If Vande Velde wins the tour, could we see doping decline rapidly?

Question

With his team conducting self administered tests, and proving he is clean, could we see a rapid decline in EPO use with a clean rider winning the tour? ( he may not win, but being a clean rider and finishing in the top 5 should produce some sort of positive result from other riders, seems prudent to me).

Answer 1

It would be nice to think so, but everyone will look for an undetectable edge of some sort. If you have ever seen the list of banned substances you would get a good idea how far athletes are willing to go to win.

Answer 2

For the most part yes;you'll always have some who'll try to beat the system.

Answer 3

Don't forget that Vande Velde is American.  The French newspapers will be filled with allegations if he wins. But it would be sweet.

Don't forget Lance and Alberto Contador were clean.  That will not stop weaker riders from experimenting with illegal substances.

I understand that the drug used by Ricco was new.  He probably felt that the test would not test positive for the new drug. As long as laboratories are inventing new drugs, there will always be some willing to take a chance.