OK, so I did a search for doping, and too many threads came up to see if this is a repeat of what has been said previously... Seems it is a pretty contentious issue... But... I don't think someone totally clean can win the TDF, because he would have to beat a bunch of guys who are inhumanely fast due to drugs. I have come to realize that doping has been part of the bicycle racing culture since the earliest days. Again, how can you beat a bunch of guys who have the advantage of doping if you are clean...? The thing I keep coming back to is how close these guys are to each other. I don't know if you monitor your performance, but my performance fluctuates within a few weeks relative to myself, much less relative to other guys that I ride with, a hell of a lot more than the difference between the fastest and slowest guys in the peloton. What that means is that having a rabbit's foot in one's possession, and really believing that it gives you more power, could make a significant difference for these guys. The guy who wins has to be doing everything right. He has to have the best equipment, the best coaching, the best training and the best meds. That applied to Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, Indurain, Ullrich, Armstrong, Landis and anyone else who won the Tour, and to probably almost everyone, if not everyone, who merely rode in the Tour. I just don't believe that one guy could be so much better than the rest to not only beat them every time, but beat them clean while they are all doping. Now, I'm not 100% convinced about any of this, because I don't have any firsthand evidence of it. I'm just telling you what I would say if someone who knew the truth put a gun to my head and told me to guess, knowing they would pull the trigger if I guessed wrong. I don't know if you've looked at this list... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Doping_cases_in_cycling , but please do. It's very sobering. And remember, every single one of those guys passed countless numbers of tests, and claimed innocence, some to and past the bitter end (Floyd, Tyler, Jan, etc.). The only reasonable conclusion is that a careful doper can get away with it for a very long time, an entire career, without getting caught. I will also add that a part of me desperately wants to believe that Lance Armstrong is some kind of exception to all this. That he really is clean, and has always been clean. But his words and actions simply are not consistent with that theory. From the '99 allegations, to the guilt of so many of his past teammates (Andreu, Heras, Beltran, Hamliton, Landis); from his association with Ferrari to his strict adherence to the code of silence, and outrage with those who violate it, it all adds up to d.o.p.e.r. Sadly.
