Why does anyone care about professional bicycle racing?

Obviously that's a sarcastic and rhetorical question, but after spending some time browsing through a few recent threads I can't help but wonder what some of your general thoughts are on the peloton as a whole, and whether we should admire any of these athletes. Some of you seem to believe that the entire peloton, or at least the racers who are competitive, are involved in doping. I'm not trying to dispute that--I don't have any more insight or information than anyone else--but it just seems like such a bleak outlook. If that is your opinion, so be it, but how can you care about racing if you believe that only dopers win?

I'm really not trying to troll, or to incite anything. It's just that if I knew for a fact that all the top cyclists doped, or otherwise cheated, I would be much less enthusiastic about following the pro racing scene. So for those who seem to have done some research, or at least a lot of reading, on this subject, what's your take on that idea?

I agree. I was hoping maybe they would close some of these threads down since they are degrading so badly for no reason. I can't imagine ANYONE in this entire forum that has any knowledge of any of the pros or if they are shooting up, eating hydroponically grown tomatos, or Flintstone chewables. How can you pretend to know anything about what these guys in Europe are doing sitting on a forum on the internet in Middle of Nowhere, Kansas, Arizona, or wherever? A friggin group of "experts" can't even decide if a pro cheated in the Olympics with a gallon of blood and a keg of pee.

Cheating is and always will be in every sport. Turn on your TV and you'll have to search for a channel that isn't talking about baseball right now. There were 3 NASCAR crew chiefs suspended at one race for several weeks due to rules infractions, one was very blatant, rigged a fuel gauge to read full and then had 5 gallons of gas for qualifying, and then had the nads to say he'd do it again because now he knows how he was caught! How long would a basketball game last if they actually called travelling everytime or holding during a football game, people would get bored to death watching the refs spend more time holding the ball than the players. Anytime you put 2 or more people in a competition, one or more is going to try and figure out how to get an edge somehow and push the envelope to find the gray areas in the rulebook.

because sport is entertainment. Assuming you were into bodybuilding, would you rather go and watch some 210 pound smooth guy, or some ripped to shred, vascular as hell, 250 pound behemoth?

Me, I'd rather see the freak.

If you enjoy bike racing, it matters very little whether the guys are doing it doped or not, it doesn't change the dynamics of the racing. And from a pure, holy siht, can you believe that performance perspective, obviously doping will increase them.

Sponsors want results, spectators want entertainment - and we've been led to expect a lot for our money - even though cycling is that rare beast, a sport with no admission fee.

We know road racers are hard men, but the bar keeps getting put higher and higher and we expect greater and tougher exploits.

BTW I used to live in France and was on the local cycling committee in my town organising national espoirs champs, stage of Grand Boucle Feminin etc so I'm not quite Ms Middle of Nowhere Kansas - I have been around some of these riders and have heard some tales....but my point is that we all make the choice to watch, to support, to buy the jersey/bike/components/flooring/whatever and in that way we are definitely complicit in the spectacle that is a Grand Tour.

I just finished reading Bobke 2. After reading it, I have a different take on what makes racing cool. There are 140 guys you will never see on TV when you watch a race, and many times those guys are suffering just as much if not more that the guys you are seeing on TV. I never thought of those guys till reading Bob's book.