Trek and Lemond - a question from the diaspora

[benb]

Lance didn’t even get busted by the Europeans. He would have gotten away with it all if it weren’t for US interests deciding they’d had enough.

Agreed he should never have done the comeback.

And for all this we basically killed US road racing. There are probably some Europeans who think we were dumb if they think busting Armstrong after he had already gone away significantly damaged US cycling.

When we still have even amateurs getting busted it’s not like things are 100% better for all this. We blew up road and replaced it with gravel where they are doing much less testing.

[El Chaba]

Bike racing is on full life support. You can’t overestimate Lance’s role in its destruction. For a team to find a sponsor after the doping scandals of the 90s, they faced the headwinds of the general perception that cycling was a “dirty” sport. That is not exactly the ideal situation when what you a basically selling is brand recognition and association with a vibrant and healthful activity. Things were just starting to settle down and the power structure of professional bike racing decided to hitch its wagon to Armstrong. They had the Cinderella story that they were looking for and the money flowed like never before. Only a group of fools could not have seen past the veneer. Then again we are referring to the power structure that governs cycling so the term “fools” may be a bit weak, but they were fully enabled by throngs of dupes in the public who could easily be identified by their yellow wristbands. Inevitably, the fecal effluvium hit the proverbial fan and the damage has proven to be incalculable. Any defense involving “everybody was doing it” is simply enabling to the behavior. Lance was the one at the top, and the power structure protected him because his was the story they wanted to sell.

[bikinchris]

It's not all Lance's fault. The sports reporters who giggle at bike racing on the air and single it out to call it dirty saw the baseball players go in front of Congress bold face LIE about doping in baseball. The same thing is happening in EVERY pro sport. The big time pro sports have clauses that require prior notice days before doping tests. At that point, it's not a drug test. It's an IQ test.
Some people cheat at EVERY opportunity. They cheated in ancient Greece to get a wreath of leaves placed on their head. Players in pro sports are trying to get HUGE wealth and super stardom. That kind of thing makes people go insane.

The Europeans heard Bjarne Riis admit to doping and turned to look the other way.