As if cycling didn't have enough problems

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Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
'Dick' Pound and WADA are once again trying to cause even more trouble as reported in Cyclingnews

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A concerned World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound has announced an anti-doping summit specifically targeted at cycling, branding recent measures taken to counter the sport's problems as "obviously insufficient". However, while supporting any effort to solve the problem of doping, a responding press release from the UCI has signaled tension between the two bodies.

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As if this politically motivated 'person' and the organisation he represents could help anybody. Another one of the I love me brigade. Cycling needs this man like a hole in the head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
yes, now there's a man with an appropriate name if ever i saw one :thumbsup:
 

fuzzy29

New Member
Location
Somerset
As soon as I saw this article on the BBC, saying 'anti-doping chief wants cycling summit', I thought oh no, not Dick Pound again. He just wants to get involved wherever there is a scandal just to promote himself. Not once have I read anything by this idiot that suggests he has any ideas about fighting this problem. He just basks in the glory of the cheaters, in many ways, he's as bad as them!
 

yenrod

Guest
Yeah, what about all these other sports that dont yet its soo bloody obvious...

I read today yolanda Choplick or whatever had tested positive has athletics totally - has athletics been to the point of stopping NO !
 

Tim Bennet.

Entirely Average Member
Location
S of Kendal
Seems the Tour de France doesn't share your reservations about WADA.

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(Reuters) - Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has vowed in a newspaper interview to break with cycling's world governing body, slamming the UCI for its failure to combat doping in the sport.

Prudhomme, asked in an interview to be published in Saturday's Sueddeutsche Zeitung if he planned to break off cooperation with the International Cycling Union, said:

"Yes, that's the case. Next year we will work hand in hand with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and with the French anti-doping agency."

"The UCI never wanted a clean Tour," he added.

The world's premier cycling race was plunged into crisis this week, with two positive tests and the sacking of race leader Michael Rasmussen by his Rabobank team for allegedly lying about his training whereabouts.

Both the Cofidis and Astana teams have dropped out of the Tour amid the widening doping scandal.

However, UCI president Pat McQuaid defended his organisation in an interview with France 2 television on Friday.

"We have not provided the riders with banned substances," he said. "We are trying to fight against doping, not only on the Tour de France but also on the other races."

Prudhomme said the UCI had violated its own rules in letting Rasmussen start the race and backed a call by WADA for a summit to discuss how to combat doping in cycling."I will definitely be there and will put everything on the table," he said.

The UCI reacted strongly to WADA's offer on Thursday to hold the summit, viewing it as criticism of its own handling of anti-doping procedures.

Tour de France organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and the UCI have been at odds since 2005 when the ASO refused, along with organisers of the Tour of Spain and Giro d'Italia, to join the UCI-Pro Tour.
 

Squaggles

New Member
Location
Yorkshire
Well I guess it depends if you think the UCI have been doing a good job in their efforts to combat doping . I would have to say they haven't .
 
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Keith Oates

Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
The UCI are the organisation that has been put into place by ALL of the cycling federations of the world. They are doing their best to look after cycling worldwide and IMO generally do a good job. They make some decisions that do not please every one, but this is inevitable considering the number of people of different nationalities that are affected.

ASO are a private business and making money and keeping as much of it for themselves comes only second to the massive ego that the people who run the company have. They want cycling to be run by themselves so that the profits and egos can get bigger and what happens to cycling worldwide, outside of their franchise/ownership, is not important.

Although the TdF is the biggest single race in the world it is not the only one and cycling around the world needs a body to look after it who are not being pressurised to make profits for share holders.

WADA is part of the IOC which in itself is not 'lily white' as rumours of presents for votes have been around for a while. 'Dick' Pound was/is part of the IOC set up and has got into his head that he can do everthing that is needed to control doping in sport. Getting it's own house in order by keeping it out of the Olympics would seem to be a good starting point to me.

Let cycling be run by those who know and love the sport and to me that is the individual cycling commitees of each nation, which in turn are represented by the elected officials of the UCI. If those officials are not performing correctly or doing a good job then the international cycling authorities from each interested nation should be the ones to challenge and change the officials and direction of the UCI, and not ASO.
 

doyler78

Well-Known Member
Location
Co Down, Ireland
Squaggles said:
Well I guess it depends if you think the UCI have been doing a good job in their efforts to combat doping . I would have to say they haven't .

Show me any sport which has got it house in order over doping? I can't think of any.

For me it is unrealistic to expect that cycling, or any other sport, will ever eliminate doping. We are dealing with selfish humans here, some of whom, no matter what the risks, will dope if they think they will have their day of glory.

Just a computer hackers find new ways to evade the secruity protocols put in place by software developers so too will those that want to cheat find ways round advances in doping detection with new methods of evasion.

All that can be done, beyond rigourous testing procedures, is that we make the punishments so severe that you make doping for most sports men and women beyond consideration. Life bans are a start because often sports people have a love for their sport above anything else and if the thought of never riding again for doping hangs over them then that will deter most. Governments need to tackle this as well as it reflects on national pride and because of that doping should be as much a criminal offence for users as it is to facilitate it and that must be backed up by the courts who impose sentences appropriately.

Testing alone will never be the whole answer and it is time that everyone realised that. What will be more effective is that all interested parties ie clean sportsmen/women, their teams, promoters, governing bodies, dope testing organisations, governments, etc started acting together instead of trying to score points of each other. Where there are problems with system then they will better solve these through co-operation rather running to the media slagging each other off which only takes the effort away from where the real focus should be and actually makes co-operation in any sort of meaningful way less likely ie they say the right things but slag eachother off behind their backs or in the media because they feel they are under seige. Them and us mentality.

What really gets me is that now is that everyone is blaming each other for the fact that cyclists are still doping and that now all sense of proportion is lost in that climate now where everyone is now considered a potential doper instead of the other way round. It is the over reaction of the varioius interested parties which is doing more damage to cycling than anything else as they are creating the impression that cycling is rife with dopers. What the last few weeks have shown is that individuals are doping however teams do not appear to encouraging this. This demonstrates that cycling has cleaned its house up substantially - no longer endemic within teams. With tougher action against dopers and their supporters this will yield even greater results but only if they act togehter.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
It does look that cycling is the scapegoat here - virtually no mention of the athletics doping in the news, even that Sunday Evening Trevor McDonald News Knight (half attempt at being funny) programme is taking the hiss out of the Tour. :thumbsup:
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
I don't agree that cycling is being made a scapegoat. High profile cyclists have tested positive for banned substances in the biggest race in the calendar. It's right that cycling has received the adverse press it has over the last few weeks.

To me it's largely irrelevant what is and is not allowed in other sports. The riders know the rules and must abide by them. Rasmussen didn't and then lied to his employers. Fair cop.

I don't want cheats in cycling. I want to see riders competing against each other without having had to have transfusions or taken banned substances in order to do so.

I think that there is an ongoing attempt to change the culture within cycling. If Wiggins' comments in the Observer are to be believed then we're some way off, but nonetheless closer than we were 3 weeks ago.

Fair enough the in-fighting between ASO and the UCI is wasting time but ultimately whoever runs next year's tdf I hope will be as consistent as this year. I'll happily defend this sport til I'm blue in the face as even with all its problems, I still find it thrilling and inspirational.
 
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