Have faith cycling fans - Millar's back
How cool is it that David Millar won the prologue at Paris-Nice? In my opinion it is a fantastic start to the European cycling season. Sure, I'd hoped that Dave Zabriskie would win, but Millar is another one of my favorites.
Millar is unpopular in some circles for having admitted to doping but I think the fact that he admitted it, took his punishment, and came back to the sport clean is a good thing. Yes, it's some negative press for the sport of cycling to have an admitted doper, but it's better than the usual state of cycling where you can't tell the dirty riders from the clean ones.
I like to believe that athletes who spend huge amounts of their time and money trying to prove their innocence on doping charges are clean. Professional cyclists don't make a lot of money in comparison to pros in other sports and the demands on their time are pretty huge if they want to train in the way they need to in order to compete at the professional level. So, there's some logic in thinking that athletes that spend a lot of time and money fighting doping charges are more likely to be innocent, but it's not super great logic by any means. The truth is you really can't tell who's on drugs anymore. Believing that those who fight charges are innocent and those that don't are probably guilty is comforting but even that only encompasses those that actually get accused.
David Millar was exceptional though. He was open about his doping. He admitted it. He talked about it openly and about his efforts to get in racing shape and be competitive without drugs after coming back from his suspension. He's a success story of someone who's come back from doping, and from everything I've heard he's a really great guy as well. I liked him before the doping and somehow even knowing that his results before were drug induced didn't disillusion me. I looked forward with hope to Millar's triumphant return to professional cycling. And now he's back.
This is going to be a good year in cycling. Tom Boonen may not have won the Tour of Qatar but he made a very strong showing. He's in top form. Levi Leipheimer won the Tour of California a couple weeks ago and he's riding with the Discovery Chanel team now. David Millar is back and in winning form. It's a great time to be a cycling fan. I say, don't let the drug scandals ruin your enjoyment of the sport.
Millar is unpopular in some circles for having admitted to doping but I think the fact that he admitted it, took his punishment, and came back to the sport clean is a good thing. Yes, it's some negative press for the sport of cycling to have an admitted doper, but it's better than the usual state of cycling where you can't tell the dirty riders from the clean ones.
I like to believe that athletes who spend huge amounts of their time and money trying to prove their innocence on doping charges are clean. Professional cyclists don't make a lot of money in comparison to pros in other sports and the demands on their time are pretty huge if they want to train in the way they need to in order to compete at the professional level. So, there's some logic in thinking that athletes that spend a lot of time and money fighting doping charges are more likely to be innocent, but it's not super great logic by any means. The truth is you really can't tell who's on drugs anymore. Believing that those who fight charges are innocent and those that don't are probably guilty is comforting but even that only encompasses those that actually get accused.
David Millar was exceptional though. He was open about his doping. He admitted it. He talked about it openly and about his efforts to get in racing shape and be competitive without drugs after coming back from his suspension. He's a success story of someone who's come back from doping, and from everything I've heard he's a really great guy as well. I liked him before the doping and somehow even knowing that his results before were drug induced didn't disillusion me. I looked forward with hope to Millar's triumphant return to professional cycling. And now he's back.
This is going to be a good year in cycling. Tom Boonen may not have won the Tour of Qatar but he made a very strong showing. He's in top form. Levi Leipheimer won the Tour of California a couple weeks ago and he's riding with the Discovery Chanel team now. David Millar is back and in winning form. It's a great time to be a cycling fan. I say, don't let the drug scandals ruin your enjoyment of the sport.
posted by Beth at
3:31 PM
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