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Permalink Reply by Ken Gray on November 11, 2014 at 5:27pm

Sorry for the typo. "the Tour etc."

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Permalink Reply by S on November 12, 2014 at 6:00am

What a farce.  Most pro cyclist have been taking drugs of various sorts since the start of the tour and even the initial tours have had some pretty bold cheaters.  Armstrong make have taken blood enhancement to another level but his opponents were doing similar things.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on November 12, 2014 at 6:10am

Who among us doesn't want justice?

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Permalink Reply by Alex James on November 13, 2014 at 5:43am

Has anyone seen ESPN's 30 for 30 episode "Slaying the Badger", highlighting the rivalry between Hinault and LeMond during the 1985 and 1986 Tour de France? In addition to being an enlightening and well produced documentary, the last 10 minutes are very interesting; LeMond says that by the early 90's he was noticing participants with ridiculous endurance and muscle structures, to him marking the beginning of modern day steroid usage during the tour. Lance, like a lot of riders, came out of this period. 

S makes a very good point though; during the 1966 Tour, riders dismounted and protested during a leg of the Tour because riders were starting to be drug tested. Apparently, amphetamines and painkillers were quite popular among the riders! Here's a slideshow from the New York Times featuring historic pictures from the tour, including the protest in question 

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Permalink Reply by Joe Studer 8.0 mi on November 13, 2014 at 6:22am

The ESPN episode was great.  The book by the same name (on which the ESPN episode was based) is also a fascinating read.

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Permalink Reply by Craig S. on November 13, 2014 at 12:58pm

Apparently?

Many TdF winners and losers were drug abusers. Fact.

Some riders keeled over during the race due to drug overdoses. Fact.'

Even to a casual observer like myself, Lance's doping was obvious. I think Greg's assertions are to cover his own ass. 

There are far more performance enhancing drugs/substances than there are tests.

All sports are dirty, not just bicycling.  Hinault is as dirty as any other athlete.

Yet, I did enjoy that episode of "30 for 30", it's on Netflix.

We've missed out on the great spectacle of bike racing in the states. There are recordings of the Vuelta and Giro and Tour stages going back to the early 80's on Youtube. 

Alex James said:

Has anyone seen ESPN's 30 for 30 episode "Slaying the Badger", highlighting the rivalry between Hinault and LeMond during the 1985 and 1986 Tour de France? In addition to being an enlightening and well produced documentary, the last 10 minutes are very interesting; LeMond says that by the early 90's he was noticing participants with ridiculous endurance and muscle structures, to him marking the beginning of modern day steroid usage during the tour. Lance, like a lot of riders, came out of this period. 

S makes a very good point though; during the 1966 Tour, riders dismounted and protested during a leg of the Tour because riders were starting to be drug tested. Apparently, amphetamines and painkillers were quite popular among the riders! Here's a slideshow from the New York Times featuring historic pictures from the tour, including the protest in question 

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Permalink Reply by Craig S. on November 13, 2014 at 1:22pm

Athletes have known for centuries that caffeine give a boost, hence, it's a controlled substance by UCI standards. Smelling salts, massages, etc; all athletes look for advantage and it's been that way forever. 

Jacques Anquetil was a known amphetamine user. Every sport/activity has it's heroes; peel back the layers and you'll find Eddy Mercyx abused drugs as well.

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

It's not that professional athletes all of the sudden starting taking lots drugs in the 90's, it's that science got to a point where the drugs actually started helping.

S said:

What a farce.  Most pro cyclist have been taking drugs of various sorts since the start of the tour and even the initial tours have had some pretty bold cheaters.  Armstrong make have taken blood enhancement to another level but his opponents were doing similar things.

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Permalink Reply by S on November 14, 2014 at 10:10am

The other drugs like cocaine, amphetamines, steroids, blood doping helped, it's just that EPO was so much better than other stuff for endurance sports.  It let you get the advantages of blood doping without the mess and having to worry about extracting and storing blood.

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

It's not that professional athletes all of the sudden starting taking lots drugs in the 90's, it's that science got to a point where the drugs actually started helping.

S said:

What a farce.  Most pro cyclist have been taking drugs of various sorts since the start of the tour and even the initial tours have had some pretty bold cheaters.  Armstrong make have taken blood enhancement to another level but his opponents were doing similar things.

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