TV Dreams

Rasmussen hangs on

Originally uploaded by corremadrid

Having participated in the sport up to National level, nothing makes me sadder, or more angry, than drug-taking to enhance performance.

And it has to be said that cycling must have the worst record for this sort of abuse. And when you look at the trail of wrecked bodies the sport has spewed out something definitely has to be done to stamp it out.

But I do have a theory, about why drug-taking is so rife in cycling. I know just how demanding road racing is. I’ve done a number of sports mostly at county level and none of them compare to cycle road racing in terms of the physical effort and endurance required to meet the task - by a long way. Riders are taking drugs just to survive the event never mind winning.

And with the TDF when you look at the distance and terrain covered I think it’s fair to say it’s like no other sporting event.

None of what I’ve said excuses this sort of cheating, but it’s why I believe cycling suffers from drug-taking more than most sports.

But the media’s calls for the Tour de France to be stopped this year, scrapped, is malicious to say the least. And I would have thought amongst other journalists The Guardian would not have joined in on such a witch hunt, calling for the race to be abandoned. I have to say, this was just one comment in an otherwise fair and accurate article. But I’m still very disappointed.

For worse examples of the media’s excesses have a look at the Tribune Herald article that highlights what some of the french press have been saying.

The Tour de France organisers are not guilty of drug-taking, why attack them. Now I’ve not followed the TDF for a number of years, but I’ve watched the ITV4 highlights every night this year and it’s perfectly obvious that the organisers are coming down hard on any rider and their team if tested positively. So why attack innocent parties. I have to say I don’t know if this media behaviour is as a result of a too lenient attitude of the TDF organisers in years gone by, but this year they seem to have a robust anti drug-taking policy.

All this baying in the press just smacks of the media pack wanting blood to create sensational headlines for more sales and profits - so what’s new?

I just hope you’re not taken in by it.

Let the Tour de France organisers do their job. Coerce other race organisers to adopt an equally harsh regime against offending riders and their teams. Then there’s a more than good chance of flushing out this despicable activity and cleaning up cycle racing’s image for good.