Pontypool t1_j64qh1k wrote on January 27, 2023 at 6:24 PM

Reply to comment by aquiyomando88 in Peter Sagan to stop road races, targets Olympics for farewell. by PrincessBananas85

Hey bro I don’t know if you know anything about professional cycling but doping has been around forever. Just looking at the top 10 finishers of the TDF from 1997-2015 there are only around 30 riders who weren’t banned/tested positive/admitted to/failed tests for doping of some sort. That’s 30 of 180 top ten riders over 18 years in one of the major races.

Maybe you don’t remember a team Festina in 1998. The French police found them in possession of EPO, testosterone, amphetamines, etc. that police investigation kept on going searching more and more teams to the point that the riders themselves boycotted the 17th stage and the UCI had to ask the police to back off. only 11 riders finished the 17th stage.

Only one rider (Fernando Escartin) between 1999 and 2005 that finished on the podium in one of the top three spots has not been busted for doping.

Have you even heard of lance Armstrong or Operation Puerto? Floyd Landis? Contador? Basso? Ulrich?

Professional cycling has always abused performance enhancing drugs.

aquiyomando88 t1_j654b4a wrote on January 27, 2023 at 7:51 PM

I raced road bikes full time as a cat 1 for 10 years. I know plenty about the relationship between PEDs and Cycling.

Someone below commented on how other sports act holier than thou like there isn’t PED use there too.

Doping is part of cycling. It’s also part of track, marathon, boxing, baseball, football, cross country skiing, weight lifting, etc…and the way I feel about it is that if you are a pro athlete and you don’t take PEDs, you must not take the job seriously enough.

Pontypool t1_j66dlng wrote on January 28, 2023 at 12:57 AM

I understood you but I don’t think you understood me. All those athletes did use PEDs in a sport that has never taken PEDs seriously. And most people of the ones who got caught/banned/lost their records deserved to be punished. Being pro doping is a pretty shot take dude. “if you’re a pro athlete and you don’t take PEDs you must not take your job seriously enough” is the dumbest shit I’ve heard today.

aquiyomando88 t1_j67gg8x wrote on January 28, 2023 at 6:48 AM

Alright. That’s your take.

I take no moral high ground when it comes to professional sports. I don’t see people who dope as violating any moral code. Their achievements are just as inspirational to me.

And I stand by what I said about taking your job seriously. If you’re in the NFL and you aren’t on something, good luck. You must not take it seriously, cause you’re not gonna have a job very long and you’re gonna get steamrolled by every other MF who is.