Doping Scandal: Can cycling heal itself?

The sport of cycling today is in a deep shit.

When four of the top five finishers in last year's Tour de France thrown out of the race for "suspicion" of doping, the shit must be neck deep. The justice system in France is so unlike our justice system (or the US), where a person is innocent until proven otherwise. In France, there is a perception that you are guilty until you can prove that you are innocent. National Geographic Channel once featured a show about terrorism and the French justice system. NG said that if you're a terrorist, you shouldn't get caught in France.

While Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Paco Mancebo has not been charged in court much less convicted, the Spanish Guardia Civil has presented a list of 58 riders and evidence to the the TdF organizers, ASO, that heavily implicates the trio. ASO, in turn, asked their respective teams to exclude the riders on the list to respect the Pro Tour's "ethical charter" signed by the team directors. This ethical charter says that any cyclist who's under investigation of doping should not be allowed to join a race.

Alexander Vinokourov, 5th last year and one of the favorites, had his team director and 5 teammates implicated in the "Operation Puerto" case and banned from the race. (A team director is the equivalent of Pat Riley with regards to his duties coach and GM with the Heat.) His TD was caught during a sting operation holding a bag that contained performance enhancing substances, blood products and 60,000.00 Euros. Interestingly, Vinokourov wasn't on the list of 58, and since 5 riders of his team are out, his team could not meet the minimum of 6 riders (of 9) needed to start the Tour, so he was also out.

While this scandal is probably the more serious than the Festina Affair in 1998, I can say with a high degree of certainty, that cycling can heal itself.

It's not the cyclist that makes the race great; it's the races that make heroes out of ordinary men. Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinualt, Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong, who we all thought were irreplaceable, came and went but the Tour remained as popular as ever.

But why are the UCI, WADA, ASO, the government bodies and finally the riders themselves swept the problem under the rug when they could have purged the sport back then? I think that the problem is not the doping per se but the politics of the sport. WADA, the UCI and ASO are all trying to upstage each other. It's all about power, it's all about money.

It's ironic that Scotsman David Millar, a confessed doper, will be the favorite to win a watered down TdF prologue today. Millar was reinstated last week after a two year ban in the sport after admitting that he took EPO. I'm not worried about the future of the sport. Cycling can heal itself.

He was not allowed to ride for his team failed to meet the minimum riders required (6 of 9). While Operatoin Puerto was blown wide open May 23, 2006, it took the Spanish .

When the top 4 finisher's of the 2005 Tour de France gets suspended for suspicion of doping, then there is something wrong.

When a team director gets caught by the authorities carrying a bag full of blood products, doping products and 60,000.00 euros, then there is something wrong.

When the authorities say that they have 200 plus riders involved in the doping scandal in their list and then later said its 58, then there must be something wrong.

When the authorities takes 40 days to complete their investigation while leaking their findings to the media piece by piece, then there must be something wrong.

When the release of the investigation report is released just 24 hours before the start of cycling's biggest race, then there must be something wrong.

When WADA's Dick Pound deafening silence became so loud in an investigation when his organization is supposed to be in the middle of, then there is something wrong.

When pro cyclists are banned for a race for suspicion, not conviction, of doping, then there is something wrong.