European Broadcasting Union says interest in cycling is growing
Despite the recent doping incidents that have badly damaged the sport’s image across the world, European Broadcasting Union believes that the scandals have not affected the viewership of the sport.
The firm extended its coverage with the Amstel Gold Race until 2016 as reported by Associated Press earlier.
USADA’s in depth investigation in to Lance Armstrong which proved the seven-time Tour de France winner was a big blow not only to the cyclist and his fans but also to the sports as a whole.
Armstrong used systematic doping to enhance his performance and also involved many of his Team USPS teammates in the scam.
He managed to dodge the eye of UCI officials for over a decade and kept on winning several stages during his professional career.
The 41-year-old was tested several times throughout his career but he was smart and organized enough to duck the system every single time for almost 12 years.
However, the USADA’s 1000 page report along with recorded testimony of 26 former professional cyclists was enough to strip Armstrong off his victories and all the respect that he earned during his professional career.
Out of the total 26 cyclists that admitted doping, 11 were Lance’s former teammates at the controversial American squad, Team USPS.
Those eleven men include, Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.
USADA called Armstrong a serial cheat who involved several doctors, cyclists and team officials and fooled the sports organising bodies.
The firm states that it has "found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Lance Armstrong engaged in serial cheating through the use, administration and trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs and methods that Armstrong participated in running in the US
Postal Service Team as a doping conspiracy".
The drug scandal has definitely destroyed the sports image but European Broadcasting Union believes it’s the other way round.
"We are pushing our partners in this direction," Stefan Kuerten, the EBU director of sports and business told the
Associated Press. "No one is accepting smoke-screens and that [they] are doing it just for the camera for the next couple of weeks and months".
Kuerten believes that despite all the doping and cheating scandals related to the sport, cycling still has a huge fan following and the sport is far bigger to be dominated by these incidents.
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