Can Cycling Be Saved?

By Jessica | Permalink | No Comments | July 24th, 2007 | Trackback

So, after spending the better part of a day mulling over the current state of cycling (and steadfastly avoiding all cycling websites so as not to find out any more bad news), I have a few thoughts. And since I have a horrendous head-cold right now and can’t think clearly, I’ve decided I’m going to inflict my thoughts upon you, my helpless readers. Enjoy.

• I still think, despite everything, that cycling is one of the few sports that is actually trying to do something about doping, whereas most others are just trying to ignore the problem into non-existence. So while every single positive test feels like a personal slight, it also means there’s one less doper in the peloton. How many baseball players are on steroids as the head honchos turn a blind eye?
• Having said that, I’m not sure how many years of this kind of mid-Tour revelation (or near-Tour, in the cases of Basso, Ullrich and Landis) the sport can handle without imploding. How long will the sponsors stick around? Would it make sense to cut way back on the money involved, to sort of “start over,” as it were, to try to rebuild from the ground up? Is that even possible?
• Back when David Millar was found with EPO and admitted to doping, I think many of us wanted to wag a finger at him with a “Shame on you” attitude, and I know I quickly forgot about him once he was serving his two-year suspension. Now, in the midst of semi-confessions or blatant lies (as this girl sees it, anyway), I’m feeling quite nostalgic for the way Millar owned up to his crimes quickly. He took his lumps, paid his dues, and he’s back. Sure, he’s not as good as he once was, but he still has a job as a professional cyclist, which is something Basso, Ullrich, Landis and now Vinokourov can’t say.
• I’m no fan of Michael Rasmussen, and I wasn’t keen on him even before I found out he’d missed some pretty important out-of-competition doping tests. These days, in my book, a missed test is too damned close to a positive result, and there’s just plain no excuse for it. Cyclists ought to be working doubly hard, bending over backwards as it were, to make it pristinely clear they are not guilty of anything but having bad tan lines. Rasmussen’s missed tests are not an automatic sign of guilt, I understand that, but if he wins this year’s Tour it will likely be tainted until (or if) he is officially cleared. And what we need more this year than ever is a clean winner.
• I’m also no fan of Pat McQuaid or Dick Pound, although I acknowledge both are heads of key organizations which are quite necessary in the fight against doping in sport. What they lack is even the appearance of impartiality, and that’s what makes them part of the problem. When they assume guilt until innocence is proven, every cyclist who goes to doping control is putting their entire career on the line for what could be a lab mistake (I’m not saying they always happen, but they can happen, and the possibility of a mistake is enough reason to pause). McQuaid and Pound have reputations for saying precisely what’s on their mind, and while I suppose everyone is entitled to that, they are in positions which are much too important to have hot-headedness rule the day. They both need to be ousted, for the good of sport.
• I reiterate - despite all of this, all my frustration and disappointment, I still believe that we can be proud that at least cycling is doing something about all of this. We as cycling fans will have to endure some awful years ahead, I’m afraid, but someday when baseball and basketball and football and cross-country skiing (etcetera, etcetera) are finally forced to come to grips with the doping that’s entrenched in their sports, we can take the high road and lend a comforting shoulder to our friends whose idols are among those sports’ fallen heroes. Or we can remember the nasty things they said about cycling and treat them accordingly. The choice is yours.

So, can cycling be saved? The obvious answer is yes, of course it can. And it will. It’s just a question of how. In 1999, when the husband and I chased the Tour de France around, we passed a sign as we walked up the Col du Galibier which read (in French), “Thank you Lance Armstrong, for a Renaissance of the Tour.” This was, of course, the year directly following the Festina doping scandal which led to the withdrawal of the entire Festina squad and some rider protests in the days that followed.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this new round of scandals will be washed away by one inspiring rider (who, depending on what you believe, may also have been doping) or one amazing year. No, it’s going to take some time to get beyond this one, and I have no idea what it’s going to take. What I do know is that as long as the sport seems to be trying to do something about it, and as long as there are still riders left in the peloton, I’ll keep watching.

Home » About Cycling

If you found "Can Cycling Be Saved?" useful or interesting, please share it with others by bookmarking it at any of the following sites: