Doping

I believe legalised doping will at least give people better information on the potential harms. It seems to be a ridiculous taboo. Other acceptable practices in athletes training can also have long term consequences.

I'd be interested to see how much faster people could go. Possibly there could be a clean and unclean system, so a lot less pressure for people to fake it.

Looking back to the early and mid nineties EPO was undetectable. Which created a system where using it was 'virtually' legalised. The result was that taking EPO became not a choice but an obligation. Very very few riders were either principled enough, or worried enough about their future health, to refuse. Most of those who did were either driven out of the sport or quit or had to settle for having a scanty palmares.
The same would happen again if doping was legalised. The idea of running a doped and a clean TdF is, I assume, a waggish joke. Presumably legalised doping would also have to be heavily regulated doping in order to stop lethal excesses. But the same malevolent pressures to cheat that system would soon appear.
I think it is, just about, possible to win major races now if you are clean and that more and more riders are beginning to see that the sport, and their physical and mental health, is better for it.
I am sure Landis is telling the truth about what he knows and saw but I am not sure he is the best guide as to what should happen next.

I am sure Landis is telling the truth about what he knows and saw but I am not sure he is the best guide as to what should happen next.

The only problem is that despite Landis telling the truth he's been discredited by the lies he's told.. My feeling is most people believe him but loath him also..

I can't help but think that the only winners are the pharmaceutical companies. They create the drug, OK it might have some other intended purpose, but again, the cynic on my shoulder whispers that some one somewhere also knows it's has other "properties.." They sell drug... Months down the line they then sell a method of detection.

Viagra's been in the media again recently, in the context of circulatory gains that improve athletic performance (unless you get aroused by something, the other side effect shouldn't occur during competition).

I haven't checked, but I assume it's currently not on the UCI's banned substance list?

makes internet order

curses deleting all that spam

wife suddenly encourages more commitment to training

*waits for someone to post that picture of the Polish team, *again**

Ha ha ha!!!

Anyway, it's all about powdered deer antler this year. IGF-1 spray ftw.

^illegal, but non-detectable in urine.

I'm sure there are a number of compounds in pharmaceutical libraries originally developed for medical purposes but found to have little to no effect/massive side effects on the cell libraries they used to screen compounds just waiting to be tested on athletes willing to win at all costs.

It doesn't automatically mean that drug companies are planning this.

I'd like to get some EPO and then see if I could cycle up Swains without stopping

Hang around outside a kidney dialysis unit waving £20 in the air; when I worked with one we used to dish that stuff out like smarties and our spend always went up in July.

Bertie gets one year ban but they let him keep the Tour victory. WTF???

It does leave a trail of hornless deer though.

Viagra could solve this.

How expensive is doping, do non pros do it?
I remember reading about somebody (non pro) getting caught and banned, and that he was being very unhelpful with the ongonig enquiries. Is it rife at lower levels as testing doesn't happen very often?

How expensive is doping

Depends which kind, and it gets much more expensive if you need to avoid getting caught.

do non pros do it?

Undoubtedly

Is it rife at lower levels as testing doesn't happen very often?

The rewards make it not worthwhile, so only nutters would bother with the really effective and expensive doping. There do seem to be a disproportionate number of asthmatics in amateur cycling, though...

If you're trying to move up to the top level, the reward becomes economically worthwhile but the risk also becomes huge, since any pro team these days is going to test you thoroughly before signing a contract. Doping to win enough to be offered a contract and then being clear when it is offered seems much too hard to achieve reliably.

what does being asthmatic indicate?

^ Steroids feature in common treatments for asthma - inhalers etc.

Theres a couple asthmatics in my rugby team. But at least half have a huge go on the inhaler before a match.

I'm usually too busy munching Ibruprofen though.

I remember a clip from Living With Lions (1997 Lions tour to SA) where after Austin Healy ran the length of the pitch the Doc called into his radio for an inhaler for him. Aus surreptitiously took a some huge hits on it before continuing..

yeah but i use the steroid based inhalers, they dont contain any useful steroids for enhanced performance.

I think the dopers use Salbutamol inhalers, not the feeble beclomethasone steroid ones. Salbutamol is a permitted substance in higher doses than somebody fit to participate in sport would be using* therapeutically, and it has some side effects useful to dopers, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salbutamol#Additional_notes , although I don't know whether they have any meaningful effect at permitted doses is.

*permitted use is 1600μg/day, I'm too ill to race if my use goes up to 800μg/day. In the olden days, before inhalers became all but universal (and I was half my current weight), I used to take up to 16000μg/day orally, and you really could feel the stimulant effect with that.

31,000 word transcript of a 7 hour conversation between Paul Kimmage and Floyd Landis

http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2011/landiskimmage

^this goes to the bottom of the rabbit hole. Jesus.

awaits 3-line summary

I've done drugs and was sorry

Me too. I am sorry also

They all do drugs don't you know