Tough Pills to Swallow

Among the major spectator sports, cycling is probably the most demanding and grueling regarding the riders' physical strength and stamina.

In what other sports do you see athletes pushing themselves to the limit day after day, for a period of up to three weeks? And what other sports requires the participants to climb endless and unforgiving mountains under the scorching heat?

Since its inception in 1903, Tour de France has been hit by a number of tragedies, allegations and scandals involving drugs.

In 1967, British star rider Tom Simpson collapsed while climbing the Mont Ventoux under intense sunshine. His rumoured last words, "Put me back on my bike", has made him a cult hero (or even martyr) among cycling fans which, sadly, obscures the fact that amphetamine was found in his body and jersey. His death has led to more stringent tests among cyclists since.

Unfortunately, many cyclists were and are still pushing their luck. In 1988, Spanish rider Pedro Delgado was tested positive for a masking agent during the Tour. Although the masking agent in question was banned by many major sports governing bodies, it was not listed as a banned substance by the Tour organiser. Eventually, Delgado escaped unpunished and promptly went on to win the Tour, a slap in the face for the Tour organiser.

In 1998, banned substances were found in a team car of the Festina team, leading to the expulsion of the entire Festina team. The raids by the local police which followed led first to the protest and then the withdrawal of six other teams, with the arrest of several top riders to boot.

In a sad twist to the tale, the winner of that year's Tour, Italy's Marco Pantani, was expelled from the Giro d'Italia the following year (he was miles ahead and was certain to win the Giro) due to an unusually high red blood cell count. Pantani never fully recovered from the fall from grace and, despite two stage wins in the Tour in 2000, eventually resorted to drugs use, and his untimely death from drug overdose in 2004 shocked the cycling world.

From 1999 to 2005, Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France by notching up seven consecutive victories. Although he has never failed any drug test, many remain skeptical over his dominance, following his miraculous recovery from the dreaded testicular cancer in the mid-90s'.
Shortly before this year's Tour, a number of top cyclists were involved in the latest scandal following the arrest of a Spanish doctor who, reportedly, had administered illegal doping for big names such as Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, the top two favourites of this year's Tour. Following their expulsion, American Floyd Landis emerged as the winner, but he too was found to have an unusually high level of testosterone in his body, a sign of doping.

The results of Landis' "B" sample will be announced soon. However, it's highly unlikely for the "B" sample to be any different from "A" sample, meaning Landis will be stripped of his hard-earned title.

No matter how hard the organiser has done to remove doping from the sport, it always seems that the next doping scandal is just around the corner.

So why not allow all cyclists to be doped, and re-brand cycling as the sport showcasing the pinnacle of medical science?