Cycling - "the cleanest sport"

[Lou Zealand]

British sprinter Mark Cavendish has launched a passionate defence of cycling's reputation in light of the various drug scandals to rock it in recent years, claiming it is the cleanest sport around.

 

The last 15 years in particular have seen a number of doping controversies, with numerous stars either being accused or being found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs.

 

Alexander Vinokourov and Floyd Landis are two of the most recent high-profile riders to have been found guilty of doping offences, with the latter being stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone.

 

While insisting that drug cheats must receive the toughest punishments possible, Cavendish thinks that cycling has been unfairly singled out for criticism.

 

"It's an ignorant thought to just put cycling with doping," he said. "There are cheats in every aspect of life, in every sport, every nation.

 

"There will always be cheats. If you put the time the money and effort in to catching them then you will do it.

 

"People think just because people get caught that the whole sport is cheating. It's not. It's the stupid people who are cheating.

 

"The idiots who are doing it are the ones that are going to get caught. Cycling is putting the time and the effort in to stop it.

 

"I can guarantee that no other sport is tested anywhere near as much as cycling.

 

"If you test you are going to catch cheats in any aspect of life and that doesn't make cycling a bad sport, it makes it the cleanest sport, if anything."

 

Tough

Three-time Tour champion Alberto Contador was the latest rider to be embroiled in scandal after testing positive for clenbuterol last year.

 

Although the Spaniard was later cleared by his national federation, the ruling may yet be challenged by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

 

Contador's first major race this year will come alongside Cavendish in May's 21-day Giro d'Italia, which starts on May 7 in Turin.

 

Contador has always maintained his innocence, but if he is found guilty then Cavendish believes he should receive a tough ban.

 

"I don't know if he has done anything. That's for the CAS to decide. You can never trust someone fully," he said.

 

"It's frustrating when you have been racing with people and they test positive for doping. It's hard to get your head around that when it happens.

 

"Alberto is racing again. The decision will go the CAS. If he has doped then he will get his term for it hopefully."

 

Besides the Giro, Cavendish has an important season ahead with a programme also including the Tour de France and the Vuelta de Espana.

 

Cavendish now lives in Tuscany and has experienced success in his adopted homeland, having won the Milan-San Remo race two years ago.

 

 

Confident

The 25-year-old has endured a tough start to 2011, crashing in the Tour Down Under and the Tour of Oman, but he remains confident a repeat success in this month's Milan-San Remo can lead to a starring role in the Giro.

 

"The crashes haven't had an effect on me and I am where I want to be for Milan-San Remo," the sprinter added. "It's a beautiful Giro this year and it starts with a team time trial.

 

"We won the team time trial in 2009 and I got the maglia rosa and won three other stages.

 

"It was a special race for me and so it's back on my programme. To get some results would be incredible."

[intern]

I've given up on pro cycling. Bunch of frauds. I won't watch races any more. But I will continue to love riding my bike.

[Slowbee]

I've given up on pro cycling. Bunch of frauds. I won't watch races any more. But I will continue to love riding my bike.

 

+1, you always had a way with words ......

 

how you doing over there ? Is the quake impacting on you at all ?

[Christie]

I don't think Cav is clean

[Tumbleweed]

I don't think Cav is clean

 

If he isn't then he has to be one of the cleverst cheats ever. The Brit federation has over the last coupla years been one of the strictest there is.

[intern]

+1, you always had a way with words ......

 

how you doing over there ? Is the quake impacting on you at all ?

 

Doing great thanks apart from 14000 seismic events per year on average, NZ is an amazing place. Settling in very well; awesome MTB park up the drag called Rawhiti, loads of forest singletrack, steep stuff, river crossings, etc. And its 5 minutes from my front door to the backline, for those who enjoy surfing

[intern]

Oh, sorry but no the Ch Ch quake has not affected us, we are in Whakatane, on the North Island east coast...

[Tumbleweed]

Oh, sorry but no the Ch Ch quake has not affected us, we are in Whakatane, on the North Island east coast...

 

Now that you've hijacked the thread…huge fish you bagged the other day!

[intern]

Oh, ya, the fishing here is pretty good, too - got me and the wife some fishing kayaks, been soaking up all this place has to offer...which is a lot

[rudi-h]

I've given up on pro cycling. Bunch of frauds. I won't watch races any more. But I will continue to love riding my bike.

 

You don't make sense... Then you shouldn't watch any sports, nor admire any extraordinary achievements, because as Cav said, there are frauds and cheats everywhere, wheter it is in sports, business, politics and even charities.

 

I love watching cycling, IMO it's one of the most spectacular sports to watch/follow and I'm not going to let dopers put me off. That gets me thinking... Paris-Nice starts this weekend!!

 

And yes, most of all I'll continue to love riding my bike too!!

[Christie]

If he isn't then he has to be one of the cleverst cheats ever. The Brit federation has over the last coupla years been one of the strictest there is.

There are no effective tests in use for blood doping. Till they have some, most results are suspect imo. The big budget teams like HTC, Saxo, Astana etc. are dirty!

[intern]

You don't make sense... Then you shouldn't watch any sports, nor admire any extraordinary achievements, because as Cav said, there are frauds and cheats everywhere, wheter it is in sports, business, politics and even charities.

 

I love watching cycling, IMO it's one of the most spectacular sports to watch/follow and I'm not going to let dopers put me off. That gets me thinking... Paris-Nice starts this weekend!!

 

And yes, most of all I'll continue to love riding my bike too!!

 

As it happens I don't waste my time watching sports, I spend it doing sports. But that is besides the point.

Where cycling is concerned, cheating cuts across almost every level of the sport (esp road cycling). The prevailing ethic is 'if you can get away with it, it's OK'. Don't believe me? You've seen it. Riders slipstreaming cars, riders slipstreaming groups that are not in their race, riders hanging on to water bottles passed by cars, riders getting 'medical attention' which is really just a long push from the doc in the Audi. This is all stuff that riders do when they are being watched by a TV camera. And we're supposed to think they are more trustworthy when left to their own devices? I think not.

Even more galling is the litany of lies, denials, ridiculous 'defence' theories (who can forget Tyler Hamilton's astounding 'chimera' story) and other dishonesties. As Christie says, they are all cheats. For example, in the pro peloton, blood doping is not considered cheating. Everyone does it, so therefore it's OK. Just like all the other 'little' infringements of the rules, if you can get away with it, it's OK.

It seems to be a top level cyclist, you need a trainer, a couple of doctors and then a REALLY big legal team. What sport are we watching here, LA Law, or bike racing? Sometimes its bloody hard to tell.

Starting to make sense yet, Rudi? Hope so.

Edited March 2, 2011 by intern

[firewolf]

In South Africa there are many people who don't watch pro cycling. They might watch soccer. They don't care if sport is clean or not. They wait at robots, and they will also love riding your bike, my bike, hell anyone' s bike!