It is interesting to me that no one has come to Floyd’s or anyone’s defense. Usually the press will quote team members in other sports, or people in the industry, who will defend the character of the person. But in cycling there is always a resounding silence. Teammates and associates slowly back away from those accused of doping, as if they have a contagious disease. I can only imagine that it’s fear of trial by association? I won’t believe it’s because “they all do it” and there is no one innocent left to defend.

In their quest to root out all “evil doers” in the cycling community – the UCI, ASO, WADA, (name your governing body) have created a true “catch me if you can” environment. Instead of the cat-n-mouse game surrounding the Puerto affair, it would be interesting if they took a different approach to encourage people really coming forward with information to understand the true extent of real doping in cycling.

It’s even more silly that the team managers are all completely in the dark about any doping practices of their riders and become completely surprised when one of their rider’s names appears. Bjarne Riis (who just happened to win the TdF during what is considered the height of the EPO era – pre-testing/pre-Festina) response to accusations of his past and the behavior of his own riders is deplorable.

I love cycling and I love my bike. But, right now, the problems do not lie with the behavior of the riders. The cycling/doping federations have created an environment that can only result in the degradation of the sport – not purifying it.

I agree, there needs to be a much better way. I think the whole anti-doping system needs to be rebuilt, from the ground up. The Operacion Puerto mess, being dragged on and on and on and on, being left for dead, and then coming back to life, is just horrible. Now there’s over 100 riders implicated. It almost seems as though the anti-doping and other authorities are out to kill the sport.

Two things need to happen:

One, the riders need a strong voice. Whether that’s a union or not, they can decide for themselves. But a union seems like the obvious way to go. But there needs to be someone or some organization who can stand up to any possible abuses of the anti-doping system.

Two, the anti-doping system needs to be reformed so that, even while being tough on those who are proven cheaters, those who are accused aren’t trampled on before a guilty verdict is returned. Riders’ rights must be respected, and the process must be fair to all.

What’s going on in OP and elsewhere is fundamentally unfair to the riders.

Leniency isn’t the answer. If the authorities can prove someone doped — beyond a reasonable doubt — then that person should be punished. The current standard, the comfortable satisfaction of the panel, is capricious, at best. Who’s to say that what satisfies one panel might not satisfy another. That’s not a good standard that can be consistently applied, at least in my book.

Once a fair system, with proper checks and balances, can be built, then we need to bring all sports into the system. And the standards of justice must be the same — from one country to another and from one sport to the next. (Same for the standards of what constitutes a doping infraction — they need to be the same across all labs.) Some of the big sports do seem to ignore the doping in their midst. That’s not a way to solve the doping problem in sports.

OK, that’s actually three things, isn’t it? Anyway, that’s where I’d start.

- Rant

I’m not advocating leniency on performance-enhancing drug use, nor should any unions hold “cycling” hostage with demands for leniency. I’m just saying that the power of a riders’ union could force the league to be very careful about banning riders for two years because of simple suspicion.

I’ll be the first to listen to any good ideas.

I wonder who the guys are from, say, soccer or cricket or tennis or whatever other sports are covered by OP? We’ve never heard about any of them, and there’s supposedly 150 or more. Speaks to the need for a powerful union to represent the riders, doesn’t it. I suspect that for the other sports represented, the reason we don’t hear about the athletes is due to the powerful unions representing the athletes in those sports, as well as a system with greater respect for their rights. But I’m just ranting on …

- Rant