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sandranian · Site Admin

Landis said that he probably will never be able to race the Tour de France again...because of "politics."

Hmmmm....nothing to do with the fact that Landis made a mockery out of the race by cheating, getting caught, and then opting for a public trial in which he tried to defeat the positive test by accusing the lab of rigging the tests and generally not being qualified to administer home pregnancy tests. Let's not mention the fact that he has NO RESULTS since coming back to cycling.

The logical question to Landis should have been "If what you are claiming (and have claimed) about the Tour is true WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU EVER WANT TO RACE THE TOUR DE FRANCE AGAIN?"

(Oh yeah, the $$$)

I am tired of doping cheats. Tired of them whining about how unfair life is to them. I don't want to see them racing again unless they either take responsibility for their actions...or in the case of Basso...shut up and take the punishment. Landis failed a doping test, then went after the Tour de France, and he wonders whether they will let him ride again? The nerve.

scozim

The arrogance of the cheaters definitely gets old. It's always interesting to see these guys come back and not perform well.

We had a conversation on our group ride this afternoon about doping and riders in the 70's and 80's vs. now and the drastic health issues that it can cause. Always a spirited, yet thoughtful, dicussion.

Wisey

I thought up a new punishment for dopers. Sentence them to working 10 hour days, sitting in front of a computer, drinking dreadful instant coffee, for 6 days per week, and still not be able to afford to ride Ultegra after the mortgage is paid and the kids are fed. The sentence would need to be 15 years minimum. Then perhaps they might realise just how charmed a life they were leading before they cheated themselves out of it through their own petty selfishness and greed.

verktyg

In defense of pro cyclists, we from more affluent situations tend to overlook that professional bike racing has pretty much been a poor man's sport.

This was brought to my attention when I saw AC on TV when he met the Prime Minister of Spain; I said to my friend, "Look at Contador, he's dressed like a bum!". This was in reference to how well some other European TdF winners like Eddy dressed when they met national leaders.

AC came from a very modest background like most professional riders. It's the same with many pro baseball, basketball and football players in the US. Athletics is looked on as a road to financial success for the top players.

You don't become a pro cyclist overnight. It takes years of sacrifice and endless training. Many riders quit school at 16 to pursue their dream. I have several friends here in the US who did that back in the 70s. Beyond cycling many European pro riders have little or nothing to fall back on. They also work for peanuts if they are not on a top team.

So, for me it's easy to see how riders could be tempted to dope - to get ahead or just to stay in the chase. More so when they are surrounded by a culture of former racers with similar backgrounds who might encourage them to cheat. It seems that many dopers lack experience outside the world of cycling.

I'm not defending the practice of taking performance enhancing drugs. For me it diminishes all my respect for the doper's achievements.

I'm just suggesting a more human understanding of why someone would act that way.

Punishment: 1st offense, off with their feet! Twisted Evil

Emperor Chas. (thumbs down)

Wisey

Yes, sport has long been an escape from poverty. The community at large tolerates doping as we have always regarded it as a non-serious offence. I guess it would be good to regard it along other forms of fraud. I'm sure many accountants think about "it", but mosy CHOOSE to do the right thing. I recognise that these athletes are very young and inexperienced, but they still make their choices, informed or not and they should be fully responsible.