Read in the newspaper today that Alberto Contador, the winner of the last 3 Tour de France, probably used a blood transfusion (doping) on the resting day of the last edition. Test results showed that although it is still denied by Contador and his team. Professional cycling is seemingly infested with less then honest competitors. Examples of violators are plural and a few get caught practically every major competition. Bernard Kohl, a former cyclist, admitted that he used performance enhancing substances on many occasions and that out of a hundred drug tests he was caught only once while he could have been on everyone of them.
I enjoy watching cycling. Watched it as a kid and especially the Tour de France and the mountain stages is something I enjoy watching on television. Even watched races when it was nearby although I must admit that as a spectator along side the road there isn't much to see since the pack is in sight and out of sight within a minute if not sooner. Doping is of course a falsification, an act of fraud. You can actually loose count on how many riders were caught in the past. That makes me wonder why doping is so abundant in professional cycling. I mean, every professional knows it's forbidden and still some of them use it. Seeing that many winners of competitions or stages were caught days, weeks or months after their victories, I can only come to the conclusion that doping actually works and that's why they use it despite the risks. I guess there's also a culture among professional cyclists that if you want to perform on the upper levels of the sport, you have to start using since there's also a good chance someone else is using.
I think it transgressed to that - culture wise. Even an athlete like Contador probably isn't above it. There's much pressure to perform and get the results. I think that says something about not only sports, but our society in general.
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