The Tour De France

[jhar26]

The Tour de France hasn't even started yet and we already know that the major candidates for winning the event won't do so for the simple reason that they aren't allowed to start. Jan Ulrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo are all under suspension after alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. After all the controversy surrounding the alleged drug use of Lance Armstrong, the clownesk happenings concerning Virenque, Museeuw and numerous other bike racers past and present I think it's safe to say that almost anyone in the sport is on drugs, including those that haven't been caught (yet). Taking drugs without getting caught has just become a part of the competition. But to be fair, this is probably true for most sports.

Gaston

[jhar26]

Brilliant! Turns out that this year's winner Floyd Landis is on dope also! ;D

Gaston

[arjan]

Yeah... after a lot of years of not being interested I followed this Tour a bit more... and now this... will be my last I think

[Antonio]

... sadness ...
... and anger too

[jhar26]

Well, to tell you the truth, cycling is a sport that doesn't interest me that much (not that I have anything against it it or something, to reach the top in any sport, whether it is the marathon or darts for all I care, is a major achievement).

I think that drug use in sports (ANY sport) is much more widespread than we are willing to believe. I would go as far as saying that I believe that practically anyone who's someone in sports (and even most of the nobodys) is, or has been on drugs at some point during his or her career. There are no saints where millions of dollars and world wide fame are at stake. Besides, how can you compete against a field of drug users if you yourself are clean? Anyone who would be able to do that would have to be a superman.

Gaston

[erik]

There's no denying that doping is a chronic issue in almost every sport (including baseball, where Barry Bonds is so unrepentant about having used performance-enhancing drugs that I'll have no sympathy for him if he is banned from the sport forever).

As for Floyd Landis, however, let us wait until the doping tests are conclusive before branding the man a cheater. So often the media likes to try athletes in the court of public opinion, and I'm as sick of that mentality as I am of jocks who have been proven to have used drugs.

[jhar26]

erik said:

There's no denying that doping is a chronic issue in almost every sport (including baseball, where Barry Bonds is so unrepentant about having used performance-enhancing drugs that I'll have no sympathy for him if he is banned from the sport forever).

As for Floyd Landis, however, let us wait until the doping tests are conclusive before branding the man a cheater. So often the media likes to try athletes in the court of public opinion, and I'm as sick of that mentality as I am of jocks who have been proven to have use drugs.

The question is though whether someone using drugs "when everyone else is doing it also" is really a cheat or whether the few that don't are just idiots. Sure, one could argue that they at least have their integrity, but they are bound to have it at the back of the pack. I really believe that the overwhelming majority of people in sports are, or have been on drugs.

For example, take a look at the physical appearance of the top players in women's tennis. How many girls do you know in real life that look like the Williams sisters, Mauresmo or Kuznetsova (to name but a few)? Serena looks as though she could be the heavyweight champ of the world! Without wanting to single them (or anyone else) out in particular, don't you think it's amazing how different they look from the top players in the days of Evert, Navratilova, Goolagong, Austin and Mandlikova? Just a case of training? No, those earlier players trained just as hard. Weight lifting? No, Evert and Navratilova lifted weights too. Besides, a few hours in the gym to complement your regular training as a tennis player doesn't make you look like the incredible hulk.

And how come that the average height of the players is almost half a meter (or so it seems) more than it used to be? Nothing to do with the evolution of the human species if you ask me. If that were the case, at the rate we're going 100 years from now tennis players will be as big as the Empire State Building. No, I'm not buying it, growth hormone is by far a much simpler and more logical explanation.

Gaston

[erik]

Of course, growth hormone isn't the only performance-enhancing substance out there; there are plenty of other substances that athletes take, sometimes more than one at any given time.

The downside of this is that growth hormone only makes the brawn bigger. It doesn't make an athlete "smarter"--you only need to look and listen to the way American football players talk to know that.

[jhar26]

erik said:

Of course, growth hormone isn't the only performance-enhancing substance out there; there are plenty of other substances that athletes take, sometimes more than one at any given time.

Obviously that's true. I only mentionned growth hormone as an explanation for the spectacular increase in height of tennis players. But besides the other well known stuff such as steroids and epo there are also alot of products out there that simply can't be detected. And as soon as they can, the scientists and doctors that supply stuff to athletes have already moved on to something else.

Gaston

[jhar26]

There you have it: I've just seen an interview on German television with a former Spanish bike racer called Manzano who was asked if it is possible to finish in the top 10 of the tour de France without doping. "No, and it ain't possible to end in the top 50 or top 100 either. In fact, it ain't possible to finish the race without doping."

Gaston

[erik]

Well you can't exactly do 24-hour surveillance on these guys prior to, during, or even after the race to see if they've been doping...unless, of course, you want to hear screams of "Big Brother" or "invasion of privacy" all the way from Paris to Monte Carlo. But maybe Manzano is right.

Professional sports in the U.S. (NBA; Major League Baseball; NFL; NHL) have fairly stringent drug testing standards, but unfortunately they are very lax, in my opinion, when it comes to punishment of doping offenders, especially if they are big names, like the aforementioned Barry Bonds. Money, as everyone knows, talks the loudest here in America.

[jhar26]

I don't think there is a perfect solution to this mess. Either they should allow athletes to do whatever they want or else they should ban them for life if they get caught. It's one thing or the other, no inbetween as far as I'm concerned.

Having said that, we also have to be realistic. Is it really fair that an athlete can't take medicine when he/she has a cold? That they can't even take an asperine, or even risk suspension if they smoke a joint (how performance enhancing can it be to giggle around on a Basketball court ?)?

It's said that cyclist in the tour the France burn up to 12.000 calories in a mountain stage, and they are expected to ride another one the day after. How can we expect them to do something like that without "supplements" of some kind?

I'd say, make that list with products that are forbidden shorter, so that only the truly dangerous stuff is included on it. But if they get caught taking something that remains on the list, ban them for life and not just for a few Months.

Gaston

[egoodstein]

I'm kinda sorry about Floyd Landis who seems anyway like an unassuming nice guy . I think
this will go down as the 'drug enhanced' era, and sports and sports records will just be looked at accordingly.

Good point about tennis players, esp. women players these days-- yes I've often thought
some of them seem to be on steroids. Perhaps there some of the reason is the seemingly non-stop, year round season. And injuries seem to pile up anyway. Maybe like golf, they should have more of a second tier tour or 'qualifying schools' where you acculate points to get to the
main tour, and once there there are perks of more money/fewer tournements you have to play as long as you do sufficiently well. Anyway, esp. with the big money involved in most major sports, I don't see this problem being solved really, or going away either. Players will
do what they can to maintain an edge, balancing the risks with returns. Ed

[Kathy ~]

WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP .. ( I'M NOT A FAN, BUT GOT CAUGHT IN THE NEWS TRAP).. THIS CYCLE DUDE IS CLAIMING THE SECOND TEST IS FALSE.. HE PRODUCES DOUBLE TESTOSTERONE ?

WHEN IN FACT.. THE MEDICAL EXPERTS FOUND SYNTHETIC DRUGS .. HE STILL WANTS TO APPEAL .. SHOULDN'T THEY RULE HIM OUT ALREADY AND GIVE THE MEDAL TO THE SECOND RUNNER UP ?

TIS SO MUCH EASIER WITH HORSES

[jhar26]

nicksred said:

WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP .. ( I'M NOT A FAN, BUT GOT CAUGHT IN THE NEWS TRAP).. THIS CYCLE DUDE IS CLAIMING THE SECOND TEST IS FALSE.. HE PRODUCES DOUBLE TESTOSTERONE ?

WHEN IN FACT.. THE MEDICAL EXPERTS FOUND SYNTHETIC DRUGS .. HE STILL WANTS TO APPEAL .. SHOULDN'T THEY RULE HIM OUT ALREADY AND GIVE THE MEDAL TO THE SECOND RUNNER UP ?

TIS SO MUCH EASIER WITH HORSES

They will no doubt declare the second guy the winner. Doesn't mean that he IS clean though. Just means that he didn't get caught. ;D

Gaston

[Kathy ~]

BUT THEY WILL PROBABLY TEST HIM TOO

I'M STICKING TO MY 4 LEGGED RUNNERS

[jhar26]

nicksred said:

BUT THEY WILL PROBABLY TEST HIM TOO

They have. But not finding anything doesn't mean that he didn't take something. They test all of them all the time. If taking drugs would mean that you automatically test positive no one would take them. Jan Ulrich (one of the stars of the sport, used to be Armstrong's main rival) is said to have spend 35.000 Euros on drugs in 2005 alone (epo, testosteron, etc...) and he never tested positive for anything.

Gaston