Dino
07-17-2008, 05:12 PM
This just posted by Chris Carmichael. I highlighted the interesting section...
Bicycling.com
Damn It Ricco!
By Chris Carmichael
Damn it Ricco! That was my first reaction to this morning's news, and it immediately reminded me of my initial "Damn it Vino!" response to Alexander Vinokourov's positive test for blood doping last year. Damn it for putting the Tour de France on the front page of mainstream newspapers and sports websites for all the wrong reasons. Damn it for making people continue to question outstanding performances from all athletes, and damn it for kicking the sport I adore when it's still healing from its last beating.
I've been trying hard to look at the positive side of the recent doping cases, and especially this latest one with Riccardo Ricco and Saunier Duval, but I have to admit that I'm torn.
On the positive side:
If it's true that Ricco was caught using a brand-new, third-generation EPO, then you have to give the anti-doping agencies a lot of credit for catching up to the leading edge of doping science. For a long time, the cheaters were far ahead of the testers, using substances that couldn't be detected or were completely unknown to anti-doping officials. The BALCO case in the US is just one example, and the exact nature of the drug was only discovered when someone involved in its use delivered a sample of the substance to officials. The original EPO was used in the peloton for years before there was any semblance of a way to detect it. Initial reports are that this new drug, Cera or Micera, was provided to anti-doping officials by the manufacturer early on in its development so they could be prepared for its eventual use as a performance-enhancing drug. Cooperation between anti-doping agencies and pharmaceutical companies who create drugs for legitimate medical uses is a big step forward in the fight against doping.
On the negative side:
Riccardo Ricco was leading the Young Rider Classification. He's part of the younger generation of riders in the peloton, the generation everyone hopes will lead the way out of the sport's dark period and bring about a significant cultural shift away from doping. Manuel Beltran, the first athlete to test positive for EPO during this year's Tour, is 37 years old and on the downside of his career. When he tested positive it was easy - and somewhat comforting - to assume he was just trying to hang on to his career for one more year. His positive test lent credibility to the idea that it was primarily the older riders who still didn't get it. Now that a young man like Ricco has tested positive, it reminds us that doping may still seem like a viable option for riders who are at the beginning of their careers.
Several days ago I heard mention of the fact that Ricco idolizes Marco Pantani, and I remember thinking that was an interesting choice of role models. Pantani was one of the sport's greatest riders of the past ten years, but perhaps its most tragic story. He won the Tour de France and the Tour of Italy, and was the last person to win both in the same year. But doping destroyed him. He left the sport in disgrace and descended into depression and addictions to illicit drugs, and he eventually died of a cocaine overdose. Yet this is the man Ricco chose to lionize, the man he chose to emulate. He may have initially been drawn Pantani's tremendous achievements, but now it appears he may also have been ensnared by same demons that brought down his hero.
In the end, though, I remain positive about the current state of professional cycling and about its future. The fight against doping is ugly and difficult, but absolutely necessary. It's a battle that will never completely go away, but I think significant progress is being made. And as heart-wrenching as it is to watch, I'd rather see a rider like Ricco caught and removed from the Tour de France while the race is still going on rather than discover later that his achievements through three weeks of racing were all founded in fraud. At least this way he can't taint the results of the Alpine stages yet to come.
Bicycling.com
Damn It Ricco!
By Chris Carmichael
Damn it Ricco! That was my first reaction to this morning's news, and it immediately reminded me of my initial "Damn it Vino!" response to Alexander Vinokourov's positive test for blood doping last year. Damn it for putting the Tour de France on the front page of mainstream newspapers and sports websites for all the wrong reasons. Damn it for making people continue to question outstanding performances from all athletes, and damn it for kicking the sport I adore when it's still healing from its last beating.
I've been trying hard to look at the positive side of the recent doping cases, and especially this latest one with Riccardo Ricco and Saunier Duval, but I have to admit that I'm torn.
On the positive side:
If it's true that Ricco was caught using a brand-new, third-generation EPO, then you have to give the anti-doping agencies a lot of credit for catching up to the leading edge of doping science. For a long time, the cheaters were far ahead of the testers, using substances that couldn't be detected or were completely unknown to anti-doping officials. The BALCO case in the US is just one example, and the exact nature of the drug was only discovered when someone involved in its use delivered a sample of the substance to officials. The original EPO was used in the peloton for years before there was any semblance of a way to detect it. Initial reports are that this new drug, Cera or Micera, was provided to anti-doping officials by the manufacturer early on in its development so they could be prepared for its eventual use as a performance-enhancing drug. Cooperation between anti-doping agencies and pharmaceutical companies who create drugs for legitimate medical uses is a big step forward in the fight against doping.
On the negative side:
Riccardo Ricco was leading the Young Rider Classification. He's part of the younger generation of riders in the peloton, the generation everyone hopes will lead the way out of the sport's dark period and bring about a significant cultural shift away from doping. Manuel Beltran, the first athlete to test positive for EPO during this year's Tour, is 37 years old and on the downside of his career. When he tested positive it was easy - and somewhat comforting - to assume he was just trying to hang on to his career for one more year. His positive test lent credibility to the idea that it was primarily the older riders who still didn't get it. Now that a young man like Ricco has tested positive, it reminds us that doping may still seem like a viable option for riders who are at the beginning of their careers.
Several days ago I heard mention of the fact that Ricco idolizes Marco Pantani, and I remember thinking that was an interesting choice of role models. Pantani was one of the sport's greatest riders of the past ten years, but perhaps its most tragic story. He won the Tour de France and the Tour of Italy, and was the last person to win both in the same year. But doping destroyed him. He left the sport in disgrace and descended into depression and addictions to illicit drugs, and he eventually died of a cocaine overdose. Yet this is the man Ricco chose to lionize, the man he chose to emulate. He may have initially been drawn Pantani's tremendous achievements, but now it appears he may also have been ensnared by same demons that brought down his hero.
In the end, though, I remain positive about the current state of professional cycling and about its future. The fight against doping is ugly and difficult, but absolutely necessary. It's a battle that will never completely go away, but I think significant progress is being made. And as heart-wrenching as it is to watch, I'd rather see a rider like Ricco caught and removed from the Tour de France while the race is still going on rather than discover later that his achievements through three weeks of racing were all founded in fraud. At least this way he can't taint the results of the Alpine stages yet to come.