Doping

A late present for Astana from the UCI

^ let's hear it from the President then!

in other news, the 2014 doping statistics:

1 Attachment

UKAD attempted to test White, who finished first in the British Cycling rankings in 2011, at the conclusion of the Richardsons-Trek Road Team Road Race on September 28, but the rider refused to provide a sample.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/jason-white-handed-two-year-ban-skipping-drugs-test-150819#lQ90pe1Pk88uGiwt.99

I raced against him last year! I don't feel so bad now that I couldn't chase back on aftrr a puncture!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25284752

Just saw this video, Cavendish responding to a question about doping from a reporter.

edit: hmm, I don't know how to embed videos on here, https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=405150076320067

What was he saying?

journalist asks - are you 100% sure there is no doping in cycling?
cav replies - are you 100% sure that someone in this room is not f*cking your wife?

or words to that effect.

...and Jose Ibarguren's still a doctor at Cav's team, right?

Saw that yesterday. Great answer :)

Answer Key:

1. no
   
2. yes
   

I think it's a good answer. It's mostly likely true that other sports cover drugs or bad behaviours up (to an extent) but in cycling, because it's such a drama, it's lapped up and people get dead excited over it.
'HA, you've been doping omg, can you actually even cycle?'
hmm, performance enhancement drugs of most kinds are undoubtedly bad for you, and only serve to push up expectations of the sport so I don't know why they bother. Oh. Money.

Just look at the chart above for evidence of that and ignore the fact that shit like football brushes all their doping failures under the carpet.

It's a terrible answer.

Have there been any clean Grand Tour winners from the last 25 years, and if so, care to name them?

I still like the answer he gave.
I was mainly thinking about football covering up for their 'stars'.
Maybe the age range of supporters targeted reflects how it is reported?
Would you say football and rugby have more younger fans/hopefuls than cycling?

The top four in that chart are clearly more performance intensive than Cricket.

or actually it could a case of, I don't follow athletics, so don't really get proper involved in following up all their drug stories, therefore they are not as big or dramatic, IMO.

Cav makes a good point (with perhaps unnecessary Manx angst).

He was asked for the impossible.

It's either a really naive question or deliberate shit stirring for a cheap headline.

I thought it was an excellent answer to a stupid question.

Yes, plenty. LeMond, Evans, Wiggins, Froome, Nibali, even Basso. You could make a case for Sastre too.

There have been plenty of doped riders winning them too, but that was the era the sport was in. If you think the sport remains in that era then I think you'll fit right in over at The Clinic.

If you can squeeze Basso in then Hesjedal gets a mention too.

*asterisk

He's not won it.

Is he a 'best placed' or something post-Lance?

Grand Tours, so Hesjedal counts as he won the Giro.

I see.

I fell straight into the Taxi-driver-chat "all them tour deee france winners doped" spiel ;-)

To be fair, I missed Hesjedal off my list mainly because he's about as memorable as most other Canadians.