La Vuelta/ Tour of Britain

[Dan2501]

I don't honestly believe he's completely innocent. I'd be amazed if there are any clean athletes winning or contending in any of these major cycling events. Armstrong and the cyclists of that era were apparently juiced to the gills on everything they could get their hands on and at the forefront of developing performance enhancing drugs and yet this supposedly clean era of athletes are keeping up with his times. I don't understand how that is possible.

 

[pokerjoke]

I don't honestly believe he's completely innocent. I'd be amazed if there are any clean athletes winning or contending in any of these major cycling events. Armstrong and the cyclists of that era were apparently juiced to the gills on everything they could get their hands on and at the forefront of developing performance enhancing drugs and yet this supposedly clean era of athletes are keeping up with his times. I don't understand how that is possible.

I want to believe him and 99% of me does,its naive at best.You have to question the team principles and the medical team for even putting him in this situation.

 

[Hobbit]

I'll be very surprised if neither the team nor him didn't know that double dosing would take him over the limit. If his asthma was kicking in, and he needed to double dose, why didn't he just withdraw from the race?

I'll be honest, I'm really looking at this sceptically. As professional an organisation as Team Sky and having a team doctor... c'mon, they knew they were going over the limit.

 

[larmen]

Around 8% of the population are asthmatic. Isn't it an amazing coincidence that we produce two Tour de France winners in recent years and they both happen to have asthma?

I find it equally amazing that every indoor cyclist of team GB in the Rio Olympics won a medal, and hey all had asthma as well. But then, they just use medication to level the playing field.

 

[azazel]

I find it equally amazing that every indoor cyclist of team GB in the Rio Olympics won a medal, and hey all had asthma as well. But then, they just use medication to level the playing field.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/09...-athletes-but-pretty-much-everyone-else-does/

What about asthma inhalers? So often we see top-level endurance athletes sucking on inhalers, a sight at odds with most people’s childhood memories of asthmatic classmates’ loathing of aerobic exercise. Could it be the humble asthma inhaler holds performance-enhancing qualities?

‘I call it the “transporter”,’ he says. ‘It opens and expands not only your lung capacity but also your pulmonary capability, so it has improved capacity to move the blood cells…

‘In other words, if you were using EPO, or if you were using another substance like EPO, it would help you to boost endurance even more. It is like multiplying the effects by between three and five times.’

He points out some athletes are using the pumps legitimately because they have what he calls ‘induced asthma’ from training, but that others are cheating by conning doctors into giving them medical letters stating that they have the condition, letters that no anti-doping agency on the planet can argue with. ‘It’s like a green light for doping,’ he says.

 

[User62651]

Mrs Wiggins called Froome a 'slithering reptile' on social media before retracting. Oh Dear! That's a bit strong......even for this forum!

Both Froome's and Wiggins's reputations sullied it seems, even if 'innocent'.

 

[larmen]

I don't think anybody who googled just a little can really be thinking that they are innocent.

Froome's defence is dehydration. On the day he trashed the field at the Vuelta? Dehydrated riders come in half an hour after the peloton, if they make it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Think there is more to come but yet again the reputation of cycling, such as that which remains, takes a hit. Is there actually a professional sport at the moment where the participants are so corrupt. It's been endemic for a while and how many have gone undetected?

 

[ger147]

New favoirite for BBC's SPOTY?

 

[User101]

Is there actually a professional sport at the moment where the participants are so corrupt. It's been endemic for a while and how many have gone undetected?

Do you mean cycling or sport in general ?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Do you mean cycling or sport in general ?

Cycling. It has a terrible reputation on drugs and I fear we're still at the tip of the iceberg

 

[User101]

Cycling. It has a terrible reputation on drugs and I fear we're still at the tip of the iceberg

I suspected that's what you meant.

As I said earlier in this topic, cycling deserves it's poor reputation, many sports don't deserve their good one. In the 2012 Olympics, 50 athletes tested positive, , 38 of which were medal winners only one was a cyclist,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_at_the_Olympic_Games



Are you aware of the drugs scandal there was in Spanish sport ? Where numerous big name sports men/women tested positive ? Famous tennis players, famous footballers etc...

 

[larmen]

Are you aware of the drugs scandal there was in Spanish sport ? Where numerous big name sports men/women tested positive ? Famous tennis players, famous footballers etc...

Operation Puerto where allegedly the Spanish court ordered the destruction of the samples of which many were allegedly by high profile Spanish sports people in other higher profile sports than cycling.

They got some 'foreigners' like Jan Ulrich (Rudihijo) in that. But no Spanish person was connected to any blood bag at all.

 

[User101]

My point exactly, other sports seem to get off scot free, while cycling continues to be crucified.

 

[larmen]

I think that was more protecting the own nation rather than protecting everything but cycling. A bit like Russia did in the winter Olympics.

 

[User101]

I agree, I was just saying cycling continues to be crucified but other sports just sail along without the mass media and public scrutiny. If other sports stars get caught it's the individual that is bad but a cyclist gets busted and it's the whole sport that's bad.

 

[larmen]

Festina, Telekom, US Postal (Discovery) - the 3 highest profile teams of their time have confirmed team doping structures.

if you find another sport where you don’t just confirm individuals but teams, or better leading teams, then I guess the sports will be treated similarly.

i don’t doubt they are out there, they just haven’t been caught out yet.