regarding "doping" in cycling

[another letter to VeloNews magazine]

Editor:
I've always been a huge fan of Andy Hampsten. So, his letter got my full attention.

I think that my feelings about the ongoing doping scandals might be similar to others out there who are hopelessly, fanatically crazy about bike racing. I don't know what to think, what to believe. Honestly, if I found out that Lance was doping, that Tyler was doping—insert your favorite racer here—I would be—I don't know, disillusioned is not a strong enough word to express how I would feel. I believe that I would stop following the sport that I have been nuts about for twenty years.

Yet, I hold on, tenuously, to my belief that they are clean. That their wins are due to hard work, meticulous preparation and strength of will. Isn't that what we all want to believe?

I don't have a problem with Greg LeMond's attempts to publicize the doping issue in cycling. More power to him. Yet I don't really understand where his accusations against Armstrong fit. No, the fact that Lance has never tested positive do not prove that he is drug free. But, neither does the current evidence demonstrate clearly that he is doping (at least in my opinion).

LeMond's accusations seem to suggest that if a racer performs amazingly well, exceeds expectations, wins against all odds, he or she must be doping. If we are to think that way, why even go on watching cycling, or sports at all?

Yet, I agree with LeMond that something has to be done to save the sport. What we really need from LeMond, Hampsten, and others who love the sport is some new proposals for addressing the doping problem. Testing obviously isn't going to solve it—there will always be a new drug, a new way to avoid the tests.

I hope they can think of something because for the life of me I can't think of any good idea.

So, I remain uneasily optimistic that my favorite racers are clean. But I would like to know the truth. Even if I lost the last of my childish excitement for the sport, I would like to know the truth.

Sincerely,
Mike Chavez
Buenos Aires, Argentina