by Chris Bodenner
A reader writes:
Cycling should be commended for ousting their best for breaking the rules. Contador is not the first. Floyd Landis preceded him. Lance Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the world. Compare that to the kiddy gloves that Barry Bonds was treated with. Have Super Bowl contenders even been tested? Where's the first NBA doping case? NASCAR? Tennis, hockey, soccer? You think nobody there uses stuff that is not allowed? Cycling is one of the few sports that is willing to actually walk the walk on doping. That is a good thing. It sends a message to young kids in the sport: don't kill yourself playing with stuff you don't understand.
Another writes:
I was a professional cyclist. I lived and raced in Europe my final eight seasons of a 15-year career but never got to the Tour de France level. I was a workhorse, never a star. I made a very conscious decision at the start of my career never to take drugs. There were many reasons for this decision, but top line is that I didn’t want to suffer any long-term health issues, and I was an idealist.
I want to give you my perspective as to why legalizing drugs would be disastrous.
Once you start down that path, it never ends. You take amphetamines (the drug of choice – it's cheap and accessible), you improve, and then all of a sudden everyone else is on amphetamines … so you start taking EPO (more expensive and very dangerous). Then everyone is on EPO, so you're searching for that next drug that will give you the next edge over everyone else. And this intersection is where it gets dicey.
Every year, riders die. Crashes and accidents sometimes happen, but they die from the drugs. The most famous rider to do so was Tom Simpson, who literally rode himself to death up the Mont Vonteaux in the 1967 Tour. His death was determined to be "exhaustion". Bullshit. His cycling jersey had ampoules of amphetamines. And the reason you take amphetamines? It tricks your body into not feeling pain. Pain is supposed to save you, as it prevents you from exceeding your limits.
In my day, usually 10-20 riders a year would die, and the deaths were attributed to heart failure from an "unknown" defect. But they actually died from experimental drugs. The status of the riders was such that it never really made headlines. There is one particular drug that increases the amount of red blood cells in your body to such a degree that your blood turns into sludge. (I believe it is called NESP.) You are required to set your alarm clock every two hours so that you can wake up and move around. If you don’t move around, your blood stops moving. If your blood is not moving, your body is not getting oxygen. Then you die.
Let me speak specifically to the 50% value that Savulescu notes in your post. This is ALREADY in place. It’s already LEGAL to take drugs to increase your hematocrit levels just as long as you don’t exceed 50%. It’s not written in a way that makes it clear that you can take drugs to get to that level, but it's overtly implied. This was set in place after an entire team in the Tour, Festina, was expelled in 1998 after it was discovered that the team was systematically doping all of their riders.
I had several contract negotiations with teams that were at a higher level than mine. I possessed all they wanted as far as skills, personality, engine, etc. But there is always a question they ask at the final meeting. It is code. And if you answer incorrectly, your contract offer is pulled. That question is "Are you willing to do everything it takes for the team to win?" The correct answer is simply "yes". My answer on three different occasions was "yes, with the exception of taking drugs which I will not do." On all three occasions the contract offer was pulled and I was left out in the cold (I am not sure if that practice still takes place).
Oddly, one of my regrets is not taking drugs. I probably would have made it into the Tour had I taken. But I also could have died.
And what happens when everyone takes drugs to get their levels to 50%? We are back to square one. Everyone is at the same level they were when no one was taking drugs. Sure, perhaps it adds 5 mph average on the overall, but what next? Where does it stop? I will tell you from experience: it does not stop. It never will.
The Dish 