Lately, I've been thinking about this particular subject. I suppose it's because July is the month of the Tour de France and my dad watches it everyday, and I feel obliged to watch it as well for some bonding time. I find it absolutely insane for a person to willingly submit to participating in that bike race. It's like running a marathon everyday for a month, with two rest days. To top it off, the salary never is equal to that of a star NBA player. So, I never really quite understood. I took it to mean the love of the sport. However, with years of controversy surrounding doping, I'm starting to become very suspicious of professional cycling. Last year's winner, Floyd Landis has allegations surrounding performance enhancing drugs, and the result as to whether or not he will keep the title is pending. Lance Armstrong's 1999 victory is still being suspected because of drug use. It's quite sad, really to hear these things, and despite the recent measures to prevent doping, it most likely is still continuing. How can a man crash very hard one day and within 24 hours is practically tearing up the field and winning the stage? I find it quite strange, no? I will try and keep optimistic this year, though. I just can't subject myself to cheering on one man and then weeks later discover he's cheated. Then again, the use of performance enhancing drugs is not exclusive to cycling- it's everywhere. Whatever happened to the days when athletes were so celebrated and skilled by their own talents and efforts, not because of the amount of drugs pumping in their bodies?
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A quote posted to another blog:
According to British Cycling Weekly,
Coppi said that amphetamines were popular among cyclists in the late 1940s and 1950s. When asked if he took them he replied: “Only when necessary.” And how often was that? “Almost all the time.” Anquetil’s quote is even more wellknown. He said a rider could not be expected to survive the Tour de France on water alone.
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The fact is, cycling and drugs have had a long relationship, going back to the earliest days. For example, see pages 225 to 228 of Christopher Thompson's "The Tour de France" for a description of drug use throughout the full history of bike racing.
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