**I dont disagree, but think of it this way: If you think youre good enough and want to be called a pro, but youre getting regularly beat by AG, theres something telling IMO about you that youd want to strive for professional status in the first place. **
I know a few Pros that get beat by very good AGers. One reason to turn pro, even if you just barely qualify, is that races are much cheaper to get into, if you race alot, and you get to register much later for the most popular races and still get in. I think its also much easier to get a tiny bit of local sponsership if it says Pro on your licence. You don’t get a Pro licence by thinking your good enough. The people that issue the licence have criteria and you either meet it or not. How you manage to bring willingness to dope into that decision is to me theres something telling IMO about you.
I dont disagree there are valid reasons for some, but testing in MLB shows that the guys in the minor leagues are far more likely to risk it than those in the major leagues, even though “more stringent” testing has been around longer for members of MiLB. Some people are willing to do whatever it takes to reach their dreams, especially if its just out of reach. It might be a bit of a stretch comparing two different sports, but I dont think its too much of one. And I am quite aware of the qualifying requirements for a USAT elite card, thanks. As for your opinion of me, I continue to wonder why some people on this board can’t take my line of thinking for what it is: a series of questions about what can be done to better support testing in our sport WTC or not. Ive not accused an individual in this thread and further, almost none of my comments have been directed at Lance in this thread, further Ive provided source material that gives a reasonable set of information to base my thoughts on.