Why bother?Recent doping scandals continue to plague road cycling at the highest levels. Given the apparent reality, why would anyone pursue a dream in cycling? Are cyclists who hope to reach the professional ranks without drugs naive? It seems too great a risk to invest so much based on potentially false pretences.
From an academic approach, surprisingly many papers suggest that results of various tests demonstrate that doping does not provide significant gains to athletes who are already at a high level. The effectiveness for that matter is minimal. With emphasis on the Pro Tour, academic research suggests that dopers reached the highest level primarily from dedicated training. The drugs likely only accounted for marginal gains. That said, a marginal gain at the highest level of cycling is the difference between winning and being pack fill. Scholarly articles also mention that drugs have a greater effect on some than others. In essence these findings would imply that “doped “ champions in cycling gain “marginal” advantages that reflect better physiology than the competition. Perhaps that indicates champions are not the only dopers. There are also too many variables to be considered in road racing to assess whether “marginal” physiological gains are really all that is needed to win. Such variables relate to team politics and how a given race unfolds tactically. Perhaps in races where variables are less substantial, like a time trial or pursuit on the track, the effectiveness of marginal physiological gains is greater. However, those very gains can be supplemented with improved equipment too. There is not enough “hard” evidence to suggest that doping really makes a considerable difference in all cases. It no doubt improves one’s ability, but how much is questionable from an academic approach.
From a moral approach, based on integrity – the gains of doping are undeniable. As veteran racer Steve Tilford says, dopers are robbing clean riders of wins, memories and above all else, earnings that are well deserved. It is from this perspective that one can really gage the impact of cheating. Based on this principle, if all the clean riders quit – then the dopers and cheaters win. That is not right either.
From my own experiences as a cyclist aspiring to race professionally, reflecting on some brutal races I have competed in, it supports my academic findings and the moral approach as well. Below is one such experience that re-assures my decision to pursue cycling despite the doping.
I was racing in Belgian “UCI 1.2 Top-Competition” race, which has some of Belgium’s top amateur squads competing. The speed was relentlessly fast when I flatted in the middle of an onslaught of hard cold rain. Initially, I felt there was no chance that I would make it back. When I flatted, the peleton was going 65km/h while I suffered at the limit of my physical ability. Once I got the new wheel, the rain began to come down harder. With a firm 50 meter push from our selfless team mechanic, click click click, I subconsciously slammed my chain into the biggest gear and drilled it. The team car came around me, I latched onto the draft of the bumper. Before long, I was pedaling at 70-75km/h less than an inch from the back end of the car. I could barely see anything, yet I was loving every second of the thrill. My body was at its absolute limit, there was nothing left. Suddenly the back of the peleton was in sight and my mindset completely changed. I used the draft of my team car to sling shot up the left side moving up five caravan cars. We hit a sharp right hand corner. The horns of team cars behind me were blaring to let everyone know that I was moving through the caravan. As we ripped through this tiny town square in Belgium the noise of the huge crowds watching was loud providing an extra burst of motivation. I leaned my bike hard through the final round about, hopping onto the sidewalk to avoid hitting a post. Next thing I know I was at the back of the bunch, completely cross-eyed, with a heart-rate near its maximum knowing I just about hit a post head on a 50km/h. Regardless, I had managed to go beyond what I thought I could physically do – I believed in myself and made it back to the peleton during the hardest time of the race. This indicated to me, the human brain is the most powerful tool any cyclist could have.
The reality of doping in sport is what it is. Perhaps the rest of the sporting world and media should be a little less naive and realize that all professional sport has athletes who use drugs. Sport is undeniably a reflection of society. Lets not forget that the “financial crisis” was rooted in the greed of politicians and major financial players. Furthermore, the exploitation of the “Third World” is inherently interrelated to corruption and leaders trying to cheat others. Sport effectively is no different, despite the ideologies that “clean” sport is what the world wants to see. In the end, if the speed limit of a highway is 100km/h, we all know that many people will still choose to go 120km/h.
Becoming a professional cyclist without drugs is possible and very much worth the effort. The sense of accomplishment, experiences and reaching the limits of your physical abilities to an extreme you never thought possible is exhilarating and irreplaceable. In the end, one can only make the most of their circumstances. Even if one’s circumstances render it impossible to become a clean professional cyclist. Regardless, everyone has one shot at life and therefore there is only one chance to per sue cycling. To conclude, cyclists who aim for the highest levels clean are not naive athletes with a compulsion. They are rather ensuring the preservation of ethics in sport for future generations. Finally, they are not allowing the cheats to win.
Above all else, there are still clean riders in the pro peleton and I for one hope to be one of them in the future.
Charles R. Bryer
www.tempo88.com
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