I was just making a silly post in another thread when I thought about something rarely talked about with the doping plague.

I wonder how addictive the dope these days is for the riders? I know testosterone has some addictive properties and all the dope has to have huge psychological addictive traits.

Maybe the UCI, WADA, ASO would have more luck if they treated this more like an addiction and less like cheating.

what if they gave all riders, past and present, one year to come forward and admit they dopes and provide any information on the matter they can with no penalty? what if then they enlisted these riders counseling and help in becoming a clean rider?

Maybe the UCI, WADA, ASO would have more luck if they treated this more like an addiction and less like cheating.


but it's not addiction. it's cheating. addiction is a disease. PED use is not.

It's only addictive in the modern psycho-babble definition of the term. None of them are physically addictive. EPO, testosterone, HGH usage will decrease the bodies natural production, because bodies are inherently lazy and feedback mechanisms tell the body it there's already enough so it can cut back, but you can still quit them cold turkey anytime you want. The problem is they don't want to. Winning races is more addictive than the drugs taken to do so.

I don't think the riders of managers or anyone has enough faith in the UCI or WADA not to use the information against them anyway. I read that Sastre, a widely reported clean rider was saying he wasn't keen on the biological pasports because of privacy and abuse issues. This guy must know he'd be on the top of a GT podium if the entire peleton was clean but he's not in favor of a tool that could greatly curb doping because he doesn't trust the heads of the sport. Can't say I blame him when they say things like they have been about Mayo's test results. Positive + negative + negative = ...we'll get him anyway!

I don't think the riders of managers or anyone has enough faith in the UCI or WADA not to use the information against them anyway.

If they're not going to use it against them, what's the point? The whole idea is to create a system whereby they can suspend a rider even in the absence of a drug test, so that there doesn't end up being a positive drug test or a police bust.

If they have any sense it will all be done on the hush to minimize the bad press, but UCI, WADA and teams seem to have lots of people with lose lips so I wouldn't put to much money on them being able to sit down a rider without it becoming public knowledge.

If they're not going to use it against them, what's the point?

I was refering to the OP's statement about coming clean and giving information.

"what if they gave all riders, past and present, one year to come forward and admit they dopes and provide any information on the matter they can with no penalty?"

the key to this is not going after the riders but the suppliers.

Its like the drug issue in the USA. The US isn't going to stop drug use by locking up end users. For every cyclist they ban they just open up another spot for a potential doper. He may be a clean rider on his continental team, but he DS or his new trainer or his other riders might lean on him to dope. They have to go after the establishment. The riders are just pawns in a much bigger game.

the key to this is not going after the riders but the suppliers.

However the UCI and WADA have no powers to go after the suppliers. They can mostly only affect the riders and perhaps the UCI has authority over other team personnel?