Friday, October 27, 2006

Cycling's Doping Culture: An Investigation

The Daily Peleton has a terrific two-part article (Part I, Part II) aptly named "Cycling's Winter of Discontent." It seems that Thursday's announcement of the 2007 Tour de France route did not generate the usual excitement that it normally does. In this post-Lance Armstrong era of rampant doping allegations, professional cycling is a beautiful sport in trouble. Obviously, it has been sick for a long time -- for at least a decade if not longer.
The article's subheads tell the story.
Part I looks at the problems:
-- The Sport of Doping Scandals
-- The Sport of Questionable Ethics
-- The Sport of Misguided Loyalty
-- The Sport of the Doping Suspect
-- The Sport of the Doctors
-- The Sport of Doping Controls
-- A Sport in Disrepute
Part II looks at the solutions:
-- More Openness
-- The Teams must start Acting as if Doping matters
-- The Cyclists must start Acting as if Doping matters
-- “Truth and Reconciliation”
-- Fight the facilitators of doping, rather than the dopers
-- Cycling must start acting as if Ethics matter
The long investigation's second part, by Michael Akinde, begins with this famous quotation:
“Now is the winter of our discontent”
-- William Shakespeare, Richard III

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