Andy Schleck Photo Coutesy of Team Saxo Bank
Today was was bittersweet. In spite of Andy Schleck’s inspired win over the peloton and Alberto Contador, cycle fans couldn’t leave doping out of today’s discussion. “Look at Armstrong without the performance enhancing drugs” he’s not nearly as impressive! Let me make my doping position clear, anything that endangers an athletes health behind the inherent dangers of the sport I consider a much more serious danger to the sport itself. The fact that a football player competing at the high school level might be compelled to take medical risks just to position themselves competitively with other college prospects makes these drugs extremely dangerous. In any sport that recruits competitors from the junior ranks, drugs enhancing performance must be discouraged. Even though most consider bicycle racing to be a more primitive discipline man, machine plus a massive effort equals result. More effort more result!
I look at the elite level of cycling as comparable to Formula 1 auto racing, not for the emotionally, technologically or financially weak. In Formula 1 there was a time when in an attempt to level the field they banned several methods of computer aided car control. This included traction control and ground effects to include the rear wing, a key component used to control the down-force a critical handling component. The computer would take input captured from the cars telemetry and actively adjust the wing to achieve the optimal down force. So of course everyone just packed it in and gave up… No… Actually Ferrari found a way to harmonically tune carbon fiber to modulate (bend) in the exact manor required for optimum down force. This achieves the goal without breaking the rules. The thing is, as was the computer controlled version this too may be banned because it offers an unfair advantage. Does that make the use of this technology somehow undignified? I would call it intelligent.
Tactics, equipment and engine need to be unmatched. The discussions pointing fingers at cyclists for doping is all a matter of perspective. If a training method or regimen is not currently banned it is not illegal in cycling. Stop whining and complaining, take an ephedrine… No, take a whole handful, come out to a local cycling event and try a race even at the entry level. Just try to keep up! You will find yourself circling the seventh ring of hell and nothing but heart, skill and courage will get you to the finish. So yes the teams are enhancing their performance, by riding 25,000 mile per year in training, by making choices in their diets their training methods, bicycles that use materials found on the space shuttle. All of these things are completely respectable and absolutely enhance your performance.
