cartsman wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
I kind of view him in the same way that I view most pro cyclists and how I view all of the NFL
There are at least much better anti-doping controls in cycling than there are in NFL. And I'm still a believer in the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" so I still make a distinction between riders who have been caught and those who haven't. Even if at times it's seemed like the peloton is almost entirely made up of those who have been caught and those who just haven't been caught
yet! Amongst those who have been caught I also make a distinction between those who 'fess up straight away and those who deny it as long as they possibly can.
In Valverde's case I think suspicion levels are higher because he's still so competitive both after returning from his ban and as he gets older. It's unusual for cyclists to improve into their mid-30s, and also it's unusual for dopers to be as or competitive post-ban than they were before it (e.g. Contador or Millar have both raced at a lower level since coming back).
For all the problems cycling has had and continues to have with doping, I still think the aim of having a clean sport (or at least one clean enough that clean riders can win) is a goal worth pursuing. I'm not ready to just give known dopers a free pass on the basis that they're probably all doing it, and if I ever do reach that stage it'll be the day I lose interest in following pro cycling. I do hope that Valverde's competitiveness is down to him being a super-talented rider racing against a peloton that is cleaner and slower than when he was in his 20s. But that's probably naïve!
I guess this comes back to what the barcelona guy said above. Is Valverde a naturally gifted rider for whom topping up on dope before Puerto had less impact than a less naturally gifted rider who when topped up does insanely better. We will never know the answer to that. Millar and Contador dropped in performance post bans but are still able to compete in maybe a less doped peloton that has a blood passport to answer to. Between the less doped peloton answering to the blood passport, perhaps Valverde's natural gifts, his tactical genius (you can't deny that) and maybe being less doped but required to be less doped today to compete than in say 2004 maybe we are getting the entertainment we are signing up for.
I don't think the protour is as doped as NFL. It might be less turbo doped than the NFL, in which case, I'll assume everyone is on some low octane "whatever I can get away with" dosage of whatever is the orange juice of the day. Assuming Sky, Movistar, Astana et al can all get access to the same orange juice, well, I am the idiot coming back to watch the juiced show 33 years after watching a then doped peloton roar into Grenoble during the 1984 TdF. No amount of doping busts keeps me away from watching pro cycling or the NFL. I am just assuming that the flavor of orange juice and the dosage just keeps changing over time but everyone in the competition has access to the same stuff. It still does not change that some body physiologies respond to the juice differently/better, but I can't control what the players are taking....I'm just assuming the authorities try to keep the playing field level enough for the competition to be a competition (I won't say a fair one because of the physiological response thing).