Spain’s Doping Problem: The Sport of Cycling in Trouble
Spain’s cycling federation needs to clean up its act. This was stated by the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) yesterday. It seems the problem stems from the fact that four Spanish cyclists have tested positive for using banned substances
and have been suspended this week. This has prompted an outcry from the cycling community and a lot of riders are in shock that something like this has happened. The sport of cycling has had a big problem of doping in the past and this new case just brings
it all to the forefront again.
Doping or using performance enhancing drugs is a huge problem for the world of sports at the moment. It is a form of cheating and is strictly controlled by the various governing bodies of sports. It seems doping is a big issue in cycling and has been for
many years. There are many reasons for this but one of the simplest is that a lot of riders say the sport is just too tough.
Should the sport being ‘tough’ make doping and cheating alright? Using performance enhancing drugs ruins the entire reputation of the sport and ensures that a level playing field is not possible. Yes, cycling is a very tough sport but there are a number
of athletes who manage to win championships without using any sort of drugs. It might help to make the sport a little bit easier but as in all sports, the level of competition continues to increase and world records are broken almost every year. In that sense
making cycling easier would not work.
The UCI President, Pat McQuaid, was brutal in an attack on the Spanish government and Spain’s cycling federation. He said that,
“a large percentage of the doping cases come from Spain and something needed to be done about it.” McQuaid said that the issue was that he felt the Spanish government was turning a blind eye to the problem and it needed to step up and take corrective
measures if the reputation of the sport was to be saved.
No one knows for sure why so many cases of cyclists using banned substances come from Spain. It could be that the cycling federation of the country is not that strong enough and does not monitor and police its riders. In an extreme case, it could be that
everyone who is involved in stopping doping is closing their eyes to the problem because they want Spanish cyclists to win races. This is all speculation and nothing can be confirmed at the moment without further investigation into the problem.
In the past week, four cyclists from Spain have been suspended for the use of performance enhancing drugs and banned substances. The first was the recent 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador who was found to have used a banned substance called clenbuterol.
This drug is used for weight loss and muscle building and is banned by the UCI. He was suspended and his win still hangs in the balance. He may have his coveted yellow jersey taken away from him.
Three other cyclists from Spain faced the same fate recently. Tour of Spain runner up Ezequiel Mosquera and his teammate David Garcia da Pena were both suspended for a positive test result to hydroxyethyl starch, another banned substance. Margarita Fullana,
another Spaniard, was suspended as well for using a banned drug. This is a big problem and a lot of work needs to be done to fix the problem.
The Spanish government needs to do something positive in this regard. The entire sport of cycling has had its image severely tarnished in the last few days and it may never recover from it. The President of the UCI needs to really step up the work the organisation
is doing and the menace of doping and drug use needs to be eradicated from the sport once and for all. The sport of cycling needs to fight its way back from these scandals and come out of it stronger, not tolerate cheating in any form in the future.
Tags: