cycling - Steroids and the Mess They Created
Posted by admin under: Biking .
A friend’s recent tweet about the credibility of cycling as a sport got me thinking about cycling’s past in steroids. I think what gets me most is that people who don’t follow the sport (most people) get the impression that cycling is riddled with steroid pumping gear heads. Admittedly there are still a few dumbasses who tried (and failed) to compromise the 2008 Tour de France.
Not shockingly these cases were lead material for ESPN during July. It wasn’t until Stage 15, though, that Sportscenter featured the results of the day’s racing instead of the isolated cases of doping. The sport can’t expect to have a great reputation when America’s leading sports news broadcast is more interested in the 3 riders who doped than in the 185 (189 started the race) who didn’t.
I’ve been following cycling since 2003 and since then I’ve noticed a marked escalation year-to-year in the organization’s battle against the drug culture that emerged in the sport during the 80’s and 90’s. You don’t even have to look outside of the US to find that BOTH American teams, Team Columbia/High Road and Team Garmin-Chipotle (mmm Chipotle, I digress), have both voluntarily joined the Agency for Cycling Ethics who’s doping controls are among the most stringent of any sport in any country.
Cycling’s bad rap will take time to recover from. Along the way the International Cycling Association will run into roadbumps as it finds and subsequently bans those athletes who dare to continue to cheat the sport and their fellow cyclists. Rest assured though, that cycling is among the cleanest sports.
The difference between cycling and other sports is that cycling has admitted it had/has a problem, and the governing organizations are doing everything they can to clean up the sport. I think the American public would be shocked at the sheer number of athletes at all levels of other major sports that are still doping, but haven’t yet and probably won’t be caught because of other sports’ lax stance on doping controls for athletes, both in competition and during the off season. You need not look further than Barry Bonds and Major League Baseball.
All this said, I do understand that people can only be aware of what is reported to them and I don’t fault my friend. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this though and each time it leaves me baffled. I just don’t understand writing cycling off for its issues with drugs - its akin to saying that baseball or football (or any other sport) aren’t sports because of the actions of a minority of players.
One Comment so far...
sbdomer Says:
14 August 2008 at 5:08 am.
good post man. I think it is ridiculous somebody would say that cycling is not a sport. Swimming had huge troubles at the Olympics with doping several several years back with doping. They are still considered a sport as well. If we took this principle of discounting a sport based on the minority of players that are abusing drugs, curling and bowling would probably be the only two “sports” left. lol
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