2013: Tri-ing something new

[Bierzo Baggie]

An interesting piece here which raises some wider philosophical questions about sport.

Nice speech ... but how would we know everything she says is true?
Just a thought.

At a guess I'd suspect that when large amounts of money are involved a rich and varied selection of performance enchanting drugs and masking agents will always be available. And not just in cycling. No way of us knowing who is really clean and who isn't. If any of them really are 100% clean. I mean who do you believe? And what does "clean" really mean? Not taking substances from an arbitrary, ever-changing list? Not taking any dietary supplement at all? What actually is a level playing field and has it ever existed?

Try reading Laurent Fignon's book on cycling in the 80s (he wrote it shortly before his death and didn't weigh his words...not that he did much anyway). His generation took amphetimines. As did many of the generation of professional cyclists before him (Tom Simpson anybody?) And what Fignon seemed to be suggesting was that this was more innocent than the EPO-generation of recent years and could hardly be classed as cheating!!

Professional sport, best watched from a distance and with a healthy dose of cynicism.
The real stuff is what we do....